124: How to Focus and Be Productive When You Have Limited Time

 

I'm finally at the end of the busiest time in my business and life. I've been juggling working full-time with taking care of my baby before she was able to get a spot in daycare, which means I had a very limited amount of time! I share four hacks that helped me be productive during these crazy few months.

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how to focus and be productive when you have limited time

Hello, friends, and welcome back to your big creative life podcast. Thanks for being here. We're trying a new setup. If you're watching the YouTube video, you can see I have a slightly different background. I've been recording in kind of the upstairs room of my house that is not decorated. We don't have anything on the walls. We moved into this house a year ago. And it's not this area's not the most aesthetic, but that's okay, we're, you know, we just had to get the downstairs situated and also having a baby just kind of throws a wrench into your whole like, redecorating plans. So yeah, it's on the list for this room to actually have some life put into it. But for now, it's just a blank space. Got a chair, little TV stand a mic, we're gonna make it work, we're gonna really, we're gonna really try.

 

I've shared about this on the podcast a little bit, but I have been in this space. I think it's been well, it's been five months, well, not five months, because I did say we could take a maternity leave. But ever since my daughter was born in October, Sam and I have been just switching shifts and watching her while you work. My mother in law comes over two days a week, which is awesome. It's such a godsend to have her but we are just kind of making it work with watching her and we alternate if you know we are busy, or if we one of us has a call or something. And I've also been working on the weekends just to catch up and make sure that I have time to do everything. But it's been crazy. It's been crazy. And so the topic for this episode came to me the idea because I'm like, Okay, this is the season of life like these last month where it's been crazy. And I have not had uninterrupted unlimited time like it felt like I did before I had a baby.

 

And so maybe you're in a similar season where you have a really busy nine to five, you have kids, whatever else was going on in your life, and it feels like you don't have time, it feels like you don't have time to focus and be productive when it comes to your writing creative projects, whatever else you have going on in your life. And that can be a it can be this really, it's not a good feeling. Let's just put it that way, it's not a good feeling to feel that way. And I you know, have alternately found myself really excited for the time when she's in daycare in April because it means I have more time, but then also dreading it because it means she's not home with us anymore. And I really have cherished having this time with her.

 

And Edie. Hi. My cat just jumped up. Anyways, it's just it's just been really difficult. And there have been some things that I've done that have helped me get through this busy period. So that's why I wanted to talk about this in a podcast episode. And the first thing is going to sound simple, and it is simple, but it's something that not a lot of us really do. We're kind of like, oh yeah, like, I know, I need to do that, obviously. But then we don't actually do it. And the thing is two things. Number one is to prioritize. This is something that I have a hard time with in my business sometimes, editing comes first, client work comes first above all else, even if that means I'm late getting a podcast episode out to like my assistant who helps me with social media and the podcasts and everything. If it means that I'm kind of behind on like some admin work or whatever responding to emails, like, you know, I give myself grace with that. Because coaching clients and my editing clients, all that has to come first.

 

And but outside of that it can be difficult for me to prioritize what's truly important in my business because I have found myself pulled in different directions by things that I want to do, but aren't necessarily priorities for me right now. It Okay, I'm gonna give you an example, that in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have done this. But since I decided to do it, and I committed to it and I started it in March, I just decided to see it all the way through. So I was feeling kind of stagnant with my content that I was putting out in social media. And I was also wanting to get more into just like casual chats, sharing more about my life, doing some groups, doing some blogs, that kind of thing. So I challenged myself for the month of March that I was going to call it post like an influencer month which does not mean you know, Amazon hauls and like makeup tutorials and stuff, but more about just the energy and the mindset Have an influencer where, you know a successful influencer posts online and they know that people are looking forward to their content, they know that people are excited to hear from them.

