Episode #26: What You Should NOT Be Doing
Is there something you’re doing daily that isn’t adding to your life? If you give yourself some space to think, what surprising thing might you think about letting go? When you’re working toward a goal, but it feels like your life is already pretty full, it’s important to take some time out and think about what you should NOT be doing.
For me, this was Orange Theory. I really enjoy working out, but when I asked myself if there was anything I didn’t enjoy, this came up. By letting go of this, I made room for exercise that I enjoyed a lot more, like Pilates.
Another thing that I needed to stop doing was being on Facebook so much. Or check my email, or go on Instagram. When I asked myself if these were truly adding to my life, I had to admit that checking my phone in the line at the grocery store was too distracting. Switching between checking my notifications and real life made it hard for me to focus on what I was actually doing. So for 2019, I stopped checking in when I had a little break or lull in the day. I let myself be bored and sit in the silence so that I could think.
I also started batching my podcasts this year, and then I hired someone to fix it on the backend. By recording four or five podcasts at once, I can focus completely on my message, and by hiring someone to polish it up for me, I can have more time to focus on my clients.
Your call to action this week:
- What’s one thing I need to give up?
- What is something I’m doing that I don’t enjoy?
- What is something I can take away to give myself more time?
- What is something that doesn’t bring me joy?
- What is something I just don’t want to do anymore?
And then we can think about how we can actually stop doing them which will clear the way for tasks that are truly important to you.
Hello and welcome to episode number 26 of the Strategy Corner where our goal is to get you to take action. I’m your host, Michelle Zink, the owner of Intentional Solutions Corp. On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about the strategy of determining what you should not be doing and stop that right away. Okay. I know we often focus on what we need to bring into our life through buying, doing, adding, but what is the last time you thought about what you need to stop doing? I know this is a question that you don’t ask yourself very often, nor does society ask us what we should stop doing. Maybe we should stop being on Facebook for two hours a day. Maybe we should stop having all of these apps on our phone that get us in trouble and we want to get on social media. Maybe we should stop watching as much TV as we do.
Is there something you do daily that isn’t adding value to your life or to you? I’ve asked myself this question recently and in 2019, I decided that I didn’t enjoy doing orange theory anymore. It’s a great program and a lot of people love it, but it wasn’t a cup of tea for me and I kept doing it because I wanted to work out and my husband did it. But when I really slowed down and started asking myself, what are some things that I’m doing in my life right now that don’t bring me joy or that I don’t want to do, orange theory came up for me, and instead of just putting it to the side, I decided to really examine why that was the case and decided that I wanted to go ahead and go all in on Pilates and do that because it was what I really love to do and I know that if I’m doing what I love to do, that I’ll get results.
So, I’m still working out and still doing the cardio and still doing the weight training just in a different manner and I’m doing it because I love it. So, it was something that I knew that I just needed to stop doing. Another thing that I’ve decided that I needed to stop doing in 2019 was I needed to stop being on Facebook as much. I mentioned it in the beginning and no, I wasn’t on Facebook for two hours, but I did notice that when I was in line for something and I had to wait or I was in my car at a stoplight, I would pick up my phone and look at Facebook and try to get an update, try to feel the moments, or I would look on my email or I would go onto Instagram. And so, I decided that these short periods of time when I had nothing to do, I decided that I actually wanted to do nothing because I realized that when I started looking at my phone for that brief moment in line or in the car, it created stress because then I needed to focus and Oh my goodness, I need to get up there and actually pay for the bill.
I’m next. And I’ve seen something on my phone that now is on my mind that I need to take care of. So, I realized that when I have those, that not looking at my phone would be what would be best serving me and would allow for me to be more in the moment. So, I decided to give that up. So, for you, what is one thing that you need to give up? What is something you’re doing that you don’t enjoy? What is something you can take away to gain more time? That’s one thing I’ve been playing with as you know, time. But what are some things that I’m doing that I could possibly stop that would gain more time? One thing that I incorporated just this year is batching my podcasts and actually hiring someone to do the backend of the podcast. So, I learned initially how to do all of the podcast work.
So, I would tape it, I would edit it, I would upload it, everything, which is great because I’m a true believer and you have to know what someone’s doing for you and for you to know the process first is a best way to learn things and accomplish things. But in a place now where I’ve got some more business coming in and I really need to focus on serving my clients. So, I decided that by hiring someone else to do this work, it would open up and free up some time for me so that I could be doing other things. So, I decided to batch process my podcast and I’m doing them right now. And initially it takes a little bit more time because you have to build them up. But I know in the end, once a month, taping for podcasts is going to be a timesaver instead of me every Monday having to go through the process of taping a podcast and doing all the work on the backend.
So, for me, I realize what am I doing that I needed to stop doing is doing all the extra work with podcasting because I love to do the podcast, but I know that the best time for me is to take time to focus on my clients. And by getting someone to do the backend work really helps me to create the space for me to do exactly that. So, what about you? This week, your call to action is to ask yourself the questions that I just asked you and I’m going to repeat them. But the call to action is to figure out what you should not be doing and stop doing that right away. And the way we get there is we ask ourselves, what’s one thing I need to give up? What is something I’m doing that I don’t enjoy? What is something I can take away to gain more time?
What is something that doesn’t bring me joy? What is something I just don’t want to do anymore? And then, we can back into and think about how we can actually stop doing them. For instance, if it’s, I hate and I want to stop going to the grocery store every week, you could go ahead and sign up for an online service that delivers your groceries. Or if you’re like me and you have something that you’re doing an admin task and you don’t want to do it anymore; you can look at hiring an admin person to help you with that. So, your call to action this week is to sit down and ask yourself, create space. I would say give yourself about a half an hour and just ask yourself those couple of questions to determine what you’re doing that you shouldn’t be doing and then figure out how to stop it right away.
I know that this is the key to create space so that you can move forward and start accomplishing and digging into the goals and objectives you set for yourself in 2020. So, I know this is important work and I urge you to take the time to sit down and ask yourself these questions and to figure out what you’re doing that you need to stop right now because it’s not serving you.
Please also go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google play, and subscribe to the Strategy Corner. You can also go to my website, intentionalsolutionscorp.com and sign up to get my weekly blog post, which also has a link to the latest podcast. Until next time, remember through action and growth progression happens. Let’s take action together. Thank you and create an amazing week.
