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As you’ve most probably read in my previous post<\/a> about how the final weeks\u00a0of December through to February has been the most unproductive for me work wise, I’ve tried to identify what the reasons were for this lapse in productivity. After all, it’s a good 3 months off my\u00a0calendar \u2013 a quarter of the year that could have been spent\u00a0on\u00a0getting my hands dirty and my schedule\u00a0full: new clients, portfolio, projects, etc.<\/p>\n So I’ve whittled it down to 3 things on my end \u2013 maybe you could identify with some of these issues that I’ve faced\u00a0and maybe, just maybe, it’s\u00a0what’s holding you back too. And of course I’m not going to leave you hanging! Once you’ve gone through the list, I’ll let you in on what worked for me for hauling my butt into gear!<\/p>\n Ah, the good ol’ holiday season. For some it can stretch from November to January, or maybe it could be spring\/summer\/winter holidays. Or maybe you’re just back from traveling\u00a0and have trouble getting back into the swing of things. Hey it happens \u2013 we need a holiday right after our holidays! Holidays are great though \u2013 they allow you to recharge after a hectic year, and helps to balance out the challenges of work and life. But starting up a routine again after a few weeks or a couple of months of not doing much work-related stuff (or maybe you’re only doing the fun stuff) is almost like switching the ignition of a parked car that’s been idle for a few months. It groans, heaves and simply doesn’t comply. Rattling it all the more might give you more sighs and fake starts, but you’ll soon notice that no amount of cajoling will bring it to life. Welcome to the post-holiday blues.<\/p>\n I was a bit of a wreck in October, after I lost my dog to cancer<\/a>. I won’t lie \u2013 it was hard leading up to the final moments. I had a class to run as well, all I could do was to hold it in and just compartmentalise my thoughts and emotions, doing things proactively instead of just worrying too much with nothing to show for it. So my time was divided between managing my classes\u00a0and doing research on canine cancer, along with finding alternative therapies to help make my dog more comfortable. I was pulled into a few different directions and my emotions were running on the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I was lucky that I was working while I took care of\u00a0my dog, because it allowed me to break away, even if it was just a few hours everyday. The downside to it was that I was a bit of a mess for a couple of weeks after everything ended. I felt as though a big weight was lifted off my shoulders as\u00a0the compartments\u00a0I had assigned\u00a0within my mind\u00a0all crumbled away. I felt\u00a0everything\u00a0<\/em>all at once. I was tired.<\/p>\n I had severe acid reflux for 3 weeks prior to my Melbourne trip<\/a>, out of the blue. I was nauseous all the time, and didn’t have any appetite to eat (the constant nausea had a lot to do with that), and to top it all off, I couldn’t sleep lying down because bile would come up into my throat. A round of\u00a0blood tests and ultrasounds later,\u00a0I found\u00a0nothing that could explain my symptoms. I finally found the cause after a bit of fluke \u2013 it turned out that a particular medicine I was taking had caused the symptoms. Once I stopped, everything returned back to normal. So while my body took quite a beating a month back,\u00a0I’m much better. I’m still tired though, and feel as though I’m still catching up on the sleep that I lost.<\/p>\n So those were the 3 issues that I faced during the last few months. It might be different for you depending on what you’re facing at the moment, but I’ve found that it doesn’t matter what you’ve experienced \u2013 the important thing is to get back up on your feet. I recently started to focus on how I could propel myself out from this bit of a slump and\u00a0I found that the below tips\u00a0work really well for me. So while I’m still gaining steam to get back into full-on work mode, I know I’ll get there! And here’s to hoping you will too.<\/p>\n When you’re sick\/emotional\/away from your desk (or your workplace), it takes a bit of time to get back into the swing of things. I know this because with the crazy highs and lows that come with all the above mentioned scenarios, sitting still at a desk and actually doing work doesn’t sound attractive at all. Nope siree. So it’s either inspiration overload (holidays) or I-am-not-in-the-mood-for-anything (emotional\/being ill) sort of situation.<\/p>\n What worked for me this time round was to slowly allow a bit of online perusing to trickle into my schedule. As a personal rule, I don’t often visit blogs or Pinterest. I prefer to do my reading\u00a0through an\u00a0RSS reader (Pulse on the iPhone) and as for Pinterest, I only allow myself a 15 minute peek every now and then because otherwise I’d look up from my computer and realised that I lost an hour in what I now refer to as the Vortex of Time Suckage.<\/p>\n So what happened was that by injecting my eyeballs with these sort of short doses of imagery on a daily basis, it got me pumped up again. In a kick-in-the-ass pants kind of way. The one where you clutch your hair, slap your forehead and go “That so-and-so who did this-and-that is\u00a0A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!” You know, existential questions.<\/p>\n At least that’s what worked for me. Every time.<\/p>\n I love clean tables. I just haven’t been able to maintain one for a very long stretch of time.<\/p>\n Just to lay it all out on the table (ahem); I’m not\u00a0the most organised person in the world when it comes to my desk. I have 2 – 3 different sketchbooks (because I like having separate books for each project) and a weekly journal propped open, all strewn about \u2013 depending on what I’m working on. I also have some loose papers flying about: printed materials, bills, notices, boring stuff so that it forces me to do something about them. Filing them away means never ever getting to them so they’re there staring at me until I settle them once and for all.<\/p>\n So yes, there’s bound to be a mess here and there; but it’s an organised mess and it’s the sort I don’t mind because I know\u00a0what lies where and when. Clearing my desk is a task I enjoy, because with every task I finish, I get to clear it off my table. Physically.