A feminine approach to △ productivity & energy management
I’m curious if this feels familiar?…
It’s the beginning of the week, you’re inspired and energized about your work—you create big visions and plans for the future. You make lists. You cross things off. You feel like you can accomplish it all.
Then, life happens.
Your baby gets sick. Your friend calls in crisis. Your partner needs you. New projects fall into your lap. Your energy becomes pulled in so many different directions…
The week ends and you’re exhausted. Your to-do list stretches on and on. The big plans are put on hold. The vision becomes overwhelming rather than dreamy.
This is a scenario that myself and so many clients come up against. How do we show up fully in our lives and our work? How do we keep up the momentum when life takes over? How can we balance the both/and?
Being a business owner and…a devoted partner. A dear friend. A world traveler. A present mother. {Insert the many other titles here.}
So, I’d love to share suggestions for the times in life when you’re holding a lot and you want to keep your business flowing. Or in more traditional terms, tips for productivity and energy management.
Tip #1. Practice discernment.
What's essential? What can you let go of? Create a weekly planning ritual of going through your to-do list and prioritizing what's most important. Then take the top three priorities and schedule them on your calendar to make sure that at the very least these items get done.
Tip #2. Align your calendar with your energy cycles.
We naturally have fluctuations in our energy, whether this aligns with the seasons, the moon cycles, or our menstrual cycles. We can leverage this knowledge when we're planning our commitments. There will be times when you have increased capacity and energy, and times when you don't. That's okay. You can utilize the higher energy phases for tasks like launching new projects or planning events, and the lower energy phases for tasks like catching up on emails, website updates, or other administrative items.
Tip #3. Break it down.
Break your big projects down into manageable baby steps, or action items. Pull out your calendar and start mapping out the weeks ahead with the action items. Remember to leave space for life—travel, connection, rest, relationships, play.
Tip #4. Create systems to free up your time.
Systems are a game changer. For example, I'm a huge proponent of passive marketing. This could look like dialing in your SEO or creating automated funnels. There are so many other ways to create systems beyond this! For example, client on-boarding, invoicing, scheduling, automated posting, etc.
I hope this message supports those who are straddling the both/and. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest.