Maximizing Productivity Through Effective Timing

Welcome to Authentic Living with Linda
I’m Linda Codlin

Welcome, My Friends.

This week has been an interesting mix of growing my business and settling into a better routine of household care.
The topic for this week is about timing.

Timing’s role in learning

KNOW THYSELF
This mantra is touted the world over, and it is so true.
When we know ourselves everything becomes easier, including learning, doing, and habit shifts.
The timing of learning is easier and makes a bigger impact when you are ready to receive what is being taught.
Learning sticks when it makes sense to you.
The timing and connection between where you currently are and where you can see the learning being used in the future forms a bond that produces action.
Being ready to accept change, or the possibility of change allows the learning to embed and grow.
When you are ready to embrace the activities that go with the learnings, learning becomes doing and doing changes everything.
These to me represent the timings of learning.

Know Thyself, and to thine own self be true.

Old English is so poetic.
What is it saying? Know who you are, and be true to yourself.
What are your best times of the day for doing ‘hard’ work, or uncomfortable work, or concentrated work?
Hard work might be physical work, or it might be writing a thesis, or creating a marketing plan, or tending to the garden.
Do you know the best time of the day for you to produce your most productive work?
Are you a morning person, or are you an evening person?
Do you do mornings because that’s what you’ve been told to do, when in reality you come alive at 3pm in the afternoon and produce your best work way into the early hours of the morning?

Timing is seasonal.

We all go through various seasons in our lives.
When we have young children, we go through the season of broken sleep, late nights, early mornings and distrupted rhythms.
It’s a good thing these season’s pass.
For 15 years I worked as a shift worker, twelve hour shifts, two days, two nights, and four days off.
This was a long season, and one that didn’t suit my body well.
What are the seasons you are currently in?
When are your peak performance hours?
Do you make the most of these times, by scheduling in the things you want to accomplish while you are fresh and alert.
It could be the time you go to your art studio and create your masterpiece.
Maybe you have a wood working project in the shed, and spending half and hour working on this project, rejuvenates your energy.
Timing is seasonal, what season are you in? What season do you need to move into, that you are resisting because of fear?

Consistent timing helps habits develop.

When we establish a regular time for doing certain activities it makes life easier.
For example, in our house I am often the last one up, as I head off to bed, I clean as I go, when I brush my teeth, I clean the basin and mirror, when I use the loo, I clean it.
This way I have a clean and tidy space in the morning, and if someone has messed it up, before I’m up, I know it has been cleaned already.
Establishing small habits like the ones above don’t take a lot of time, but keep the household ticking over.
Do you have a consistent time in your schedule for moving your body?
Can you link one activity to another activity you already do?
When I worked in the factory, I parked the car 3 km away from work and jogged. Then I would walk/jog back after work.
This acted as a two fold habit, the first it gave me a reason to move my body deliberately, and secondly, it gave me time to wind down after work, to reduce the stress that had accumulated through the day.
Timing your behaviours in way creates habits easily.

Focused sessions of concentrated effort.

Focusing your efforts into shorter time frames help with concentration.
Giving yourself breathing breaks, helps to reduce stress and pressure.
I have found that I am way more productive when I use “The Pomodoro Technique” of working head down, uninterrupted for 25 mins, then having a five minute stretch or walk around, before settling back into the next 25 min uninterrupted work session.
This technique also helps me if I have to switch projects, or when I have many parts of a project that need attention, I can give each part a dedicated 25 min stint, knowing when the timer goes off, I get to move onto the next planned session.
Doing this gives my brain clarity around what is happening next and what I need to accomplish.
Focusing and concentrating for a short time frame can increase your productivity.

Timing in learning.

Making time to review is as important as the learning.
Take time at the end of your work day to review what you have achieved.
Often we forget to pat ourselves on the back for the good work we have done before jumping headlong into the next and next thing on the list.
Setting aside time to do a review of your day, helps to cement the good that has been accomplished, and empowers you to plan more realistically for the next day.
It is also a great way to wind down your brain and switch gears from work to home, from children time to adult time.
I have found that taking a few minutes before going to sleep at night to review my day, the things I did well, the things I could have done better at, and the things I wish I hadn’t done, allows me to put an energetic underline under today, I get to forgive myself, forgive other people who may have harmed me, and to let peace settle in my heart and soul before I drift off to sleep, knowing that tomorrow is a new day, without the baggage of today tainting it.
Taking time to reflect on the day, creates gratitude and a sense of fulfillment, and if you feel you let yourself down today, learn the lessons provided and begin fresh tomorrow.
Make a plan how you can handle your triggering situations, see yourself succeeding at handling these situations, then step confidently into the new day and make your plan your reality.

Until next time: Get to know yourself, and be true to yourself. Start playing with timings for learning, for doing different activities of your day, for relaxing and reviewing. Get to know what makes your heart and soul sing, then do more of that.

oxoxo Linda.

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