Tag: Time Management

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Posted in Goal

How to Stop Procrastination: 5 Easy Ways To Stop Procrastinating And Get More Done Right Away

Posted on by tracydee

How to stop procrastination. What an important question. Have you ever worked on something then suddenly lose your motivation and start procrastinating? If you have, I’m sure you’ve had a moment where you just want to give up. As long as we’re alive, procrastination is inevitable.

According to research by the University of Sheffield, around 80% of us will procrastinate at some point. And while some people are better at managing their time than others, it seems like we all struggle with procrastination at some point or another.

When we get home from school or work, many of us aren’t motivated enough to do anything productive. We watch TV or spend time on social media instead of making real progress toward our goals. This article will show you five steps that have helped me stop procrastinating and get more done on a daily basis.

How to stop procrastination: First, find out why you are procrastinating, and then go after that.

First, find out why you are procrastinating, and then go after that. If it’s because you’re tired or just don’t feel like doing what needs to be done, make sure that you get enough sleep and eat properly so that your body is well-rested and nourished.

If you find yourself putting off work because your mind is somewhere else, try focusing on the task at hand by visualizing how good it will feel when it’s finished or imagining what others will think of you when they see how well you did on your project.

If you have anxiety about completing something, ask yourself if this fear is rational or not. Do I really need to do this today? Or do I just want to get out of doing something? Is there another way around whatever is causing the anxiety? If so, try using it instead of avoiding the task altogether!

How to stop procrastination: Determine Your Most Productive Time of Day

You may think you’re a night owl or a morning person, but chances are your productivity isn’t affected by when you wake up — it’s affected by when you start working on important tasks.

Instead of being held to your biological clock, determine what time of day works best for you, and then make sure that’s when you get started on important tasks (or at least try).

This way, if you’re feeling tired at 11 pm, there’s no harm in pushing back an important task until tomorrow morning instead of trying to get it done tonight!

I recently saw a video where someone recommended that you prioritize yourself in the morning. Meaning, try to reach your personal goals before going to the work you need to pay the bills.

how to stop procrastination
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How to stop procrastination: Create a To-Do List – Check!

The first step in getting more done is creating a to-do list. This might seem like an obvious tip, but so many people don’t do this because they think they don’t need one or they’ve heard bad things about them (e.g., “I’m just not good at making lists”). But the truth is that making lists is one of the easiest ways to get things done! They help us prioritize our tasks so we can focus on what’s most important, they help us feel more organized, and they make us feel less overwhelmed by giving us a sense of control over our day-to-day lives.

How to stop procrastination: Set Up Small Rewards for Reaching Goals

The easiest way to stop procrastinating is by setting small rewards for reaching your goals. You don’t have to wait until you reach your final goal before rewarding yourself (although that certainly helps). Instead, set up small rewards along the way that are achievable and easy enough that they won’t take up too much time or energy on your part.

For example, if you want to write an ebook and make some money from it, don’t set aside time on Wednesday night at 8 pm for writing your book. Instead, set aside 30 minutes after lunch each day for writing 500 words or so. Once you do this consistently for a week or two (without missing any days), then reward yourself with something that makes you happy.

How to stop procrastination: Make It Quick and Dirty at First

And last but not least, make it quick and check that box to give you a boost to keep going. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your task list, start with the easiest tasks first. That way, when you check them off your list, you’ll feel accomplished and motivated to tackle the rest of it.

Hey, sometimes I write something so easy on my list just so I can cross it off. And you know what? It works!

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Posted in Goal

Email Etiquette: 5 Simple Tips To Get Your Emails Opened

Posted on by tracydee

When it comes to email etiquette there are 5 simple rules that you need to follow. If you don’t follow these rules then it will be hard to get your emails opened. It might even make the reader think about unsubscribing from your emails.

Use a more professional name as your email address

If your email address is something along the lines of ilovecupcakes@email.com, it’s time to consider changing it. Not only can a more professional-sounding address save you the embarrassment of having someone thinking you’re talking about your love of cupcakes when you’re really discussing an important workplace issue, but it can also help people take you more seriously. If you want to be taken seriously by your boss, a potential employer, or even just an acquaintance, it’s important that your email address doesn’t give off the wrong impression. You don’t have to go with something boring. Just make sure your name is part of the address so that people know who they’re hearing from.

