Expectation vs reality. What I learned from a non-productive week.
I think everyone has weeks where they feel like they worked on many things, but, in reality, they feel like they didn’t complete much. Well, this past week was one of those for me.
I am working on accepting that weeks like that happen and move forward, but also learn to look back and reflect on why it happened and learn from it.
Here are 5 things I took away from an unproductive week…
1. Focus on impact
3 large tasks are too many to focus on daily, with only about 3 hours of availability.
I need to reduce the amount of things to focus on. I need to focus on one KEY thing each day. This thing should be the MOST impactful thing.
2. Accept that large tasks take time
Tasks bleed over because they are large or require more in-depth thinking.
That is okay. Accept that not every task I put on this list will be accomplished. Don’t beat yourself up because you didn’t get the entire task complete.
3. Celebrate the wins
Even if it wasn’t my most productive week, you still got things done. Something is better than nothing.
4. Remove distractions
On weeks I have trouble focusing, I really need to remove distractions.
I need to mute notifications, get off my phone, go to a different environment, and talk with someone about my project to get my brain heading in the right direction.
5. My worst is still better than my best
Throughout my journey of building emailemu.com I implemented a routine that has helped me become more productive.
What I learned from that is that even on my worst weeks or days of productivity, they are still better than my BEST days in previous years. That is progress to celebrate.
Log of my week
For those curious, here is the actual list of things I set to accomplish each day, vs what I got done.
Monday
- ✓ Write Blog Post
- Add Weekly Brands to Emailemu.com
- ✓ Meet with Devs
Tuesday
- ✓Add Brands to Site
- Draft Newsletter Email
- Finishing Pricing Page for website
Wednesday
- Add newsletters signup to the site
- Add pricing page
- ✓ Write and send Email
Thursday
- Complete pricing page
- ✓ Write blog and post it
- ✓ Add newsletter signup sections
Friday
- Schedule social posts
- ✓ Prep design for calls with marketers
- ✓ Create interview questions for calls
Saturday
- ✓ Schedule social posts
- Complete Pricing page
- Blog
Sunday
- Blog
- Pricing page
- Complete Pricing Page
In summary, know it will happen, accept it, and move on. Don’t let it define you or make you give up. Keep moving forward.
What about you?
What about y’all? What do you do about unproductive weeks?
What have you learned?
I hoped to accomplish a lot and be highly productive this week.
Reality: I struggled to stay focused and didn't achieve much.
Lesson learned: Even non-productive weeks can offer valuable insights into my work habits and areas for improvement.
This week, I aimed to achieve a lot and be highly productive, but I found myself struggling to stay focused and didn't accomplish much. However, I've learned that even non-productive weeks can provide valuable insights into my work habits and areas for improvement. This experience serves as a reminder to reassess my approach, identify distractions, and implement strategies to enhance focus and productivity in the future. I will improve my website i.e. reminiapkking
I think it's mainly about your own perception. What you describe as an unproductive week still sounds pretty impressive to me. From my point of view, it's about checking your own expectations. Are your goals realistic? Are you asking too much of yourself? Where does this demand on your performance come from?
For me, it's always about motivation. Why do you do what you do? It's not about achieving the goal, it's about having fun along the way. You ruin that if you set yourself unrealistic goals. Because that puts everything you have achieved in the wrong light.
And the most important thing is that you can recharge your batteries. Being 'unproductive' is not a failure, but a quality. How are you going to enjoy the journey if you're burning the candle at both ends? Most of the time, it's all about your own perception.
I find it very helpful to set myself a fixed time. After that, it's over, no matter what happens. I also find it helpful to divide the tasks to be completed according to the 1-3-5 method. Remember, it should be fun and not break you.
Enjoy!
Sometimes all you need to crush it the next couple of weeks is a really bad, unproductive week.
I pledge to go to McDonald's every weekend to start my day productively.
Haha do you. 😂
Yeah this is very cool! All for making lists but have to a knowledge they don’t always get done! Can be hard sometimes when you heaps of posts of people who launched in a weekend or built X,Y,Z in 48hrs
Super true! It’s a great week if everything gets done! But not always the reality
Your unproductive week sounds impressive and very inspiring.
I always take a break on Sundays; it's my golden rule.
What I'm doing now is trying to hire people or services to offload some of my work. For example, I plan to hire an SMM manager who will take over social media tasks, freeing up a lot of my time for more important work.
I should look to doing that myself as soon as I can! It is definitely not sustainable to do everything solo.
I wish you creative success!
Thanks!
As a perfectionist i like this saying "My worst is still better than my best"
Ya! I love that too
You work 7 days a week?
Why?
Because of having a day job from 9-5. The weekends are the days I have the most to work on it.
But there are some days where I may only spend like 30min on it.