HOW HUMAN DESIGN TAUGHT ME I WAS WASTING TIME
Sometimes we can’t see what’s right in front of us. Sometimes it’s hard to see things for ourselves.
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I know personally (thanks to my 5/1 profile) I can look at a clients business and see instantly what needs tweaking. Where their branding is off, where their marketing is weak, where their website is letting them down and even where they are not stepping into their full potential.
I can recognise patterns and see what is going wrong.
My line 5 gives me somewhat Projector energy (even though I am not a Projector), so that means I‘m really good at seeing what others are doing wrong. And let me tell you, I’ve learnt from past experience that I need to be invited to share these insights! (I’ll talk more about being invited in a minute).
But when it comes to my own business I can’t see so well. That’s when I seek external help from a coach to guide me to seeing my business.
And I have realised that doing that and listening to what other people see is what is going to propel me forward.
INTRODUCING MY PROJECTOR HUSBAND
Human Design Projectors are good at seeing. They are here to guide others and make life more efficient and this leads me to one day last year and a conversation I had with my Projector husband.
I was sitting at my computer and explaining to him how busy I was and I had this and that to get done in not so many hours. (BTW this was before I made major changes to my business and unlocked more time and freedom). But I was pretty frustrated (the Generator not-self theme) because I just felt like I was leaking time everywhere.
I’d plan to get certain tasks done at the start of the day and then I’d receive an email from a client and it would throw my day completely out. By the end of the day the planned tasks were still sitting on my to-do list and I was still in the same position I was in at the start of the day.
Let me tell you, not crossing off my to-do list annoys me big time!
So anyway, back to the convo. I told him about my frustration and his response was that I needed to manage my time better.
WTF?!
Excuuuuuse me. Who do you think you are Mr? This really triggered me.
I’m thinking to myself I’m not an idiot. I know how to work. I know how to manage my time. I’m a Generator. I’m a worker.
Firstly, I think the main reason I was triggered was because he wasn’t invited to give this opinion (which is the Projector strategy and something I’m constantly trying to get him to understand).
Secondly, maybe a teeny tiny part of me thought he could be onto something.
But at the time I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction so I pushed it aside and thought ‘no, no, he’s wrong I’m good at managing time’.
But a few months down the track I actually had a realisation.
I realised that while I’m on the go and can work all day, I’m not the best at keeping on the task at hand. I do waste time getting distracted.
That’s when that convo with Mr Projector came to my mind, and I hate to admit it, but he was right. (PS. Don’t tell him I said that!).
TIME TO TAKE ACTION
If you are anything like me, this scenario might sound familiar:
Sit down and check emails
Something pops in that needs to be actioned
You start replying to that email and you realise you need to look something up
So you open the internet
Then you remembered you haven’t been on Facebook today
So you just take a quick look and before you know it, it’s been 20 minutes
Oh you just remember that sale you wanted to check out, lets jump on the website and see what they have…
Make purchase
Decide you better get back to work and make a few tweaks to that project you’re working on
Remember you were looking up something for that email
Jump back to that, grab your info and finish writing it 1 hour later
It’s all over the shop, back and forth and it’s not utilising your productivity to it’s potential.
You might be like me and not even realise this is the way you are working!
It might not always be too that extreme but there is some degree of not staying on the task.
Here are the steps I took to start working smarter:
STEP 1 I realised I was leaking time EVERY WHERE. Even outside of work. I’d start cleaning the house get distracted and next minute I’m trying on clothes in my wardrobe or re-arranging my daughters toy room… it was a common occurrence and something I didn’t even realise was happening.
I’m definitely a to-do list kinda girl so I got a new diary that had a day per page with 30 minute time slots and started blocking time. I’m more a go with the flow Human Design so that kind of didn’t last too long and I started writing a to-do list in order of what I wanted to accomplish (you do what works best for you).
I then make a verbal agreement in my mind to commit to the task at hand.
I might look at my list and see that the next task is to spend some time on a logo design I have been working on.
I’ll tell myself “now I am going focus on this for the next 40 minutes and not look at anything else”.
Or I might look at my to do list and tell myself the next three things are my focus before lunch and then they are done I can go for a walk to get out and refresh before sitting down for the next task.
If I finished a task earlier than anticipated that was time I could step away from the computer. Go sit in the sun and drink a coffee or duck out for a quick walk (or if I really wanted to, jump online and make that shopping purchase!).
The key is focus. Focus. Focus.
If you feel your mind wandering and something pops in there you want to address, jot it down and come back to it when you finish the task at hand.
STEP 2
The next step is to look at everything you are doing in your business (and life) and ask yourself ‘Can this be simplified?’.
This has resulted in me making lots of minor tweaks that do add up to a good chunk of time.
For example. I offer Human Design Chart Readings. I love doing these readings because of the impact they have on people BUT they were taking a lot of time and energy.
I had been debating for a while about offering them only to clients. Every time I thought I’d take them down from my website a booking would come in. So I’d see it as a sign I needed to keep them up there.
But I realised there was a simpler way I could do these. Instead of spending all the time putting together a pdf, then going through it and recording it and then back and forth time answering questions, I could jump on a Zoom call and complete the reading live.
I could have all the info I need on my screen and refer to it when needed.
This saves me about 1 1/2 hours and also means I can reduce the cost for my clients. Win for all of us!!!
STEP THREE
The final step is to really look at everything in your business and and ask yourself, can this be repurposed?
This is especially appropriate in your marketing.
One thing I teach my Aligned Marketing group coaching crew is to look at repurposing your content as much as you can. This is a time saver but it’s also getting the mileage out of your great content.
Look at everything thing you are creating in your marketing and repurpose it.
For example, if you write a great social media caption, it could be repurposed for a series of story graphics, a blog post or podcast ep, and an email newsletter.
Also look at everything you have created in the past for your business such as products, free resources, past courses etc. Can any of those be repurposed?
For example, I created a bonus resource fie for my Aligned Marketing participants packed with lots of tips, tutorials, guides etc. I pulled most of this from content I had created in the past that was still relevant.
To take it another step. I now have this resource file so where else can I use it? I decided to also use it as a bonus for my Brand by Human Design 1:1 participants. This is giving them extra value without me needing to do anything.
So there you have my three steps. I’d love to know, did you have any realisations through this episode? What are you simplifying in your business or life? Comment below or DM me on Instagram @stylecreativeco I’d love to hear about it!
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