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Turning Unproductive Days into Productive Wins

Turning Unproductive Days into Productive Wins

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Turning Unproductive Days into Productive Wins

I'm not sure about you, but I know those days when I look back and think, what the heck did I do today? Did I accomplish anything productive? Hmm? What was it? I worked all day, but I feel I’ve got zero to show for it. Please tell me you can relate to this feeling. I'm guessing even the most productive people can have days where they feel incredibly unproductive as if they are spinning their wheels. And that's okay. It happens. The best thing any of us can do is give ourselves grace. First, let’s begin to get curious as to why. Here is one of the first questions I ask myself to get into the weeds of my unproductive day.

Ask Yourself “What’s in your head that’s causing this unproductive day?”

What story is going on in your head that’s causing this? Is this just one day or is it a pattern? Is it that you were unproductive or was your attention on the wrong thing? It’s interesting, one of the patterns that I see in Online Entrepreneurs when they are about to uplevel, they hide in the unproductive busy work to feel safe.

Grab Your Journal

Okay, Friend, grab your journal. Begin by asking yourself the curiosity questions from earlier. By journaling it will help you to drill down into the root cause of what is really going on with your unproductive day.

Daily Journal Hack

One hack that I’ve found is keeping a journal of your day inside of Notion. By journaling a bit everyday it will allow you to look back and look for patterns.

This is a concept that I learned from Marie Poulin and her daily journaling practice. I’ll put a link to her is the link to her YouTube video on using her daily journal in Notion. https://youtu.be/1Z06fqYhNgM

You see what is nice about journaling in Notion, as it has the ability to rolls up your daily journal into a weekly, monthly, and yearly wrap-up. The monthly wrap-up allows you to see how many times during that month were you felt unproductive.

Tracking this leaves clues as to when you are having unproductive days. When you pay attention you’ll begin to see a pattern of your productive over the month. 

Are you curious why this is important. It will allow you to plan for a big launch around your productivity spikes.

What do you do when you recognize that you’re having an unproductive day? Here are my top tips to save an unproductive day if you begin to notice you’re spinning your wheels.

Restart Your Unproductive Day

Can you do something simple to restart your day?

While we are not able to go back in time, we can reset and clear our minds. 

A couple of simple ways to do this is by:

Sitting down for a quick meditation to clear everything and calm your mind. The Insight Timer has great guided meditations.

Perhaps you’d prefer to pick up a journal to write out all the clutter. Or pull open a Google Doc and type it all out.

You see, these are great ways to reset your focus and start your day with a fresh mind.

Allowing you to let go of your unproductive day.

Good Mornings Start The Night Before

What are the things that you could do the night before to ensure that your day begins on the right foot? 

It could just be me, but if I cannot get 100% prepared for the next day, the night before, the next day, I feel like I’m running in circles. 

Unfortunately, it is happening more than I’d like it to. But it’s summer, the days are longer, and I’m outside attempting to become a gardener. I’m doing the lazy gardener hack. I’ll let you know if it was a success at the end of the growing season. But, so far so good.

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Turning Unproductive Days into Productive Wins

Here is a list of the things that set up a productive day.

  • Wrapping up my day with my Journal in Notion. Reflecting on the day, how it went, what I’m feeling.
  • Clearing out what’s in my mind and getting all my chicken scratches from my planner and notebook into Notion
  • Planning the next day with tasks assigned to time blocks in my planner.
    Prepping the coffee maker
  • Making sure my Epic Water Filler is full and my first quart of water is ready to go in a mason jars sitting on the counter.
  • Filling the dog food dishes
    Laying out my clothes
  • Having my AirPods, iPad, and Pencil ready to go for the morning.

This sets me up to feel productive and organized. By doing so it sets the whole tone for my day.

 

Prep For Your Week

When you know a busy week is ahead of you, try to get yourself prepared. Take the time on Friday or the weekend to prep for the upcoming week. Prepping for your week cuts down on the decisions you need to make when you're already frazzled.

