A little while back I threw on some gumboots and slunked my way out the backdoor. It was already 3pm and I felt like I had doomscrolled my day away. Perhaps you’ve felt like this too. It was Monday. I had PLANS! But instead, I found myself at the end of a day feeling like the most I could account for was the break I took with my kid to learn about turtles in Ontario – there are 9 different types! I digress.
You’ve probably felt this before as well. The truth of the matter is that not every day is going to be as productive as any other. We ebb and flow…and we often don’t calculate how necessary percolation time is to the final product (more on that another time).
Instead we equate productivity with progress.
Even inadvertently, we still follow the idea that the busier we are, the more we’re growing our businesses etc. etc. Paid per word, per item sold, calibrating success by the number of Likes or Follows.
Only that’s not true and even as I grumped my way into the afternoon, not the way I want to do business. So here are 3 things to do when you feel the same way:
- You are not your productivity level. Your worth is not defined by your To Do List. Rest is revolution. These are incredibly important to integrate in our Hustle-Focused Culture. If we are going to change the way we do business, we need to be better bosses to ourselves and that means changing the corporate culture from within. Aka. be good to yourself already, will ya?!
Aaaaand – shit still needs to get done so that brings me to… - The “Holy Shit I Did That List”. You can call it anything you want – TaDah! List, Did It List, Donezo List – but the premise is this: if you’re feeling unproductive, write down everything you’ve done. Booked that appointment? Write it down. Answered your emails? Write that down. Cleaned the dishes? Parented? Made dinner? Called a friend? Posted to IG? Wrote a teensy bit of copy? Read a chapter? Write it all down.
What I love about this is that you can see how productive you actually are. Maybe you didn’t get to that big task you planned, but you sure filled your time with goodness. - MOST IMPORTANT! If the only thing on your Holy Shit I Did That List is “sat on the couch”, that’s cool. See #1.
You are not a machine. Stop expecting yourself to behave like one.
You are a human being, running a business. Be gentle with yourself and your success will be sustainable.