Where did February go?!! Anyone else have that feeling sometimes?! Like the month just came and went?
I set out lots of great intentions and plans at the start of February, that really lit me up and would start taking my business again to the next level. The month started on a real productive high, I was buzzing! Especially bouncing off a great month in January completely hitting all my goals and doing better than I could have imagined. And then very slowly I got caught up with bits and pieces that were pulling me away from my plans, my business and distracting my focus.
I then found myself in a position, approaching the end of the month and the start of March completely beating myself up about it.
We are always going to be finding distractions in the everyday. Text messages, phone calls, people who pop over for 5 minutes that turns into 2 hours, the extra Youtube video you end up watching, the quick scroll on Facebook that then turns into an hour of wasted scrolling, or it could be on the other hand, personal reasons, stresses or worries you might be distracted by, your family or friends might need you, or not physically able to work – for me it was family as they needed me. When I wasn’t with them, my mind was on what was going on, worrying, thinking, planning, holding it together.
Having looked back on the month, I have realised that sometimes, you just have to let it go. For whatever reason, that thing that cropped up or happened, you cannot beat yourself up about it.
But I mean it is totally different if you were distracted every day by Facebook, don’t worry we have all been there, or the unintentional Netflix Binge!
But the more positive and helpful way to look at it, rather than beating yourself up and dwelling on it, is from the approach of what could you have done differently.
For me, I realised I had stopped time blocking my work, so that meant when I was being pulled away from doing what I needed to do, I hadn’t even done any chunks of work. It was little bits here and there, which felt like I hadn’t even really made a dent in my work, or my to-do list at all.
Learning to protect your time, is really important, for your own growth, headspace and general wellbeing but also for your productivity wise in business. One area I am not very good at is saying no to people, I naturally want to be a people pleaser but actually I need to be stricter with what I am saying yes to. Are you the same?
It got to a point that there were some days I just wanted to shut my phone off entirely, take a couple of days away just so I could focus on me and business. To have some peace and quiet from the noise. I then felt selfish for feeling that – which actually in hindsight is ridiculous I allowed myself to feel that. It’s no reflection on other people, but for me, I just needed a bit of breathing space.
Protecting your time, when you have worked hard to build your business, you don’t want to take your foot of the gas, you want to keep thriving and progressing! You will find some people don’t understand that, and that’s okay, and there will hopefully be more people who are incredibly supportive that. When you are your own boss, running your own business that comes with responsibility. I spoke the other day in a post about having freedom whilst running a business, and yes definitely having your own business allows that, but on the other hand, you are the person behind every aspect of it, the one that puts the hours in, the face and visionary behind it, you have to protect your time to make sure you are full of energy and coming at it from the right place to continue doing what you are doing.
So I guess that is kind of my reflections from February in terms of business and general productivity. How was your February? I would love to hear below!
March, I am really looking forward to getting into it. It is my last month before wedding season starts for me, and whilst I have been busy with lots of personal branding and lifestyle shoots, I really want to take some time to get ahead of the game whilst I will be out of the office a bit more over the coming months.
Last year I did write out blog posts with my goals for the upcoming month, did you like reading those? Are you interested in seeing my goals and plans? I’d love to hear from you below.
Love, Charlotte x