Be concise and clear in the subject line

You need to get your subject line right. If you think of the subject line as a headline, you’ll get the idea. You want to make sure it gets attention, but it also needs to convey the right information. Keep it short and sweet. The average person has an attention span of 8 seconds, so you don’t have long to capture their interest. In just a few words, they should know what they’re looking at and whether they’re interested enough to open it.

If there’s anything that seems like it could be imperative or urgent in the email, put that in the subject line. At the office, people are judging whether your email is worth opening based on how much time will be required of them when they do so. If your email looks like it could be a quick yes/no answer, it will most likely be put off for later.

Avoid spam trigger words

This is one of the most important tips for email marketing. Don’t use spam trigger words. Use clear copy and avoid words used in spam emails. Some examples include: ‘free’, ‘discount’, and ‘money’.

email etiquette
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Be specific about why you are reaching out

If you want someone to respond to your email, then you need to give them a good reason. If all you do is write “Hi” and ask them to check out your blog, they will probably not click on the link. The more specific you are about why you are reaching out, the more likely that person is to respond. For instance, if you’re reaching out to someone from the same town or geographical area as yourself, let them know at the beginning of your email.

Or mention that you read their blog and felt inspired by something they wrote. Always include a call-to-action at the end of your email. This could be anything from asking for feedback on your own blog post to inviting them to connect on social media.

Email etiquette: Avoid text speak in your emails

As a rule, it is considered unprofessional to use “text speak” in your emails—that is, the abbreviations and shorthand that you might use when texting or chatting with friends. You probably already know not to do this in the subject line of a business email. However, sometimes it can be tempting to slip into this mode when composing your message. This is especially easy if you’re working from home and feeling more casual.

Resist the urge! Even if you’re writing an email to someone you know well, it’s important to maintain professional boundaries in what you write. For example, instead of saying “LOL,” say “That’s funny.” Instead of writing “2day” for today, write out the whole word. And so on. There are plenty of other places for you to use text speak—just not in your business emails.

Takeaway: Your emails will get more people to open and read them if you follow these 5 tips.

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Posted in Goal

7 Helpful Time Management Apps for Freelancers + Remote Workers

Posted on by tracydee

Time management is crucial if you are a freelancer or remote worker. Becoming more productive and efficient is really hard, so there’s no one app that will fix all your problems. Freelancers have to juggle responsibilities in their business, daily work activities, and fulfill the needs of their clients. A good time management strategy should be focused on three pillars: improving routine (eg: through habits), effective project management, and finding enough time for important personal activities.

Since every freelancer has different needs, it’s impossible to find an app able to suit everybody’s workflow. In this article, I will share some of my favorite productivity and time management apps for freelancers. These apps help me manage my tasks and focus on what’s important on a daily basis.

Best for Planning – Asana

Plan and manage your freelance projects with Asana. Create tasks with due dates and assign team members. Attach files, collaborate on projects with your whole team, and more. The app is free for teams of up to 15 people, including yourself. If you have a larger team, check out the enterprise plan.

Best for Coordinating Tasks and Projects – Trello

A key component of time management is staying on top of your to-dos and projects, and there are plenty of tools designed to help you with that. One of the best is Trello, a collaborative project management tool that makes it easy to organize your tasks into lists with cards.

With Trello, you can create a board for each project you’re working on, then add lists like “To Do,” “Doing,” and “Done” to keep track of where you are in the process. Each list contains cards that describe the actual task or project, organized by what stage it’s in. When you finish something, just drag the card from one list to another.

You can use Trello for individual projects or for organizing your whole workflow—for example, creating a board called “Today’s Work” with lists like “Calls,” “Client Work,” or “Personal Projects.” If you need to coordinate with someone else—say, a freelancer or assistant—you can invite them to collaborate on your Trello boards.

If you’re looking for an app that will help you manage your tasks and projects for free, give Trello a try.

Best for Syncing Deadlines Across Devices – Google Calendar

If you want to sync your deadlines across all of your devices, Google Calendar is the app for you. The free app is part of the productivity suite that comes with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. You can add events, including recurring ones (like weekly meetings or monthly blog deadlines), and set notifications. Plus, it makes switching between work and personal events easier by letting you color-code different calendars.

