Hi again.
We are ten steps closer to sorting and announcing our news!
I'm sure its character-building for me to restrain my exhuberance and excitement and wait...
Heather is in bed - we seem to have a lot of 18 and 20 hour days. I am a night-owl and she is definitely a morning person, so sometimes it seems we will never meet when one of us isn't half asleep.
(Reminds me of 'Half aslepp in Frog Pyjamas' - by Tim Robbins; if you haven't read him, you must! He follows no rules and his books are a great romp)
Now, I don't know about you, but more and more people are working from home - full or part-time. And being at home can be incredibly distracting: sometimes we collude with any shape or form of time-wasting procrastination, sometimes we're driven mad by external pressures we cannot ignore. Sound familiar?!
Using grit, determination and willpower to keep working can be mind-numbing and energy-zapping. Try some of these... they might just work for you:
1. Set yourself deadlines. If you don't get it done on time, you refuse yourself something you really want.
2. Set daily goals. This might be a written list, in your diary, or on a post-it. Achieving small daily goals = a great sense of achievement. You turn into a person who gets it done, not a person who feels overwhelmed.
3. Do whatever scares the crap out of you FIRST (you know, that important thing you'd give ar arm or leg to avoid..) - then its not hanging over you like a dark cloud all day. You'll feel fantastic too. It's like giving the finger to your fears.
4. Get someone you trust to ask you tough, but fair questions about how you're doing. Another person can help you stay focused.
5. If you thrive on routine, stick to one: but not everybody does - so recognise what suits you and work accordingly.
6. A simple (and scary!) thing to do is ask yourself 'Do I love what I do?' If yes, you're motivated naturally - if no, then you might want to think about changing things to make work something you actually like to spend time at / on.
7. Does everyone else in the house respect that 'work' time is WORK? Train them to leave you alone and let you have the space and quiet you need. Make them understand & value what you do, whether its making curtains, or run a multi-national!
8. Don't get hungry, cold, or thirsty! It sounds silly, but to be dehydrated wrecks concentration & = headaches. To be hungry = low bloodsugar and causes the same unproductive lows. And everybody hates being cold! Also, it helps to keep your coffees / juices / snacks somewhere in your office - so you don't get distracted by forays into the kitchen.
9. Make you office gorgeous! Make it pretty, or stark - whatever turns you on. A good environment = a positive frame of mind.
10. Get you filing sorted! Mess is not worth the amount of mental energy it gobbles up. Take 10 mins at the end of every work session and put things away.
11. Start the day in a way that pleases you - walk out the front door and come in the back - as if you're 'going to work'; or read a paper for 15 mins, or start with a prayer - do something that rocks your boat at the start of every day.
Lastly (you can tell I could go on for pages!) leave you desk with a nice task to start off tomorrow! A call to a person you like, or an email to say 'yes' to something positive. Its like a little pat on the back for the next work session. You can always leave a message to thank someone - its a great and hardly ever done thing these days! Everyone loves to be recognised and getting a thanks can be like gold-dust.
Well, goodnight, all you night-owls! Happy working!
Love
C
