Hello {{first_name|time and space traveler}} and thank you for being here, investing in yourself for these next 5 minutes out of the 1440 you’ve been given today.
How to stay productive without feeling overwhelmed and getting stressed.
Ways to balance the demands of work, personal life, and well-being.
Practical tips on how to maximize your potential without the burnout.
Time is both precious and also a complete illusion; we want to use it wisely but also to enjoy the present moment and not worry about the passing of time at all. Today, we want to explore the art of being productive without succumbing to stress, overwhelm, and burnout.
We are quite a busy little team at Breathe and Flow headquarters and especially since Ailo joined the family, we have been learning how to flow together in a different way. We have embraced the puzzle of finding ways to structure our days to include our filming schedules, event planning, social media, laptop work, team syncs, personal routines, and of course, spending time with our family, friends, and one another! There are a few things which we find useful when tackling what can sometimes feel like a juggling act. So, let’s get straight to it and dive into how we can master the elusive skill of being ‘productive’ while avoiding overwhelm. 🤓
What Is True Productivity? Moving Beyond Busyness!
Productivity is often associated with constant busyness and the pressure to do more things. However, true productivity isn’t simply checking off tasks on a never-ending to-do list. Work (and by this we mean anything you do which involves mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result) is an opportunity to integrate the mind, body, and spirit to create value.
Meaningful Work = Fulfillment
When you view work in this way, it becomes more enjoyable and something which actually energizes you rather than drains you. We’re not saying that you’ll be dancing around the room with joy when it’s time to complete your tax return, but it will become less of a drag if you can see how it links to the bigger picture of the what you are working on. If you want to build a castle, you have to lay thousands of bricks, a task which may feel never ending. But, each small, perhaps unexciting action contributes to the creation of something magnificent and valuable; every brick laid carefully will hold the castle in place for years to come.
Once you find work which resonates with your purpose and brings you meaning, (see our previous issue on following your inner curiosity) it’s about finding a balance between work tasks, personal life, and spiritual practices to ensure overall well-being and happiness. So how do we do it?! Read on to find out and for your free downloadable daily and weekly planners!
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10 Ways to Be More Meaningfully Productive
Subtract To Simplify: Adding is usually considered a sign of growth, but if you look at the world’s best examples of engineering and business, they are streamlined in a way which eliminates any excess parts and processes in order to have something which is efficient and clean. Use tools like automation, task batching, or delegating when needed. With social events, make less of them in number, but make them count more by being fully present when you show up. A moment of FOMO is better than burnout.
Practice Single-Tasking: Multitasking isn’t effective; it fragments focus and leads to burnout. Instead, focus on one task at a time. Whether you’re working, eating, or engaging with others, be present and give your full attention. It might seem challenging at first, but it leads to deeper work and greater satisfaction. So, if you’re brushing your teeth; just brush your teeth! Sidenote: We’ll explore more about how our phones are making this more than a little challenging in a future issue but just notice how often your phone is in your hand/eyeline when you are actually already doing something else. 📱Liberate yourself from this split focus by setting your phone in a different room when you are choosing to work on something else.
Appreciate the Process and The Craft: Even routine or tedious tasks can become more fulfilling if you approach them with a mindset of mastery and quality. Doing something to a high standard, even if it’s not glamorous, brings intrinsic satisfaction and builds meaningful productivity.
Get Clean: Declutter Your Space and Mind: A cluttered environment leads to a cluttered mind. Clean your workspace, both physical and digital, to clear away distractions and foster focus. Tidy up at the end of each day so that you return to a fresh, organized space the next time. (Believe it or not, you’ll never need that huge box of spare charging cables sitting next to your desk. 😜) Disable unnecessary notifications and remove all your apps from your phone homepage and put them in a folder/slide across panel; this forces you to only open it when you’re consciously wanting to be on it. Many people are surprised when they see how ‘blank’ our phones look but this allows us to only open apps when we really want to use them and not just because we’re ‘bored.’ Reduce your browser windows on your computer or close them completely at the end of each workday (because leaving 100 tabs open is pretty overwhelming to return to…😉 )
Prioritize with Task Organizing Systems: Using systems like ABC prioritization or time-blocking can help keep you on track. Organize tasks by importance, and make sure you’re tackling the most challenging or creative tasks when you’re at your peak energy. Using tools like Asana, Todoist, or Google Calendar to schedule your time to different activities. You can then make sure you are balancing personal life, work, and self-care. Also, it’s great to see how much you can realistically get through in a day. 😱 Social events, hobbies, yoga practice, reading, and study time can also be blocked out, so you are intentionally planning for uninterrupted good quality time with someone or on something that matters to you and support your own ideal week with a healthy balance. 🤸🏼♂️ You can find all of our recommended business tools in our kit.