<\/p>\n Those letters and boring stuff? All gone. Those sketchbooks that I have haphazardly strewn around? I sometimes close them (gasp!), set them aside and choose to focus on one thing for a while. I do this each time\u00a0I wrap up a big project, but also when I’m feeling a little meh. Clearing things away and reorganising my workspace helps me fill in the mental void I feel whenever I’m away from my desk for too long. When I give my desk a once over, I discover things that are left unsettled, projects that need filing, and obligations to fulfil. Knowing where I am and what needs to be done quickly kicks me into problem-solving mode, and then I realise it wasn’t all that bad. Once I took care\u00a0of the boring bits,\u00a0I get all tingly about\u00a0starting fresh. Because it means that there’s now room for new things. Exciting things.<\/p>\n You know what has also really worked in getting me back into work? Deadlines.<\/p>\n If you’re a fellow procrastinator who’d rather wait until the final hours to\u00a0a deadline\u00a0before you even feel a glimmer fear, I feel you. Self imposed deadlines can sometimes be dodged (AHA!), but when you’ve got a commitment to others, you’re trapped.\u00a0So what do you do? You give up the cheese. You’ll scramble for a bit and curse yourself for binge watching Downton Abbey while eating a truckload of cookies.\u00a0But then\u00a0adrenaline kicks in \u2013 you dust off your computer, crack your knuckles and get down to business.<\/p>\n Setting a date for projects and tasks and actually\u00a0pencilling them\u00a0<\/em>into your calendar (I use Google Calendar) will help you get a bird’s eye view of your schedule. It also allows you to see how much time you have to do non-business\/fun stuff\u00a0(no judgement \u2013 let’s get real here) and how much time left you have to work on a particular task or project. I’ve found that having rigid time slots makes me feel claustrophobic, so I set goals for each day and allow my own rhythm to decide when I want to do it.<\/p>\n Break down your major project milestones into things you can do every day \u2013 don’t just schedule the deadline on a date with no idea on what you need to do to make it happen. There’s nothing wrong with being a little\u00a0disorganised, but you’ll need to know what needs to get done,\u00a0period.<\/em> When or how it happens is entirely up to you, and once you’ve had a good think about how you’ll manage things, slacking off isn’t a bad thing. Because if you know what you’re doing and then it becomes purposeful\u00a0<\/em>slacking. There’s a\u00a0difference!<\/p>\n I start my day with a shower and a bowl of yoghurt and muesli for breakfast. Sometimes I slip in a 10-minute yoga stretch, but to be honest, I haven’t been doing those for a little while. Doing it makes\u00a0me feel better though, so I’m starting it up again (writing this just reminded me of it). After breakfast, I putter about in the\u00a0garden and put my\u00a0herb containers out in\u00a0the morning sun before going to my desk to start my workday. That’s been my routine for the past couple of\u00a0weeks.<\/p>\n For you though, maybe it’s when you make a cup of coffee and sit at the table, or when you go for a jog in the morning before you start your work. Building up\u00a0a routine\u00a0is definitely\u00a0something I recommend for\u00a0freelancers or those who work from home. And I’m not the only one<\/a>. Ever notice how out of whack you get when your schedule gets messed up a few days\/weeks in a row? That’s what happens when you run into the 3 problems I mentioned above: your routine gets\u00a0screwed up. Going back to a routine is one the best things you can do to fan the flames of productivity.<\/p>\n Find out when your body works best \u2013 is it during the day? Or after lunch? Or perhaps you’re more relaxed at night? Knowing and recognising the cues your body and brain is trying to tell\u00a0you will help you work more efficiently instead of merely pushing through the motions. Do you feel like a nap? Go ahead, take one. Are you in the zone and need total silence and concentration for an hour? Do it. Map out the times when you feel your best in a diary and when you’re not; and it will help you go a long way in getting things done.<\/p>\n No one ever said that you’ll need to work at your desk for 8 hours straight to be productive \u2013 maybe it’s how you like it, but I know I can’t do those anymore. As I grow older, I find myself breaking my day up into chunks \u2013 a block of time where I’m being really productive, and there’s a block of time\u00a0where I’ll be catching up on fun TV show or a book. Because my hours aren’t quite set, my productive periods can run into the night as well, occasionally. I love that about working from home.<\/p>\n So there you go! I hope you find these tips useful \u2013 they’re what I’ve personally done to get myself into my work chair\u00a0this week. I’m going to level with you on this: you’re not going to wake up productive the next day. Some people might, but like a sugar rush after eating a whole bowl of M & M’s \u2013 it’s only temporary. So don’t worry if you’re taking a little longer than usual to shake yourself off of whatever’s got you down. You’ll get there!<\/p>\n SHARE WITH ME:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n If you know how it feels like to be down and out and <\/em>managed to snap out of it, why not share your story and tips to help out other fellow artists? Shout it out in the comments!<\/strong><\/p>\n And if you like this article, don’t miss a beat \u2013 sign up for the mailing list<\/a>Problem #1: Holidays<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Problem #2: Emotional\u00a0stress<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Problem #3:\u00a0Being unwell<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Finding\u00a0your flow: A 4-step process<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Tip #1: Rediscovering inspiration<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Tip #2: Reorganising your workspace<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Tip #3: Creating deadlines and sticking to it<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Tip #4: Follow through on your new routine<\/strong><\/h4>\n