Oh, the many hats we wear.
In the morning I’m shoveling feed into cattle bunks. By 8:30a I’m cleaned up and on the road to a client’s house. Then I run into the store for essentials and race home to get farm bills and invoices finalized that need to be in the mail. I get a last-minute call that I need to run meals out to the guys moving bales in the field. I then jump on a Zoom coaching call with a woman I work with monthly. I send reminder emails and work on client projects. Make a few phone calls for an upcoming fundraiser I’m volunteering for. I change clothes and open gates for the afternoon cattle feeding. Start the oven for evening meals. Squeeze in a quick workout while it’s baking. Switch the laundry so my husband has clean socks tomorrow. Go to a loved one’s sporting event making a call to my sister to catch up on the way home. Wrap a gift and load my vehicle for tomorrow. Catch up on reading I’m supposed have done and prepped for bible study in the morning. Lay out meat to thaw for tomorrow’s crockpot meal. Chat with my husband about our days. Binge a show. Sleep and repeat in some fashion.
I think I changed clothes 5 times in this scenario and shifted thought processes a minimum of 21 times – not counting all the times I got side-tracked and had to refocus. Plus, I failed to follow my own advice to minimize multi-tasking and eliminating transitions to stay focused. (Keep reading to learn the best way!)
Women wear multiple hats in a day. And that means we have multiple transitions – physical, mental, and emotional.
Transitions are key to having a productive day. When you wear a lot of hats, you inevitably have a TON of transitions from one thing to the next. Your brain has to move from task oriented to creative to problem solving to patience to planning to caregiving.
Transitions can derail your day.
Transitions suck up time and can derail focus. If you can be mindful of your transitions, you can increase your productivity.
Transitions are key to having a productive day.
How to Improve your transitions (and productivity):
- Batch like items together — do similar tasks at the same time rather than bouncing around the office/house. Such as, doing tasks you do at your desk, all at the same time; run errands in one outing; don’t do everything everyday (ie assign days for laundry, bills, etc) so you do it all at once rather than a little here and there.
- Eliminate distractions — don’t check phone or email in the middle of another task; complete the task before getting up to do another unrelated task (even getting up to refill your coffee can derail you quickly)
- Less outfit changes — get ready once rather than changing clothes for different activities (saves on facial/body products being used multiple times, too!)
- Allow extra time — you can’t expect to stop working at 3pm and be in the vehicle at 3pm. You need to allow time to move from one thing to the next, such as go to the bathroom, clear your desk, get a snack, shift your frame of mind from work to family. Transition time also helps you feel less frantic as you juggle multiple hats.
- Become aware of how often you transition – take inventory and minimize. The less transitions in a day, the less time is wasted.
- Plan for tomorrow – planning your schedule and tasks ahead of time can help you think about when you’ll do which tasks so you can batch your tasks, assess your errands, and live proactive rather than reactive. Snag the free download to help you plan!
How do I do this?
Transitions may be sucking away your precious time and you don’t even realize it! If you are not sure how to eliminate transitions so you can be more focused and less overwhelmed, let’s chat! I have programs that are virtual or in-person to help you learn how to maximize your productivity so you can spend time with the people and places that are a priority for you.
Free Download
Use this free worksheet to map out where to start on your own.