Google Calendar works great on its own as a scheduling tool, but it also integrates seamlessly with other productivity apps like Todoist, Trello, and Evernote. And if you’re in a company that uses G Suite, you can invite your colleagues to collaborate on shared events and projects.

Best for Managing Tasks On-the-Go – TickTick

TickTick is one of the great time management apps for freelancers for managing tasks on the go. It’s especially useful if you’re working remotely and need something lightweight to keep track of things like meetings or deadlines without having to lug around paper or write down notes all day long. You’ll find this app particularly helpful if you spend a lot of time traveling, as well as those who need reminders about upcoming appointments while they’re away from their desktops (or laptops).

time management apps for freelancers
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Best for Daily Productivity Tracking – Toggl

No matter how you slice it, if you’re a freelancer or remote worker, you’re running your own business. And like any other small business owner, time management is crucial to your success. That’s where Toggl comes in. Founded back in 2006 in Estonia, this app is designed to help freelancers and remote workers track the amount of time they spend working on a given project so they can bill their clients accordingly.

To use Toggl, simply download the app to your desktop or mobile device and log the start and end times of each project you work on or client you speak with throughout the day. You can track your hours by project or by client, or even break down tasks by sub-task to see how long it takes you to complete a step-by-step process (e.g., creating a website from start to finish). Once logged in, these time tracking entries are saved and displayed as reports that show exactly how much time you’ve spent working on different projects throughout the week. This makes it easy to bill your clients every month when invoice time rolls around.

Best for Habits and Goals- Habitica

This is one of the interesting time management apps for freelancers. Habitica is a free tool that turns managing your to-do list into a game! You create a character based on yourself and earn experience points and loot as you complete tasks. There are also boss fights where you collect items to defeat the enemy. You can create both daily habits and one-time tasks with Habitica, or join groups of friends who are trying to accomplish the same goals as you. If you need an app that will make it fun to manage your time, this is it.

Best For Creating a Schedule and Following It – iStudiez Pro

iStudiez Pro is an iOS-only app that helps freelancers and remote workers create a schedule and then stick to it. Your calendar, class schedule, homework, exams, and even extracurricular activities can be organized in one place. The app syncs with your Apple Calendar too, so you don’t need to worry about losing important appointments or deadlines. You can also create a different schedule for every day of the week, which is ideal if you have some days off (or are on holiday) or if you work different hours on the weekends.

The app even tracks your grades and attendance records, so you can keep track of how well you’re performing at school or work. iStudiez Pro is available on the App Store for $2.99 USD.

Takeaway: You can manage your time as a freelancer or remote worker by using helpful apps.

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Posted in Goal

7 Pieces of Helpful Advice for Setting Boundaries

Posted on by tracydee

Setting boundaries in work and life is difficult. Most of us don’t know how to say “no” or “enough.” We worry about disappointing other people, we worry that we won’t finish our work and get in trouble, or we don’t even know where to draw the lines between our personal and professional lives. And while I don’t have all the answers, I’ve learned if you want to achieve balance and success, you need to learn about setting boundaries.

Start with the small stuff

Start with the small stuff: If you’re new to the idea of setting boundaries, it’s probably not wise to start with something that’s a big deal to you. You need to build up your confidence and practice setting boundaries before you attempt to set them on things that are really important. So start with the small stuff. Allow yourself to be late for dinner with friends. Say no when someone asks if you can pick up the tab for lunch. Leave a party before it gets too late. Don’t answer your phone if you don’t want to talk to the person calling.

Set boundaries by making a request: One of the simplest ways to set a boundary is by making a request of someone else. This allows you to clarify what you do want while also clarifying what you don’t want. For example, let’s say that your sister has been calling every day trying to borrow money from you, but you don’t have any money right now and can’t afford to lend her any more than she’s already borrowed from you. Instead of saying, “I can’t lend you any more money,” try saying something like this: “I’m going through some difficult financial times right now. I’m having a hard time even paying my own bills, so I can’t lend you any right now.”

