Uncommon Productivity Hack: Take a Dose of Your Own Medicine
If you are tired of advice that tells you how to get more done without factoring in the messy reality of life, this personal story is for you.
This week when I noticed myself in the middle of overwhelm, I took a note from my seasonal Field Report and used it to reorient my actions.
In this season of early fall I call The Turning, the micro shifts of the season paired with larger shifts in routines, desires to learn new things and the fact that it’s the height of birthday season in our family definitely left me feeling in a swirl of anxiety and overwhelm.
But with my handy Field Report, I was able to use it to help me take a dose of my own medicine.
Recognizing that I was oriented toward the Glow Compass direction of Remember, it became so much clearer how to orient my actions.
— Remember: restore enough of yourself to meet what comes next
— Tend: create enough steadiness to let the new rhythm reveal itself
— Reclaim: follow what is coming alive without requiring the whole path to be clear first
— Offer: discern what actually deserves to come forward into the next chapter and what may be ready to change, simplify or be released
Instead of forcing myself to prep for a workshop I have in the works to guide us through this season, I realized what my Glow needed most was to give myself a day off from trying to make ‘fetch’ happen.
When your inner Mean Girl might actually make a good point
Once I shifted my focus toward what my signals were actually pointing me toward, I could feel my capacity replenish and began to feel more grounded and present in the moment.
It wasn’t mean inner self talk or a magic pill… more like a spoonful of sugar to follow the remedy I knew I needed.
What is this messy moment telling you you actually need?
Choosing Your Remedy When Life is Messy
As I was in the swirl of anxiety, overwhelm and freezing up this weekend about how to actually take the next step, and instead of trying to force myself into another productivity system, I took a moment to pause and notice what was really going on.
My to-do list said I wanted to prepare for a workshop I’m creating to help us navigate this season of change based on where each direction of the Glow Compass is pointing. I printed out my notes and was trying to practice building fluency, comfort and confidence explaining how each one shows up in real life (something I had named I wanted to help me feel ready). And despite having what I needed to ‘just do it’, all I could feel was friction and resistance.
Referring back to my own Human Orientation practice, I used my seasonal Field Guide to help me reorient myself (and my actions) toward what I actions I actually needed to take in order to move forward in that moment. It wasn’t pushing myself to keep going, or telling myself I just needed to move past what I was feeling. It was acknowledging what signals I was actually feeling and sensing what they were telling me, trusting my Signal Intelligence over the pressure of my to-do list.
Based on where I was in that moment, in the season I’m in, the most productive thing I could do... was to give myself a day off. It was a gorgeous fall Sunday afternoon. It had been a big week with back to school (and all the feelings and prep that go with that), diving back into the homework routine (and the ways that stresses each of us out) and generally feeling worn out from ‘all the things’ and zero capacity for any ‘surprises’. At that point, my capacity, what I call Glow, was feeling very strained in my growth edges. Layering on my own business-related ‘homework’ was feeling like it was all too much.
Most productivity systems tell you to dream big, stay focused and be a high performer. But they ignore the terrain you are navigating. In that moment, I could fall into telling myself a story. That I need to keep pushing myself to make sure that I was showing up on my to-do list, to make progress in this area of my life. That if this was important enough to me, if my goals mattered enough, I wouldn’t let this stop me. And if I had kept going, I might have been able to say I could check workshop practice off my to-do list. But I wouldn’t have actually felt prepared because I didn’t have the capacity to do it in a way that would actually build the fluency I wanted.
When you take the moment to pause and reorient yourself, you can see how the best way forward isn’t actually a straight line. Using my own Human Orientation framework, I took a dose of my own medicine and realized that pushing more wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to go, in a way that would help me make sustainable progress.
Just like when you’re hiking a trail, the best way to the top isn’t straight up. It’s the path that actually gets you to where you want to go, and actually enjoy the journey along the way. It’s not about just taking the scenic route, it’s about replenishing your capacity to keep going, while navigating ‘all the things’ each day brings.
I put the binder away and oriented my actions toward restoring the juiciness to my Glow, restoring enough of myself so that I could meet what comes next with more capacity and reoriented action.
Your Field Experiment
Take a look at the four Glow Compass directions and be honest with yourself about which direction would help you navigate your current terrain with less friction by noticing what that friction might be signaling to you.
✦ Remember- The issue may not be the inability to move forward, something may need restoring first
✦ Tend- The issue may not need reinvention, something may need consistent care or a dependable landing place
✦ Reclaim- The friction may show not only what isn’t working, but what actually wants more room
✦ Offer- The problem may not be the inability to manage everything, something may need editing, renegotiation, completion, sharing or release
Sometimes it can still look like doing the same thing, with a different energy behind it. Other times it can point toward taking the more scenic route to get there with more gas in the tank.
Turns out, a more effective way for me to prepare for the upcoming workshop was to reply to reporter requests for article quotes the next day, building my level of confidence in speaking about what we do here through responding to questions rather than practicing my notes over and over. That led to the story for my weekly Field Notes newsletter and now here in this blog space.
Same desired outcome, but by noticing where my compass was pointing, I could get there with far more ease and confidence in the process.
In what should be a surprise to no one, pressuring myself to prepare for this next ‘level up’ for me didn’t work. When I paused to recognize what I really needed in that moment before pressing forward, I actually stumbled upon a much more easeful, authentic and organic way to build the confidence and competency explaining the nuances of the terrain we are navigating in this season of change. And actually, naturally led me toward getting more things checked off my to-do list in ways that I felt excited to work on.
✦ See the evidence on LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube
By starting with a pause versus pressure, based on the direction my Glow Compass was guiding me toward, I created a ripple effect that made my to-do list feel more like a flywheel than flypaper.
If you’re unsure or want to feel like you want an explanation personalized to where you are at right now, the Field Report is here to guide you.
The new Turning Field Report helps you notice and name where you are oriented based on the way life’s conditions are affecting you.
Let’s navigate this season together.
✦
The seasonal Field Report shares the insights you can use to help navigate ‘all the things’ and use your efforts more effectively based on the season you are in.
Stephanie Rose is the founder of Firefly Scout and creator of the Human Orientation practice. Through observation, pattern recognition, and self-authorship, she helps people become more accurate interpreters of themselves and their lives so they can navigate change, growth, and "all the things" with greater clarity, capacity, and self-trust.
If you enjoy exploring a different way of seeing, join the Firefly Scout newsletter or download your free personalized Field Report to start noticing what your life may already be trying to show you.
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