It’s been ages since I posted my last productivity playlist here on the blog, so let me quickly reintroduce the series for those of you who might be new or completely forgot about it!
Productivity Playlist is a series here on StrangeCharmed.com where I share a playlist of music I have been listening to while I work. Research shows that listening to music, specifically music without lyrics, can help increase your productivity by providing white noise as a background sound to drown out other random noise. For this reason, classical music is often touted as a brain and productivity booster, but it’s not the only option. So, from time to time I like to share a collection of music that I have been listening to in order to give you some new beats to help you whistle while you work!
In this fresh installment, I am sharing a new musical obsession with you, Lo-fi hip-hop. Don’t let the hip-hop term fool you, it’s nothing close to what you might be thinking. It’s just seriously some of the most chill and good work vibe music I have come across. No lyrics, just music and the occasional vague echo of a voice. So, without further ado, here is the playlist for you to enjoy.
I hope you enjoy this playlist and I would love to hear about what you have been listening to while you work, so please do leave me a comment and tell me about it!
At the start of quarantine there was a popular video challenge making its way around the internet in places like Instagram and Tiktok, in which a parent would leave their young child alone with a bowl of candy or some sweet treat for a short period of time and record how the child reacted while the parent was away. It was a cute challenge and in most of the videos I saw the kids were able to wait for the parent to return to get their treat. So obviously this was a popular challenge because cute kids seeming to have self control, I imagine it made the parents feel good about their kids to see they were obedient, but every time I watched one of these videos I cringed a little bit because this challenge wasn’t actually an indicator of the childs self-control mechanism, in fact, it was what I would say was a poor knock off of a real life series of experiments that have come to be known as a real indicator of future success and self-control in children.
So I want to talk about that experiment today, the parameters of what it was about and how the results of that experiment have taught researchers a lot about the importance of self-control or delayed gratification as a predictor of future success and productivity.
First, let’s start with the real life experiment that I think in the inspiration for that self-control Tiktok challenge. It was known as the Marshmallow test and if you are curious to learn more there is a book you can read all about it, called The Marshmallow Test. My OG followers may remember, I read this book I believe back in 2017 and I did find it fascinating.
Okay, so the first thing you should know about this experiment is the parameters of how the testing was done. Roughly speaking here, what they did was took young children (and they experimented with a variety of ages) and put them in a room where a researcher, NOT their parent- this is kind of important- offers them a single marshmallow on a plate. In different renditions of this test it was chocolates or other candy or treats, but the original test was a single marshmallow. The child is offered the marshmallow freely, but before they accept it, a condition is offered to them. If they can wait alone in that room for the researcher to come back in 5 mins, if they do not eat the marshmallow, they will get two!
So, the test is about instant gratification vs delayed gratification, in a situation where there is a clear benefit for exerting self-control, and yet, there is no negative pressure associated with them eating the single marshmallow immediately. I think this is an important difference that the Tiktok challenge missed. One because it was a parent or guardian who was giving them the direction of “Do not eat this until I come back”– which was a pressure by someone they love and trust, as opposed to an offer of you can have one now or two later, it’s your choice, do what you think is best. So, in the true experiment the child is being asked to make the decision, not simply follow the direction of their parent.
Now, that was just the first part of the marshmallow test, because the most important information that experiment gathered was not how many kids ate the marshmallow and how many waited for two- but rather, the researchers followed up with those same children years later into adulthood to see how successful of a person they became and there was a very strong correlation between the children who waited for the second marshmallow and who were successful in life, vs the children who didn’t have the impulse control were far more likely to have made a string of unsuccessful life decisions in the future.
Now, I have no intention of diving deep into the metrics, if you are curious, definitely read the book, they go into amazing statistics and demographics, but the point I want to focus on that was learned from the experiment is that self-control, delayed gratification, impulse control- that is the most significant factor that goes into the general success and productivity of a person in the future.
And this is a belief I have seen work out in my own life and in the lives of others I have been close to. Speaking for myself, I clearly see how my ability to distinguish between and frequently choose between actions that would bring me either short term gratification or long term gratification have been the key to success in my life and the key to my productivity.
