How easy do you find it to think straight when you’re feeling uncertainty, fear, anxiety and all the other feelings we’ve all been experiencing this year? It’s been (and still is) intense. I’m sure I can’t be the only one who’s put the milk in the washing machine and the keys in the fridge.

Right now our dreams of exploring new places and enjoying long, lazy lunches with a bottle of wine whilst watching the world go by (one of my very favourite things to do) are on hold.

I’ve had a few conversations lately where folks are tempted just to keep on working. It’s not like we can go anywhere or doing anything, so what’s the point in taking time off?

It’s ok not to be productive.

This is not business as usual. Not for anyone.

You don’t need to catch up if you’re not where you thought you’d be right now. March happened and it was horrible.

You don’t need to have it all figured out.

I’ve been looking forward to my first session with this fun, inspiring client for weeks. I’m buzzing with energy, itching to get going, excited that I get to spend the next 90 minutes doing the thing I love.

We meet in Zoom, notebooks and cuppas at the ready.

“How are you feeling?” I ask.

“Terrified”, she replies.

Do you like the word productivity? You may not have given it much thought, but I have. And I have a declaration to…declare!

Here’s the thing.

The word productivity makes me think of cogs in machines. Of manufacturing and industry. Of faceless people in suits pointing at graphs in boardrooms.

We evaluate and judge ourselves based on our productivity. (It’s not our fault – society has programmed us that way.)

Dashing into my office after a meeting, I dump a pile of papers on my desk and gather what I need for the next thing. Someone appears in the doorway, asking if I’d do them a quick favour. I smile. (Correction: my mouth smiles… can they see the panic in my eyes?) “Sure”, I reply, grabbing a scrap of paper to scribble down what they need so I don’t forget.

If you’ve been here a while you’ll have heard me say this a bazillion times before:

Productivity is not about doing more in less time.

At least not for me, anyway. 

I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but it seems that Christmas is around the corner and there are just a few weeks left of the year.

By my calculations, that means that around about now many of us will be running around like headless wotsits trying to get All The Things done. And not just All The Things that need doing in our business, but All The Things that need doing at home too.

I propose a time-out.

Have you ever experienced a week where everything seemed to go wrong? If you’re human, I’m guessing the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. Life has this terrible (wonderful?) habit of conspiring against even the best-laid plans!

Can you feel it? All the back-to-schoolness that’s in the air at the moment? My social media feed has been full of proud parents posting ‘child-in-slightly-too-big-uniform-with-oversized-school-bag- on-first-day-of-school’ photos, and business owners sharing their latest offers.

I’m feeling it too. That shiny shoes, sharpened pencils kind of vibe. But before I look too far ahead, I like to reflect on what’s behind me. To see where the lessons are and to observe how far I’ve come.

Slow productivity. Earlier today I asked the good people of the interwebs to tell me the first thing they thought of when they heard those words.

You see, I use that phrase a lot in my head. It’s a concept I love and believe in, but I’ve held back from using it out in the open. And apparently my instinct to keep it quiet was bang on!

Last year a friend I met on Instagram tagged me in a post. She was going on holiday and wanted to switch off and relax but, like most of us, wasn’t sure she’d be able to go the whole week without checking her email You can read the full post here, but here’s how it ended:

“Any tips for avoiding the urge to check the emails?! @louise_bettylou I'm looking at you!”

Well, since you asked…!

Rumour has it that summer is here, although you really wouldn’t think it. As I write I’m curled up in an armchair wearing several layers and my big winter slippers. But apparently it really IS summer, and I’ve decided I want to enjoy it! 

So, I’m here to make a declaration.

Back in the day, I managed five administrators in a frazzle-inducing environment. When the pressure was on and everything felt important, I'd help them prioritise. We’d look at their workload and figure it out together.

But when you run your own business and work by yourself, who on earth do you ask?

When you spend your days being pushed and pulled around by other people’s priorities, it doesn’t take long before exasperation and exhaustion kick in.

It’s easy to see how it happens…

I love a system. And I also love a podcast. So, imagine my delight when Alice Jennings invited me to be part of Sorted, her podcast all about the systems and tools used by small business owners to help things run more smoothly.

A few weeks ago I was listening to a podcast whilst doing the dishes and my ears pricked up at the mention of ‘rituals of completion’. Although I don’t call them that, these rituals form part of my own productivity jam and are something I talk about with clients, so I was really interested to hear Gretchen Rubin’s take on this subject in her Happier podcast.

When we're busy, it's not always easy to take a break and we push through, telling ourselves we don't have time to stop.  I can tell you how important it is to press pause. But in the heat of the moment, when you're stressed and overwhelmed, having someone tell you why you should take a break isn't always that helpful.

Maybe what you need instead is a list of fun ideas you can play with. Practical suggestions about what taking a break might look like in reality.

Some people are naturally inclined to rebel against structure, preferring to go with the flow and see how the mood takes them. For others, structure is what grounds them, keeping them calm and focused.

I definitely fall into the latter camp, but the former is equally valid. The key is to find a way of doing things that feels good to you, leaving you confident that the important things will get done.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly been guilty of setting an intention and then forgetting all about it when life starts to feel busy! Today I’d like to suggest another way to keep your good intentions front and centre. It might sound simple, but it can make a big difference!