Episode 114: What if putting things in your diary doesn’t work for you?

00:52 Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity. I'm Louise Miller and each week i share bite-sized 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 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 slash Louise Miller and making a one-off donation. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes Okay grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started We've all met them haven't we? Those magical unicorns who are somehow able to decide something is important put that thing in their diary And then actually do the thing at the time they said they would

01:41 Mind-boggling isn't it? It doesn't work for me and it doesn't work for most of the people that I support. Probably because the people who are able to work that way are far less likely to need help from a productivity mentor, but as a quick aside... The people who can do that, who can put something in their diary and then always get it done Are what's known as upholders in Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies framework. And according to her research, those are the smallest group out of the four groups she identified So I'm not going to talk more about The Four Tendencies right now. I've already done an episode on that so have a listen to Episode 105 if you're curious to learn more about The Four Tendencies. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes

02:18 But what I want to talk about today is, what do you do if you're one of the majority for whom putting things in your diary doesn't work? Unless it's a client call or workshop where you actually have to show up somewhere at a certain time. So the purpose of using your diary is just to tell you when and how to protect time for important things. Let's think about some other ways that don't require you to be some sort of productivity robot. For me All of this is just about taking a bit of time at the start of the week to decide what's important with my calendar in front of me so that I can make sure i'm being realistic with the expectations I'm setting myself. So, the biggest advice I can give you that I want to share with you today –that actually I believe applies to everyone regardless of how you work best–is to mentally prepare for your week by making sure that A.) You know what you want and need to get done and B.) You have the capacity to actually do those things

03:15 So that can be as simple as looking at your calendar and your list of tasks every morning or every evening, if you prefer. And choosing what gets your focus. Then what you do from there is up to you so whether you physically put things in your diary is up to you As long as you've got a sense where the spaces are and have clarity about what needs getting done in those spaces You're all good So in Make It Happen Club I guide people to look at what's on their plate, what they're aiming to achieve this quarter and what capacity they have available to make that happen so that they can align what's important and the tasks they need to be doing with the space they have available. And some of those things will end up in their diary as a reminder to protect space others will stay on the plan that they're encouraged to revisit at least once a week

03:58 And if you're curious about that, about Make It Happen Club I'll pop a link in the show notes so you can find out more. But if you feel it would be helpful to use your calendar to protect time for some of the things you need to get done, I'm going to suggest a couple of ideas that might help. So sit with them see how they land get creative and over time I know that you'll figure out what works for you So what if, for example you chose to use your calendar to protect time for certain tasks not for everything but some of the things that you want to dedicate some time too. But you let go of the idea that you have to do that thing at the time you allotted? Could you put things in your diary knowing it's perfectly okay to move them around?

04:37 And that doing so doesn't mean you lack discipline or have failed. All it means is that you've allowed yourself to be flexible based on what's going on for you in the moment and that by doing that, you're actually learning about what works for you and what doesn't So if you're the sort of person who doesn't like being told what to do by your diary, you could block out chunks of time so that people can't book in calls with you but not actually decide in advance what you're going to do with that time. You could leave it open so that you then get to choose what to do with that time but that time is there protected for you for the things that matter most. For now, what I want you to remember is that there is nothing wrong with you if putting things in your diary doesn't work

05:18 All you need to do is to make sure that your protecting time and space for the activities that needs to happen, to keep making progress. And what that looks like is going to be different for everybody and you get to choose! So I hope some of the ideas I've shared today help and look forward to seeing you again soon Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating and review as that will help more people discover this podcast. If you would like to hear more from me to help stop faffing and take back control of your time, you'll find the link to join my mailing list in the show notes and I would really love for you to join us! So thanks so much for your support and I look forward to seeing you next time