Like many of you, perhaps, I work from home. I have done so for many years now, since long before the pandemic began and forced many more people to do so.
For so many people when they think about working from home--especially if they're self employed and setting their own schedule--it sounds like heaven.
"Freedom!" we think to ourselves, imagining how good it will be to not have a boss dictating our every move. Now we get to be the boss and we think that's going to be fabulous.
Until we realise that, for so many of us, we make a lousy boss 😂
There is so much involved in being the boss what we don't even realise the sheer number of skills we're going to have to acquire in very short order.
One of those skills is the ability to set priorities and choose which tasks really need doing today vs. next week vs. not at all.
This is one of the skills I struggled with for many years. I've slowly improved, especially since moving in with my now partner who actively enquires as to how my business is doing. And since he genuinely cares about the answer it has created more accountability than I've ever had before.
And then this week I had another breakthrough in how I choose where to put my time and energy. And it has a lot to do with energy actually.
See one of the catalysts for me getting into business 10 years ago was that I had some health challenges that were making it feel impossible to do "normal" full time work. My health has fluctuated between manageable and frustratingly-feeling-like-I'm-going-nowhere, both of which have continued to drive me to make my business work better and better and not cave into working a 9-5.
I can't always rely on having great energy levels each day.
I can't always rely on feeling physically well each day.
And because low energy levels and/or feeling physically unwell in some way affects my mental well being--and my mental well being affects my motivation to do, well anything productive--I can't assume I'm going to feel mentally strong each day either.
But I still have a business to run and, since I haven't managed to create sufficient revenue to have a team do much of the day-to-day work for me (yet), if I don't do stuff then it just doesn't get done.
So here are the two questions I've started asking myself anytime I'm not sure about what I should be working on in my business:
1️⃣ If I were to have no energy tomorrow what am I going to wish I did today?
AND
2️⃣ If I have heaps of energy tomorrow what am I going to wish I did today?
Sometimes the answer to these two questions is the same. Sometimes they're completely different. But asking these questions helps me become crystal clear about what's really important to me.
For example, today is a Sunday so usually I give myself permission to do little or no business stuff on the weekend. It's usually time for adventures and to hang out with my partner. But because he's recovering from Covid-19 and I think I've caught it (and feel really, really tired) if I test out these questions right now I get:
Answer to Question 1 ("If I were to have no energy tomorrow..."): I would wish that I had rested. Because if I'm really tired tomorrow I probably do have Covid and really should have been resting to help support my body today.
Answer to Question 2 ("If I have heaps of energy tomorrow..."): I would have wished that I had rested. Because if I have heaps of energy tomorrow I can do all the things that I've got on my long to-do list tomorrow. And I'll get through that list way faster when I feel better.
If you have a business that you run from home (whether it includes Hive or not) and you struggle to know where is the best use of your time, energy and attention (even if you don't have health challenges, this still applies) then I invite you to try asking yourself these two questions and see what you discover.
But how does this apply to Hive? 🧐
Well the whole brilliance of the concept of asking these two kinds of questions (if I do say so myself) is the contrasting aspect of it; it takes you to both extremes, and both extremes are important.
When I think about Hive, I feel like the extremes I see people speak about often and I certainly think about as well can best be asked with these two questions:
1️⃣ If this all falls over tomorrow what am I going to wish I did today?
AND
2️⃣ If this grows into such a massive success that it surprises even the most optimistic Hiveans what am I going to wish I did today?
If you're spending time here on Hive I know you want it to succeed. But anyone who lived through the Steem ➡️ Hive period (which I have not) or has heard stories about it (which I most definitely have) will likely be a little or a lot concerned that their hard work on here could all disappear overnight.
That's not a fun way to live, but there is so much risk involved as anything new begins (that includes all things crypto related, not just Hive) that sometimes things can and do crash. And yet, where there's risk there's also truckloads of potential rewards... which is what draws many of us into this space; we don't want to miss out.
So what happens when I ask myself these two Hive-focused questions today? (Notice, the answers may be different on different days, that's kind of the point of asking them regularly).
Answer to Hive Question 1 ("If this all falls over tomorrow..."):
I'm going to wish that I found a sensible balance between connecting with people on here, writing meaningful content and getting outside, into the garden and staring at the beauty and wonder of the natural world.
Answer to Hive Question 2 ("If this grows into such a massive success that it surprises even the most optimistic Hiveans..."):
I'm going to wish I was deliberate with my time, striking a balance between writing meaningful contact and engaging (through comments and replies) with people who I enjoy connecting with on Hive.
Notice that in my Hive example of answering the two extremes questions that I got somewhat different answers. In this case, what I will do is create my actions based on a fusion of those two answers; I'll be more deliberate than I might have been about what I'm doing and saying on Hive and I'll get outside and enjoy the garden and the natural world.
And to take it one step further, if I was to take the answers from my Hive-focused questions and put them together with the answers from my business-focused questions, then today my priority needs to be to do as I said above (re. Hive) but ensure I keep listening to my body and get sufficient rest.
Make sense?
If this approach resonates with you I invite you to try it out. 🙏 It's somewhat long-winded for me to explain it to you but it's super fast and easy for you to ask the questions, get your answers and create a plan. Very fast.
And in my opinion, one of the smartest things you can do for yourself, if you're someone who, like me, has struggled with knowing what's the best/right/correct thing for you to be doing with your time and energy.
As this concept is totally new, I welcome questions or comments below. Tell me how it lands for you. And if you try it out for yourself let me know what you discover.
