The Secret To Being Productive In The Age Of Distraction
Many successful women struggle with staying productive in the age of distraction. But what if there was a way to leverage modern technology for more than just multitasking and aimless scrolling?
Unlock Your Productivity By Using A Digital Planner
Unlock your productivity by using a digital planner and streamline your life for an easier way of planning. The age of a paper planner is over. How will you know if digital planning is for you? Check out why I love using a digital planner and see if it piques your interest. I have a limited-time FREE digital planner for you to test out digital planning! Sign up HERE Here are all the ways I love using a digital planner: Don’t know how to get started on the new-age way of productivity? You found the right place all on one page! Here is the ultimate guide to unlock your productivity by using a digital planner for beginners: 1) Find out if your ipad/tablet is compatible Apple users: Other compatible apps: Out of the apps mentioned, GoodNotes 5 is my favorite by far! I find it to be the most user-friendly as well. To get a FREE business digital planner sign up for my newsletter HERE! Android/Other Devices: Get a free business digital planner by signing up for my newsletter to test out before purchasing a planner. Apps: 2) Find the perfect planner to unlock your productivity Do not take this lightly! The point of digital planning is to have all your planning in one place. I used a couple of different ones before I decided to make my own. I needed a planner that allowed me to use the aspects of my menstrual cycle for productivity, keep all my projects in one place and completely customize it to fit my needs. Check out the listing here. 3) Find all the planning hacks to unlock your productivity while using a digital planner I wanted to post this when I had all the planning videos ready to go but I’ll leave it to the seasoned pros for the breakdown of GoodNotes. The hacks I share are what have changed the game for unlocking my productivity by using a digital planner. I have the times listed for each video is so you know ahead of time because nothing is worse than getting into a video when you don’t have that much time. Videos below: Watch this video on Goodnotes 5 tutorial (26 minutes) Check out The Floductivity Digital Planner – part 1 (1 minute & 40 seconds) Part 2 (1 minute & 37 seconds) Part 3 (40 seconds) Split-screen planning (1 minute & 48 seconds) Customizing phase pages (45 seconds) Customizing projects (57 seconds) Scribble feature (1 minute & 27 seconds) Text box features (1 minute & 28 seconds) Using stickers (51 seconds) Copy PDF text into your planner (1 minute & 12 seconds) Copy iCal events into the planner (1 minute & 18 seconds) If you have any questions on digital planning in the comments! With Gratitude, Cara
Self-Investment For Growth
People tend to describe self-investment as putting time, energy, or money into themselves. There are many things we can do that will bring something uniquely beneficial from it. Even if we invest time into something and don’t like the experience, we learn that because of that experience. When we actively do things that put energy into our growth; as a result, we bring out the best in ourselves. Self-Investment is important because it’s the key to growth I thought I had been investing in myself the last few years despite the fact I was working out and eating healthy. Nonetheless, those things helped in the process, but I realized it would take more than those things alone. It was like painting a house with a leaking roof. As a result, it made the house look better, but it didn’t fix the primary issue. Despite the urge for self-investment, but I never could justify spending the money on certain things. There was always an excuse attached to it. I was telling myself I wasn’t worth it. That can’t be good for anyone’s self-worth. As I have taken steps into the world of self-improvement, I know I will always reap the rewards when I take the steps. I’ve always learned something precious about myself in the process. I’ve found things I may love and things I may not. I have learned skills to help in everyday life and even saw the creative side I didn’t know existed. The part of my self-investment that became notably invaluable is listening to the most important opinion that matters…mine As part of this process, I have felt the pull to share with others the things that have helped me along the way. However, I’ve also been told that including outbound links for these resources isn’t smart. It drives traffic away from my site, and I’m providing free advertisements for people and websites that I don’t have an affiliation to. For this reason, I started this blog to help other people feeling overwhelmed with life. I want to inspire others to put the investment back into their well-being by showing ways to bring self-investment into their life There are four pillars that everyone needs to find their balance in life. Physical is what we do for our bodies. Working out, eating right, sleeping well, and understanding that what we put in our bodies is what we will get out of our bodies. Mental is what we do to listen to ourselves. Journaling, meditation, reading, hobbies, and resting are ways to encourage our mental growth. Emotional is how we better understand what we tell ourselves and how we can listen to our emotions. Breathing exercises, gratitude, affirmations, and journaling are ways to connect with our emotions. Spiritual is the connection we have to others. It can be through a social group, religion, community, and family. We can attend church, or circles and connect in prayer or meditation are ways to have a connection to our spiritual side. We can all balance these different areas in the ways that speak to us the most. Every day is different, and every person is different. As long as we take the time to listen to ourselves, we can hear what our mind, body, and soul needs. Some days I spend more time on my physical well-being, and other days, I work on my emotional well-being. Sometimes my meditation routine doesn’t cut it, and embodiment dance is what I need to spark all four pillars. Self-investment can look different for everyone Here are some ways to find self-investment: podcasts books courses meditation reflection setting intentions refine your skills manifesting dream or vision boarding getting physical networking eating healthy boundary setting taking breaks using an app that helps or teaches you declutter organize goal setting media detox planning for productivity avoid unhealthy foods try something new release excuses, patterns, habits, behaviors, and relationships that aren’t serving you It can be something that will strengthen your career. It can be trying a new hobby you’ve wanted to try. The goal is to bring growth to yourself. It