Author: EvieBurke

If your weekly planning is regularly taking more than 20 minutes then something needs to change!

by EvieBurke, posted in video

Last week I came across someone sharing about how to plan your week.

I LOVE hearing how other people do things and I had some time, so I started watching.

This person shared that she sets aside about 2 hours on Sunday to do her weekly planning.

WHAT?!

If your weekly planning is regularly taking more than 20 minutes then something needs to change!

Here are some things that might be happening if it’s taking too long to plan your week:

  • You’re missing some simple and effective systems that make planning your week easy
  • You don’t know how much time you actually have to do work in your week
  • You don’t have a system for collecting new tasks or ideas that pop up during the week
  • You haven’t set clear goals for the month

We’re going to talk about that this week on Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done.

You can watch it (or the recording) below on Wednesday at 1pm.

Is this a problem for you?

Schedule a session with me by clicking here. You’ll leave knowing exactly what to do to make planning your week (and to-do list) easier.

Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done #94

Taking breaks

by EvieBurke, posted in video

Despite taking a break from Wednesday LIVE with Evie last month and my general slow down (read about it here, here, and here), I was working on some things behind the scenes.

If you’re in my Facebook group, Productivity for Women Entrepreneurs, you might already know what that is.

I decided to rename my weekly Facebook live from Wednesday LIVE with Evie to Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done.

This week’s topic is about taking breaks.

And not the breaks in your workday where you get up and away from your desk for a bit. But the breaks that give you the space you need for what’s coming.

And I’ll talk about my January break.

Don't compare your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 20. - Unknown

Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20

by EvieBurke, posted in video

Something amazing has happened.

Something I was sure would never happen for me. I thought I just wasn’t someone who could do it.

I’m doing my bookkeeping weekly.

And it generally takes me 15-minutes TOPS.

This is HUGE for me because three years ago at this time I had about eight months of bookkeeping to catch up on and I was dreading it.

Two years I was dreading my books only slightly less. I hadn’t updated them in about four months. It was still painful and took a lot of time.

Last year I was only a couple months behind.

This year I’m not behind!

Getting from where I was three years ago (or even last year) to now wasn’t a quick fix.

It was literally three years in the making.

The turning point was deciding it was time to ditch the budgeting software I used for my personal accounts because it was NOT a useful way to manage my business books AT ALL

But it wasn’t just finding a new program that solved the problem.

I had a lot of time put into the thought/belief that bookkeeping took A LOT of time and was painful.

It took three years, several different attempts at creating systems around doing my bookkeeping, and a lot of trying it again and tweaking.

——————–

Some things that feel super hard to us are things that we watch other people do with ease and it can feel impossible to get there.

But we don’t know the time and effort that went into that ease.

The great (and sometimes frustrating) thing is that we’re never done.

Getting to a place where my bookkeeping takes me under 15 minutes a week was a long process.

I even tried to do what I’m doing now last year, but it just didn’t work for me then. There were some steps in between that had to happen before it would work for me.

So, don’t give up.

It’s like the quote says “Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20.”

What’s your thing that seems daunting and impossible? Comment below.

Did the holidays change your morning routine?

by EvieBurke, posted in habits

The last couple weeks I think I’ve done a pretty good job of being kind to myself and honoring my desire to slow down.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about you can read last week’s note by clicking here.

This week the tide is turning.

My inner voice is telling me it’s time to start moving out of my cozy cocoon a bit and move closer to the groove that I had in early December.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m not taking care of my self or jumping into DO-ALL-THE-THINGS mode. I know myself well enough to know that’s NOT going to work for me.

This will be a slower process. And my new groove might look different than it did last year.

One of the things that fell by the wayside the last few weeks was my morning routine.

It wasn’t perfect, but it did mostly work for me. I say mostly because toward the end of the year I was thinking about how to tweak it to support me more.

Since that morning routine has mostly disappeared, this is a great time for me to think about what I want my new routine to look like, implement it, and tweak it as much as necessary.

Did the holidays change your morning routine?

Maybe January came and something you were doing EVERY morning fell by the wayside or was replaced by something else?

Or maybe you had some resolutions and changed A BUNCH of things at once and ALL those changes aren’t sticking (according to some studies right about now is when most people are abandoning their New Year Resolutions, although some studies put it at the second week of February).

If you’re trying to make a lot of other changes in your life or business right now, maybe pick one thing to add or remove from your morning routine.

If your morning routine has devolved into something that’s just not working at all (mine worked very well for taking it easy, but it’s not working so well for getting into my office when I want to in the morning), then it might be time for an overhaul.

This is a great time to take a step back and look at how your morning routine is working for you and decide what, if anything, needs to change with it.

And if you want a second pair of eyes or someone to help you with what changes you might want to make, reach out (add a comment below) and we can get something on the calendar.

My head keeps telling me to do more things

by EvieBurke, posted in planning, Quiet Time

What are your gut feelings about what you should be focusing on or doing this week, month or quarter?

Have you taken any time for yourself (real time for yourself) to notice?

I’ve noticed a desire to slow down right now.

Why?

Saturday was the funeral for my father-in-law and it was a beautiful time of remembrance of his life.

People keep asking how I am and I respond with “good” and “fine”.

I respond this way not because I want them to feel better, but because I really am good and fine.

I’ve noticed part of me thinking that because I am “good” and “fine” I should jump right into “normal” life.

My head keeps telling me to do more things, update my plan for the first quarter with ideas I’ve had in the last 10 days, and put solid dates and plans into the calendar for 2019.

And yet, I’ve felt the desire to slow down.

The desire to slow down comes from a deeper place.

From this deeper place, I’m being asked to put a hold on the PLANS I want to create now because they’ll change in a week or two.

From this deeper place, I’m being asked to recognize that even though I really do feel good and fine, I need some time before I jump back in 100%.

From this deeper place, I trust that taking this time now will serve me better than PUSHING through and DOING-ALL-THE-THINGS.

There won’t be a Wednesday LIVE with Evie this week and it may not return until February.

However, I’ll still be showing up here each week with a note like this one.

And while today’s note isn’t an overt productivity tip, it is a productivity reminder to listen to your intuition and notice what you need.

YOU are the driving force of your business and taking the time to notice and honor what you need is important.

What guidance does your intuition (or gut or whatever your name for it is) have to share with you about the upcoming weeks?

If you would like to share I’d love to see your responses in the comments below!