The other day I posted this quote on Instagram and little did I know it would help me make a shift in what I had set out to do that very day.

In my “close friend” on Instagram group where I’m sharing how I’m changing up parts of my business – what’s working / what’s not in real time – I’d said one of my Daily Top 3’s was to schedule my tasks into my calendar for the week, with the plan to continue it each week.

Well that new habit I was attempting didn’t last through lunch!

Feeling a bit defeated by the end of the day – it didn’t help that I shared that I was doing it! – I did something that was eyeopening:

Step #5 in my SPACE Shifting method: EVALUATE.

I’ve talked about SPACE Shifting before – it’s my 5-Step approach for upleveling anything: a drawer, your workspace, entire home, dating approach, business, overall life. It’s simple, powerful, not always easy, but it does work if you do the work.

SO, here was my thought process when I set out to schedule out my week:

I’m needing to step up my game including working smarter. I do know from my experience as productivity coach* that scheduling your to do’s is a good thing. And it’s worked for me before. So I thought I needed to start doing it again.

(* I’ve was personally trained by one of the best in both organizing and productivity – NYTime Best Seller Julie Morgenstern, and have also learned so much from a multitude of other incredible mentors, programs, books, podcasts – you name it. BUT SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GO AGAINST WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS TELLING YOU TO DO…..)

Me last night sharing in my Instagram group how the day went …. Grabbing a screenshot from a video – not easy:////

And here was my Evaluation process:

There’s no doubt that batching your tasks together and knowing when you’ll do what is important. But there were some flaws I found when I really looked at the way I was going about it:

  1. My expectations were too high out of the gate. I wanted to come in after Labor Day and be back on top of stuff. Jump in and power through using the smart strategies I’ve both picked up from others and developed on my own over the years. Even what I specifically set out to accomplish within the certain time blocks was not realistic.
  2. I was trying to force through it. Something was out of alignment and I knew it. That’s one gift that came out of some of my past tough times (out of necessity!) – the ability to really hear my intuition to the point where I can feel, even in a physical way – when something’s right and when it’s not. When I try to fight it it’s like trying to push a boulder up a hill. Now this situation here wasn’t the steepest of hills but something was telling me to back up a bit. That’s when I realized …
  3. I’m still lacking the clarity that’s needed to jump into the work smart systems / routines I know I’ll eventually need to make bigger progress. While I DO have a pretty good idea of where I ultimately want to be (step #2 PREFERENCE – the “P” in SPACE Shifting has been so good at helping me with that) I don’t have clarity quite yet on some stuff in between. But I know that clarity will come through ACTION (the “A” in SPACE Shifting) and I’m now in a place to take it.

Two changes I made:

  • I’m giving myself this season (vs. this week!) to build the best foundation for my business which will include setting up smart systems and routines in an intuitive way based on how things evolves in the upcoming months.
  • Instead of scheduling out my week, for now I’m going to focus on my Daily Top 3’s – the three things that are most important for me to do for that day to help me best move towards that vision. I’ll probably move back to the scheduled times once I get clear on some stuff, but I will keep some blank space because I have to have it for my creativity and my sanity!

So when I posted that quote on Instagram with other types of “coloring projects” in mind, it actually fit well with the one I was working on that day.

TAKE ACTION: Are you feeling stuck somewhere? Do an E: Evaluate the situation. Even if you’re doing things the way you think (or have been told) you’re supposed to, think outside the box. And then take a new action – even if it’s a tiny one.

BTW coloring projects should be FUN … at least most of the time. When it’s consistently not, you may be trying to force yourself to stay in the lines. Venture outside and see how you feel.

xoxo

Angie

PS. If you want to join along on Instagram in my private “close friend” group that I referred to above and in my last post, find me on Instagram at YourLifeOrganizer, DM me and I’ll add you in!