can provide a better understanding of how we function as our highest self. There is no wrong way to take the time to invest in yourself, as long as you keep mindless activities out of it, including social media and tv If there has been something calling your name to try that will bring growth to your physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual well-being, this is your sign to take the first step. Start small and find free resources that can help you better understand what it may be. Therefore, if it still piques your interest, invest more into it, whether it’s time, money, or energy. When you find something that lights you up, then continue to explore. If you find that it doesn’t, find something else. Repeat. My most significant step in self-investment is cycle planning. The result of cycle planning helped me find my power in productivity while honoring self-care. It allowed me to find a rhythm in creating my business and keeping me grounded to support my family in their needs. Read more about cycle planning in my blog post HERE. In addition, I made a digital planner help other women to find ways to support themselves in their seasons of their cycle. Click HERE to go to my Etsy shop. Investing into your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being is something you will always get a return on. It’s up to you to find it and, most importantly, listen to how it affects your well-being. You are worth it! I created a FREE printable for you to keep track of your self-investment options HERE. With Gratitude, Cara
Productive Planning And Being In The Moment
I’ve always thought of mapping out and planning events as productive planning and being in the moment. It wasn’t until the last year did I realize my “over” planning took me out of the present moment and put my expectations way too high since I’d overthink it. There is a difference between planning for productivity and just planning to feel in control. Productive planning is a strategic thought process, which allows you to be fully in the moments around it In February 2020, I did a meditation that asked me to imagine my dream day. Not in a luxury vacation way, but how I wanted to spend my ordinary days. It was peculiar because it was me at home with my kids. At that time, I was working, and stopping my career of 19 years wasn’t ever something I considered. Normally productive planning would include saving money to prepare for staying home even to be considered, but sometimes life works in ways we don’t expect. I have always been a planner. Most of the time, I blamed it on my job since so many of my clients booked their appointments months in advance. Once covid hit and I had to reschedule my clients, it made my anxiety rise. Then I had to reschedule everyone again. I had people contacting me non-stop. It was flattering and overwhelming at the same time. Once I realized I had no control over the situation, the anxiety began to slip away. Once May hit, I felt I could breathe for the first time in a long time. I lived my days of summer 2020 being productive yet enjoying the moment. It was the first time in 19 years I didn’t have my day scheduled to the minute. I deleted most social media platforms and just focused on myself and my family. I decided that to bring the best in myself is not to let everyone else’s expectations of my life even be on my radar. Thinking about the past can lead to depression, and worrying about the future can bring anxiety. This is when my life indeed became mine to live because I started productive planning and being in the moment During the summer of 2020, I was in a routine that made me feel amazing. Then, finally, it hit me that this was my exact vision in my meditation. It was such a surreal experience. It still took me a couple of months to commit to the idea of not returning to work, but I knew deep down at that moment what I truly wanted in life at this time. I had always been accomodating to everyone else, leaving myself last. I always thought since I try to be considerate of others, they would have the same courtesy. It is not their job to set boundaries for me; that’s up to me to do. I’m not sure why it took so long to realize that most people aren’t wired that way. I often had my feelings hurt or was downright angry at the lack of consideration for my family and myself. But, again, it wasn’t their fault; my expectations were too high. I expected people to respect my boundaries even though I had none in place Understanding the way I think versus how others think was a hard lesson to learn, but I am so thankful for this lesson. I have allowed myself to live my life around what works best for myself and my family. I don’t believe in it as being selfish anymore. It is a standard quality of life now, and I don’t care what people think when I set a boundary that keeps my mindset healthy. When I would bend my life to accommodate others, I would resent them. No one wins in that scenario. The two years before leaving my job were very tough for me. I think I was waiting for friends and family to throw me a life preserver, but they were all so caught up in their own lives they failed to notice me. Some people saw, but what I needed, they didn’t know how to give. I kept laughing it off when things got tough and didn’t let the desperation show. But, again, I can’t blame anyone since I didn’t ask for help. I was expecting them to show up to the party when I didn’t send an invite. I was in a constant state of planning to try to gain control but it left me overwhelmed Life isn’t tit for tat. Just because I did something to support someone else doesn’t mean they want that type of support, and it certainly doesn’t mean they owe it to me. Sometimes we are in a position where we can help, and other times we are just doing our best. But, if we are in a place where we can make someone smile, that might be all someone needs. While so many situations caused such a rough couple of years, the lack of boundaries and the constant sprint in life pushed me under. I was in a vortex of pleasing everyone else that I never sat and listened to what I needed. How would anyone know how they could help when I wasn’t even listening to what I needed? So many moments in the last year have been light bulb moments. It took a mandatory shutdown to realize my constant planning was a coping mechanism. Never really living in the moment. Never really enjoying the small things around me. My goals have changed. My outlook on life has completely changed. I went from an over-planner to finding a flow in productive planning that brings out the best in my abilities to be in the present moment The difference in productive planning is that I have goals, to-do lists like before, but it’s about productivity, tracking, and reflection to be the best version of myself. I don’t commit to something until I know I am ready for