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Do you feel like you are constantly apologising for taking time to do things?Is it really only me?

I must have been spending too much time living in England.

I was talking to a peer yesterday, as we were about to record a video interview, and she pointed out how, in the past three weeks, everyone has been walking around with a weird fight or flight attitude.

It could be that Winter is coming and most of us (regardless of where we live) could be facing, yet again, more restrictions when it comes to our personal freedom. I am the first one to admit it all comes as a way to keep us all safer, yet it seems like the impending lockdown has left most of us with a constant erratic feeling, I could only describe with the far too common British phrase:

”Omg, I left the kettle on”

If you know, you know.

Now, as a productivity guinea pig I should say to you that I love finding ways to work more efficiently, and that is true. Yet, I am also embracing a very silent revolution that is encouraging people to make more space.

As I looked at my 14-hour days over the past week, I realised that that feeling of accomplishment had become almost a saving grace for me.

Especially as it’s World Mental Health Day tomorrow, we need to consciously remind ourselves that time to do nothing is precious. Time to just be. Maybe have a nap. Or listen to music. Or get bored out of our eye sockets.

By one estimate, somewhere between 17% and 53% of adults have experienced relaxation-induced anxiety at some point. It’s not that they can’t relax at all, it’s that doing so quickly brings on feelings of anxiety.

Yes, you read it right. People are getting anxious about doing nothing. On one hand, I am all for to-do lists, management systems, and team meetings. On the other hand, we are so obsessed with the best way to hack our days we forget to make space for the unexpected.

Part of me is quite grateful for the rise of interest in self-help since my books fall into that category, yet the obsession with becoming more and more efficient can get out of hand.

“Joining a Facebook Group about creative productivity is like buying a chair about jogging”

once said Merlin Mann (and yes, kinda hurts a little).

Our lives can feel planned to the minute, and that stops us from tapping into the magic of spontaneity.

With our “always-on” state of being and devotion to hustle culture, we tend to feel bad when we have a little time to dedicate to ourselves, and this guilt spans generations.

Here are a few things I am looking to avoid falling into the trap myself.

Hire an assistant

Well, I already did that, and she is starting next week. I think hiring an assistant is an art. Still, having someone that can organise your life and be on top of the shiny distractions to help making my days a bit more spacious. Also the fact I can ask her to harass people on my behalf via email is in itself a massive bonus.

Consciously create space in the calendar

I talked about buffer time before. Buffer time is introduced with the premise that as humans, we are not necessarily always the best at guessing and estimating. This is because it’s hard to micro-manage ourselves, especially when working from home. We aren’t making the right guess at how long each task will take because of planning fallacy, which means we tend to underestimate the time it takes to do something.

“(Buffer time) adds in extra time to prevent task or appointment overflows from affecting your other plans. Which means less stressing and rushing when life doesn’t go exactly as you planned it.” — Micah McGuire shares in The Startup.

Review the way I work

Periodically evaluating your way of working can be beneficial. Still, I would do it quarterly or on a six-monthly basis. Weekly changes to your apps and systems can also become a very sneaky way to micro-manage my day and head back into the productivity obsession cycle.

Creating better boundaries

Something I talk a lot about protecting your time and setting better boundaries when working from home because let’s be honest, that is usually one of the things people struggle with the most.

I have helped people creating better systems, boundaries, and accountability for over 6 years as part of my consulting, and inspired 100s of members and students through Creative Impact.

I am going to be humble and say I have tested, worked on and implemented quite a few systems to help people streamline their routines.

I thought I’d share with you a few things I found incredibly beneficial in the 6+ years I worked for myself and have been my own boss.

“I don’t care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don’t harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you’re never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.” — Zig Ziglar

Your calendar will become your best friend

Create a routine for check-ins and emails (this has been the goldmine of my strategy, and whenever I stick to it, it’s incredibly effective.

I say this because I often struggle with this, but I find that having dedicated times to check on my clients, emails and our collective membership has helped me with reclaiming the time I need.

Having a calendar available for your clients is obviously the easiest step to take. You can keep empty times that you want for yourself to do content creation, forward planning or go to the gym.

With a calendar that people can book into I don’t have to explain why you are not available — just that you are not.

Protect your prime time

I take my first two hours every day to prioritise movement, journaling and goal setting, meditation, and food. Yes, before that I always have a coffee, something you may not be too surprised about.

Since we’ve been home every day, I got back to this practice and I am lucky my team works around my timings (just like I work around theirs).

If you are a night owl, do not shoot the messenger just yet.

The right routine may look completely different to you depending on your commitments, the nature of your work and your priorities. Either way, getting up and getting dressed sets you up with the right frame of mind for the day.

Use your scheduling tools

These days I am going wild with my calendar. Do you need help, support, ideas? Hit me up for a call. Join our group coaching if you are a member.

Writing long emails or responding to 100,000 WhatsApp messages is not how I roll. I actually barely look at my phone between 8 am and 6 pm.

One time I even went as far as deleting all of my social apps from my phone, and in just a week my screen time reduced by a whopping 40%.

Boundaries are key

“Time is the most valuable thing wo/man can spend” — Theophrastus

Obviously, nobody is perfect, but I believe setting your boundaries is one of the key aspects of working from home (something I talk about extensively in my upcoming book).

For disclaimer purposes, we are incredibly busy these days — which can be a good problem to have.

I had to force myself to set higher boundaries than ever and being stricter than before to avoid seriously doing 12/13 hours of work per day.

I am massively grateful I have loads of amazing projects and sides of my work going, but I am also working hard to use my own systems and blueprints to keep myself happy, balanced and sane.

Hope this helped you as well and gave you some inspiration. To finish off borrowing the wise words of Brene Brown:

“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.” — Brene Brown

All in all I am no way perfect.

Moreover, I make sure I am honest about the fact that I am not.

That vibe that screams “look at me, I got it all figured out” and many productivity gurus (yuck, that word) use to attract and retain readers is what I often associate with productivity obsession.

While some productivity writers may have achieved certain results, it is deceiving to pretend there is a step-by-step recipe anyone could apply to achieve the same outcome.

Productivity obsession to me sounds like a coping mechanism that can mask a very sophisticated way of procrastination.

My top advice would be to, well, cut yourself some slack. By being more consciously present in what you’re doing, while you’re doing it, you can manage your mental and emotional states in a way that works for you.