RAMBLINGS: Are systems and workflows truly productive?

(Welcome to Day 1 of a 31 day challenge to write 500 words or more.  For more on that click here:  goinswriter.com)


Running together is like, his least favorite thing to do. But talking while running is worse which usually means I promise not to talk to him if we run together.

Yet, my loving husband found himself on a run with his wife NOT listening to his podcast like he prefers but instead, once again was helping me process how to be more productive with my work/life balance.

He was encouraging me while doing the thing he least loves, twice over.

You see, I was yet again discouraged and hard on myself for not staying on task and in return not making very much progress to my to-do list. It’s not the first time we have had this conversation and in fact, I thought I WAS doing well at it. That morning, instead of writing, I found myself finishing my Christmas Card list, Christmas shopping, and spent way to much time on my phone.

How did I get distracted when I had started with such good intentions?

We work backwards…

How did I start on the Christmas Card list? I was looking for Christmas gift and remembered I needed to send the card list to my sister.

How did I think about the Christmas gifts?  Jason has sent me text message thanking me for taking care of the gifs.

Message = Trigger

Ugh. Totally not his fault.

But really what has started this problem was I was ALREADY distracted before starting to write. WHY? My phone. I usually bring my phone out of my room and jump straight onto everything that I missed while I was sleeping 9 hours ahead of the states.

Real Trigger = Opening my phone before I finish my morning routine.

Other Trigger = NOT moving from my reading chair to my work area.

So we had this conversation about creating routines and systems to help me ‘have a plan’ and ‘know exactly what do to’.

 

Here are the questions that continually plague my mind:

How does a distracted and jumbled mind work productively?

How do you move past feelings to do your hard projects?

How do you tackle projects that seem too big to manage?

What is the trigger to keep me from doing the things I need to do? Is it environment? Is it my phone? Do I just say yes to every thought that comes to mind?

How do you move past wanting to take care of tasks that trigger my thoughts… that I want to do but can wait until later?

 

It seems SOOOO SIMPLE.

Just do them…

Just start your big project…

Just forget about feelings and move forward.

Just start…

But sometimes it IS NOT ENOUGH.

and

Sometimes, we are, *um* I am like a 5-year-old and can’t seem to resist the temptations, like NOT looking at my phone… or Instagram… or anything else.

 

So you know what? I am starting to put the Triggers out of hands reach. 

What does that even mean?

 

Here are a few guidelines I will work on to help create triggers and boundaries:

I will leave my phone in my room until I finish my morning routine and 1-hour writing.

I will start my writing at my desk or dining table.

I will start changing environments for different task –

  • Consider using a coffee shop right after Turkish lessons to do my homework so I don’t put it off.
  • Consider another writing location for Monday’s and Friday when I do most of my writing.

I will create a task list the night before to know what my next morning will look like

I will place that task list in front of me so I know what my top 3 are for the day.

I will have a list of random thoughts that come to mind while I am working.

 

Who’s with me???


Questions for you:

Who else has this problem?

Who will keep me accountable?

What tips do you have for me?

Episode040FunkTravelsPodcast-Website-

Episode040: When you find some flow for your work

Episode 40 y’all! When we started this podcast in January of 2016, we weren’t so sure that it would still be going. But almost 2 years later and 1 summer break, we love that we have a record of our travels and international move from the U.S.A. to Turkey! We hope you will dip into the archives to listen to our past lessons learned!

In Episode040, we continuing sharing about things we are learning and loving in our expat life. This last month was filled with work and language learning. Catie shares some tools that are helping her move forward in travel writing and blogging. Jason shares a couple of new changes in his schedule that have helped him be more productive and enjoy different areas of his work.

 

And great news! Catie and Jason BOTH have their 2-year visas!

 

Did you know we have Pinterest? We would love for you to follow us there! Catie creates boards for each trip we take as well as pins recent blog post and podcast episodes there.

 

Mentioned links:

Powersheets

Catie’s checklists and routines on Google Drive for those who are curious – not sure how helpful they will be!

Not mentioned: Catie’s new tasks list websites and app – TeuxDeux

Bose Noise Cancelling headphones

White Noise App – Our favorite is Autumn Wind

Intentional Conversation Episode

 

Questions for the listeners:

  • How do you get work done?
  • What secret tools can you share with us?
  • How do you manage multiple projects?

As always, email us your questions and we will answer them in a future episode!

 

Like this podcast episode? Share it!