I make sure that I have my meals planned out and know the days we need leftovers and the days I’ll be home to make a meal. Inside Notion, I have an eight-week meal plan routine. Creating this meal plan removes the dreaded question: What’s to eat, Mom? It cuts down on decision-making after a long day of well decision-making. By having repeat meals, the decision has already been made for you, instead of taking the time to plan your meals or, worse, the in-the-moment decision-making.

My calendar has all the non-negotiable appointments for my business and life. In my planner, based on what needs to be done, I decide on the time blocks for my done-for-you content repurposing clients, private coaching clients, and things that only I can do in my business. 

Planning out the time blocks and when I’ll do the work eliminates the decision of what I will do next. It’s already been prepared,d and I know exactly what I’ll be working on next. This helps with decision fatigue; this is a real thing. Here is a post I’ve written about decision fatigue. https://misstask.com/reduce-decision-fatigue/ 

 

Look For Your Unproductive Clues

At the end of the week, pay attention to the things that didn't get this done. This leaves clues for you to evaluate.

Ask yourself: Why you didn’t get them done?

Did I schedule too much? Did I estimate the time wrong? If it’s a task that’s been on the list for a few weeks, it’s time to ask if I really want to do this.

Until you get the hang of it, ensure you have buffer time for those just-in-case moments.

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It’s Time To Wrap This Up

A quick recap for the skimmers: Feeling unproductive? That's okay. Give yourself grace. Determine if it's a one-off day or a pattern. Restart your mindset. Prepare the night before for a good morning. If you didn't prepare, do the essentials when you can. Evaluate your productivity regularly; it leaves clues for improvement. 

Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate you and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Balancing Work-Life

Balancing Work-Life

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Embracing Realistic Work-Life Balance: A Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs

I don’t know about you, but I started my online business to have the freedom to be present for my family. However, after years of a corporate hustle mentality, I returned to the unbalance of always working. I had to challenge my mindset and find ways to prioritize the day-to-day with my family while still growing my business. To do this, I had to create a routine and set my own personal boundaries that allowed me to embrace a more realistic work-life balance.

How Are You Out of Balance?

I’m curious: how do you feel out of balance? Because here is the thing: I’ve worked with my fair share of Mama entrepreneurs starting out; they tend to fall into one of two buckets on the work-life balance scale. 

Are you out of balance because you’re consumed with your business? I’m guessing you already know the bucket that I fell into when I began my business. 

I found myself creeping into my office at any free moment. This was for two reasons: I was excited about my business and still believed that I must hustle harder to be successful. My work-life balance was way out of whack. Are you in the hustle harder bucket?

Perhaps it is the other bucket, Mama your seated on the struggle bus. You still have the same love and passion for your business, but you struggle with time management and keeping yourself accountable when there is no set workday.

Now that we know the two buckets, here are ideas for setting yourself up for success as you pivot into being a work-from-home entrepreneur.

Hustle Harder Entrepreneurs

Let’s look at the conscious changes to not fall into the trap of hustling harder.

Now, this is important: what is your why? Why do you want to be present for your family and be an entrepreneur? I’m guessing that you have lofty business goals, and nothing is standing in your way. I get it; define why you desire to be a work-from-home business owner. Even though you think your why is your big goal, I think you’ll agree when I say it will be freedom to be present for your family.

Another critical point is to sit down and map out your dream week. Using your why and business goals, map out the perfect dream week. Plan this out from when you wake up to when you go to bed. What will you be doing when you are working, and what will you be doing when you’re with your family? Remember, as a work-from-home entrepreneur, you have the freedom to be present for your family throughout the day.

Here is a link to my blog post on Dream Week. https://misstask.com/need-clarity-in-your-online-business/

Struggle Bus Entrepreneur

You may be on the struggle bus with time management and keeping yourself accountable when there is no set workday.

All of a sudden, you have all this freedom! It is glorious; all the things you’ve wanted to do are now yelling at you, “Get me done!”.