Take your time

“Take your time” is a phrase we hear all the time, but what does it really mean? When someone asks you to take your time, it’s often because they’re asking you to slow down and not rush into something. While that may make sense in the moment, it can easily become an excuse for putting things off indefinitely. You may be able to rush through something quickly and get it done, but then you’ll either have an unfinished product or a lasting dissatisfaction with how it turned out. That’s not taking your time—that’s leaving things unfinished or not doing them well.

What really taking your time means is using the appropriate amount of time for whatever you’re working on, whether that’s getting ready in the morning, cooking a meal, crafting a holiday present, or anything else. It means setting boundaries for yourself and sticking to them rather than letting others’ expectations about what you should do with your day (or how long it should take) dictate how you spend your time. Having boundaries means being clear with yourself about what you will and won’t do with your time—and if that includes saying “no” to things when they pull at that boundary, so be it.

person jumps on road. Metaphorical image for setting boundaries.
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Set boundaries before you’re in crisis mode

When you’re at the end of your rope and have to set boundaries, it’s easy to say, “I’ll never do that again!” But what if next time is different from the situation? You need to be able to set boundaries in a way that will work for any future conflict. Set yourself up for success by thinking ahead and being consistent.

Think about how you want things to go before you’re in crisis mode. You want everyone to be heard, but you want everyone to feel respected. You want the person who is causing the problem to understand why the behavior is unacceptable. You want a plan for how the problem will get resolved and how to avoid this conflict in the future.

Before anything goes wrong, discuss it with everyone involved—everyone’s feelings matter when it comes to setting boundaries. If one person doesn’t agree with your boundary or doesn’t support you when someone else pushes against it, get another opinion from someone else so you can be confident in your decision.

Set expectations early and consistently. Before there’s an issue, discuss what behaviors are acceptable and what aren’t (within reason). And when those lines are crossed, remind them of the rules they agreed to follow!

Imagine what would happen if you did set a boundary

Imagine what would happen if you did set a boundary and someone respected it. And then another person respected it. And then another. Pretty soon, you’d be surrounded by people who respect your boundaries.

It’s good to remember that boundaries are about self-care. They’re based on what works for you, not what works for everyone else. What’s important is that you know yourself well enough to know what kind of behavior you can tolerate and what kind of behavior is unacceptable to you.

Setting boundaries is challenging if you aren’t used to doing it or have spent a lot of time around people who have ignored or violated your boundaries in the past.
But the more often you set boundaries, the more quickly they’ll come to you. It gets easier over time — and the more people around you who respect your boundaries, the healthier your relationships will be.

Man sitting holding his head thinking about setting boundaries.
Photo by Nathan Cowley on Pexels.com

Remind yourself why you’re doing it

Setting boundaries is essential for yourself and your relationships with others. It’s helpful when you’re overworked or underpaid and need to set some boundaries. Remind yourself why you are taking time off or changing jobs, and list things that need to be done before the transition is complete.

Prioritize yourself, just this once

Slow down. You are doing the best you can.

Prioritize yourself, just this once. If you’re like me, you’re constantly putting other people first. You make them breakfast, drive them around town, do their laundry, and take care of their daily needs. You may feel incredibly guilty when you can’t fulfill all of their requests.

That’s not healthy. Remind yourself that it’s okay to say no sometimes.

I know it’s hard to unplug from work, especially if you work from home (like I do). But you must set boundaries, so your work doesn’t bleed into your personal life 24/7. That’s how burnout happens, and it’s harder to recover from than you might think. When I don’t take breaks, I get headaches and start feeling anxious for no reason. That’s why it’s essential to set aside some time for self-care and recharge your batteries every now and then!

See each boundary as a practice run

A boundary is a limit we set, either in the moment or in advance, to protect ourselves from the unwanted impacts of another person’s behavior.

Boundaries are important to our self-care and wellness because they let others know what is and isn’t acceptable to us. They provide some space between us and another person’s actions. Boundaries can also help you achieve your goals by ensuring you have time to take care of yourself instead of being pulled away by other people’s needs.

See each boundary as a practice run. You set boundaries to learn more about yourself and your values — not because you’re trying to change someone else’s behavior. So, if someone doesn’t respect a boundary you’ve set, accept that outcome and move on. It can often be helpful to think of boundaries as practice runs for setting the next one with that person. For example: “This didn’t go well this time, but next time I’ll try doing it this way.”

