If there really is too much work to do, Alissa tries to rearrange her schedule. She will allow herself a half-hour to relax, then gets back into work, more productive and efficient. She tries to take a break by listening to some music, doing a yoga sequence, grabbing lunch with a friend, having some tea, or even sitting in the sun for a few minutes. Is it her mood, her health, a personal challenge, or lack of motivation? She’s learned to take it easy on herself at those times. If Alissa feels overwhelmed, she sits back and thinks about what is making her feel that way. What happens on a day you feel gets away from you?
Newsfeed Eradicator (browser extension) – blocks Facebook newsfeed.Multi-forward for Gmail (browser extension) – mostly use this for sending multiple emails to Evernote.TextExpander to help her with spelling mistakes and typos.Evernote(including browser extension) – information management.Productivity tools and resources Alissa recommends This gives her the freedom to simply focus on the task at hand, and not worry about watching the clock. To stay on track and productive, she uses the Pomodoro technique she also uses an app called Focus Keeper to keep track of time. DistractionĪlissa can easily get lost in a job, and hours will fly by. It is a good way to gauge if you’re overcommitting yourself. To keep a handle on that, she uses the Nozbe feature that allows you to designate how much time you think a task will take. She’s trying to be more realistic about what she can get done. She tries to manage her commitments by using tools such as Nozbe to manage projects and tasks. As a result, she can find herself overcommitted. Biggest Challenges OvercommitmentĪlissa loves her work and has a hard time turning down opportunities. Create mental space and time to focus and dig deep, and do the work that needs to be done. When she’s in her creative mode, Alissa enjoys working from home without interruptions. Alissa’s mood and mindset are different on those inward and outward days. Her outward work, such as yoga and meetings outside the home, is typically scheduled on the same day.
Those days are typically spent at home, with a schedule of the work she hopes to achieve that day. Alissa spends a few days a week just on design work, so she can focus on inward tasks. It’s important to create a buffer when switching modes. Step out of design mode, and step into yoga mode. She tries to mentally prepare for her yoga class by not working on her computer right up to the time she needs to leave to teach. She also listens to different music when preparing for a yoga class than when she is designing. To help maintain the focus she needs, Alissa tries to use a different part of the house for different types of work. She feels that when you are always receiving notifications, you end up distracted by the sense that there’s always some unfinished business. For the same reason, Alissa recently deactivated notifications on her phone, knowing that she doesn’t need to know everything that is going on at all times. She can’t be thinking about yoga when designing, and vice versa. It is important to Alissa is to be really present in what she is doing at any given time. Keeping track of her schedule is a daily requirement for Alissa, as she works from home on her computer and then needs to be ready to head to the gym to teach yoga. In addition to that work, she teaches yoga and is a Les Mills BodyBalance instructor. She left a 14-year job to start a freelance graphic design career. TPW113: Being Present & Productive with Alissa Smith (2016) Being present in each area of your lifeĪlissa Smith is a graphic designer and yoga teacher from Auckland, New Zealand. Listen to the podcast in the audio file below, and have a read of Laura’s blog here, or read a summary below. Laura regularly interviews inspiring women from many different walks of life. The Productive Woman is a weekly podcast, abundant with helpful ideas for time management, digital tools, goals and theming, and organising your environment.
#Nozbe podcast full#
The key topics we talked about were turning off notifications, switching mindsets, inward and outward days, batching, tools and scheduling. The main theme that was interesting to me was about being really present and mindful in whatever you are doing at that moment – giving the current task your full attention. We had a great conversation, discussing how I harmonise between my freelance graphic design work and my yoga teaching. In 2016 I was honoured to be a guest on The Productive Woman podcast with Laura McClellan.
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