Tag: scheduling

#meetingswithyourself

byamandalia

Every day is scheduled, planned, structured. I actually write a to do list first thing when I wake up; even before I take the first sip of tea. A daily to do list, a weekly to do list, a monthly to do list. You get the idea. My calendar is brimful of deadlines and meetings. And time seems to simply fly by. It’s Tuesday. I blink and it’s Friday again. I blink and it’s July already.

Yesterday, I decided to set a meeting with myself. It felt weird to say the least. I spend so much time with other people, that being alone in a public space felt off. At first.

But now, I am happily sipping my coconut cappuccino while doing my favourite thing – writing. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what I write, as long as I do write. It’s very much like:

amandalia

I know for a fact that later is synonymous with never. I’ve been there a couple of times. And all the planning and scheduling go against and sometimes take over my spontaneous side. So, without giving in completely to my organised self, I decided to spend time with myself.

No matter what it is that you do in life; student, full-time employed, mumpreneur, freelancer, stay-at-home parent, you should seriously start thinking about doing this. Spending more time alone can be beneficial. It actually helps with refocusing, improving your concentration and even getting to know yourself better. So be it at home, in a cafeteria, out for a walk or at the beach, it’s good to find the time to disconnect and think.

Is this something you already do? I would love to hear your thoughts 💙

Amanda x

 

#freelancebenefits

#6

I was meant to post this a couple of days ago BUT I needed to rearrange my schedule to accommodate my new clients *happy dance*. And yesterday was such a beautiful day, I simply couldn’t help myself. I decided to spend the afternoon sipping an ice cold spritz in the sun. Bliss!

Last week, I briefly skimmed through some of the pros and cons of working freelance vis-a-vis having a full time salary job. After giving it some thought, I decided to follow up  on my previous post, and this time, I will go into the possible benefits of hiring a freelancer.

Perhaps the notion of freelance in Malta is still relatively ‘new’.  At least from my experience, it seems that not everyone has fully grasped the concept yet. And to be fair, not every job can be outsourced so I get why the majority of vacancies I came across last week were mostly for full timers only. And, I also understand that businesses might prefer building their own team rather than working with ‘outsiders’. I get that. But, I am biased in this regard and happen to think that an ‘outsider’ can in fact turn out to be someone trustworthy with whom you can partner up eventually. So without further ado, here are some of the benefits that come to mind:

www.amandalia.com (1)

For starters, by affordability, I do not mean that freelancers are cheap. By all means, they should always know their worth. But given that a freelancer is her/his own boss, there are things like, for example, equipment, work space, social security, leave, sick days etc. that an employer need not worry about. As long as both parties agree on the service, budget and time frame, they’re both set!

It may also come in handy having someone to outsource your work to on a need-basis. The flow of work is not always the same; you can have a quiet summer and a super busy winter. So, I think that having someone to turn to in times of need is always a plus! And when having worked with multiple businesses over the years, freelancers are exposed to a diversity of ideas and learn work on their own initiative.  So given the fact that they are used to working solo, there is no need for constant monitoring,  training or anything of the sort.

I also think that one of the main advantages is flexibility. Freelancers do not (normally) have any set working/office hours. For instance, I do not stop working simply because it’s Sunday, a public holiday or after hours. There are no after hours! I usually go about working during the weekend like any other day. A time schedule (and actually sticking to it) is all there is to it! With the exception of yesterday, that is! But as long as the job gets done, there’s no harm in having a couple of hours to yourself and regroup, no?

Amanda x

amandalia.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#boostyourconcentration

3-5

I started writing this blog post when I got an idea on how to design my service packages. So, I stopped writing to take what I thought was going to be a quick note. I ended up writing and designing the whole thing. While doing that, I remembered about my husband’s birthday coming up next week and did a quick follow up on the gift status (can’t say what I have in mind because he might actually read this). In the meantime, I had to prepare a baking order for a friend to deliver in the afternoon (baking is something I love to do on the side). Once I got that covered, I found myself staring at my laptop screen. I blinked, twice. What was it again that I was supposed to be doing? That was this morning.

Sometimes, we refer to it as multi-tasking. It’s not.  It’s stopping from doing one thing to start something else entirely without having completed your first task. So instead of getting something done, you will end up with a hundred pending things without concluding anything. This happens to me when I dump ‘the list’ and go rogue. Bad idea.

By all means, if you have an idea jot it down! But if you set out to complete a task, concentrate on getting it done. Otherwise, you will end up with a million incomplete tasks and stress yourself unnecessarily. So, I thought about it and decided that I need to do at least these 3 things to boost my concentration.

  1. Remove any distractions

This may be challenging. I work in a somewhat quiet environment (except for the occasional shout from the neighbour announcing that dinner’s ready) so that helps a lot. Try and find a spot void of visual stimulation (e.g. TV) and noise so that your full attention goes to the task at hand and only that. If necessary, put your phone away. I, for one, tend to have this bad habit of just scrolling through Facebook for minutes on end. And that is super unproductive.

     2. Do not multi-task

If what you’re doing requires your 200% concentration, do only that. Don’t check your phone for emails or other notifications. Don’t switch to another project just for the sake of having started working on it as well. Keep a scrap of paper or notebook nearby so you can jot down any ideas that might pop in your head just so you won’t forget and get back to them later.  Plan ahead – if need be prepare a to do list in the morning or even the night before and stick to those tasks, one by one.

     3. Relax & Unwind

I understand that it is sometimes hard to keep up with the fast paced life that we seem to be living. But do find time for yourself. Take breaks, go outside for a walk (or a coffee, in my case). It helps to shake work off for a while and just be. You will probably return to your work refreshed and reinvigorated!

If you need a little encouragement, I have prepared a couple of motivational quote cards for you!  Just click on the image below to get your free printables 🙂

Amanda x

motivational-cards

#gettingorganised

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2

The above are two words which have become my mantra over the last couple of months. With all the ideas, checklists and workload, that mantra has been super useful to say the least.

Scheduling and planning are key. Without them, I can freely say that with the zillions of thoughts buzzing through my head, chaos would have probably taken over up there. So I decided to take advantage of what my dad has always preached about Lean and six sigma (a whole topic for another time) and actually make use of the knowledge.

I started with my workspace. I know – what has that got to do with scheduling? It actually does. A lot. At least it makes sense to me. Having a comfy, clatter-free space helps me relax and focus. You’ll be spending quite a while there, so might as well get yourself comfortable! To be honest, I sometimes need a change in scenery. So I either lounge on the sofa in the living room while working or at a local café or even by the sea on a beautiful  sunny day. The change in air might actually give you a new perspective; a brilliant idea, even!

Speaking of which, I usually tend to get those brilliant ideas in the middle of the night or when I’m about to sleep; and as a result end up with an array of multi coloured sticky notes and little torn papers. So, I “invested” in a list book (I’m a stationery lover, so that was just the perfect excuse).  Although I have actually downloaded list apps, I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to writing and taking notes – I prefer pen and paper to apps.

get-organised

But having said that, I still tend to use OneNote and Bamboo Spark. OneNote has got to be my favourite notebook so far; with colour coded tabs and the ability to add pages in each tab. Bamboo Spark on the other hand is great for jotting down ideas and sketching. And the best part is having the option to save your notes within the cloud either in handwriting or text (or both).

So that took care of the notes scattered everywhere on my desk! And in lieu of today’s subject, I have designed 2 free To Do List printables for you; maybe it will help a little with getting organised!

Amanda x