For me to be able to choose over and over to take action on my plans and do the work, when perhaps I could easily be distracted by other more immediate or more instantly gratifying activities is absolutely why I am where I am in life. And this manifests itself in a number of ways.
To give some examples:
The choice to stay in and do my college work instead of go out partying
The choice to develop a side hustle while I also had a 9 to 5 and use my free time to work instead of play or relax
The choice to save money, to intentionally live on less so that I could save more, instead of shopping all the time.
The choice to execute on the tasks I lay out for myself in my plans as opposed to focus on something else or watch Netflix
The choice to eat the healthy meal as opposed to getting take out
All these little choices, almost micro decisions we make on a day to day basis, when you are choosing from a place of being very clear on what the short term benefit is vs the long term benefit, if you choose that long term benefit more often, you are going to be in a better position in the future. It’s about making a short term sacrifice so you have an even greater outcome in the future.
And I feel like self-control or delayed gratification isn’t always discussed so much in the topic of productivity. And I can understand why because it’s a hard factor to account for. People often ask me how I get myself to do things, and I have shared different hacks to help trick your brain, or develop routines or how to bribe yourself into stick to your plans. All of these tactics are simply ways to get you to control yourself and your decisions.
So, I want to lay out a method for you that is simple, but by no means going to be easy to execute.
If you believe you struggle with impulse control or delayed gratification- if you see that you too often choose the option with the short term benefit to the detriment of long term plans and outcomes, this is my suggestion for you.
First, before you make the choice itself, you need to be self-aware and mindful that a decision point is happening. I think for many of you, you experience this feeling, likely has a sense of concern or anxiety. You know you are being faced with a choice that may temporarily derail or delay progress towards a long term outcome you desire.
So, when you get this feeling, you need to force yourself to pause. You need to stop what you are doing and get quiet inside your own mind to work out the choice.
I think this is often the first mistake people make is that they get the feeling that they were making a bad choice but instead of stopping for a moment to consider it, they bulldoze right through it. And I get why- because sometimes you are in a situation where there is a level of chaos around you. Easy example of this is your choosing dinner for the night and your kids are screaming that they want pizza- I can imagine it’s hard to be mindful in that moment. But it’s important to find a way to pause, even if you have to run to the bathroom and chill for a minute to get clear on making the right choice.
Okay, so once you are paused, you need to look at each option. Option 1 is the option that will bring you a short term benefit and option 2 is the one that will give you long term success. When you stop, you need to literally spell it out for yourself what each option is and why. So option 1 is to lay on the couch and watch a movie because you are tired and would like to relax, but option 2 is to sit back at your desk and write that article for the blog you always wanted to start. What happens to you if you choose option 1? You get to relax, sure, but you also yet again delay work on that project you really wanted to start. What happens to you if you choose option 2? You actually accomplish something you’ve been wanting to do but you might be very tired later or the next day. Which would you regret more? That’s a key question to ask yourself. I don’t like to dwell on regret or what might have been, but in this situation, if you are someone who chooses instant gratification or short term wins over long term ones, you very likely deal with a sense of regret a lot. It’s probably taken a toll on your confidence and self-esteem to some extent.
Okay, so you get to that choice point, you pause, you stop to evaluate your options and then you choose. That choice point could be an excellent opportunity for you to reach out to someone like an accountability buddy or someone who is aware of your objectives and struggle, to get their feedback. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I want to buy something and I think it might be an impulse purchase I will often tell on myself by asking the opinion of someone I know will say not to buy it. But eventually the choice has to be made, so hopefully this pause gave you time to reflect on the better choice, and hopefully you made the better choice. If you didn’t, if you choose poorly, the final step to this process is to forgive yourself and remember this situation for future reference. Perhaps you can keep a page in your planner dedicated to recalling these situations for future, or maybe you can write it out on the notes app of your phone, or perhaps you have a conversation with a trusted person that you can reach out to in the future when faced with the same situation and hopefully they will jog your memory. Because sometimes I think it’s easy for us to forget. In fact, I know this is true. The human brain is a wonderful machine that often forces us to forget important information, like that we made a poor choice in the past, so that we can live with ourselves. So, if you can find a way to document the experience, I think that will go along way to helping you remember and helping you to reflect in the future when faced with a similar choice.
