1. Our phrase of the day is from the awesome tv series, Blacklist, starring James Spader. The phrase is “he took to it like a trout to a butter worm” - very descriptive and concrete, hah? I scribbled down this phrase as soon as I heard it. So, what have been YOUR greatest and most consistent interests and passions through the years? What’s a natural fit for you? What’s something you can’t get enough of? It’s important to identify and honor these special interests - they can be the engine for your life’s work and well-being.
I’m realizing the beauty of small things that give us good feelings such as confidence, strength, and rejuvenation. It can be as inconsequential as cleaning off your glasses with lens wipes! Don’t under-estimate the cumulative effect of all these good things throughout the day and evening. Make a list of the small things that make you feel positive feeling states.
2. Audio journal check-in: being home-bound most of the time, makes it harder to have privacy. In typical times, I enjoyed the routine of dictating my journal while driving home from work (hands-free, of course, to be safe). I miss that! With the pandemic, I’m speaking softly into my digital recorder at the very end of the night when I’m exhausted. This is usually around 1:30am! When I gabbed in my car, I got in state - I was loud, I spoke with excitement and had an engaging rhythm. I allowed my momentum to lead me to different areas. And I spoke for 7-10 minutes, whereas, now I speak 2-3 minutes. I need to get the old audio journaling me back.
3. I’m frustrated with social media because I’ve gotten a taste for authentic dialogue with a select few people I’ve met online but a large majority of my interactions is B.S.! It’s to the point where I don’t even want to respond to people because I suspect they’re just sizing me up for the sales funnel. I hate that! And I keep getting drawn in! I’m easily tricked, it seems. It’s hard to determine when someone is genuinely asking what you do. I guess I need to work through that.
4. Productivity tip: make it as easy as possible to take up where you left off each day - with everything! I love routines and systems - that’s the beauty of lists. Capture those gems quickly and move on. I use the Scrivener software program to organize my many categories of ideas. It’s a writer’s program and it’s only $49!
Examples:
I use a one-subject notebook to jot down my creative snippets to dictate into my audio journal - it’s always at arm’s length
My morning routine is: brush teeth, have a glass of water, do transcendental meditation for 20 minutes, and then hop on the treadmill
Small stack of dvd’s pre-selected and in the batter’s box to watch - they’re next in line - everything is funneling through!
5. Social media strategy: I’m going to try to do a once a day strategy for all of my social media output: blog, Youtube video, Instagram, Facebook, and All the Hats We Wear podcast. It seems like a lot, but many social media gurus recommend doing much more. I tried creating a Monday, Wednesday, Friday routine for Youtube or Tuesday/Thursday plan for blogging but I couldn’t get into a rhythm. We’ll see! I figure if I did one thing a day on all my favorite platforms - that’s a good amount of material over the long-term. Anything more than one piece of content is gravy. I’m finding more and more than I need to do what I feel is right over doing the status quo. I’ve never gotten too excited over the 7 steps to blah, blah, blah template.
6. My scrapbooking is going very well. I have 8 large 3-ring binders full of clipped articles and pictures. I”m currently creating an index document so I can sort them. So, I’ll be able to troll down to all my articles on “Productivity” for a coming article I’m writing or video. I’ve spent an enormous amount of time cataloguing them for easy reference. I’m grinding this seemingly busy work so I can have the resources I need at mu fingertips for better posts and better preparing myself for being a productivity expert. I’ve been contemplating how I’m really in the idea business! So, I should curate and tend to my idea garden, as much as possible.
7. My next project is to create a time management boot camp-type of e-course - perhaps using Thinkific. Which time management challenges should I cover in my e-course?