When faced with something daunting, one of the best ways to make it more manageable is to divide it into parts. You’re likely a pro at doing this already in regards to specific projects, but you can apply this same logic to the year ahead of you to maximize productivity.
When you’re an entrepreneur with a day-job, I don’t have to tell you twice that it always feels like there’s something you should be getting done that you’re not–even though you’re burning the candle at both ends!
All these feelings of falling behind can drain up more psychological energy than we realize–it can be difficult to really be able to evaluate when enough’s enough.
Most productivity experts agree, however, on two things. First, that we accomplish more when we take regular breaks. (There’s neuroscience to back this up as well.) And Second, that working with concrete goals that are longer than 90 days tend to be too overwhelming to really track and move forward with.
To plan the most productive year, consider planning your business year by quarters. By doing this, you get to be more organized with your goals and tasks, and really map out what you can do with your time.
While I’ve been better this past quarter about scheduling at least a few hours of rest and recreation on the weekends, I realized I need to be scheduling out downtime in my year, to give me some space between quarters to clear my head and get clarity on how best to create a fresh set of quarterly goals.
So, what I’m going to do this year is schedule 2 weeks in between my quarters, which I’m dubbing my “gap weeks.” Of course, I will still be doing my day job at this time, so it’s not going to be all relaxing and daydreaming.
My first gap week in a quarter is going to be just relaxation at night—whether that’s scheduling a massage, laying by the pool, going for a hike, doing yoga, or journaling. Nothing business-related–just my day job. This will give me a good 7 days away from thinking about my business, which I know will really help bring some perspective and clarity, and just a little bit of relief, because our minds are constantly, constantly going as entrepreneurs who are busy working at the 9-5 as well.
My second week is going to be centered around planning for my next quarter. I’ll spend one full day doing a planning retreat, plus reviewing best practices from the Smart Success Academy I’m enrolled in to set clear-cut priorities. This way, I know the goals that I can achieve with the time ahead of me, and the tasks I need to do to achieve those goals.
When you’re getting a business up and running, you know how fatiguing that can be, and it often takes years to grow a business from the ground up. As tempting as it may be to roll full steam ahead until that elusive day that you “arrive,” you really need to be taking that long-term view.
Staying too close to our work can exhaust us and also make us inefficient.
Taking a few steps back to relax can really actually HELP you get that long-term view of your goals.
There are a lot of parallels between business and fitness. The key to a healthier body has always been consistency. I’ve never been an amazing athlete or natural-born fitness queen. I’ve just always been really super- consistent with my work-outs. Part of the reason why I’m good at being consistent when it comes to exercise is because I don’t beat myself up too much to try and get a crazy, crush-it, gut-wrenching workout each time. When I am ready for a break, I call it a day.
In business as well, long-term consistency matters more than going gung-ho, and creating a little space and detachment will actually help you be more consistent in the long-run (as opposed to crashing and burning.)
Which is what I’m excited about helping entrepreneurs with right now—just keeping your energy up, and your concentration and focus levels fresh week after week, year after year.
May your business–and your rest–be right on track this year!
Want some help planning your own entrepreneur retreat? Swipe my own Personal Planning Retreat Agenda!