Now, this is important: what are your intentions? After all, intentions are the cornerstone of your life. What intentions do you want in life and as a work-from-home entrepreneur? Besides the freedom to be present for your family, what do you want to happen for you? If you don’t know, get out your journal and ask yourself, what are my intentions? Journal until you have your answers for your work-from-home business and your life.

Besides making time to tackle all those home projects yelling at you, be clear with yourself when you are in work and home mode.

This is done by figuring out your time bank and your time blocks. Here is a link to a previous post on time blocking that will be helpful. https://misstask.com/get-more-done-with-time-blocking/

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Embracing Realistic Work-Life Balance: A Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs

Setting Boundaries With Your Family

Additionally, another challenge will be setting boundaries with your family. This is new to them; they will also need to shift their thinking about having you at home all the time.

How do I know? This scenario is a common one that I’ve worked through with more than one coaching client when they are struggling with work-life balance.

You see when transitioning from a traditional 9-5 to a work-from-home entrepreneur, it is essential to take the time to set boundaries with your family. As I mentioned, this is new for them, too. 

Step back and look at it from their point of view. When Mom was home in the past, she wasn’t figuring out the balance between running a business and taking care of her family. Her focus was purely on caring for her home and family.

All of a sudden, that’s no longer the case. Aside from setting your own boundaries, it will also mean talking to your family about the fact that you're not at home when you're in the office. Trust me, you will not have a successful work-from-home business if you say yes to dropping your work to running errands for your family.

Given these points, ensure you’re honoring your commitments to your growing business and your family.

 

Work-Life Balance As An Entrepreneur

Finding a work-life balance is crucial to avoid burnout and maintain productivity. Here are some strategies I've found effective and recommend to my clients:

Establish Routines

1. Create a morning routine for yourself: Start your day with a purposeful morning routine that sets the tone for productivity and positivity. This may include activities like exercise, meditation, journaling, or reviewing your goals for the day. The trick is to find what works for you. Experiment to find a routine that energizes and focuses you for the day ahead.

2. Develop a morning routine for your children: Establish a consistent morning routine to help them start the day on the right foot. This may involve age-appropriate tasks like making their bed, brushing their teeth, or helping with breakfast preparation. A structured routine will help calm the chaos and stress in the morning.

3. Implement an “end of the office” routine: Wind down your day with an end-of-the-business-day routine that helps you transition from work mode to relaxation. This may include reviewing accomplishments, planning the next day, reading, or engaging in a calming hobby. An evening routine will help you mentally disconnect from work and allow you to focus on your family. 

4. Utilize the Pomodoro Technique: This time management method involves working in 25-minute focused intervals, followed by a 5-minute break. Using this method is a beautiful way to tackle your home to-do list. During these breaks, take on folding laundry, tidying up, or cleaning the kitchen. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in 5 minutes. Honestly, this approach allows you to feel the freedom of running a business and family. It’s the best of both worlds: focus on your business while accomplishing household responsibilities. It feels so magical to get so much done. One quick note on this the standard 25-minute interval may not work for you. Experiment with longer focused intervals if you feel like you just hit your groove when the timer goes off. Utilize an app like Flow for Mac to keep you on track.

5. Set yourself up for success the night before: What are your morning pain points? What repeat patterns show up day after day, causing unnecessary stress? Do you battle with what to wear for yourself or your kids? By planning your outfits the night before, you can avoid decision fatigue in the morning. As a result, you'll give your children the chance to choose outfits themselves. Now, it is important to prepare the kitchen for breakfast by setting out bowls and spoons and possibly a batch of overnight oats for a healthy start to everyone's day. 

6. Teach your children the importance of organization: Do you find it difficult to get them out the door on time? If so, ensure your evening routine includes everything to get your kids out the door. I’ve set an example for my kids from a young age: put your stuff away so that you do not need to look for it, especially in the morning.