Disclosure: This post was written with the assistance of AI tools.

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Posted in Goal, Manifestation

Value Your Time Like Currency

Posted on by tracydee

You need to value your time like currency. I don’t believe we all have the same number of hours in a day. Everyone has different life circumstances and competing demands on their time.

One Harvard research professor, Dr. Ashley Whillans, noted that the majority of Americans feel “time poor“, where they don’t have enough time to complete all responsibilities.

Recently, I was talking to a friend who turned down a job offer, even though the pay was slightly higher. Why? Well, her current role allows for so much flexibility in working hours, that any small pay increase wasn’t worth compromising that flexibility. And what does time allow her to do? She can adjust her schedule around her daughter’s needs for school and homework. She can take a break in the middle of the day to go to the gym.

What is time affluence?

value your time
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So what exactly is time affluence, anyway? I first learned about this term a couple of summers ago when I took a free course online through Coursera: The Science of Well-Being. Professor Laurie Santos explains that we often pair the term affluence with money or wealth, but time is just as valuable. The reason she discusses this is to open our eyes to whether we should be focusing more on valuing time over money to increase happiness.

I highly recommend taking this course (if you have the time) and learning more about how you can become happier and value your time. With more time, we can spend more time with the people we care about, travel or focus on hobbies, and generally have fun and enjoy life.

How do I view my time?

Personally, it’s hard to always prioritize my time when the stress of bills piles on. So, I think people who have the luxury of choosing time over money all the time are in a different category. While we all have control over our schedules, sometimes survival mode kicks in and you have to do what you have to do to make the money.

I think some of my issues around time and money stem from limiting beliefs. Several months back, I wrote about the debate in my time of whether I should get a full-time job or keep pushing on my blog endeavors, which isn’t an immediate money maker. I REALLY want this to be a successful journey, but sometimes negative thoughts creep in and I doubt myself.

My main focus now is thinking of my time like currency. And currency can buy wants, necessities, and leisure. So I hope I can focus on ways to generate passive income, work from home, and free up as much time as possible to do the things in life that I enjoy! So maybe this is your sign to value your time like currency as well!

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Posted in Goal

Helpful Tips for a Digital Decluttering

Posted on by tracydee

Let’s do a digital decluttering! We often hear about the importance of decluttering our physical environment. But with the amount of time we spend online these days, the digital environment is just as important.

So how much time do people spend looking at a screen anyway? One report showed that the average American spends just over 7 hours a day on screens. That’s a huge chunk of our day. So, it is important to make sure that the screen time is organized and not chaotic.

Decluttering has many benefits, such as increased focus, a better lifestyle, and even a higher view of one’s self. I know when my physical environment is clear, I feel more at peace. This is often why I have to clean off my desk or table before even beginning to work.

messy office desk space. They need a physical and digital decluttering.
Photo by Sander on Pexels.com

Tips for a Digital Decluttering

Start with your offline digital space

Desktop

Think of the digital spaces as online and offline. So, starting with the desktop offline – Do you have documents saved on every inch of your desktop? Start by making folders and dragging relevant files into the folders. Then, you can group the folders or color-code them. I created a background on Canva that helps me group my folders.

Screenshot of an organized desktop to show a digital decluttering

Go through your applications folder

You can either manually remove files and applications you no longer need or utilize a service. Personally, I subscribe to Avast Premium, which declutters the files on my computer and recognizes which ones are taking up a lot of space.

Move to your online space

Email!

When you move to the online portion of your digital decluttering, make sure to spend some time on email. Some initial steps would be to archive all of your current messages. I wholeheartedly believe in inbox zero to the best extent possible. Unsubscribe from everything you don’t need.

Group tabs

Are you guilty of having a million tabs open on your desktop? Utilize resources to make it fewer tabs. One tip is to utilize a chrome extension called session buddy. Another option is to use the grouping feature in the Google Chrome browser.

Online/Offline

Another way I like to complete digital decluttering and organize is by creating multiple desktops. On a Macbook or PC, it is easy to separate your tasks into different desktops.

