Not one single hair is out of place on her head. Her make-up is flawless, her clothes are crisp and she walks with such grace that you would think she grew up as royalty. As she passes you in the elementary school hallway, you get a whiff of her perfume and you automatically sense that this perfume is expensive. Probably purchased by her extremely successful husband who is the most romantic lover any romance novel has ever written. She carries a container of fresh-baked brownies that she must have made that morning as her little ones quietly follow behind. Surely she has to rush off to her business meeting where she runs a multi-million dollar company but she elegantly and patiently speaks with the other moms to force a bond.
GIRL!! Stop it! You know none of this is true unless you are watching a Hollywood movie with Julia Roberts or another professionally put-together actress. Stop creating these stories of comparison in your head to either motivate yourself to push beyond exhaustion or as an excuse to quit because you think a level is unattainable. You need to be aware of the negativity and positivity of these comparisons. Yes, we all are guilty of it for whatever reason. We compare to make a loved one feel better. (100% GUILTY!) We compare to make ourselves feel better. We compare to justify our laziness or reason for giving up. Why don’t you stop comparing yourself to others and start comparing your results to your actions?
Remember the people you surround yourself with (including on social media) can have a social influence on us.
Stop scrolling because we all know that is where you are doing your most self-comparison. That is one of the negative effects of social media. You are seeing the happy, positive things that people CHOOSE to show you then filling in the blanks yourself. You are making assumptions about their lives through the lens of social media and your own life’s perspective. How much influence does social media have in your life? Can we talk about how much more productive you would be if you were to stop scrolling on social media and comparing yourself? Not only will you be able to redirect that time to more productive tasks but you will also be able to feel better emotionally. When you stop comparing and focus on being productive in your own life, you gain more confidence and happiness. This is where time management comes in.
Did you know, a person age 25 or older spends an average of 24 minutes scrolling on social media each day? That is just a study from Instagram! Can you imagine all the more productive things you can accomplish in 24 minutes? Now let’s take 24 minutes each day for 7 days. That is 2.8 hours per week at a minimum that we waste scrolling and feeding someone else’s ego, pocketbook, or agenda.
Another study shows the average internet use across all 6 major social media platforms is 2 hours and 22 minutes per day!! Do I really need to calculate the weekly minutes for you on that? Ok, I will. That is 16.5 hours per week! That is an entire waking day!
I have some simple productivity hacks for working moms to make the most out of 30 minutes. These time management activities will change your life for the better!
This list of time management strategies can be completed in 30 minutes a day. They will help you build your business to pay off debt, free up time for our children, spouse, or health, create an empire, or whatever your dream is.
30 Minute Work Activities
Create a content marketing strategy for the month. If you put a process in place, you will be able to repeat it each month. Eventually, you will be able to plan 2 months in one 30 minute session. Set up structure in your content marketing strategy by planning out themed posts and scheduling them on social media using an app like Later.
Create workflows that are triggered within your CRM. For example, set up abandoned cart automation emails if you sell online. Or send follow up emails after someone has completed a service or purchase at your store.
Batch write blogs then schedule them to be leaked out on your website.
Send handwritten thank-you letters to clients as a token of appreciation.
Make an extra 10 sales calls.
PLAN YOUR UPCOMING WEEK! This could be the biggest game-changer in anyone’s life.
30 Minute Self-Care Activities
Put on some earbuds, run a bubble bath, and enjoy listening to your favorite podcast or personal development book as you relax in the tub.
Get a pedicure and sip on the free cocktail the salon gives you. Don’t forget to bring your earbuds so you can listen to that personal development podcast!
Spend 30 minutes listening to a personal development book or feel-good playlist while you clean out the junk drawer or organize another area of your home. You will instantly feel a sense of relief because you are decluttering your mind as you are physically decluttering a space in your home. You get a bonus of endorphins if you do this while listening to something educational.
Exercise! Walk, squat, or lift. Do anything to get your blood flowing.
Meal prep. You can make a week’s worth of Crockpot chicken and pack healthy snacks in 30 minutes. You can even freeze some of the chicken for later consumption.
Pack your lunch, snacks, and water bottles for the next day.
30 Minute Relationship Maintenance
Bust out with the colors and coloring books and just color with your children while listening to Kidz Bop.
Lay in bed with your spouse playing a game of “Reasons Why.” Take turns listing all the reasons you appreciate and love each other as you look into each other’s eyes. Maybe you will get lucky too!
Take a family walk after dinner. You can play I Spy as you all get some exercise. I love it when we take family walks and enjoy nature.
Write a letter to a loved one. Everyone loves receiving an unexpected note in the mail.
Have a family dance-off or play some board games. Just don’t turn on the devices. My family and I have fun doing Whacky Writing Wednesday. After dinner, one of us chooses a topic and we all free-write for 3 minutes on that topic. Once we are done writing, we share the silly stories that we wrote.
There are many ways that you can have a happy, fulfilled life. When you start focusing on the blessings you have at home and your business, you can start to attract more peace, love, joy, and abundance in your life. Learning time management techniques and focusing on productivity for your business and life will help you be successful. You need to realize that happiness is a choice and that time management skills will change your life. But as long as you're driving your car looking into the next person’s car wishing you were driving that car, you will never see the beautiful things that are in your own car. Life is a balance of holding on and letting go. I promise you, there are more amazing things about yourself than you realize!
For a step-by-step guide to start accomplishing more in half the time, check out the Profitability and Productivity Planner on Amazon.
