#corporate
“Only the most unconventional designer would offer a straightforward pantsuit, and only a fearless woman would wear it.” -The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Hello my lovelies! Hope all is well and you are well caught up with the blog. I recently uploaded a story on my #MaybellineNY x Glitz Africa Fashion Week backstage escapades, if you haven’t checked it out, read it here. A fun time was had by all.
Moving on swiftly onto more ‘serious’ matters, I just thought I would come on here and share a few tips on how to GET YO LIFE because honestly, the struggle to balance work, life, family,spouses, friends, dogs, cats etc is REAL! I think one of the best ways to get ahead of ‘life’ / ‘adulting’ is to build habits that help you stay organised and ‘in control’.
Let me know what you think!
- Do what you can now (No more procrastination) - I think for me, this is how I stay productive. I never leave anything on my to-do list for tomorrow that I can do today. It just takes away the stress of knowing that there is something I need to do tomorrow (in addition to tomorrow’s tasks). The cleaner my to-do list is, the more satisfied I feel. I think the best way to prevent procrastination is to trick your mind into thinking you are only going to tackle a little chunk of the task. Before it came ‘naturally’ to me, I would say “Okay I need to do this task, which I don’t want to but I know I should do it.. So I am only going to do it for 10 mins..” next thing I realized I had completed the whole task and all was well with the world. Once you get started on a task, it becomes much easier to finish it. And this applies to tasks at work, washing the dishes, starting an essay pretty much anything. You need to train the mind to gain satisfaction from completing tasks and that way, when you see a task that needs to be done, you simply cannot leave it undone.
- Prepare for your day the night before- This is something I live by. It is much easier to meal prep (pack your lunch / get out your ingredients for dinner) / pick out your outfit / iron for work etc the night before than scramble around in the morning and waste time. For me, I find that when I have everything ready the night before, my mornings go smoothly and I can take the time to just enjoy my morning. Something as simple as trying on 2 outfits in the morning can take away about 20 mins of your time, thereby making you late which spirals into a ‘bad day’. The best thing is to have a smooth morning which makes you a little more equipped to conquer the day ahead.
- Set time aside to plan ahead - Take the time every week or every month (I do both) to plan out your week, schedule meet ups (social / personal), meetings (for work) just to give yourself an idea of what to expect. I spend at least 10 mins each week looking at my calendar and making sure I know what is coming at me in order to be mentally equipped to handle everything. I also spend about 30 mins once a month to plan out my full month, obviously as the month goes along, more and more things will pop up (which is why it is good to also do the weekly catch up) but planning ahead helps me with budgeting, ensures that I don’t forget important birthdays/ social gatherings and takes the stress of having to keep everything in my mind. The monthly planning allows me to see the bigger picture which we tend to forget when we only focus on our daily to-do lists.
- Write it down! - Listen! This is my life motto. You must write it down (or put it in your phone or whatever works best for you). For me, writing down things to do, things to buy, birthdays, plans, goals etc frees my mind up to think about more important things. If your mind is full of tasks and plans how are you going to channel your creativity when it is time to handle real challenges? Take a minute and write it down!
- Budget - Staying on top of your finances is one of the best ways to feel ‘in control’. There is a tendency to feel like you don’t know where your money is going and that is because you are not taking the time to come up with a monthly budget and you are not tracking your spending. This adulting thing is a chore and if you do not put in the effort, you will constantly feel like you are drowning / running around in circles. I personally use Spendee (App) to budget / track my spending and let me tell you that some months I actually scold myself for the ‘nonsense’ I spend my money on. Tracking my spending allows me to see the patterns in my expenses I need to break or build on whether it is to cut down the number of pedicures I get in a month or to increase the amount of fuel I purchase at a go.
These are all habits you need to work on forming, they don’t magically start happening in your life. They require you to be ready to put in an effort and to be consistent about it. But that being said, once you are able to incorporate some of these in your life, you will notice things going smoother than before and your ‘bad days’ will be drastically reduced! Of course no one is perfect, but hopefully these help a little bit!
Books I recommend (Please feel free to add to this list in the comments below)
The Power of Habit,Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Mindset ,Smart Money Woman
Until next time, go forth and conquer!
xxxx
