Episode 161
Ep 161: Are your rules still working for you?
Habits and rules are helpful until they aren’t. In this week's episode I get honest about the rules I followed for way longer than was helpful, and how breaking the rules we set for ourselves can remind us reminds us how important they are. Consider this an invitation to look at the rules you've created for yourself - consciously or otherwise - and make sure they're still working for you.
Take the quiz to find out what's getting in the way of your productivity
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder, more sustainable approach to productivity.
Speaker A:I'm Louise Miller and each week I share bite size insights to help you step away from the hustle, stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world.
Speaker A:Before we dive into today's episode, if you enjoy what I'm sharing here on Unfrazzle and you'd like to support the podcast, you can buy me a cuppa by going to buymeacoffee.com louisemiller and making a one off donation.
Speaker A:I'll pop a link to that in the show notes.
Speaker A:Okay, grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started.
Speaker A:Today I want you to take a moment just to think about the rules that you've set for yourself, whether consciously or not, and whether or not those rules are still working for you.
Speaker A:So let me give you a few quick examples of what I mean.
Speaker A:I spent years thinking that it was a bad idea to start the day by dealing with email.
Speaker A:So thinking about it now, I can see that that was a hangover from my last job when my inbox was full of people who needed stuff from me.
Speaker A:My inbox was basically a hellscape of questions, problems, 20 people hitting reply, all to say thank you to something, updates that weren't relevant to my role, and new jobs and tasks that needed my attention.
Speaker A:And if I'd started my day like that, I'd have been forever pulled around by other people's agendas, never getting to the things that mattered to me and feeling completely out of control.
Speaker A:So I used to protect the start of the day to get something off my own list before opening my email and seeing what on earth had been kicking off since I left the office the day before.
Speaker A:Actually, let's be honest, since I'd checked my email before going to bed because I was a ball of stress back then and I was doing all of the wrong things.
Speaker A:But all of that to say that I've had a rule I shouldn't start my day by replying to email for many, many years now.
Speaker A:Until I realized, quite recently, embarrassingly recently actually, that that's not actually serving me anymore.
Speaker A:It worked beautifully for a long time, but now my life and my work is very different.
Speaker A:I don't get emails that threaten to derail my day anymore.
Speaker A:My clients are all lovely, nobody is demanding anything from me.
Speaker A:And what I've noticed happening is that I look at my email to See what's coming in in the morning, but then I don't deal with it there and then.
Speaker A:Instead I start on the thing I want to be focused on that day, but.
Speaker A:But then I get so engrossed in that thing or I lose track of time, get pulled into my day that I don't always want to stop what I'm doing to reply to my emails.
Speaker A:And then I get to the end of the day, I'm tired and I still haven't done it.
Speaker A:And that makes me feel bad.
Speaker A:All day those unanswered emails have been hanging over me.
Speaker A:But because of my rule about not doing email first thing, I haven't replied.
Speaker A:And isn't that ridiculous?
Speaker A:Especially because by keeping that rule, I was breaking another clearly less important to me rule about not looking at my inbox if I'm not in a position to respond and take action.
Speaker A:So I've decided to put that rule about not replying to email in the morning first thing, I've decided to put that rule in the bin.
Speaker A:If I want to reply to emails first thing I am allowed.
Speaker A:So another example of this is my rule about keeping Mondays free so that I can work on what's important in my own business.
Speaker A:And I broke that rule recently and there must have been a good reason, but I can't remember what it was.
Speaker A:But I broke that rule by scheduling a half day planning workshop on a Monday morning.
Speaker A:Now, I'm not used to needing to show up like that at the start of the week, and honestly, it did throw me a little bit.
Speaker A:I mean, the workshop was great, so that wasn't a problem at all.
Speaker A:But I didn't have my usual gentle entry into the week.
Speaker A:And because I'm such a creature of habit, that did throw me.
Speaker A:And I actually spent the rest of the week confused about what day it was.
Speaker A:So actually by breaking that rule, I was reminded about why it's important to me.
Speaker A:You know, I love having Mondays to myself, which doesn't mean that I won't ever book something in again, but when I do, it'll be intentional, which.
Speaker A:Which I know that that workshop was.
Speaker A:I just can't remember the logic behind it now.
Speaker A:I fixed that date so long ago.
Speaker A:But another example of a rule that works for me but that I'm happy to break every now and then.
Speaker A:I don't usually turn on my laptop as soon as I roll out of bed in the mornings.
Speaker A:I do some yoga, I have breakfast with Tom, have a shower, and then I settle down to work.
Speaker A:However, I also go through phases where my sleep can be a bit all over the place and I'm awake at 4:30 in the morning.
Speaker A:And on those days I will often climb under the duvet in the spare room, turn on my laptop and get a few hours of done before yoga and breakfast.
Speaker A:And that way if I hit the wall a bit later on and I need to rest and have a nap, I can do that knowing that I've done the things I wanted to do that day.
Speaker A:And speaking of getting under the duvet, I worked with a client last year who realized she had a rule that said that she had to be at her desk when she was working, but she never actually felt inspired to create when she was sitting at her desk.
Speaker A:So after we talked it through, she realized actually she feels most creative when she's working from bed.
Speaker A:But she wasn't letting herself do that because she didn't feel that that was something a successful business owner would do.
Speaker A:So once she'd scrapped the rule that she had to be sitting at her desk during her working hours and got rid of her belief that successful people don't work from bed, her creative output went through the roof.
Speaker A:So just take a moment to think about the rules that you've set for yourself.
Speaker A:Whether consciously or not, you did choose them for a reason, and that could be because they're good for you, or it could be that they're rules you think you should be following to be a serious business owner.
Speaker A:Or it could be like me, they're rules that were great for you a go, but they're not serving you anymore.
Speaker A:So I would just love for you to do a quick check in.
Speaker A:Are your rules still working for you, or is it time to change things up a bit?
Speaker A:And as always, I hope that this helps and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle.
Speaker A:If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life.
Speaker A:And I'd love it if you could leave me a rating or a review as that will help more people discover the podcast.
Speaker A:And if you're struggling with productivity right now, take my free assessment to find out what's really getting in the way of you getting things done.
Speaker A:It takes less than three minutes to complete and I'll send you tailored resources and insights that will help based on your score.
Speaker A:You'll find that@louisemiller.uk quiz and there's a link for that in the show notes.
Speaker A:So thank you so much for being here and I look forward to seeing you next time.
