Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a weekly column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track. Margot will be here on Mint each Monday, and Ellie will be over on Pitch Design Union at the same time.
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Ok so this is week 4 of Howdy Do It! And while we’re still early in this journey, I will say I’ve had a couple small breakthroughs. Ok, so my piles are still in stacks everywhere, worse than they were last week. But because of this column, I have a whole new perspective that has really helped me feel like I’m more on top of things. Before this I honestly thought I just wasn’t always so good at handling the many spinning plates, finances, demanding clients, wacky hours, etc. But all of you, dear internet friends, you KNOW. We are in the same shoes. Frankly, we are even the same damned size. Finally understanding this lets me cut myself a little more slack, which has made everything a little easier. When I stopped to think about this, I realized there was a pretty big core issue behind it. Which brings me to this week’s topic: Guilt.
Julia Stotz Photography
Somehow still, the 9-5 lifestyle is completely ingrained in my brain. If it’s between 9-5 on a weekday I feel like I owe it to the world to be ON and available every-where-all-the-time because that’s what most people do. Forget that I work as much and mostly more than 40 hours/week, at odd hours and intervals, through the weekends, and sometimes for entire days straight. Even if it’s a Wednesday and I’ve already logged a whole slew of hours on something that week and I want to take it easy for a day, I feel guilty. Which is pretty darn lame. At times when I’ve ignored this, my brain starts leaking out of my ears. I grind to a halt. Forced to not work anyway. More guilt. Ish.
By Aqua Velvet
So now I’m taking a little more of a relaxed approach and, surprise! I’m getting just as much done. Here’s some of the things I’ve tried that have helped:
- I don’t start working immediately when I wake up. If I were working in an office, it would take at least an hour to get out the door in the morning, plus commute time. So I think it’s fair I give myself a little of that time BACK before I break open my crack-top. Make breakfast, do laundry, generally ease into the day.
- Minimize/close all open windows before bed. The last thing I want to see first thing is what I was working on before bed.
- Quit or close email for a couple of hours. I will never forget to check it at some point later, but it really does help quiet things down so I can focus.
- I’ve been slashing my email blast subscriptions. I haven’t read some of them in YEARS and if I do open them, I scan and delete
- Separate my to-do list into parts: the HAVE to-dos, and the Should-dos. There is a huge, huge difference there.
- Cooking. It’s immediate gratification for me and it still feels like I’m doing something creative, even if it’s not fancy food. I think it helps my brain re-charge. I’ve had some great ideas lately when I’ve been cooking. My friend Jeremiah says the same thing about playing music.
Ordinary Eggs by Nea
So? What do you guys think? Do you have any other ideas or thoughts on this? I so enjoy your comments, it’s really nice to observe & be part of this conversation we’re having!
