Welcome to my 24th post documenting my weekly struggles, goals and achievements in business and life for the week of March 27 - April 2, 2017.
Last week I was feeling really overwhelmed and stressed out, so I made it a priority to take care of myself by taking more time off to rest my brain and just relax. I've done a lot more of that this past week and, as a result, I'm feeling a LOT better! I've been sleeping more, going on more walks in the middle of the day, eating better and have stopped working after 7pm each night... I even took 2 FULL days off where I didn't even open my lap top! (I was at my boyfriend's place for 2 days so I didn't even bring it, plus I don't have my work email accounts on my phone so I can't even check them... this majorly helps me disconnect so I can focus more on LIFE.) :)
I've been much happier in general, I've been reconnecting with friends, and I still feel like I'm achieving things!
Setting boundaries on myself and finding BALANCE are so, so important to my overall health and wellness. Plus, I can't produce my best work if I'm feeling stressed out and drained.
So with all of that said, I'm going to try to start incorporating MORE TIME OFF (gasp!) into my weekly schedule. I want to try to be more productive with my time and try to stick to a schedule, much like I would with a 9-5 job. I want to work 4-5 days a week, with 2-3 full days off, and only work between certain hours, making sure I shut everything down at a certain time each night.
I know I probably won't be perfect at this and that it will take some time to adjust to it, but just having this kind of structure in the back of my mind will help keep myself in line and also help me give myself permission to stop working so much and make time to relax more.
Humans are creatures of habit and so I've been learning that by having structure and routine in my daily and weekly schedule, I am better able to live a healthy, happy and balanced life. :)
Anyways, moving on...
WHY I'M CREATING THESE WEEKLY POSTS
- To help keep me accountable by posting my goals publicly.
- To give me a better sense of control.
- To give me something to work towards.
- To keep me motivated to keep improving.
- To help me learn more about myself, blogging & business (I LOVE learning & analyzing!)
- To help me break things down and simplify my to-do list, so I don’t feel so overwhelmed (the goal is less stress, right?!) For my goals, I'm giving myself 3 things to accomplish in each category in order to keep things simple. All I have to do are these 3 things and once I finish them, I'm done for the week and I can go do whatever I want.
- To give me an outlet to talk about this stuff ( I LOVE talking about business and blogging but I don’t have too many friends that can relate, and the ones that can are usually BUSY buildin’ their own thangs…)
- To help me with my monthly income report.
- To give me something to look back on to see how far I’ve come.
- To hopefully help inspire and motivate others who are going through the same struggles (and maybe help us connect if we don’t know each other yet?!)
STRUGGLES
The biggest struggles I'm working through this week in business and life.
Business
I've got a little extra on my plate this week as far as business stuff goes, which has been causing me a little bit of anxiety because I'm trying to figure out how to juggle it all. I don't like having things hanging over my head... I just want to get them done and be done with them. I think this is why I work so much; things keep coming in for me to do, or I think of new things to do, and then I just don't stop. It's pretty much like an addiction, haha.
I need to work on just doing the important stuff first, and in the order that it comes in. Finish one project first and then once that's complete, move onto the next thing.
I swear I'm like a kid in a candy shop or like a puppy who sees a squirrel and just RUNS. Gotta stay focused and not get distracted by the next thing on my to do list!
Life
I just purchased a bunch of stuff I've been needing this past week and kind of feeling guilty about it because I've been trying to save money. But the things I purchased are going to (hopefully) bring me a better quality of life and improve my situation, so purchasing them sooner rather than later is probably better for me overall.
At least I'm not purchasing things that aren't going to be beneficial to my well-being, like clothes I don't need, candy, or a huge bar tab that's only going to make me feel like shit.
What I purchased was a full body pillow that will hopefully help me sleep better and relieve my back and hip pain I've achieved from powerlifting, a portable AC unit that will hopefully drown out the noise in my neighborhood and keep me cool so I can work/sleep better, and squat shoes because my current sneakers are probably only going to lead to injury if I continue squatting with them.
It's funny that I can have the discipline to hold back on purchasing things that are actually GOOD for me but yet struggle with holding back on overworking myself.
GOALS
My top 3 goals for this week.
Business
- Work on completing one project at a time before I move onto the next.
- Focus on getting client projects completed this week.
- Only work between 9am and 7pm (with a 2-3 hour break in the middle of the day) 4 days this week.
Life
- Test out my new AC unit and body pillow and see if they help me sleep better.
- Test out my new squat shoes and see if they help improve my squat.
- Take 3 full days off this week (Thursday, Friday and 1 day this weekend).
ACHIEVEMENTS
What I’ve accomplished since last week.
Business
Take Thursday and Friday off completely and don't open my laptop at all Wed night - Sat morning.(It's been a long, long time since I last did this, but I found it to be easier than I expected! I thought I'd feel anxious about emails coming through from clients, but I had an "out of office" auto reply on so that reminded my clients that they wouldn't hear from me until the weekend. I did have a ton of emails in my inbox Sat morning, but I just used the day to slowly sort through them and used Sunday as my day to really start working on them.)Only work between the hours of 9am - 7pm and incorporate more breaks throughout the day (go for more walks!)(I've been walking a LOT more and doing 10,000 - 20,000 steps most days of the week! I feel a lot better mentally and physically and have been able to fall asleep earlier because I'm winding down earlier.)Focus on getting client work done this week (put my stuff on the back burner for now).(This has helped me not work as much and not feel as stressed out because their projects are moving slow since I have to wait for them to send me stuff. While I'm waiting, I just get out of the apartment and stay more active instead of sitting at my computer doing work.)
Life
Try to walk 10,000 steps a day.(I've done this most days of the week!)Try to sleep 8 hours a night.(I've been sleeping 7-8 hours a night most days!)Do the couch stretch for at least 2 min on each leg a day.(My hip flexors are feeling a lot better which has helped me in the gym and has also helped me sleep more soundly!)
OTHER THINGS I DID WORTH MENTIONING
- I updated my Work with Me page on Whipped Dream and added it to the main menu (eek!)
- I updated my Praise page on Whipped Dream.
- I squatted 230lbs. for 5 reps! (PR)
ONE THING I'M GRATEFUL FOR THIS WEEK
I'm grateful for having all good people in my life and thankful that I've released all the toxic people from my past (whether that was a client, a friend, a roommate, or an ex.) It feels good to have supportive, happy people who treat me well surrounding me! I really don't have time for negativity or for people who drain me, and I'm so glad I've put in the work to cut off all the people who stress me out. Now I just have to work on myself :)