In 2019, I launched a productivity and intentionality company, Good Intentions Co. The flagship product was a subscription based monthly planner that shipped to members once a month. I was a one woman show, finalizing design concepts, inputting dates into InDesign, running the backend of the website, packing boxes and printing shipping labels all the while wrangling in my one year old baby and a three year old toddler. Oh, and I can’t forget working a remote job that solely supported the investment costs keeping the business running every month. Needless to say I had a lot of irons on the fire. 

The year leading up to the launch of my business I spent countless hours researching and refining ideas that would help people find success in their day to day productivity while experiencing what I called an intentional daily mindset. There were a lot of tips on waking up early, drinking all the water, self-care, creating lists upon lists to keep organized, all of which have been repeated about one trillion times in the dark hole of self help social media. 

Of all my research there were a handful of practices that actually helped me find success, and while I am not the original creator of these concepts that have likely cycled through many experts over the years, this is my personal spin.  

Close The Circle 

I like to think of a task or project in terms of a circle, there’s a starting point and an end point. If I need to focus on reworking the brand logo and I get into that project for about thirty minutes and then an email pops up on my desktop I can easily get pulled away into a rabbit hole of my inbox. So I have to keep the circle mindset and say, “No Kate, close the circle and then move to the next one.” I turn off my notifications and close out my current project before hopping to the next one. I may not touch as many tasks in one day but I end up closing and finishing projects much quicker. In addition to this, Gretchin Rubin’s 1-Minute-Rule was a huge game changer for me, essentially any task that you can complete in under one minute go ahead and just do it, stop putting off something that can be done quicker than a bag of popcorn in the microwave and close the mini circles as they come up.

Top 3

Instead of spending my entire day toggling between my desktop tabs and to-do list, I keep my main to-do list out of sight and think of it as a space where I keep note of what I have coming up to do. A to-do list just sounds so suffocating to me, instead I select my top three priorities for the day and that is my sole focus for the day. It’s important to note that your top three should not all be big massive work undertakings. I try to pick one big initiative that I know needs to get done, like editing the August blog submission for the COMPEL website, and then usually a personal task I’ve needed to get done, like finalizing Lincoln’s enrollment paper for school next semester. My last task varies from creating a quick google form for a co-worker or finishing putting away one load of laundry. A few guardrails to put into place here, stick to only three priorities, do not hide multiple tasks under one, don’t say I am going to work on laundry as a priority, you will get overwhelmed and not have a clear start and stop. Make your priority specific and then keep focused on that, if you want to get more done after your top three that’s totally up to you! 

Toss Out The Toxic 

Remember that dark hole of self-help social media I mentioned, stop listening to it… no seriously, get it out of your feed. Anyone who is trying to “coach” you by flaunting their personal wealth, fitness apps, conferences, or whatever is likely not accomplishing that by the tips and tricks they are shilling to you. They have help, they have privileges, and they have a totally different set of life circumstances than you and me. If you find someone who gets you,  speaks your language and encourages you without forcing their own agenda on you then that is awesome! But don’t let someone else tell you all the things you have to do before 6 a.m. to be considered a success. It took me a few years and a lot of feeling like I failed before 6 a.m. to realize that I could be a kick-butt woman, entrepreneur, mom and wife and still hate waking up early. You know what, waking up at the last minute doesn’t kill me, and for now hitting snooze five times every morning is working for me, maybe when I’m done wiping peanut butter off the floor and pee off the toilet seats I’ll be more of a morning person but that day is not today so I say, “No thank you 6 a.m. I need more sleep today”.

I think where a lot of people get overwhelmed in the productivity and time management space is by the idea that there is just one way to do something, or that there is a perfect formula to run your day by and if you could just unlock the secret, that then, and only then, you will have productivity bliss and never feel like you’re falling behind or missing the mark. There is not one way, there is not even a best way, there is a way that works for you, and in a few months or years there will be a different way that works for you. Find the things that you like and that work for you and be open to changing it up if it’s not working.

In spite of my very best intentions, Good Intentions Co. closed in March 2020, irony sometimes slaps you right in the face. Life won out, COVID-19 and juggling all the things wasn’t going to work for me anymore, so I pivoted and never looked back. Pivoting or changing something when it’s not working is not a sign of failure, it’s a sign of strength and self awareness and I think being flexible and self aware of what works for you is an under-utilized super power! 

There you have it Hatch Creatives a few thoughts on time management and productivity from a former productivity business owner. If there was one take away I’d want you to have today it is that the best time management and productivity tips are the ones that make your life easier so take a breath, figure out what you want and what makes you feel productive and go in that direction!