Yes, I know this may sound harsh to a few of you, but it was a rare occasion for me to help them find a missing item. If the item were not found by the time we had to leave, they would go without it. I won’t lie; it destroyed me inside to listen to them cry on the way to school. I’d reassure them it would be okay, and once we returned home, I’d help them with the hunt first thing when we walked in the door. By gathering everything the evening before, our stress-free morning was the norm. 

Look for routines to set up to make your life go smoother. You can create new habits and routines as you transition from working outside the home to owning a work-from-home business.

Prioritize Self-Care

1. Schedule time for yourself: As a busy business owner, it's essential to prioritize self-care. Block out time in your calendar for activities that recharge you, such as exercise, meditation, or pursuing a hobby. Treating this time as non-negotiable will help you maintain a healthy work-life balance.

2. Set boundaries: Communicate your work hours and expectations clearly to your family and clients. Establish designated work times and create a dedicated workspace to help you mentally separate work and family life.

3. Practice mindfulness: Incorporate mindfulness techniques into your daily routine to reduce stress and improve focus. This can include gratitude journaling, short meditation or deep breathing exercises such as box breathing (inhale for a four count, hold for four count, exhale for four count and hold again for a four count, repeat).

Embrace Flexibility

1. Be open to adjusting your routine: As a work-from-home entrepreneur, your schedule may need to adjust to your family's needs. Be willing to experiment with different routines and find what works best for you and your household.

2. Leverage your content creation skills: As a content creator, you have the ability to work ahead and batch your content. Take advantage of productive periods to create content in advance, giving you more flexibility when unexpected family needs arise.

3. Outsource when necessary: Don't hesitate to seek help when you need it. Consider outsourcing tasks like cleaning, meal preparation, or even certain aspects of your business to free up more time for family and self-care. Don’t forget those tasks can be outsourced to your children. Recently, I had a conversation about how laundry was outsourced to my children when my oldest was ten. The benefit followed them to college as they were the college  freshmen who taught roommates how to do laundry for themselves.

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Embracing Realistic Work-Life Balance: A Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs

It’s Time To Wrap This Up

I’ve been in your exact same shoes, I understand the unique challenges that come with being a work-from-home entrepreneur, content creator, and Mom. Balancing your business, content creation, and family life can be overwhelming, but with the right strategies and support, you can achieve your goals and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

If you're ready to take your business to the next level while creating more time for the things that matter most, I invite you to work with me. Together, we'll develop personalized routines, implement effective time management techniques, and create a roadmap for your success. You'll learn how to repurpose your content effectively, streamline your processes, and build a thriving business that allows you to be present for your family.

Don't let the challenges of being an entrepreneur hold you back from reaching your full potential. Apply to work with me today, and let's start building the life and business you've always dreamed of. With my guidance and support, you'll gain the clarity, confidence, and tools you need to excel as a health and wellness coach, content creator, and mom. Take the first step towards a more balanced, fulfilling life – I'm here to help you every step of the way.

Designing Your Dream Week for Online Business Clarity

Designing Your Dream Week for Online Business Clarity

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Designing Your Dream Week for Online Business Clarity

Do you feel like your business is going in the direction you envisioned it would? If not, why? What are you doing differently? Take a step back and figure out what is off. It may sound crazy, but creating a vision for your dream week can lead to clarity in your online business. 

Goal Setting for Clarity

Reaching your goals can be a struggle without clarity. Clarity in your online business provides motivation and excitement for the road ahead. You see, I’ve gone down many roads that I thought I “should” go down, going after goals that I thought would bring me joy and success. In the end, they were the dreams and visions of someone else, not my own. 

And now, your thinking how do you figure it out?

Journal On How You Feel At The End Of Each Day

So much can be said about journaling. I think that’s why so many business owners talk about it. It’s not any different for me. When I started my business, I journaled every morning. It’s really what led me to start my business.

As my business and workload grew, journaling took a backseat to client work and the day-to-day running of my business. 

I've tried everything when it comes to becoming a consistent journaler. Do you want to know what is the best way to journal? 

Well, that’s for you to decide. I had to figure it out myself, and you must do the same. It boils down to this: There is no right or wrong. 