The last thing I want to say about this whole process though, is that something you will notice if you start this process and start making more of those better long term decisions, is that it will actually become easier for you each time. There is a certain momentum and confidence that comes from being aware of the decisions we make and why and how they are positively impacting our lives. So, the more you make those better choices, the more you are stepping into the reality that you are a more put together, successful person who does what they say they are going to do. And there is a tremendous amount of powerI believe in being able to honestly say, I am someone that gets things done. I am someone who can trust my choices, I am someone who knows how to make good choices for myself. Building that momentum, will bring you to that mindset and ultimately that mindset completely changes a persons life. So, expect big things from this shift.
Well, that is everything I wanted to share with you about self-discipline and success and productivity. I hope you found this information interesting and of course actionable. I would love to hear your thoughts and how this process works for you once you are able to give it a try.
I am very pleased to announce that the 2021 Planner Insert Collection is now officially available on The Charmed Shop!
Click the button below to shop the collection of printable inserts now.
New & Noteworthy
There are over a dozen new print on demand insert options in this collection ranging from new calendar and agenda spreads, to new a la carte insert options and even a few new bundles.
The biggest change that has been made in The Charmed Shop for 2020 onward, however, is that all the PDF inserts have been reformatted and when you purchase a design you get BOTH the Half Letter AND Personal Size File. Included with each purchase is also a highly detailed set of Print Instructions that will walk you through printing your inserts at Personal, Half Letter, A5, Full Letter and A4 size!
AND that’s not all! So many of you have been asking if my inserts can be printed to fit the Happy Planner and it’s proprietary dimensions of 7in W x 9.25 in H and I am pleased to announce that the answer is now YES!
One of the most significant changes to the 2021 Planner Insert Collection has been made to the Charmed Life Master Planner. Now called the Master Plan System, this print on demand functional planning system now includes multiple different options for Monthly Calendars and Weekly Agenda spreads. For monthly spreads you can now choose between Month on One Page Calendar or Month on Two Page Calendar. For weekly planning you can now choose between Week on Two Pages, Week on One Page or Day on One Page inserts. There are also options for you to purchase all the monthly or weekly insert options as well at a special bundle price. All the print on demand inserts have been reformatted to be even easier to print at home, and are a breeze to mix and match. It’s never been easier to swap and customize your planning system to fit your evolving planning and organization needs as the year progresses!
2021 Planner Insert Launch Party
Now, of course to celebrate all the new planning goodies launching in The Charmed Shop, you are invited to the LIVE Planner Launch Party I am hosting on YouTube TOMORROW Saturday July 11th @ 2pm EST. I’ll be emailing out a direct link to the launch party on Saturday morning to those on my email list if you are interested in joining me. During the party, you’ll get a chance to see all the new inserts in action and ask me all your planning and productivity questions!
So, I hope to see you LIVE on Saturday for the launch party and get a chance to introduce you to each of the new inserts in The Charmed Shop personally!
Of course, all the new inserts are now available so click the button below to start shopping now!
I have to admit, this month was something of a struggle for me. Being at home on lock down since my birthday in March, it’s been a mental battle staying productive and positive for so long in such unusual circumstances. So, if you have also been struggling, my heart goes out to you as well and just know you are not alone. So many people are struggling right now in so many different ways, but just know that your feelings and experience are valid and worth taking the time to acknowledge and understand.
Despite the mental anguish May brought to me, I have to admit, creating content for you was certainly a welcome outlet and reprieve from my own mind. This month I created 12 pieces of content for you that I hope you were able to enjoy and learn from, but if you missed something, don’t worry, I have catalogued it all for you here in this post for your quick reference.
As always, I do hope this post is useful to you, and I do find that for those who like to share my content, this is always a great post to share with friends, family and co-workers because it gives a nice overview of a months worth of content on various topics with easy links to everything new! So, don’t hesitate sharing this post above all because it really is a nice bit of reference for all the content and information I publish in a month.
I hope this roundup helps you locate any content of mine you may have missed this month. I’d love to hear which content was your favorite from the month and what you’d like to see more of from me in the future. Please leave me a comment below and share your thoughts!
