Distraction-free is the way to success!
Day 5 Challenge: Create a daily success plan for yourself that takes only 15–20 minutes and schedule a time in the day where you can squeeze it in. Write a blog post about what you will do, when you will do it, and how it will get you closer to your dreams.
First of all, I’d just like to say how very important ommwriter is to the process of turning off the distractions and focusing in on what I really need to do (and what I really need to write), as well as 750words.com.
As I listened to today’s video, I laughed as Natalie said “do not work from your living room!” Where was I sitting, of course, when I was listening and getting ready to write? And where am I sitting now, jotting down some thoughts before the real writing begins? Of course, my living room! Though as soon as she said it, I started walking around with my iPad and clearing off the kitchen table and getting my writing space ready to really get to work after the video was over.
The venue may change, but the habits do not, and that is how consistency is built. It finally clicked in my mind that THIS is how people keep up with what is important to them. I always marveled at the people who would work out in the fitness rooms at hotels while I was on vacation… Because vacation, to me, was always about taking a break from the daily life, especially those routines that hold daily life together. But I guess now I know that small daily goals produce consistent habits that you don’t mind doing daily, even when on vacation… In fact, you come to enjoy cultivation of those habits! And speaking of those daily habits… this is my 23rd day of writing every day!
In my daily planner from the desire map, there is room each day for three top priorities, the things that must get done each day, followed by lesser priorities. Now I understand why there isn’t more than three as top priorities…. Otherwise, it causes complete overwhelm, and if you can’t get all X number of priorities done in one day, even if there are a ridiculous amount, like ten, then why complete any at all, right? Manageable goals brings manageable success. If you don’t set yourself up for success, then you probably won’t be successful.
Finally, the pomodoro technique: wow, what a breakthrough I had when I first learned about it from Racheal Cook during her Fired Up and Focused Challenge. The pomodoro technique teaches us the lesson of anything you want to do magically expands depending on the amount of time you are given to complete said task. For example, I’ve known all evening that I’ve needed to do two things: watch today’s video and write the blog post you are reading now (thing 1) and write my newsletter to be blasted out tomorrow morning (thing 2). Yet I knew I had all evening to do these things. So did I go for it right away? No, of course I didn’t. I sat and watched tv and ate a sandwich then an ice cream cone and watched more tv and played bejeweled stars and candy crush soda saga while watching yet more tv and a movie that I’ve already seen before. I looked at the clock and realized that the evening had slipped away, and now I had less time to do the work that I could have had done already!
So, enough behind the scenes blather about why and how I stall. Here’s the good stuff, the real point of today’s challenge: creating a success plan that works for me, daily.
7am-8am: morning spirit/writing stuff, broken down into 20 minute increments: 10–20 minutes of meditation, 10–20 minutes of writing, 10–20 minutes on offerings/magickal work/divination. In that order. Where? Meditation and writing at kitchen table/office, offerings/magickal work/divination at altar.
Evenings: One hour of steady work, broken down into 2 pomodoro sessions, of whatever writing I need to do that week. Where? Either the bedroom with the door shut until the session is done, or my kitchen office. With an announcement to my husband that I am doing work for the next hour.
And any time I’m writing, I’m doing it in one of the following two places: ommwriter or 750words.com, with headphones in, and absolutely no social media or online distractions interrupting. If I need to do research, I can leave a placeholder and do it later, but not while writing. No need to tempt myself into falling down the rabbit hole.
The success plan itself is knowing what I need to do the day before, so that I’m not floundering and stalling the day of with the question of “what should I be focusing on?” The key is to have a “must do today” list and the last thing I do before finishing my work for the day is writing out a “must do tomorrow” list. That way, no floundering or stalling… Just straight to work, because my list is right there to work from and tick off!
Bottom line: the truth is I can write from anywhere, and I can read and teach tarot anywhere in the world for/to anyone. But in order to do the big things, I need to start with where I am and with what I have. And if I can’t manage my time now while living in one place, how in the world do I expect to travel the world with my tarot cards in tow and manage my time then? Like I said before… The venue may change, but the habits do not!
Blessings,
~*~Hilary~*~
www.tarotbyhilary.com
This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 5.
I’m doing the 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge from Natalie Sisson! Want to join me? It’s going on until September 19th, so hop right in, the water’s fine!
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.