Episode 15 of The Rad Show Podcast: Leisure Time: Avoid Overworking And Under Living. Today's episode is a tricky one because I am guilty of not doing this one hundred percent. I am taking October off. If you been around a while, then you know I absolutely love automation within my business because it allows me to actually be able to do this. So yes, I'll be offline from October 4-31 and I'll see you guys back online Nov 2. The weekly shows, however, have been scheduled accordingly, and same with all the material in the membership program. Of course, I'm not going to leave you guys, I’m just going to take some much-needed leisure time.
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Leisure Time: Avoid Over Working And Under Living
With the pandemic, it seemed like the busier the better, staying busy keeps my mind from wandering into unknown territory and also keeps me striving for the next thing in my business, but I have been working like a crazy person since last October. My schedule prior to COVID was hectic and the time I did get off, I focused on launching all these awesome things within Blu Radical and part-time biochem at online university. I've been side hustling as a bartender for the past eleven years and I love it, but the hours are not so much. Say what you will, but the whole shut down was a blessing in disguise.
A Year In A Nut Shell
I’ve managed to launch two in a half courses, a The Rad Show Podcast, revamp Blu Radical Apothecary's website, and the membership program all in a year's time. That's not even including all the JV webinars, freebies, content, and more. I mean, I'm looking through my calendar and Asana, I can't believe I actually did all that. I'm also seeing zero REST which should have been in there highlighted times ten. I admit to being a little neurotic when it comes to productivity, It’s motivating for me to feel a sense of urgency that something important needs to get done.
So I don't know who else needs to hear this, but I know I do. In all reality, I'm probably just going to record this and then listen to it myself and be like "oh, she's right ha!" Take a break with my friend, and let's jump into the episode, Leisure Time: Avoid Overworking And Under Living. We will talk about how having an overly active mindset on productivity can affect every aspect of your life and how to look at leisure time as a must-do and not a should-do. I’m not saying that being productive is bad, no. I'm saying that productivity doesn't mean longer hours, it doesn't mean "scheduled" quality time, and it doesn't mean trading time for money. It means creating a schedule around leisure time so when it does come time to work, you are focused and get things done more efficiently.
Leisure Time Is Not Trending
Have you noticed that productivity is trending? How are we getting busier and busier even though we aren't actually supposed to be going anywhere? Our goals have never seemed so ambitious right? What's Trending on Youtube right now? 10 ways to stay productive, 5 ways to increase your productivity, 3 ways to stop doing nothing and start doing everything. Sound familiar? Maybe you're debating on starting a new hobby, felting anyone? or a new instrument, the flute is going to make a comeback right? I thought so.
If you are constantly adding to your to-do list looking for ways to optimize your schedule and hoping to get up even earlier than the day before, you and I are probably cut from the same cloth. So this is for you. What if I told you that even if you took a month off from your business, nothing would change. That if you stepped backed for a period of time, your business wouldn't collapse or disappear? What if instead I told you that, it would grow, get better, and even rely on you not being there?! Wait what… keep on listening.
Efficiency Guilt
Not being efficient every single day, makes us feel guilty about enjoying leisure time. If we find it hard to disconnect from work when we get home from a physical job, what about if you work from home? When does work actually stop? To be completely honest, I've written podcast points from the comfort of my bed, I KNOW isn't that terrible. But that's exactly why I'm taking this break, because I allowed my work to creep into what I should really be doing in bed and not cuddled up to my screen. Even with smaller breaks, I still felt the need to answer emails or think about business decisions.
Many people never truly feel any leisure, I'm living in the most lax place ever, Hawai'i and yet I still feel busy. It's much easier to cut off work when you have structured 9-5 but as a remote worker having flexible hours just won't do. They end up overlapping and we lose out on the relaxed time of the day that normal jobs offer. Remember when I said that taking a break can lead to more growth? Taking a real break from work boosts our creativity and productivity, and can even strengthen your immune system. Overwork on the other hand might not even increase income all that much 6-10% on average. When you really take a look at those numbers, what's the point of exhaustion, stress, and excessive work?
It’s one thing to hustle it's another to not set specific boundaries. Set your day up as if you were in an office. No laundry, no dishes, no cleaning just quality work time. Imagine getting everything you needed to get done in 3 hours and then you have the rest of the day free?
Quality Time
There's a chance you have taken this overworking and under living concept and applied it to your personal life. Ever catch yourself saying that you need to spend more “quality time” together? As if the only time you spend needs to be that of quality? It’s easy to adopt this type of overly productive mentality into our personal lives. It's just the notion that unless you are in your loved ones' business, or constant one on one time, the time spent is less than optimal. That shouldn't be the case, any time should be quality time.
Lying around doing nothing is still complete quality if you ask me. Try to avoid scheduling in quality time. Though it seems efficient you are just training yourself to think that you need to jam in quality time. Create space to just do nothing and see where the day takes you. Not everything needs to be planned accordingly.
