What they don’t tell you about productivity
Having focus changes our relationship with time. But with all the endless information we have on this topic, how could we really change our habits and get things done without going crazy?
The bad news is: probably there is no recipe to transform a person in a super productive machine. And thank God for that. We’re humans, we’re different and that’s the fun in this whole experience because that’s what allow us to grow.
We all reach some point in our lives when we realize that our efforts are not enough, no matter how hard we try. I realized that when my baby was born. I had to take care of him, me, my family, I had to keep working, studying, exercising and I felt I had to be great in everything.
I realized I had to (re)thought about my whole like at that point, in order to keep my sanity.
First of all, I accepted I was going to make mistakes, no matter how hard I tried no to. We’re human and we forget our right to be imperfect. Accepting that makes us lighter. Children learn fast because they embrace mistakes and keep going.
After that, I redesigned my professional purpose. I’m a Designer, so basically I discovered that I had to redesign a new work routine, for my new life. I questioned myself about my true identity as a professional, took some courses, put in the paper what moved me at that time and (re)discovered my passion for being a designer, but this time I discovered the lightness of remote working.
Having clarity of our own purpose is the key, I would say. Nowadays I clearly know that I love doing what I do, and I intend to keep improving through hard work and study, but these thing can and must be light.
This is another lesson my son taught me: doing what we love must fell like playing.
But I’m not only a UX designer, I’m a mom, a wife, a friend, a sports fan, videogame player, a reader, a fan of my own house and outdoors activities. These little parts of us are what makes us unique and denying even one of them is an aggression against ourselves.
What nobody tells you about planning your miraculous productive routine is that every single piece of you has its place. And that’s where the magic of a balanced life happens: you plan your work tasks, but you also plan to play with Lego with your kids, and to read your favorite book, and to run and so on.
Our agendas were designed to boring serious tasks as if we were robots. We’re not. So, my humble piece of advice: dig your soul, discover what moves you, what makes you laugh, what’s really important for you and plan your life to give space for those things. You can use a regular agenda or Google calendar for that, one day at a time, you can build the habit.
I once heard that when someone is living their last minutes in life, they don’t regret buying a new car or house, they regret not having experienced good times with those they love. Thanks for reading ;)
