Friday is always a BIG work day. I try to keep my Fridays client and meeting free, so I can do some heads down work. Like most folks with their own business, weekends are not the same for me as they are for others. I look forward to the weekend, not because it will be work-free, but because of the FREEDOM.
Other businesses are typically open Monday through Friday, so, I too, do a lot of “business-type” work during these days. I run errands, make phone calls, schedule client meetings, etc. But come the weekend, I can say “no” to those types of activities and focus on what brings me joy and in the areas that require MORE focus. And that is what I am going to do!
The big ticket items on my list for this weekend!
- video production
- October give-aways
- Row of Ducks website re-fresh
I have to say that my Shiny Object list from yesterday was a huge success, and I ran out of room on the parking lot side before the end of the day. But that means ALL of those things did not get my attention and I was able to stay on task.
One of the things that I did allow myself to be distracted by was to create an Alexa routine for my work intervals. I do work-intervals or sprints. This is something that I carried over from my parenting days. I was a big fan of the kitchen timer as a tool for helping my kids transition from activities and to give difficult tasks a start and and end. I would use the time to say, we have to go in 5-minutes, set the timer and then the timer was the bad guy. Or we would agree that they needed to work on a project or clean their rooms or help around the house. Instead of making it “until mom said you’re done” – we would agree to a time for this unpleasant work and set the timer. Sometimes we would clean the house together, using 20 minutes of cleaning and a 10-minute break and repeat. I could get hours of work out of them, with this approach.
I still use this for unpleasant tasks of my own and to help me have the discipline to stay on task. Normally, I just tell Alexa how long I want to work, have her start a timer and I commit to sitting down at that task, at least until the timer goes off. Sometimes I keep working, but I typically get up. Mostly because I need to stretch and move throughout the day.
Yesterday, I decided to automate it a bit more. I created an “Work Loop” routine using Alexa. I just say, “Alexa, start a work loop”, and she gives me a positive affirmation, tells me to grab my coffee or water and sit down for 90-minutes. Then she plays the 60’s French Pop Music station on Pandora for 90-minutes. It is so nice to have good music playing and also knowing that I don’t have to think about how long to set the timer. It removes that element of decision and it forces me to “work” for 90-minute sprints.
BTW: my phone seems to have stopped with the strange ringing sound. I don’t know what it was, but it has left just as mysteriously as it started.