June is right around the corner, so you know what that means? Time for another fun monthly freebie!
When I was outlining the designs I wanted to create for my new round of freebies this year, I original had listed that I wanted to create a printable travel packing list for June just in time for summer in the northern hemisphere. However, things change of course, and with most of the world still on lockdown and social distancing, I thought that insert design wouldn’t be the most applicable. Instead, looking at my own life for inspiration, I realized I was watching a lot more shows and movies now and that I needed a little tracker to help me remember all the titles I wanted to watch and their schedules. So, that is what I decided to create for us for June. A Television and Movie Tracker insert!
The Television & Movie Tracker Insert is a FREE Planning Printable you can use to keep track of all the television shows, series and movies you want to watch. The versatile design makes it easy to list out the title of your show or movie, then circle the day of the week the show airs and below that the time. You have room to denote the network or channel for reference, whether you have your DVR set to record the show and finally if you have watched it. Simple as that- now you have one simple insert to use as reference when you are planning out your week so you make time for all the shows, movies and series you are interested in!
The insert is delivered as a printable PDF file sized for half letter 5.5″ x 8.5″ without cut lines when printed at 100% scale, but feel free to print in larger or smaller scale as needed.
And of course, if there is anything you need from me, any questions you have for dealing with your productivity or life during this challenging time, please let me know how I can support you and bring you the solutions or resources to make things a little easier for you!
I have been reevaluating my plans for the rest of May and have decided to cancel the two live streams I had scheduled for this month. I would like to establish a new schedule starting in June once I have my thoughts in order, but for now I just need some time and space to work on things behind the scenes. Thank you so much for your interest in my live events and I hope to have you join me for another in the future!
Today, I just wanted to quickly update you on the next two live stream classes I will be holding for May. I know for the past few weeks my schedule was up in the air, but things have calmed down now and I have set my final two live classes for the month.
• Saturday May 23rd, 2020 @ 2PM EDT: HOW TO GET CLEAR ON YOUR BUSINESS GOALS
• Saturday May 30th, 2020 @ 2PM EDT: JUNE PLAN WITH ME
I would love for you to join me live for these events, so please do mark your calendar and set a reminder. If you are on my email list, as always, you will receive an email from me before class begins with the link and reminder. I may begin sending these reminder emails a little earlier than I have just to ensure everyone has a chance to join on time!
In about a week my business will be celebrating its sixth year in existence! First of all, I would just like to say how proud I am that it surpassed the dreaded five year mark of failure, wherein a vast majority of businesses close up shop within the first five years. So, I guess we could say I have a good grip on what it takes to run a business online, successfully. Has the road been perfect? Certainly not. I know I have made mistakes along the way and although I don’t like to have regrets, I certainly am aware of business decisions I made that didn’t turn out the way I wanted. All of this experience over the past six years has made me stronger though. From trial and error I know more of what I want from my business and what I am trying to create with it. I’ve also learned a lot about what it takes on a personal and energetic level to establish and remain balanced as a business owner. Managing my time, energy and expectations so that I can achieve my business goals right alongside my personal life goals, and still be moving my life forward in all the areas that matter to me. So, if you would like to know more about some of the insights I’ve gleaned on this topic, this is what I would like to share with you today.
If you are trying to find balance as a small business owner, there are three main objectives you have to learn and make routine priorities in your life:
✔︎ You have to learn to Manage Your Time
✔︎ You have to learn to Focus Your Energy
✔︎ And you have to learn to Balance Your Expectations
Manage Your Time
The first aspect you must learn into order to find balance as a small business owner is to manage your time. This is one of the most practical lessons you must learn because running a business is a different kind of demanding job than other careers. Yes, time management is key for everyone to learn, but when you are running a business and you are both the boss and the employee, the visionary leader and the practical worker, priorities are everywhere and their is always more work to do then you can actually get done.
In order to get really good at time management, I think the best place to start is by getting crystal clear on your priorities and create a system for prioritizing tasks. As you will be doing the difficult task of defining the direction for your business, breaking it down into objectives and project plans, and then executing on the work, knowing what work is the priority is always important.