 

And so it was me going into that because I've had a story in my mind in the past, or it's like, well, people don't care about me, they're, they only follow me because I give them educational writing tips. And maybe that is true for some people. But I know that there are other people who care and also like, just for myself, for selfish reasons, I want to talk about other things in social media, besides just like three tips for how to do this writing thing. So I set this challenge for myself in the month of March. And the guidelines behind it were pretty open ended, it was just like, oh, post once a day. No heavily edited types of videos that take a long time to produce. And that was pretty much it. In hindsight, I probably should have chosen a different month to do that.

 

Because March, you know, is was a month that like, I didn't, Audrey wasn't a daycare, and I was balancing on juggling a lot of other things. And she has also been going through this nap regression where she's fighting her naps and not sleeping very much during the day. And so it was just not the right time to do it. So was that a priority? When I made the decision to do it? Yes, it was. But looking back, and as I got into it, I kind of had this thought of like, you know, maybe March wasn't the best month for this, I might try it again. You know, in April or May, who knows, I might do a similar kind of experiment for myself. But that's an example where that I ate something that I wanted to do, because it felt personally fulfilling and rewarding and like a challenge.

 

But it wasn't absolutely necessary for me to do that I could have been fine putting out three or four pieces of content a week and calling it good. And just being like, Okay, once she gets into daycare, I'm going to have some more time and space to devote to my content. It is what it is, again, it I made the decision that I wanted to stick with that commitment and see it through. But in hindsight, it it probably wasn't the best time for it. But even other things in my business or my writing, you know, I write well, actually writing is another good example for me where I've been so busy with with work because I have to focus on that I have to focus on my clients and prioritize them that I have not had much time to write. And I really, I've written a few times in the last week, actually, which feels really good to be getting back into it. But it's just not a priority for me right now, at least in these weeks and months, it hasn't been when she's home, that's going to change, it will change, I will get back into a more regular writing routine. But I just have to admit that right now writing is not my top priority. And that's okay. It's not going to be that way forever.

 

So for you whether it's something writing related or something life related, work related, family related, whatever the case, really get honest about if this needs to be a priority right now. And the thing about giving equal priority and equal importance to everything is that you're going to spread yourself so thin. And so part of that means saying no to things, at least right now. I, a couple of months ago thought seriously about doing a workshop like writing training that I would host live and even talked about a bit on Instagram. I was like, Hey, I'm thinking about doing this. What do y'all think? And then I realized I don't have the capacity to do this right now this cannot be a priority. So I had to say no to that particular project, that particular idea, at least right now.

 

You know, same thing, someone approached me about a collaboration that seemed like it might be a good fit, but I just didn't have the space for it. And I said, Hey, my daughter is still really young. This is something that interests me, but can we check can we touch base in the fall like when I have just a bit more brain space and maybe I can I don't know it without getting into a lot of details. It just didn't feel like the right time. So all that to say when we prioritize I think it it's important to remember that like you really have to get honest about what truly is important in this season of your life right at this moment. It's not going to be that way forever. It's not going to be permanently you know might just be a temporary thing but it's also again going to mean saying no to some things and we have to be okay with that. And as a former people pleaser, still kind of a recovering people pleaser.

 

I know that can be hard because we want everyone to love us. We want to say yes to all the things but you literally can't. Okay, so just make sure that you're prioritizing in a way that feels honest to you and what's actually important right now in your life whether writing or otherwise. Next step is okay, I talk about sprints a lot, so I'm not going to go into real nitty gritty details about what Sprint's are I have a couple of podcast episodes that talk about writing sprints and I also talk about it more on you know, tick tock and Instagram stuff. But writing sprints have been Why does my cat side that right now and I'm recording is the perfect time to be scratching on things. But Sprint's are something that I've chosen to take and apply to areas outside of writing.

