Hello there,
What you’re reading right now was being written in the gaps of the day. Sat in the hallway outside the bathroom as my kids take several hours to get into pyjamas and clean their teeth. It’s not ideal but sometimes to get things done, we need to not make them perfect.
I’d love to share my behind-the-scenes perfect desk photo with you but the truth is I don’t have a desk. I float between a client desk, a co-working space and my sofa. I’d love to have a desk I can call my own and everything stay in one place. But life doesn’t work out that way.
I listened to some audio this week that talked about a writer’s desk. The power behind the location and how sitting at that desk brought out the creativity. Utter rubbish. You can write from anywhere if you tell yourself you can. If you tell yourself you have to sit at a particular desk, basking in the sunlight and holding a mug of coffee then the only thing you’re doing is giving yourself excuses not to do the work.
There are reasons to not do something occasionally, but sitting in a particular location is not one of them. Being tired, however, is a rock-solid reason. And it’s this that I’m (over) sharing this week.
Are you feeling tired right now?
Anyone else tired right now? I’m tired. Scratch that, I’m so exhausted I could sleep for days. And I’m not alone in this. Whether you’re feeling that drain right now or not, there will be times in your business, life, month, or year when you do feel this way.
It’s normal to have periods like this when wading through your to-do list feels like trying to run across a particularly boggy campsite in the rain. Realising you’re expending a lot of energy and not getting very far.
The ebb and flow of creativity, running a business, trying to get life done. Usually, it’s your body telling you to take a break. And if you’re anything like me, that usually comes at the end of a school break where you’ve been responsible for extra human beings for longer periods of time.
Although you don’t need to have kids to feel like this. Having a lot going on in life happens to most adults.
We are faced with a relentless cycle of stuff to do. Things that pull on our time, attention and energy. And if it’s not work then it’s life admin. There will always be something. So how do we deal with this when it happens?
Lack of emails
Did you notice a drop in marketing emails at the end of last week? I did. Everyone had taken the bank holiday as an actual weekend. Myself included.
I hadn’t planned to. I’d planned to write this newsletter (some of which you’ll see further on) and send it out as usual. But I forgot how tiring it is to look after my children on my own. When I would have once gotten up early and worked late, I was sparked out on the sofa with a book over my face before my eldest even went to bed.
So I gave myself a break.
I said that this newsletter could wait. If I tried to edit the absolute mess I’d written in my sleep-deprived week, I’d be embarrassed by the outcome.
The thing about being too tired to do something is you feel like if you can just get on top of it, get organised then next week it will be okay.
When we have time to fill, we will fill it.
We are never going to be any less busy than we were last week. Instead, we need to get better at working with what we have. This might mean giving ourselves some slack and not posting that newsletter. Or it might be getting some help so we can do the important tasks. Except, we don’t always know what those important tasks are when we’re in the middle of the mud and the sludge trying to do everything.
There is nothing quite as scary as someone pointing out there are only six weeks left until our little moppets are at home with us 24/7 for six whole weeks. We’ve all lived the last two years to know that we need to get this sorted now before the real exhaustion kicks in.
My friend and client, Victoria Tretis is helping business owners who feel like they’re doing a mud run on a backwards conveyor belt - right in time for the summer holidays.
And that’s why I’m telling you about how brilliant she is at getting you to a place where you don’t feel so blooming tired. Where you do have it sorted. Not just for summer but for every time you’re at risk of feeling overwhelmed.
This is the trick to not ending up feeling so exhausted that you can’t move. You get help so that you can see what matters and actually have some kind of balance. And who knows? Even have a day off all to yourself. (A day off is actually my reward for getting through half-term).
And so, onto the newsletter I had prepped for last week which is still very much relevant this week.
20 things you can do when you’ve got no time to create content
1. Re-post something that you’ve not posted in a while. No one will notice.
2. Turn your last blog into social media posts
3. Turn your last email into a blog
4. Go through your old drafts and make something publish-worthy
5. See if there’s a theme to all the conversations and emails you’ve had this week
6. Keep a notebook on you at all times to jot down ideas and then see if any can grow
7. Get someone to guest post
8. Review a book you’ve just read
9. Do a round-up post
10. Record it on voice note - much quicker than writing
11. Update your worst-performing blog
12. Add something new to your best-performing blog
13. Post a testimonial
14. Turn that testimonial into a case study
15. Recommend some tech or services
16. Got several blogs on the same subject? Edit them together to make a big blog
17. Share your lead magnet (you know you haven’t done this in a while)
18. Tell a funny anecdote
19. If in doubt, make a list
20. Give yourself a break and don’t do anything.
How I help
I’m here to help you create better content so you can sell your product or service without it taking over your life.
Pimp My Content - Content Mentoring, SEO and Strategy Programme
Copy Clinic - Unblock your content conundrums
Content Creation - Clever content for compassionate businesses
That’s it for this week. I’m not off for a nap but on my way to London to see some live music.
I’ll see you next Thursday
Fiona