As a solo business owner, I wear a heck of a lot of hats and I move between a lot of different types of work. So to keep this organized, I like to manage my work time on a themed workday schedule. Every day of the week is earmarked for different types of work so that I can be as efficient as possible when switching between different types of tasks.
I also tend to operate my personal daily schedule based on the concept of the top three list. Meaning, everyday I define my work, but I create priorities from my to do list by highlighting three tasks that are the most important to achieve that day. The prioritization aspect of how I choose my top three is defined based on my personal system of prioritization, but generally speaking, I have predefined what my creative output will be for a week and those items become the most important work to finish, followed by scheduled projects and then general business housekeeping tasks.
Now, to ensure that I establish balance with my time each day, I do also stick to a daily schedule that makes time for me to complete my personal routines and tasks throughout the day along side my work tasks. I like having a defined daily routine for my workday because seeing my tasks laid out on an hourly schedule keeps me motivated to stick to it, as I can clearly see that following such a schedule gives me ample time to achieve my personal and business objectives for a single day.
Focus Your Energy
There is a quote I love that states “where attention goes, energy flows” and that has come to be something of a motto that I live by. For me, I have seen how that statement is completely accurate. When I give my time and attention to to topic, I am sending my energy to it, whether I intend to or not, which is why I find it very important that I use my morning routine to set my mind and focus for the day so that I minimize mental distractions.
I achieve this with my morning meditation and journaling practice. After I awaken in the morning, I am in the habit of turning on a meditation and laying in bed, clearing my mind and elevating my personal energy to a state of relaxed bliss. Once I get up out of my meditation and deal with my personal hygiene tasks, I then head to my office where I spend no more than 10 minutes journaling in my High Vibe Bible inserts. On these inserts I have a place to list out my daily gratitude, which again adds to that blissful emotional state. Then, I also have a space to journal my thoughts and plans for the day. Once I am in a positive headspace I find that its much easier for me to create my daily to do list and get excited about the tasks I have to accomplish that day. Going through this daily energetic process even makes me more motivated to undertake tasks that I might normally want to avoid, because instead of approaching them from a place of anxiety or worry, I am approaching them with a mindset of possibility and determination. When I start my day like this, happy and content, I am infinitely more productive, and distractions have a harder time breaking through the energetic boundary I have set for myself.
But, of course, a happy disposition alone isn’t always enough to keep distractions at bay. This is why I do my best to set my work area up to minimize distractions. I am very lucky that right now I don’t have many distractions at home, but I do take steps to ensure I remain focused with my work. I don’t watch tv during the day, I keep my phone on silent and I usually even mute my computer sounds so that email notifications don’t disturb my work. I don’t like to read the news while I’m working because that can often shift my emotional and mental state in a direction I don’t want it to go. But, I do sometimes enjoy listening to music, specifically classical music that keeps me uplifted and productive while I perform certain tasks. Sometimes, depending on the work I am doing, I will even listen to a book on tape. All these actions help me to minimize distractions that might leech my attention and energy away from my work.
Balance Your Expectations
The third and final element of finding balance as a creative business owner is balancing your expectations. On one hand this concept compliments the idea of priorities discussed under managing your time, but it really goes beyond that. Balancing your expectations is more about understanding your limitations and knowing how much you can accomplish realistically. I think a lot of times creative entrepreneurs have such big visions that they try to do too much too soon. They take on a lot of work and then work becomes their entire life, or work drains them to the point of failure and burnout. I know it is a challenge living in the digital age and seeing all the possibilities of how you can build a business and market online, but you need to draw the line at what works for you and what is realistic for you to achieve.
Taking myself for instance. I know that something that works for me is writing, so I write three blog posts a week. I don’t think I could do more than three outside of an occasional extra update and remain as productive as I am, however. Same thing goes with my video creation. I used to make two videos a week, but I burned out of enthusiasm for that after a few years, so now I stick to one. I might see other businesses posting more, or in different ways. I am often asked to start a podcast, but with what time and energy because I am booked up at the moment.
You need to get clear with yourself on the expectations you are setting for yourself and your business to manage your workload on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, as well as to understand the signs of when you need to refill your energy and in what ways to do that. I do a lot of self-care on a daily basis. I have self-care routines starting from the moment I wake up and start meditating, to weekly meal preparations, and even regular quiet time alone. I know the amount of self-care I need to take on in order to properly fill my cup so that each day and week I have the energy to take on my realistic workload. It’s a balance, energy in and energy out. Burnout comes from too much energy out and not enough energy back in.
