And how you can make lasting changes in 2022 and onwards.
We start every year assuming we’re going to fix ourselves.
We’re going to get organized, get healthy, start being more productive, earn more money and be the person we’ve always wanted to be. This is our year right?
But after being a serial productivity addict for the last 13 years, I’ve started to ask – what if we’re making a mistake starting each year this way?
How can we take this time of year, with its focus on new systems, new software and new methods of productivity – and remember we’re already a pretty good version of ourselves?
You’re not Broken
Productivity and time management has an ugly side.
But it’s not the fault of the experts or the teachers trying to help us be better. It’s an issue with the way we see ourselves. As broken, needing to be fixed. But in freelancers, this mentality creates a dichotomy in which we’re both an expert in our field and bad at what we do.
This leads to us sliding back to old habits or giving up, thinking we’re failures.
Fixing vs. Optimisation
What if instead we thought of it as optimizing what already works well?
Fixing something means it wasn’t working properly and needs to be made whole. That it was wrong or bad. But optimizing? That assumes whatever it was works just fine, but could be made better.
We use data to see what works, and what doesn’t.
There’s little judgement in the optimization process. If you try something and it doesn’t work, you move on to the next experiment.
Focus on Optimizing in 2022
We optimize our work and yet we tend to focus on fixing ourselves.
This mentality led me to believe I was broken for many years. Always looking for the next best system or methodology to fix me. It was only when I realized I didn’t need fixing, that I made changes to my productivity and work processes which helped me grow my freelance business.
So – what can you optimize this year?