You Can't Replace Real-World Community
I LOVE my online community, I really do. I also realize that having hundred to thousand of friends and subscribers on the internet simply can't replace the emotional connections to real-world community. The fact is, having an overly productive life sometimes cuts out the friend part because who has time for that. Though it might be a lot easier to communicate for work reasons via text, slack, or other productivity apps, never underestimate the power of a voice and talking to people in person. This will simply never be replaced. Have friends and nurture those relationships. Great you have 1.5 million people on the gram but what about in real real life?
You Don't Have To Monetize Everything You Do
Social media is the absolute best-worst. I was having this conversation with my girlfriend the other day and I was saying that social media is awesome because look at what it can do, but it's also the worst because look at what it can do. It's the ideal place to brag about everything even friggen snacks! Have you completed a task and then tweeted about it? Did you start a new project and Instagram story it? Donate to a charity lately and make sure to blast it on Facebook? It might be the new norm, but to what extent.
I saw an image in a yoga magazine that said you don't have to monetize everything you do, and I really had to think about that because we really do that, don't we? One second we are painting watercolor and the next, we are full blow shop. But listen, we don't have to, and there is also nothing wrong with people not knowing everything about you.
So where do you draw the line? It's ok to create something and not sell it, it's ok to have hobbies that no one knows about, it's ok to keep your own secrets, I share a ton with my online community, but you know what else? I don't share everything because not all my bits are for the world to see and that's ok. That's what keeps me, me.
I was so excited about creating this podcast to really be able to connect with my audience on a different level and be transparent, but being transparent doesn't mean I need to unpack everything. Being transparent about my business yes, but not about my entire life. Enjoy the things that make you, you. You don't have to monetize everything you do. This leads me to my last point on social media which is something that I want you to really think about too.
The Comparison Game We Play
Social media makes it way too easy to compare ourselves to others. The desire to outdo others can leave us engaged in an endless contest that I call “the most”. The most efficient, the most productive, the most engaged, the most social, the most content, the most posts, the list goes on and on. It's obviously normal to compare yourself to others but, it's heightened thanks to social media. In the past, we were limited to the amount of people we could compare ourselves too, now it's every other post. I want this or that, or she posted this, I need that hat, cosmetics, sports, everything. It's not fun to sit around all day doing nothing while someone is out there creating the sun moon and stars.
When we continue to compare ourselves to people like the Kardashians, Elon Musk, IG so-called models, and so on, we tell ourselves we aren't good enough and that the lives we lead are less than. Stay grounded in yourself and scroll intentionally. Know that whatever you are doing, whatever you have in front of you is enough and will be enough. Just because something isn't picture perfect does not mean it's not adequate. If you need a reset, go through all your followers or people that are following you and unfollow. It's the easiest way to intentionally scroll with images you really want to engage with.
Let's Slow Down
Get a clear picture of how you spend your time, then minus from that. Let's say I spend eight hours a day working. However, four of those hours aren't really productive because distractions. Instead, I could be spending that time not working. Are you doing anything that isn't leading up to your long term goals? For example, are you exercising for two hours a day because you feel the need to, or because it's actually getting you to your main goal? Does answering emails 5-10 times a day every hour help you reach your long term goal, or can you condense your email time into one hour total at the beginning or end of the day. It's these small pockets of time that you must take a look at to understand where you truly can minus time from.
Don't Lose Sight Of What's Really Important
Don't let maximum efficiency and productivity make you lose sight of what's really important. Leisure time. Weirdly, the obsession with so-called improvements with our lives and businesses has left us the exact opposite. Lonely, sicker, and possibly more stressed. So, I want you to get busy doing nothing. I create productivity blogs or helpful how-to’s to make your life more organized, but it also helps cut down on endless hours.
Batching is one of the things I talk about and this allows me to do things in sections, at one time, with focus and intention. Here's an example: I'll allow three hours for podcast recording for the entire month once a month. I won't record it again until next month. I'll allow two hours for broadcast emails for the entire month. Three hours for all content across the board for the month. Templates make this so much easier! Two hours of podcast editing for the month. Do you see what I mean by batching? It can be such a useful tool for your business and then allow you to have leisure time.
If I do the math, I work four hours a day four days a week, twenty hours a week give or take. Eighty hours a month. However, I could probably get away working three hours a day four days a week and only work 48-50 hours. It's not about creating your schedule around your hours, it's about creating your hours around the schedule you want that prioritize leisure. Knowing what needs to get done in a specific time frame will keep you more focused on those designated hours.
In Summary
If anything should be a top priority, it's leisure time. Yes productivity is key, yes good habits are healthy and keep us going, but to an extent. The American Dream is a thing of the past, it's what is your dream and what are you willing to sacrifice to get there? It's ok to rest and get busy doing nothing. See what comes up during this well-deserved break, read some books or that stack of magazines you've been collecting in the "one day pile", binge watch your favorite shows, wake up late, cook or don't cook - hello microwave, go outside, camp, hike, beach it, or watch the sunrise and set. Be present in this time so when you come back, you feel refreshed and ready to go!