 

Let me think of an example. Oh, taxes, mentor, I've been working on my taxes recently. And initially I was, I'm obsessed Love is blind, like, I just absolutely love it. And I was telling myself, okay, the reunion episode came out a couple of weeks ago. And I was like, Oh, this is perfect. I'll just work on my taxes. While I have the TV on to do this, and I did. But I only did like a couple of minutes to work on the taxes because I was so riveted and focused on the reunion. But what I ended up doing is just implementing a sprint to work on my taxes. So I set a timer for 20 minutes, closed out all my other tabs on the computer was only going to work on taxes during that time. And that's all I did. And I made some good progress on it. And it's, it's, it's kind of astonishing to me, I've been implementing sprints in writing in different areas for years now. And it's always astonishing to me how much I can actually get done.

 

When I set a timer and I do a serious, focused burst of work on something, it is always shocking to me and it shouldn't be after this much time. But it is. So if you want to devote time to your writing, or some other creative project, brainstorming, even this is a fantastic thing to do for brainstorming. It feels if it feels like you need to brainstorm, for your creative work your writing, but you just don't you're spread kind of thin, you don't have a ton of time, set a timer, do 15 minutes do 20 minutes, even 10 minutes of focused work, or all you are doing is working on that thing. And then give yourself permission to take a break and maybe even that's it, that's all you do for the day is spend 10 minutes or 15 minutes, whatever on that thing. But you're really focused head down when you are in that 10 or 15 minute sprint.

 

This can also apply to things like cleaning and I hate cleaning. I know a lot of people say that I'm not unique in that, but it really I really hate it, it's I can I can organize, like I can pick things up, that's easier for me to do, but like actually cleaning, like dusting and mopping and just all that stuff it I think about all the time. Like almost like feeling guilty, like I should be doing more of this. But the truth is, again, I'm just spread really thin. And it's hard to do that. And I going back to priorities. Having a spotless house right now is just not a top priority for me. So it's something that I've had to kind of put to the side. Now I still clean obviously, because we you know, I want to be not living in a completely dirty house. But even just setting a timer for that, okay, I'm gonna put it in podcast, do 15 minutes, get as much done as I can. And then when that 15 minutes is up, that's it. Even if I haven't gotten to this thing I wanted to do, or this other thing doesn't matter. I'll come back to it.

 

Next time I do another cleaning sprint that can help you can really get a lot done. If you just focus again, for 15 minutes, put on a podcast, put on some music, whatever. Speaking of music that goes into my next tip, actually, because something that goes really well with this idea of focus and getting into a flow state and really powering through a sprint of something is ambient music I cannot listen to. I can't always listen to music with lyrics when I write because I find it distracts me I'm focusing on the lyrics and the words instead of what I'm actually writing. And I definitely can't listen to music with lyrics when I'm editing, or a podcast or anything like that I have to just be focusing. So you can put on Instrumental Music, Ambient Music, something with Lo Fi beats, there's an ambient music playlist on Spotify, that I love.

 

Something about that getting into the ritual of it and having that be associated with your writing time is really good cue for your brain as well. So, you know, again, I shared earlier that I'm not writing a ton, like I don't have a super consistent practice. But when I did, I would sit down, I would light a candle, I would put my phone away, I would put on some ambient music and it was like all these little rituals, all these little things that I did were queued to my brain, hey, it's time to write, it's time to get focused. Then it was easier to get into that mode of writing and focusing and flow and all of those things because my brain was used to it it kind of knew what all these things meant. So that can be something good to check out. If you just want to have something on if the idea of sitting in complete silence and working on something is too much for you then then try to ambient music.

 

There are also like coffee shop backgrounds that you can listen to. I did some searching on YouTube and I found like, Jazzy coffee shop noise that was kind of fun so that you know you're still writing at home but it feels like you're writing in a coffee shop So that's a good option too. Then my last tip for how to focus and be productive when you have limited time is really important. And this is something that a lot of us skip, because we want like, the hacks and the strategies and the tips and all that. But having self compassion is super important. In this busy season where I have been feeling stretched thin, it is really easy for me to beat myself up and say like the cleaning, you're not, you're not prioritizing cleaning right now, or you're not prioritizing this thing, or you're so behind on this thing.

