boost-work-productivity

When you are self employed, creating a schedule is a must if you want to keep your head above water. Add motherhood and your entire life becomes one “scheduled” event after another. If you are really honest, the thought of doing anything without checking your schedule is like suicide.

So if this is true, how can you even consider adding an exercise routine to your already hectic day without scheduling some time for it?

If your calendar looks anything like mine, it is filled with meetings, clients and admin. Then I add school drop off/pick up, piano, swimming and gymnastics and it seems like I barely have time to pee, let alone get in a workout.

But!! As impossible as it seems, it’s all about priorities.

Unfortunately, some people have to experience serious health issues before they make their health a priority. So if you have time to sit and watch some of your favorite TV shows or enjoy sitting and reading the morning newspaper cover to cover with a latte each morning, you have time to focus on a bigger picture – you.

Setting Priorities

So before you say “ya, I know….but I’m not ready to give any of those things up”, ask yourself if you are really happy with how you feel; your energy level, your stamina and your life.

If (like most of us) there are areas that you wished were better, it all starts from within. Do some soul searching and find out what you truly want.

Start small and build

Break it up into bite size chunks so you can realistically get it done. Whether it’s walking every day for 30 minutes, doing a fitness DVD 3 days a week, eating breakfast for a change (you know who you are) or cutting out sweets; figure out what is required to get it done (prep, informing your family) and plan ahead.

Schedule it

Now grab your Google calendar, Outlook schedule or day-timer and slot the times in PEN so nothing else will get “mistakenly” double booked as this time is solely for your purpose. Don’t worry; you can always catch up on the news on the radio or PVR your TV show to watch another time.

Just think. After it’s done, the feeling of relief that you have actually made yourself a priority for a change. And once you actually follow through, you can be sure that you will feel much better than when you started.

We all know that feeling but unfortunately, no one has bottled it yet. You will have to find out for yourself.

2 thoughts on “Ways to Achieve Great Productivity

  1. I completely agree with everything you’ve listed here, Samantha! And what’s great about this blog is that it extends beyond working from home and applies to anyone who has to drive a great distance to work. Finding a way to balance the work-life relationship is important to any piece of work we undertake. One of my favourite points here is the ‘setting priorities’ section. There’s no denying that on any given day we have hundreds of tasks to complete. If we can learn to prioritize and get the bigger projects taken care of first, the small ones will feel like a breeze. I also think this ties in nicely to your last point: scheduling. We know sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day, but if we schedule, we can get to work on multiple projects and ensure everything is completed on time. So whether it’s booking one-on-one time with family or booking time once a week to manage any shipping or courier projects, it’s all about priorities.

  2. Thanks for the kind words Paul. It's a simple formula yet tough to apply if you;re not ready. But I have always said; no time like the present!

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