You must, I repeat, you must journal how you want! If you attempt to journal how other journals, it’s like sticking a square peg in a round hole, just saying it won’t work. If you start out strong and drop off, do it differently. If your journaling includes doodle, let it be. The need for multiple pen colors, let it be, you’ll only journal electronically, you do you. 

The best way to journal is the way YOU will journal.

What is your dream week as a business owner?

I know what you’re thinking: how can creating a dream week lead to clarity in your online business? It’s funny how many entrepreneurs struggle to find their niche. Me included.

We can get all up in our heads about the right or wrong way to do something when there is no right or wrong. It is about picking a nice, big path and just starting. The more you do you’ll begin to watch your path narrow as you go.

It is about having confidence in yourself, about believing that no matter the path you choose, it will be the right path for you.

The most common reason I hear mom entrepreneurs start a business is the same reason I did: to have freedom and flexibility for their families.

If you spend your time trying to keep a ridge schedule, will that feel like freedom and flexibility to you?

You see, this is why creating your dream week can lead to clarity in your online business. You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. 🙂

Stay with me now. If you started your business for freedom and flexibility, what you offer to make money in your business must align with that value. If it does not, you’ll not make it. You’ll constantly be searching for something else. That something that will make you feel in alignment with your vision and why.

In Your Perfect World

– What does your dream week look like
– Are you offering the paid service that brings you joy
– Are you working in the right niche
– Do you need to narrow your focus
– Does this feel true to you
– Remember, there is no right or wrong. You can pivot at any time

How does that work in your current business

After you lay out your dream week, how does this work in your current business? Are you close to your dream week? If not, what needs to shift to become more aligned with your business vision?

In Your Perfect Week

What will your journal say about your perfect week? Maybe it will go something like this? 

Imagine waking up each morning feeling energized and excited about the day ahead. You start your day by journaling, allowing your thoughts and ideas to flow freely onto the page. As you sip your morning coffee, you reflect on your goals and the vision you have for your online business.

In your dream week, you're working on projects that light you up. You're offering paid services that align with your passions and bring you immense joy. You've found your niche, and it feels like a perfect fit. Your focus is laser-sharp, and you're making a meaningful impact in the lives of your clients.

You feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment as you go about your day. You're not just going through the motions but living your truth. Every decision you make, and every action you take feels authentic and true to who you are.

Remember, there is no right or wrong way to create your dream week. You have the power to pivot and make changes at any time. Trust your instincts and follow your heart. When you're in alignment with your values and vision, success will naturally follow.

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Designing Your Dream Week for Online Business Clarity

Creating Your Dream Week

To create your dream week, start by asking yourself some key questions:

What activities bring you the most joy and fulfillment?
How much time do you want to dedicate to client work, marketing, and personal development?
What does your ideal work environment look like?
How can you structure your day to maximize productivity while prioritizing self-care?
Once you have a clear picture of your dream week, it's time to take action. Break down your vision into smaller, manageable steps. Set realistic goals and create a plan to achieve them. Surround yourself with supportive individuals who believe in your vision and can offer guidance and encouragement.

Remember, creating your dream week is an ongoing process. As you grow and evolve, so will your vision. Embrace the journey and be open to new opportunities and experiences.

 

Time To Wrap This Up

Creating a dream week for your online business is a powerful exercise in clarity and alignment. By envisioning your ideal week and taking steps to make it a reality, you'll find greater joy, purpose, and success in your entrepreneurial journey.

If you're feeling stuck or unsure about the direction of your online business, I invite you to work with me.  I love helping entrepreneurs, just like you gain clarity, overcome your obstacles and create a business that truly lights you up.

Here is a link to a simple application, to take the steps towards working towards your dream business friends. Remember you and you alone how'd the power to create a business in life that aligns with your deepest values and desires. Trust the process stay true to you and watch your dreams unfold.

Thank you so much for reading I appreciate you and I hope you have a wonderful week.