Well, that is how I balance my energy as a creative business person, focusing on how I manage my time, focus my energy and balance my expectations. This productivity triangle of sorts is the key to how I manage to get so much done, even as a solopreneur. Now, if you would like some additional help on this topic of finding balance as a business owner or entrepreneur, I would also recommend that you check out my CEO Strategy Day Concept and FREE Template. You can read all about it here, but briefly, my CEO Strategy Day Concept is a routine I use to keep myself operating efficiently and ensure my life is balanced without any important items slipping through the cracks. I hope the CEO Strategy Day Template helps you to plan and execute a day for you to get into alignment with your highest self and goals for your best life!
I’d love to hear what you thought of this information, so please do share your feedback and opinions in the comments. I’d also love for you to share any additional tips you use to keep yourself balanced as a creative entrepreneur or business person!
I had a pretty productive month all things considered, and I shared 16 awesome pieces of content, mostly business related, that you should really check out. So take a look at the titles below, what did you already see, what did you miss, and what you did you absolutely love?
I create this monthly recap of content to ensure that each and every one of you within my community do not miss out on the strategy, insight and advice I have to share because you never know when a blog post or a video is going to give you that one little element that will help you make tremendous connections with your ideas. That happens to me a lot actually, so I just want to make sure you don’t miss out on any topics that would be of value to you.
Also, just a thought- if you enjoy any of this content or want to help spread the word about my content because its been helpful or valuable to you in your life or business, than I highly recommend sharing any of my posts, of course, but sharing these recaps is a great way to let your friends, family or coworkers see a sampling of my content at one time! It’s like a smorgasbord of content to choose from and sharing is caring!
I hope this roundup helps you locate any content of mine you may have missed this month. I’d love to hear which content was your favorite from the month and what you’d like to see more of from me in the future. Please leave me a comment below and share your thoughts!
Well, I hope the last month has been productive for you and your goals. I know I have certainly had a jam packed month especially with my weekly live business classes happening on Saturdays. If you haven’t been following along with them, essentially, each Saturday I have been going Live on my YouTube channel and hosting a class covering an essential business topic. I know these classes aren’t for everyone, although all certainly are welcome, but I felt like sharing regular insight on business was something I could do during this challenging time to help ensure that those of you within my community with businesses or who aspire to run their own business, stay on track.
I myself have been very focused on my business as of late, as I am personally taking this unusual period of time to also buckle down and get clear on my path. Even though I have been in business for, wow, six years this month, I still don’t have it all figured out and need time to focus and plan and go over fundamental questions for my business foundation.
Since there do seem to be many of you who are following this path with me, I thought this month it would be great for me to give you a free download that helps make this process of managing our lives and our business objectives a little easier.
My CEO Strategy Day Template!
Now, I know this template isn’t exactly new, however, I have taken the template and turned it into downloadable inserts, so if you want to use the template in your planner to map our your own CEO Strategy Day, this freebie will help.
And of course, if there is anything you need from me, any questions you have for dealing with your productivity or life during this challenging time, please let me know how I can support you and bring you the solutions or resources to make things a little easier for you!
As I am writing this post, I have now spent over five weeks in social isolation at home due to the recent world pandemic, and I know each of you are likely in the same situation. At this point, it looks like some countries might begin loosening social distancing regulations soon, but we’re still going to be inside for a while longer and I wanted to share with you how I’ve been spending my time at home productively, to give you some ideas or inspiration for how you also could make good use of this time.
