Super-Purposeful Schedule Q + A's
Today is Day 31 in the 31 Days to a Super-Purposeful Schedule series.
We’ve reached the end of the Super-Purposeful Schedule series! Nice work, friend! If you’ve done all the action steps, I know you’re already feeling a little lighter and more confident with how your time is spent.
Along the way I’ve had a few questions and topics come up that I really wanted to get to. Each of them could be their own separate blog post but I thought it’d be good to at least get the conversation started...
Q | I loved your thoughts on rest (day 8), but my schedule is so full and frantic that I don’t feel like I can take days off or even a nap. The idea of resting and doing nothing seems stressful and almost unappealing to me because there’s always more I want to do...
A | Oh I so relate to this! I have two thoughts on the matter…
1 - Rest looks different to everyone. Erin Loechner from Design for Mankind shared at Influence Conference that resting doesn’t always look like actual sleep. Maybe “resting” for you looks like baking, going for a run, creating a painting, doing your nails, etc. Whatever helps you to recharge and brings energy to weariness can be rest.
2 - If you feel like you’re so packed full that you’re in frantic mode, ask yourself why. What are you afraid of happening if you slow down? What perceptions are driving you to be always going? Maybe you don’t need to deal with the schedule as much as you do with your fears and worries. A quick reminder that God’s got us. He knows our needs and circumstances. We don’t have to run the show.
Q | I work from home with little ones too and no matter what I spend my time on during the day, I’m feeling guilty. If I’m working, I’m feeling guilty about the kids not getting my full attention. If I’m spending time with the kids, I’m worried about the house getting disorganized. If I’m cleaning the house, I’m feeling like a failure for unanswered emails, phone calls and work projects I need to get to...
A | I wish I could just give you a big hug and tell you that you are awesome! I know it’s hard to balance it all and feel like you’re failing at everything. But if you can, get rid of that voice in your head!
Think about all the tiny details you manage in a day from sticking straws in juice boxes to trying to pay your bills on time, from encouraging friends through text messages to training up countless others through blog posts. You sweep crumbs, you kiss boo-boos, you whisper prayers. And then at the end of the day you browse Instagram and say, “Man, I’m such a failure.” That’s ridiculous! Why do we do that to ourselves?
You are doing great work. The fact that you care so much tells me it’s true. So the only thing left to do is line up your priorities. People first - inner circle to outer. And then gut check yourself. If things you’re doing are for appearances, shift them back a little further on the to-do list. Don’t feel guilty for all that you can’t do this very second.
Q | I feel like I should have plenty of extra time to work (blogging) since my kids are in school during the day but I’m never gaining any ground. Most of my time is spent putting fires out through email, jumping around social media and writing a little on my blog if there’s time. I still feel like it takes me entirely too long to get my work done and it’s the same way every day. Advice?
A | This is such a common problem! After I heard this, I instantly thought of one of the example exercises in the E-myth Mastery book by Michael Gerber. (Side note: There are some really good ideas in this book, especially if you sell products too.) One idea he mentioned is charting everything you do for a day and keeping track of what role you’re playing in each task - the Entrepreneur, the Manager or the Technician. Most of us spend way too much time as the Technician, all of the “doing” tasks - working in the business versus on the business. We don’t gain any ground because we never have time to make changes to the way we do things or come up with innovative methods.
See if you can set aside a little time each day to do more of the Entrepreneurial tasks, the strategizing, planning and vision-setting. During this time, ask yourself what improvements need to be made and what steps you need to take to slowly get make those improvements happen? It seems backwards to do less when you feel like you need to be doing more. But it really helps to step outside the daily “doing” and find out how to change what’s not working.
Thanks so much for joining in with me for this series! If you have any questions or thoughts to share, hop over to the Facebook page or email me here. I'd love to hear how your progress is going. xo, Laurie
