BUSY was my middle name.
If I didn’t have 5 tasks on my calendar, I didn’t feel good (about myself).
Sitting on a sofa with a cup of coffee? Hello, that’s not me- I don’t do nothing! I am always on the move. Because doing nothing is for lazy people and I better be not lazy. Lazy is not good enough.
You see, my mum is a wonderful woman. In her sixties, always on the go, never having a blank space in a day. Her values sank with me deeply and I live by them.
Coming home from school meant usually one thing in my childhood – get yourself busy, do house chores, don’t just hang around…
Then halfway through my life, I would find myself at a crossroad:
Some strong force was pushing me towards being busy, but my subconscious knew that this was not the right path.
Multitasking Is A Myth
And then it dawned on me.
It is not about being busy, it is about seeing results – being productive.
I can have one or two scheduled things for a day, more importantly – what matters is, what the outcome is.
Multitasking is a myth if you ask me. Being present and consciously choosing what I spend my time on, is gold.
If you are anything like me and feel fed up with rushing around the house, think about this. Picking up 10 things at once, cleaning, doing laundry, and talking to a client on the phone at the same time is not the way to be productive.
So what to do instead?
So What To Do To Be Productive?
1. Conscious outlook on your day.
Conscious is the keyword here. Don’t do things on autopilot, you might miss the turn and end up doing ten things partially and not finishing any of them. It’s also called ‘’being present’’. I see that I need to tidy the house and I choose to do it during my break from working on a computer. I will not use the precious morning hours when my focus and energy are at their highest level. Know your energy levels and schedule the tasks accordingly.
Qs to help you find your answers:
What do you want your productive day to look like? How do you want to feel? What results do you want to see?
2. Know your energy levels.
Time and energy are indeed limited resources. The only fair game in the lives of people around the world is how many hours we get in one day. No exceptions. You may see me talking about time management and I do help my clients manage their time. What is slightly hidden among the words is that it is more about energy, actions, and focus than it is about time.
Qs to help you find your answers:
What time of day are you at your energy peak? How would you structure your day if it was totally under your control? What activities would you skip and when?
3. Focus now for the long run.
A simple definition of focus tells us that it is the thinking skill that allows us to begin a task without procrastination and then maintain our attention and effort until the task is complete. Another rule applies – what you focus on grows. So, let´s choose wisely because this standard works for positive as well as negative things.
Qs to help you find your answers:
What task do you want to complete? What is it in your life that you want to change? On a scale from 1 to 10, how focused are you on that one thing? (1 being the minimum, 10 being the desired 100% focus)
I am happy to say BUSY is no longer my middle name – I changed it to HAPPY and productive instead 😉
Now, what’s your middle name?
And more importantly, is this name serving you or not?
Would love to know.
With love,