Moral of the story: as with your home, car, or office, keeping an organized digital space is an essential part of maintaining a productive groove.

crop ethnic manager with multimedia devices watching time on wristwatch
Posted in Goal

5 Things to Focus on in the New Year: Time Management

Posted on by tracydee

This is part 1 of a 5 part series (time management). As 2022 stumbles upon us, many of us will reflect on what that means moving forward. For me, I like to pick several items of focus to organize my life and set goals for my future.

And one of my biggest life areas of improvement over the last several years has been time management. So what are some key things to focus on to improve time management in the upcoming year? For each of us, that might look a little different.

Why is time management important?

time management

Poor time management can cause all sorts of problems in our lives. We can feel more stressed and anxious. There can be disappointing times when we don’t accomplish all we set out to do or even need to do. So if procrastination is something you struggle with, then perhaps it’s time to start tackling the planning side.

What are my big tips for moving forward in the new year?

Effective time management is a skill that anyone can learn. It takes intentional practice and sometimes sticking to things over a longer period of time to make a habit.

  • Reflect – When you find something taking up a bit chunk of your time, ask yourself if this is how you want to spend it? For example, maybe you should check your screentime and find out if social media is taking up more time than you realize. Or, scrolling through Netflix for hours each night is preventing you from starting that business or taking a step into something new. Don’t get me wrong. We all need our downtime and our own ways of de-stressing. I just know for me, personally, time passes way faster when I’m doing those activities.
  • Plan – If time management is something you struggle with, start small. Wake up and plan your day. Then, move to planning a week. Then, a month. Then, start filling in your calendar for the year. To do lists, Google calendar, and time-saving strategies are your friends.
  • Follow simple time management tips to get started – This was one of my first posts on this blog earlier in 2021. I wrote about 5 quick time management tips here and it was a pretty popular post. Check it out!

So, whatever stage of the time management process you are in, there is always room for reflection, planning, and following some simple tips along the way. Best of luck in your journey!

Posted in Goal

Imposing Time Limits on Goals

Posted on by tracydee

I was recently talking with someone about my goal of visiting 40 countries by the time I’m 40. When I tell people this, usually their eyes get big and they say something like good luck. Now, full disclosure I just turned 35, so I only have 5 years to go. And so far, I have only been to 5 countries.

The other consideration is what counts as an adequate amount of time somewhere for me to say that I visited that country. I am counting Portugal, which I was only in for 20 hours, but I did leave the airport, stay in a hotel, visit the downtown area, and eat some delicious food.

Although I currently live in Norway, I am from the United States where I spent all of my life. I visited both Mexico and Canada for a few days each. But other than that, I haven’t had the chance to see much of the world.

But here’s the thing that I believe to be true about goals and myself. If I don’t put a time limit on it, I am less likely to take action. I might put something off for years and years, wasting all of this time I could have used. I did this in my 20’s when I decided to run a half marathon.

I made this decision early in my 20’s and said that I would do it by the time I turned 30. Each year went by and I didn’t take action until I was 29. I did do it, but I could have done it so much sooner!

So maybe the real lesson is that I need to make the time constraint even closer to my current reality. Because the procrastinator brain in me will use all of the available time. I wish I had the diligence and self-discipline to just make things happen because I wanted them to. But, that’s also related to the power of manifestation and another area of my life I am definitely working on.

But Really – Time Limits Can Be a Good Thing

One of my favorite authors and writers of productivity, habits, and goal-setting, James Clear, has an excellent post on the realities of setting goals. He says that the true challenge is the competing goals we have for ourselves. If we have too many at one time, it can be difficult to narrow in on one at a time. Therefore, it can be helpful to focus on the most important goal of the time.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Time limits help us focus and prioritize our goals. Another helpful tip is to place a limit on the number of goals and tasks that you are working toward at any one time.

So, if I really sit down and try to think about the things that are important to my immediate future, I have 3 goals that come before traveling the world:

  1. Complete another half marathon in April 2022 (time limit imposed and training plan created).
  2. Continue to be the best teacher possible while traveling to schools in Norway. Meaning, work on improving lessons, resources, and engagement with activites.
  3. Have a remote job lined up by August 2022. My current job will end at the end of June.

I did book a 14-day travel trip through Europe for July. Knowing that is coming and already booked alleviates some of the pressure of trying to make it to as many places as possible over the next 6 months.

