Making changes to the way I approach my day
so I am making the best use of my time on the right activities
Good morning,
I hope you are having a great week and if you are on school hols that you are finding some time to relax with the family. One of the habits I have established really well this year is to read for a minimum of 15 minutes per day. I have been wanting to read more for a number of years but never seemed to make the time for it. I have highlighted make the time for it, because I am reading at least two books a month this year and I definitely have not magicaly just been given more time. Previously I have been lucky to read two books in six months! I have been proactively making time for reading and that has come at the expense of time for other activities.
There has been a direct correlation between reduced time on my phone and increased reading time. I didn’t consider myself to be a person who spent a huge amount of time on my phone for non-work activities but it has been truly amazing to see how not spending five minutes here, or 10 minutes there, on my phone has helped me increase how much reading I am doing. Those small blocks of time throughout the day can be quite a lot of time when you add them up.
I pick up my book at breakfast and lunchtime if I am eating on my own. I have my book on me when I go places and I know I will be in a queue or have to wait. I look forward to getting into bed with enough time to read a few pages before going to sleep.
And the real magic is that the less I am on my phone, the less I want to be me on my phone. While I can use my computer for social media, I cannot do everything on my computer and lately, when I have been needing to use my phone for work reasons, I don’t really feel like doing it! Less time on my phone overall has also helped increase my focus tremendously as well and I am not flicking between tasks when I am working. It has been such a win all around.
A key learning for me through this experience is about becoming more conscious of how I use my time, especially my work hours. With Planning With Kids, the Planned + Present Courses, and Adapt Drinks there is so much work that I could potentially be doing. I have ideas for all of them! The reality is that I have only about 30 hours a week for work and that is not enough time for all the things I want to do. I need to get better at how I use those available hours - make smarter decisions on where I spend my time.
I have read two excellent books (I will share more about them in the coming weeks) recently that have helped me make some significant changes to the way I work in an endeavor for me to maximise my output for minimum time or increase the return on investment for the time I am spending on activities.
As a result, you may start to notice some small changes. For example, this mid-week email is free and always will be as the posts on the Planning With Kids blog will be. I have a lovely little community of paid subscribers for this newsletter as well and I would like to grow that community. There is such power in a supportive peer group!
When you take up a paid subscription (which is only $US5 a month or $US50 for a yearly subscription), you also receive an email Sunday evening. This email starts with some reflections, tips, or learnings and then each week it includes:
3 key tasks to achieve for the week to help work toward my personal goal
3 key tasks to achieve for the week to help work toward my business goal
3 key tasks to achieve for the week to help work toward my health and fitness goal
Members then share their tasks in the comments, can ask questions etc. Friday afternoon I follow up with another email which includes:
some reflections, tips, or learnings
links to things I have come across that I think readers will like. It includes a link to this free newsletter as it doesn’t go directly to paid subscribers. We felt two emails a week was enough from me and I simply link to this one for them to read
a write-up on how I progressed with each task and readers can add in the comments how they went, ask questions etc
If you think you would like this you can sign up by clicking the below button :)
A few times a month I will be sending out some preview emails to free subscribers, so you can get to read some of the emails that go out to paid subscribers and get a taste of what they see.
Writing these newsletters is one of the work activities that I love doing most and if I could only do this and not have to worry about social media I would be so happy! If you have any questions or comments let me know!
Nic
Adapt Drinks Sample Packs are back!
For those of you who were keen to buy a sample pack to taste Adapt Drinks or wanted to buy a sample pack as a gift for someone, now is the time to buy! Last time they sold out super quickly and I will not be making any more sample packs this year. I highly recommend getting in quick - click here to place your order.
If you are buying a sample pack as a gift and would like me to write a personalised note, please send me an email with your order number and what you would like the note to read and I am happy to write it up! Just hit reply to the email you get confirming your order and it will get to me.
Any questions just hit reply to this email and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Nic