Productivity is Personal
Our series on Grace in Productivity is officially in the books.
If I had to choose just one thing to take away from the entire series it would be that productivity is personal.
We’ve offered a number of resources over the past 8 weeks and some of them admittedly contradict one another; from “here’s how to have a plan and stay on task” to “give yourself grace and buck the plan when it gets to be too much.”
It’s not meant to confuse you. The thing is, it’s all good, real and valid information and when it comes to being productive, we have to choose our battles.
As moms, however, we don’t simply choose our battles.
We choose them, then we prioritize them, then we make sure the uniform is clean for them and we arrange a carpool for them; all while strategizing what, when and where we will feed our offspring.
Do it your way
It sometimes feels like more of a war than a battle.
We arm ourselves with our to-do lists and our calendars and set out to slay each day, week, month and year with all the proverbial weapons we have in our arsenal.
Yet we’re all different and so we each face the productivity battle in our own unique way.
Amanda and I are two examples of people who genuinely take pleasure in being productive and yet couldn’t approach it more differently.
I’ll share a funny example of this from last spring… we both agreed to help keep score for our sons’ baseball team. When we arrived at the game, I pulled out my freshly sharpened pencils topped with new erasers and a back-up mechanical pencil (just in case) ready to sketch out the course of the game in the official [paper] scorebook. Meanwhile, Amanda logged into her score-keeping app with one swift push of a button and with that we settled in to track the game.
In the end, the result was the same, but the approach was night and day.
This is a common theme with the two of us and we’re going to dig into it even deeper in our next series: Grace in Awareness.
In each of the 8 weeks of the series we’re going to offer a quiz or assessment that will give you insight into your own self-awareness.
Keep it simple
Our final thoughts on productivity… It’s personal. We hope that you will identify and adopt a productivity system that invites you to feel accomplished without feeling overwhelmed; one that simplifies your chaos and keeps you moving forward with grace!
Use these resources to give yourself grace this week
š This Week’s Smart Read
“Itās invisible, but itās always with me. You canāt see it. My husband and kids certainly canāt see it, but there it is, sitting like a weight on my chest. Sometimes the weight feels like it will crush me, itās so much ā too much. Other times, itās manageable and I feel kind of proud of myself for that.
Itās my āinvisible to-do listā ā that compilation of all the tasks and information it takes to manage my family and keep things humming along. Moms, you know exactly what I mean, right?
Thereās the regular to-do list (dishes, laundry, school pick-up, etc.). But then thereās all of the other stuff, those behind-the-scenes tasks that no one notices until they donāt get done.”
Read 20 Things On Every Busy Momās āinvisible To-Do Listā by Kristina Wright
š§ This Week’s Grace in the Race Podcast Playlist
Have you jumped on the podcast train?
If not, when it comes to podcasts you might feel like I do when I try to order a simple cup of coffee at Starbucks – like you don’t know where to begin.
If this is you, you’re not alone AND you’re not too late to the party. Hit reply to connect with us; we’d LOVE to be your podcast baristas!
Podcasts are like modern day soap operas, true crime mind benders, pep-talks and business school classes all wrapped into one mechanism. They teach, entertain and enlighten us depending on our mood, our interests and our needs.
They allow us to escape our reality all while facing it head on because we can listen almost anywhere: in the car, on a walk, while we fold laundry, while we make lunches, while we exercise, while we sip our coffee before the kids wake up, on our lunch break, once the kids go to bed…
A playlist of podcasts is the modern day version of mix tape from the 80s. We pick a few “hits” each week and put together a playlist of 8 episodes for your listening pleasure. New episodes post in Spotify every Tuesday!
If you’re an avid listener, we invite you to share your favorites.
Around the time that I realized that “tall” means small at Starbucks, I stopped getting the sweats when it was my turn to order. I even started throwing around phrases like “no whip” and “half caf” like a boss…
Becoming a podcast listener is much, much easier.
Here’s what’s on tap in the podcast playlist this week…. Click on the playlist below to listen on Spotify. Don’t have Spotify? It’s a free app – try it out!
š¬ This week’s Insightful Video
“What if we chipped away all that was unnecessary, all the clutter and the busyness, and focused on that which really mattered ā our passions and our relationships.”
Watch The masterpiece of a simple life | Maura Malloy | TEDxIndianapolis (11:16)
Get your ship together!
We hope these resources inspire you to get your ship together and get through your week with grace!
Do you have any go-to tips on this week’s topic or a take away from this week? Leave a reply in the comments.
Finally, mark your calendar and join us on Fridays in The Grace Lab on Zoom where we engage with other moms for an hour each week.
We spend the first half hour sharing take-aways from the week’s designated podcast episode and the second half brainstorming helpful solutions to whatever needs come up on the call. Then we roll into our weekend feeling a little lighter with less mom guilt and some new ideas to give yourself grace!
Sign-up to get a reminder email an hour before we go live each week (because mom’s are busy and we’ll take all the help we can get!). We’ll send the zoom link along with a link to the week’s podcast episode you’ll have time to listen before the call!
Love & Grace,
Rachel & Amanda
p.s.
š¤£ Because life is too important to be taken seriouslyā¦
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