All 3 of my most important goals are time constricted to the next 6 months. So maybe I should let go of the 40 countries by 40 and continue to take it 6 months at a time. It is a much more manageable deadline that allows for specific action in the here and now.

Oh, and one more goal for this month is to write 8 more blog posts to make it to 100 posts in 2021 on my brand new blog!

What do you think about imposing time limits on your goals?

Posted in Goal

How to Be Productive After Time Off

Posted on by tracydee

How to be productive after time off is a big question. We all deserve our time to unplug, destress, and spend time with ourselves or our family. Whether that is to take a vacation or much-needed self-care time, it can be hard to get back into the swing of things.

I built a vacation into my arrival to Norway, with many months of preparation leading to this point. I felt guilty at first, but then I remembered how much time I put into getting my permit, online orientations, building out workshops, etc. So, if they said I should get my bearings before diving in, who was I to argue?

However, now that I know my way around the city a bit, I am ready to start my new job. Last Wednesday was my first day at the office picking up the iPad and phone that I will use as I travel.

I am finally somewhat adjusted to the time change, and tried my best to follow my previous morning routine with breakfast, affirmations, and planning time for the last several days.

how to be productive after time off

Now, it is Monday of a brand new week and I am going forward with getting back into “normal” work weeks. While I will occasionally have travel on the weekends, my hope is to prioritize working during the week. Then, rest on the weekends.

How to be productive: Here is what I am doing to get my productivity energy back:

  1. Get back on track with a morning routine, even if it’s just a few things. For example, today, I got up, stretched, made coffee, and wrote out my affirmations. Tomorrow, I will make my bed and spend some time in silence. I hope to add running back in to the mornings before work time.
  2. Create a healthy balance of work and personal time. I started emailing and to-do lists around 8:30am this morning. Now, I am about to break for lunch and go on a walk. I have to teach tonight from 6:30pm – 8:00pm so I don’t feel guilty about taking a long break in the middle of the day.
  3. Be forgiving with myself if I’m not on my “A” game right away. So, I did hit snooze this morning (a terrible habit I have been trying to break this whole year). I am disappointed that I reverted back, but I am not going to dwell on the mistakes of today when I can plan for success tomorrow.
  4. Re-start check-ins with my accountability partner. When I tell you that checking in weekly with someone is a game-changer, I mean it. For 2 years, I meet weekly with an accountability partner. We go over our weekly goals, our long term goals, time and scheduling challenges. Additionally, we provide much needed advice and encouragement.
  5. Sync Google calendar on all my devices. Because I picked up my new work technology, I need to sync everything so that all my calendars match up. I prefer using Google Calendar to track meetings and appointments. On my iPhone, I link my google account to the Apple calendar.

So, that is my recommended start to easing back into productivity. Most importantly, not trying to do everything all at once!

Posted in Goal

It’s a Productivity Puzzle! Fitting the Pieces Together

Posted on by tracydee

My productivity puzzle: Fitting the pieces of life together can be challenging at certain points. My productivity toward reaching my goals is something I have been proud of in the past. I put my mind to completing a half marathon and finishing a doctorate degree, among other goals along the way.

One goal I am excited about is now heading to Norway on a Fulbright to work with schools and continue my passion of civic education.

The last several months really put the idea of productivity into perspective for me. In fact, many times, I re-evaluated what it truly meant to be productive for me. I was so used to being busy, that it was nice to spend a little time reflecting on my hopes for this blog and getting to keep working on that goal.

productivity puzzle
Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels.com

However, the time versus money internal debate came to a head when Norway was delayed yet again and I faced a huge lack of solid income. I had no choice but to take a temporary full time position that did turn out to be extremely stressful and left way less time for me to be productive toward these longer term goals.

These ebbs and flows of life are natural and it is up to us to make the most of our moments. Whether that means sitting down and trying to attain something greater for ourselves or simply taking a break to walk on the beach and get some fresh air.

Now, I face down this new opportunity to create a schedule around my commitments to my job and to myself. I think of this new journey as a productivity puzzle where I am trying to fit the pieces together. Truthfully, I am excited to arrive at my destination and spend some time working on my calendar and prioritizing my tasks.

As I continue to maintain a growth mindset, I will blog my learnings along the way and share helpful tips and advice that works for me!