Hi Friends!
First of all–we are anticipating a good amount of snow today. And here in NC we see snow some, but it always ignites a level of excitement (okay, or panic for some). So I am sitting here in my office with a stupid little smile just staring out the window every few minutes like I’m waiting on Santa Claus or something.
I want to talk with you today about being your own boss. Good in theory–scary in execution.
As a girl who has worked for herself for almost a year, you’d think I’d have this whole be your own boss thing down. But in all honesty I fell off the productivity train. I’ve spent a lot of time lately waiting. Passing time. Living for any moment but this one. I lost direction. I lost sight of where I’m trying to go.
Sound familiar? You’re getting through the day. You just have one more project to finish. You just have one more show you want to watch. You want to try to beat that level on Candy Crush just one more time (even though it makes you want to fling your phone out the window).
Time is very valuable. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. And typically you have some kind of routine or schedule in place. Your day is shaped around where you go–work or school. You have responsibilities and a set amount of time to accomplish them. There is a designated start and stop to your day.
I am my own boss. And my work is just a stumble across the hallway into the next room. That’s the dream. This is my dream. But I do struggle with time management. That almost makes me laugh now because when I was working 40+ hours a week, I still managed to find the time to commit to writing a book, planning a wedding and figuring out a move out of the state. Why is it that when we have more to do, the more time we find?
Since I was so sick the last half of the year and then came the holidays–I noticed that I’m still kind of in vacation mode. J put on real pants and headed back into the office on January 6th, and I waved goodbye from the couch while still in my PJs devouring episode after episode of Gossip Girl.
So how do you get back to the grind when you’re the only person holding yourself responsible? Laziness feels so good. But productivity feels much better, I promise you.
Figure out what it is you want*
Implement a routine.
Implement rules.
Find your groove
*This is so much more important than you’ll ever realize. Pin pointing exactly what it is you want is absolutely crucial to making that happen. Seems simple enough–but a lot of times we have this vague idea of the kind of life or job or partner we want instead of being specific. Map it out. Take out a piece of paper and a good old pen and figure it out.
When I noticed how unproductive I was being, I penned down a few things that I need to change. Some seem pretty obvious. Some seem silly and ridiculous. But I know myself (and I’m sure you know yourself).
I hope you all have a wonderful and productive day! And if you’re hanging out here on the East Coast with me–I hope you have LOTS of fun snow to play in by the end of the day!
This is such great advice – I'm still working a 40-60 hour work week, but I've wanted to kick myself in the butt to make the hours I am at home MUCH more productive. Yes it means cutting out a bit of TV time :-/ but it has made it worthwhile! Great post Jo!!
Yay routines! You can do it!
I love that you recognized what was happening and implemented a plan to change it. I'm go guilty of watching myself drift and drift and drift, and it isn't until I'm halfway out to sea that I admit how badly I need to head for the shore! 🙂 You'll be so thankful that you got a jumpstart now and not tomorrow.
I need to sit down and do this. I have absolutely no understanding of time management. I was actually planning to write a post about it, eventually. I struggle with doing what I want to do vs doing what I need to do.
Wellll, you know I'M there because of my last post, even if it's not exactly on work. I couldn't agree more with making a routine though. Spending days at home can just zap that right out of you, and my most productive days are always the ones where I get up and go do something. From there, things just call into place and I have more energy. So with Declan, I've found that going out in the morning helps so much, then nap, and then once he wakes up if I need to do more around the house or whatever I know I've focused the morning hours on him and am already dressed and ready to tackle life. I don't know… It's all such a mental battle!