Episode 123: Structure is freedom. Discuss.

00:51 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 Some people are naturally inclined to rebel against structure preferring to go with the flow And see how the mood takes them whereas for others structure is what grounds them keeping them calm and focused

01:42 And I definitely fall into the latter camp, but the former is equally valid. The key as you've heard me say a million times already is to find a way of doing things that feels good to you and that leaves you feeling confident that important things will get done. So note there use of important rather than urgent – the important things getting done…there's a big difference! So I often ask my mentoring clients how they feel when they hear the word structure and for some it brings a feeling of sweet relief Allowing them to see a way out of the chaos that causes them stress. And others physically recoil at the very word And then there are those who think they want structure only to find that actually it doesn't work for them. So listen to episode 117 of Unfrazzle for an example of what that looked like for one of my 1-1 clients... I'm not saying you need to have structure or that structure needs to look a certain way in order for you to be productive and make progress,

02:44 But just in case there's something here that helps you find what works for you, let's spend a couple of minutes talking about some of the ways in which for me structure is freedom. So, structure can look like having boundaries and honouring them. And when you do that it is so much easier to protect time and headspace for the things that matter to you rather than always being reactive to whatever's going on around you. Those boundaries will also make it easier for you to switch off and relax knowing that everything important is held and taken care of So boundaries, that's one way of thinking about structure. Structure can also look like having some sort of system that allows you to see everything that is on your plate so when you have that working for you and you can see how busy or not you are You have the freedom to say yes to fun stuff and opportunities without guilt or worry because you know you have capacity to do them well And if you don't have capacity If you already have too much going on Having this structure in place gives you the freedom to say no

03:45 Another way of thinking about structure is in relation to how you begin your day. So, you might want to substitute the word rhythm here instead of structure but when you've got that in place it reduces the number of decisions that you need to make preserving your precious mental energy for the things that really matter so for example I always do yoga first thing in the morning whilst Tom is still in bed and before we have breakfast together That's part of the structure of my day that allows everything else to happen with much more ease And means I don't have to waste precious time thinking about when i'm going to fit in some exercise during the day. It's taken care of and then another way in which structure can be really helpful is if emotion sometimes gets in the way of you taking action so for example,

04:33 And I know there's something going on with that, with my mindset that needs work and i will most definitely address that. But what if creating a system and a structure around how I do that? Around how I ask for testimonials allowed me to take action without that emotion getting in the way so is there something I can do to automate the process without losing the human touch? A similar thing could be you know if you are You have a lot of clients who don't pay you on time, for example. The emotion of that and needing to reach out to people about that can be really painful having some kind of structure in place where you know that after certain number of days this is the email you will send and all you have to do is follow that, follow that structure it just removes all of that emotion that threatens to trip you up so on a similar note the last example I'll share about what structure might look like

05:22 is around creating checklists for things. So, for things like client onboarding and client offboarding those aren't things that we do every day and it can be hard to remember the steps so mapping out the process as you go so that you have it written down for next time can save you so much time and irritation in the long run. You see when I talk about structure I'm not talking about time blocking your days to within an inch of their life It doesn't have to be about doing the same things at the same time every week or being so rigid about how you do things that you feel stifled. For me, it's about having just the right amount of structure to support you in focusing on what is important – think like banks of rivers that stop water from spilling everywhere and flow out to sea

06:06 So, structure frees me from my own unhelpful whims and blocks. It helps me to stay on track with the big picture without distraction. It frees me to say yes to a coffee with a friend because I know i've set some time aside for that kind of connection by having those strong boundaries in place and to say no or not right now to an opportunity because I can see that I'm at capacity or you know on the flip side of that being able to say yes to an opportunity that excites me because I can see I have space for it And of course there are times when we need to go off-piste a little bit and that's okay. Being too rigid can be stifling even to me so it is important to be flexible, taking care that our structure doesn't drown out our connection with what we need So how about you? Does structure feel like freedom to you or does it make you shrivel up inside

06:53 As I said right at the start, i'm not here to tell you that a certain amount of structure is crucial if you want to succeed. But if you're feeling like things are a bit too loosey-goosey right now and a small injection of structure might help... Is there anything I've shared today that might help you with that? What other ideas do you have to introduce just enough structure to help you succeed? And as always, I hope this helps 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