First let’s talk about my mindset during this pandemic, because I think its good to start with your head in the right place. I know there is a lot of anxiety going around, and fear for our health, safety and future economic security, but I pretty much refuse to give into that fear and lack mentality. Things aren’t perfect right now, thats true, and it feels like there is a lot of uncertainty in the world, sure, but honestly, life itself is a lot of uncertainty. Nothing has really changed about that, anyone could leave us at any moment, we could loose our financial security because of a job loss or downturn in an industry or market, really the only thing that has changed is that we are now seeing the truth. The world was never a certain place. I get that can be frightening for people. Humans have what is called a cognitive need for closure, which means we like to know what’s going on, we like to understand situations, good or bad, we don’t like to be left hanging with unknowns. Right now, the world seems like a big unknown, but I promise you, just as life is filled with uncertainty, it also has a persistent way of fighting on. When we look at history we know this is true. After world wars and pandemics in the past, we have been faced again with prosperity. Things will get better, they will go back to normal, nothing lasts forever. Because every time we overcome a hurdle, we are better for it.
So, I’m not feeding into the false idea that we should be afraid or worried- all of that is a waste of time and energy. Honestly, if we really did have significant cause for worry, worrying would be the absolute worst use of our energy in that situation. We need to keep calm cool heads. Which is why I’ve been doing a lot of meditation during this time. To keep myself calm and focused, and grounded in my knowing that this is just a temporary situation, a construction that is going to lead to new expansion.
Task #1: Meditate daily Spending just 30 minutes a day in the morning when you wake up or just before you fall asleep relaxing to a meditation track will do wonders for managing any anxiety or stress that you might be experiencing during this time. YouTube has free meditations for every situation, so I recommend using one of those to start.
Now that we have our heads in the right place, let me explain a bit about my strategy during this period of time. Strangely enough, I truly believe that this reordering of the world is an opportunity for each of us to take our focus off the outside world and outer expectations, and start focusing inward. How many times have you or I said “I wish I had more time for x?” X being some long held personal goal, project or objective that you just didn’t have time for in the busy-ness of our former lives. Well, guess what? Now, stuck at home all day, we have an opportunity to focus on those other goals. While the past five weeks haven’t been an all expenses paid vacation, the new challenge of making life work from home has also come with great new opportunities. The vast majority of us now no longer have a commute, regular social obligations, events or other distractions on our time. So, if you are home feeling a little stir crazy running out of ideas of things to do, it’s time to put your energy into that project you’ve been putting off. I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking that this is the perfect time for me to focus on my health and the back end of my business. I can’t go out to eat, I’m not distracted by dinners or brunches with friends who might derail a diet, so I should focus on sticking to my meal plan and getting in shape. With the economy taking a hit, although I am very blessed that my business hasn’t been affected, I should take this opportunity to take a step back and work on those lingering tasks and upgrades I’ve been putting off for too long. Focus less on selling and more on what I can do to create better systems that will eventually make my life easier in the future. That would really be a productive use of time right now for me, so determine what would be a productive use of time for you. How can you use this time to set a goal, map out a plan and track an objective that will make your life better once we are on the other side of this pandemic?
The final thing I’ve been doing during this pandemic to help me stay motivated and productive is having video dates with friends and family. I don’t know about you, but before the pandemic hit I remember shaking my head at all the memes that would go around poking fun at how people would make plans with friends but then either cancel or prefer to stay home. I know you have seen at least a few of these graphics yourself, and I have definitely been on both sides of that situation. Having friends cancel on me at the last minute because they don’t want to go out or personally feeling too drained to get myself up and ready for a night out. I feel like what is happening with social distancing is almost like all those memes have finally come to fruition. All our social calendars are clear, we are all spending quiet evenings at home. As much as I would say I have been taking well to the social isolation, I know that I do need social interaction to keep sane. For the first few weeks this wasn’t a priority, but after a friend invited me to my first pandemic girls night via zoom, I realized that I had been sorely missing social activities. So, I have been prioritizing them now. It really has made such a difference just to see and talk to people, and scheduling a date out ahead of time gives you something to look forward to in a time when all the days of the week start to blur together.
Task #3: Schedule a weekly video date with a friend or family member. Don’t just play this by ear, set a scheduled day and time to devote to this so you have something to look forward to and to get ready for. Put a but of effort in getting ready, especially if you haven’t had many reasons to get yourself dressed up to be on camera.
So, that is how I have been spending my time productively during the pandemic. I hope this post gave you some inspiration for things you could do while you are stuck at home to continue living your best life! I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to, so leave me a comment below, and check out my Live Events schedule and consider joining me for my next free class to hang out and learn together!
