Relearning productivity

Now that I'm no longer nannying, I will need to relearn some of the productivity skills I had back when I freelanced full-time... at least back when I was doing a good business with it.  I had gotten a little burned out, which was part of why I took the part-time nanny job, but before that I actually did a fairly good job of staying on task and getting everything done that needed it.

Some days I wonder how I ever managed that.

One of the differences is undoubtedly that there wasn't as much social media as a distraction back then, as I had yet to discover how marvelously distracting Facebook can be.  Getting burnt out also probably helped me to learn some bad habits.

I also used to have a different schedule that really appealed to my night owlishness: I would do most of my writing late at night, when no one was awake to bother me, and sleep late into the morning.  Networking, marketing, and other admin tasks were done in the afternoon, during business hours.  Unfortunately, I'm not a very successful morning person, so when I readjusted my sleep schedule in order to go to bed and get up earlier, I wasn't able to quite figure out a way to readjust my freelance schedule in a way that worked with my new hours.

Now I that I have to be productive again, I'm going to have to relearn my previous good habits, and figure out a schedule that works for me.

In a timely post, Lori of Words on the Page recently blogged about productivity hacks.  Some of these -- such as doing admin tasks first thing, planning at the end of the day, outlining, and using a timer -- are things I used to do, so I'm grateful for the reminder.  Hopefully I'll be able to relearn some of these habits and make my days productive again.

The one hitch in my plan to set up a work schedule is the barn.  I do chores at the barn now, and while I can go just about any time I please, it poses a challenge: It interrupts my day if I go midday, but if I go first thing, it's more tempting to stay and ride.  Given that riding more is part of my plan for the year, the barn will definitely make it difficult to create a daily schedule.

Stay tuned for another post (and hopefully a decision) about my daily schedule.