 

And what about this, this was going to be one of your big goals for 2024. And you haven't even started it yet. It's very easy for all of that self talk to ramp up and for us to feel guilty to beat ourselves up to feel even some shame about not focusing not being productive on these things that are priorities and important to us. But that never, it never makes things better to have that kind of judgment. So as much as possible. Even though this is easier said than done. Even though this is hard to remember this, have compassion for yourself, especially if you are also going through a difficult period where maybe it's like a really difficult period, if you've got mental health issues or other health issues. If you've got stuff going on in your life, where you've got a crazy job you've got whatever it is, you are going through a lot.

 

And it is the last thing that you need is to pile that judgment in and everything on yourself is a way to try and I guess motivate yourself to do something. It's something that I've been doing lately, that feels maybe a little weird at first or a little woowoo. But I really think it helps is to offer myself some physical reassurance. So I will like, rub my arm, I'll place my hand on my chest and it just like take some deep breaths and be like, of course, you're feeling stressed. Of course, you're feeling like you don't have enough hours in the day, you were working a full time job. And you have a five month old baby who's not sleeping very much during the day.

 

Like of course you're feeling like things are hard right now, of course it's stressful. And just offering myself that bit of reassurance to counteract that negative voice, the guilty voice, the critic that wants to just project all this judgment, and why aren't you doing this and you suck at this and blah, blah, offering ourselves that bit of reassurance, taking that time to kind of regulate our nervous system a bit, those are all things that are going to help you immensely as opposed to just piling that guilt and shame on top of you on top of yourself and hoping that that'll somehow motivate you. And that kind of stuff does work as motivation. I've been like in the short term, but I don't think it's an effective strategy at all, you know, to to like beat yourself into submission to do something.

 

And that's the case kind of with writing to like I can beat myself up and be like you have to write you have to write you're a writer, you're not writing, but then it just doesn't feel good energetically to sit down and try to force myself to create from that place of like judgment and guilt and all of that. So offering myself some compassion and be like, Yeah, you know, you're you're writing a bit and, of course, you're feeling like you don't have enough time like this is temporary, you'll get back to it soon. And, you know, like your manuscript will be there when you're ready. It's okay. So all those things help to balance out that negative voice. So hopefully those tips are helpful. Again, if you are in this season of life that feels hard, and it feels like it's difficult to focus on with you. Yeah, we're gonna get through it. It's funny how I was thinking about like, Okay, before I before I had a baby, before I had a kid I was I would sometimes think about like, what, uh, you know, what, what's it going to be like, when I have a baby? What's it going to be like, when I have a kid and I would try to imagine a kid at home while I was working.

 

And I'm like, how do people do it? How do parents do it? Because I felt like sometimes I was stretched thin before and I didn't have a baby. Now I kind of have that same thing. But I think about people with multiple kids and like how do people with multiple kids do this? We have one baby and and I know it's be it's because she's home again. And we're watching her we don't have full time childcare. But like, how do people with twins do this? Or how do people with four kids do this? I cannot imagine are people with to have to under two and I guess the thing is, the truth is it's hard and you just kind of figure it out as you go. But yeah, it's funny how that changes your perception of time and focus and everything but all right. This felt a little bit more casual. I think just like sitting on my chair and like talking to you. I guess I was holding a cup of coffee, but I didn't drink any of it. I only have a little bit left.

 

Anyways, felt like a more casual Coffee Chat was kind of fun. Kind of nice. Alright, thank you for watching for listening. I appreciate your support, and I'll see you next time. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, the best way to show your support is to leave a review on Spotify or Apple podcasts to help other people discover the show don't forget to follow at the Katie Wolf on Instagram Tik Tok and YouTube for more content Thanks again for listening and I'll see you next week.

Katie Wolf