Q & A: Productivity & How I Hate It But Need It

{Me being productive at a young age. It stopped there.}

I know that the title has you intrigued. I am going to let you in on a little secret. I am addicted to putting things off until the last minute. You guys have no idea. I think it may be heredity. My mother passed it on to me. I wonder if I could find any stories to support my theory. Surely.

So what can this post be about? This post is centered around productivity. I get emails asking what is your day like? or how do you have time to blog? While these are good questions, I am no expert. In fact, I feel like the majority of self help or self improvement articles that I read are about how to change your day around to be productive. I love to blog but I also love to read blogs. I spend a TON of time reading blogs. It makes me happy! So while my day to day life is different, my efforts to be more productive are getting much better.

Want to know how I realized I had a problem? Well another confession is that I have known my productivity level has been awful for years. For years I have been pushing the limits with deadlines but honestly, my best work sometimes comes when I am against the wire so I didn't want to make a change. A few months back I started taking what I do seriously. Yes, I have blogged for almost two years but I didn't realize until recently how much more I could do and succeed at. I realized that I am successful with what I do and want to do more. I knew that if I wanted to take on more with the blog that I needed to get a hold of my productivity level. At first, the thought made me roll my eyes but it was time to be a productive big girl. Here are a few things that have change my life for the better:

1. I deleted Facebook off my phone. I felt 10 pounds lighter when I did this. Y'all I do not know what my deal is with Facebook but I seem to check it all the time and for no reason because nothing happened since the last time I checked it 5 minutes ago. Oh, so bad. Deleting it keeps me off of it and I am working very hard to cut down my time on the computer using it. The ultimate goal is to go without checking my social media apps for one whole weekend.

2. Office hours. This changed my life. I love it and hate it at the same time. When I am able (my schedule is different every week) I go into my office at 9 am, take one hour break for lunch and then I go back in until about 4:30 or 5 pm. It keeps me on track. I also find myself not answering emails at 9 pm. I try to get as much done as I can in that time. I am bad at working into the night. 2012 was a big year of working into the night and when making my resolutions for 2013 I knew I didn't want that. I missed out on so much with my husband. It is so nice to walk out of my office at 5 and make dinner, drink some wine and spend time goofing off with my husband and pup.

3. Set alarms. When people ask me what I do, I say I am a blogger. It is interesting because everyone makes fun of it but the biggest misconception is that I sit on the couch and write all day. I wish! Even though I do not make a drive into an office every day I do get up around 7 am each morning. I go into my office by 9 am. These few hours give me time to exercise, make breakfast, have quiet time with the Lord and any other little things that need to be done around the house. Once I am in my office, I am always making a list of things to be done. I can find myself taking too long with certain things so I have started setting alarms. I get my post up, read a few blogs and get my social media pushes ready for the day but come 11 am I move on to something else. I could sit and read blogs all day and setting an alarm to move on is a life saver. I also set an alarm for around 4 pm to spend my last hour in the office answering emails. Alarms have changed my whole day around. I love them!

4. Say No. This one is the hardest and biggest lesson I have learned. I have so many wonderful friends and vendors on the web and in every day life. I love working with them all but I am learning to say no when my plate is too full. If I cannot collaborate on a project no matter how amazing, I simply turn it down. It is really changing my creative process and allowing me more time to complete my top priorities. When I first start saying no I felt like I was letting people down. I quickly realized that they understood and loved me the same even though I had to pass on a project. Saying no is so freeing!

5. Make the most of it. Blogging is hard. Running a small business is hard but I am loving where I am in life. I absolutely LOVE what I do. I love answering emails. I love proofreading my posts (even though I am not the best at it). I love interacting with other bloggers. I love my life. I have learned that I control my attitude, my actions, my spirit. I am making the most out of what I do every day. It feels good great!

Need more encouragement? This article by Lara Casey is a must. It is all about boundaries and it will challenge you. What keeps you on track? What tricks help you be the most productive? I would love to hear your ideas!