Boundaries
- Create “no phone zones” in your home. Leave computers, i-pads and phones in an office or dedicated space. If members of the family need to use a device they need to go to a separate area. These zones create real boundaries for living a distracted free home life so you can focus on real life. Talk to members of the family. Disconnect from your work life or your social media feeds and be present. There is absolutely no reason to be connected 24 hours a day. No way jose.
- No technology in the bedroom. Sleep is so key for busy people who are working for themselves. Keep the technology out of the bedroom so you can decompress and relax before bed. Research shows that falling asleep to a screen can disrupt a good nights rest. Your brain is overstimulated when exposed to a screen. Instead put some essential oils in your diffuser and give yourself 5-10minutes of quiet time to visualize your day or say gratitude for the things that went well in your day today.
- Set days for set activities: I recently started doing this and it has helped me tremendously. I have three different “gigs” going on- I coach clients in my DPP class, I write for this blog, I am a marketing strategist for Seventy1 and I run my own essential oils business. I need to set boundaries for my own sanity. I set specific days to work on each project to help compartmentalize the work I do. Mondays are for essential oils business, Tuesdays/Thursdays are for my consulting work with seventy1, Wednesdays are planning days for DPP and Fridays are for anything that comes up. If you work one on one with clients maybe you could set a day for your calls / meetings.
Facing a “funk” and getting over the hump
It’s tough to get out of a creative funk / or a lull in the middle of the day or to muster up the energy to make another business call or write another blog post. But I do find that its not the FUNK that I need to worry about (those will be there no matter what) but its the HOW I get over the hump that really counts. It’s the action of changing my perspective /mindset and finding a way to get inspired that really matters. I worked with a coaching client last year who always hit a wall around 1:30 working from home. She had plenty of stuff she could do but felt so bored and un-energized that she couldn’t get in a mindset to work.
Here are some ideas to work through a funk:
- Create a fun routine to invite inspiration in… Grab Tangerine, Lemon, Purification or Abundance and put a few drops in your diffuser. Do 3 rounds of Alternate Nostril Breathing to clear space in your mind and reset your attitude.
- Read something inspiring. There are great articles over at Tiny Buddah
- Listen to a podcast! Go for a walk and listen to a podcast. My favorites are Being Boss for solo-entrepreneurs or The Lively Show for general life stuff. What else? What do you all listen to??
Priorities + Schedules
Working for yourself means you get to make your own schedule… but what happens if you don’t? Or what happens when people don’t respect the schedule you set up for yourself… you know that colleague/client who cancels a meeting last minute and asks if you can do a call in a few hours… or your sitter comes and you have 5 hours of precious time but you spend half the time organizing yourself to get ready to go to work! Or you have so many ideas when you have no time but when you actually sit to do your “work” you are bone dry and inspiration has left the building.
It’s all about prioritizing your goals based on your VALUES. Take a minute to decide what you really want to be doing with your time. Write it out. Create the larger vision for what you are trying to accomplish. Then break it down into actionable steps. Then place those steps into an order that resembles a schedule. Then stick to it! Don’t let people take advantage of your time! Don’t allow yourself to be distracted when you are supposed to be doing class/client planning!
- Make a list of all the things you do / want to do /have to do in a given week. Example: yoga class, take the car in for an oil change, grocery shop, plan for a client session, read a chapter from a personal development book, go for a run, watch Dancing with the Stars, etc.
- Prioritize those items, start with the non-negotiables and list them from most important to not important. The items at the bottom of the list are the ones that can be forgone if the week gets crazy.
- Schedule them. So get out a calendar / planner and put each item in a slot.
- Leave time for nothing! Leave time for unexpected disruptions.
Productivity
- Set a timer and do a free write. I do this everyday. I am doing it right now, writing this post. Set your timer and make yourself sit and write. If nothing comes out then hey, you sat for 30 minutes without checking email / social media!
- Goals are big. So chunk it down!! Write your big goals out then decide how you will tackle them on a daily basis with this exercise: Break up the year into manageable chunks… start by dividing the year into Quarters. Create a goal for each quarter. Then assign a smaller goal that will get you to the larger quarter goal for each of the 3 months. Then make a weekly plan to achieve the monthly goal… you see where this is going…. then break out daily action steps to achieve the weekly goal. When the year is up you will have met your big goals!! Remember daily process is what gets results.
- Ask yourself what productive looks like for you… if you are kicking business ass but your house looks like a volcano erupted and you are surviving on saltine crackers then something is off-balance. Productivity in business is awesome… but productivity in life overall is better. Find your balance.
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