Optimize Your Working Hours: Maximize productivity by tackling your toughest tasks when you’re freshest. For you, this may be after your morning audiobook walk, your empowered morning meditation, or your first coffee (our Grounds of Gratitude coffee shop is now open!) A hyper focused ‘power hour’ of work is worth four hours of tired, scattered, sloppy work which you may have to redo the following day. You’d be surprised at how much you can cut down your work days when you prioritize giving your best energy for tasks that require deep thought and focus.
Take Care of Your Body and Mind: Regular breaks are essential for maintaining mental and physical energy. Step away from your desk, take a walk, or practice mindful breathing like Flo demonstrates in this video. Take yoga breaks like this one to rejuvenate your body, stretch, and re-energize your mind. These small pauses can replenish your energy, enhance your focus, and promote overall well-being. Prepare your lunch and snacks so you know you’re getting healthy food breaks and energy boosts; what you eat is fueling your productivity and grabbing quick processed snacks will slow your digestive system down and make you feel sluggish.
Slow Down to Speed Up: Rushing often leads to mistakes. Focus on doing things right rather than fast. Slowing down can improve the quality of your work and prevent mistakes that might require you to redo tasks. Flo’s ASAP (As Slow As Possible) class embodies this approach, helping you develop more focus and presence.
Connect with Others: Honor the importance of others in your work by reaching out. Collaboration and connection bring fresh perspectives and avoid feelings of isolation. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback or share your progress with others to gain insights. A simple conversation with a colleague or friend can be just the breakthrough you need.🤝
Program Your Mind for Success: It is too easy to fall into the trap of saying what you didn’t get finished today. ‘I only did a short practice today’, ‘I still didn’t finish that task’ or ‘I had to cancel that meeting’. But if we shift focus into what we did get done and how we did move forward, this actually helps rewire our brain, programming it in a way to focus on the positive. ‘I still managed to do a practice today even though I had lots to do’ and ‘I moved forward and figured out some more unknowns for that complicated task’ sounds very different to our mind and our outlook. Celebrate the little wins. 🚀❤️
Work expands to whatever time you give it.
How Yoga Enhances Productivity: The Intersection of Mindfulness and Work
Yoga teaches us to approach all tasks with presence and mindfulness, which can aid productivity and foster mindful engagement in your work. You do not need to step on the mat to get into a yoga headspace. Yoga is about cultivating mindfulness and letting it guide how you approach all aspects of life. Yogic philosophy views work as a means of self-realization and spiritual evolution.
By engaging in work consciously and with intention, we can deepen the understanding of ourselves and our connection to the larger universe. Being industrious, showing up and having the willingness to apply yourself fully to whatever you are doing extends to every part of your day. It’s about honoring and enjoying the process rather than attaching with any outcome.
This is the real secret of life: to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now and instead of calling it work, realize it is play.
Do Less, But Better
This is the key to achieving more without burnout. Less is often more when it comes to meaningful productivity. Focus on fewer tasks, but do them better and with more intention. The quality of your efforts matters far more than the quantity of your actions.
We are so grateful to have you as part of our community. We’re nearly 30,000 strong on this newsletter and we just broke the 4 million mark on the tube. You are not alone. Together, let's embrace a more meaningful way of creating, and cultivate a balanced way of living - one that brings us closer to our dreams and allows us to savor the journey along the way.
Namaste,
If you feel a little overwhelmed at the thought of getting started with whatever it is going on today, then Eckhart Tolle might be a good way to start your morning. He reminds us of the power of being in the present and offers his tips on how to approach the big stuff by using small things to control anxiety.
Hate waiting in line, for your train to come, or for your webpage to load? In Japanese, there is a concept known as ma, which refers to a gap, pause or negative space between things. Rather than get irritated at these moments which seem to hold us up from getting on with things, imagine if we could shift our thinking to actually embrace this an opportunity to lean into a little more space and time? This one minute read about embracing the ‘spaces in-between’ including the ‘hidden joy of waiting in line’ will change your thinking about queues from now on!
Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love – is the sum of what you focus on.
Well that was time well spent, don’t you think? Lower those shoulders, take a slow breath, de-clutter your physical and virtual workspaces, and go tear up that to do list...it’s time to do things differently. 😉
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