Episode040FunkTravelsPodcast Pinterest

Recent Posts:

EVENTS: Arkas Sanat Merkezi’s Landscape of Water Exhibition

Going Home Series: 6 practical ways to destress your next expat visit ‘home’

REVIEW: Touring Bangkok’s Floating Markets with LocalGuddy

WRITING: Article featured in SUITCASE Magazine

 

Current Series: 

EXPAT: Going Home Series – 6 part series

  • The Going Home Series is all about how you can have the best visit back ‘home’. Catie covers both sides of the spectrum to help both those in the native country and those living abroad have an easier time reconnecting and supporting each other.
  • If you are an expat going back to your native country, this is for you!
  • If you are someone who will be visiting returning expats, this is for you too!

GOING HOME SERIES: 10 thoughtful questions to ask your returning expat

GOING HOME SERIES: 8 ways you can bless your returning expats

GOING HOME SERIES: Expats, 5 ways you can help those back ‘home’ understand you better

GOING HOME SERIES: 6 practical ways to destress your next expat visit ‘home’

 

Stay tuned for upcoming articles:

EVENTS: 2017 Izmir Coffee Festival

TURKEY: Day at Sea PhotoBook

TRAVEL: Randevu in Romania

If you are just now joining in:

We encourage you to go back into the archives and listen back to our first episode.  And we encourage you to go back and listen to Episode009 to help get you up to speed on our big move!

You can also join in on the adventure via Facebook means you will get the first scoop and discussion on new podcasts!

AND…

We are on iTunes!

POP OVER TO LEAVE US A REVIEW ON ITUNES. This helps others find our podcast!

Episode037 FunkTravels Podcast Expat Turkey

Episode037: When your podcast becomes a therapy session

Welcome back! September means (somewhat) cooler weather AND Jason’s birthday. We celebrated in 2 ways… 1. Submitting all of our paper work for our visa renewals! We are hopping to get a 2 year visa.  2. We enjoyed the last days of summer, sun, beach, and the sea on a boat tour with friends! We talk about both on the podcast.

Also, we celebrate our ‘official’ 1 year in Turkey! Jason and Catie reveal to each other their top 3 things they learned this last year. The conversation was a tough one as we talk about stresses of moving abroad and what that looks like for our marriage and relationships with others. Main areas we discuss are intentionality vs. passivity, language, and friends.

 

And don’t worry! We will get to our SEAsia tour that we took in July with our friends, Eric and Ashley.

Until then, you can always scroll back through our Instagram and Facebook accounts to see updates, pictures, and videos.

Some of our favorite quotes:

The stress of moving to a foreign country...not understanding the culture...difficulty of language, made this character trait come out more strongly. - Jason Click To Tweet The short version is: you want to do everything, and I want to do nothing. - Jason Click To Tweet The stress of my doing everything probably causes you to not want to do anything. - Catie Click To Tweet I caused a lot of my own struggles with my identity... Being a believer in Jesus Christ, my identity is in him... One, I had to find my identity in Christ and two, I had to find another creative avenue where I was helping people. -… Click To Tweet I learned how to avoid situations that would force me to learn language, which was not a good thing. - Jason Click To Tweet Friendships take a while to become meaningful. - Jason Click To Tweet The lack of effort needed for daily life (in another culture) can now turn into for building relationships with other people. Click To Tweet People who have lived here many years have more energy to give to relationships because they have lived here longer. - Jason Click To Tweet

Mentioned links:

Catie’s first print article – Reminiscing Romantic Romania

Jason’s Birthday!

Listen to his last birthday celebration in Episode017

Teos Tur

Listen to our month of Airbnb private room living in Episode018

Enneagram

EXPAT YEARS SERIES: 3 part series sharing what we learned in our first year abroad – check below for individual links

Questions for the listeners:

  • Are you an expat living overseas? Where do you live?
  • Have you taken a recent trip that has change you? How did you adjust to going back ‘home?
  • Have you lived in another area other than ‘home’? What did you learn from living in this new place?

As always, email us your questions and we will answer them in future episode!

Like this podcast episode?! Share it!

Episode037 FunkTravels Podcast Pinterest

 

Recent Blog Posts:

EXPAT: Interview with ExpatFocus

WRITING: Reminising Romantic Romania

Recent Series: EXPAT YEARS

EXPAT YEARS: Our First Year Abroad (Year 1 Part 1)

EXPAT YEARS: The Truth About Living Abroad (Year 1 Part 2)

EXPAT YEARS: 10 things I have learned my first year as a full-time expat (Year 1 Part 3)

Stay tune for upcoming articles:

TRAVEL: Why you should use Local Guddy next time you travel

EXPAT: Going Home Series

  • The Going Home Series is all about how you can have the best visit back ‘home’. Catie covers both side of the spectrum to help both those in the native country and those living abroad have an easier time reconnecting and supporting each other.
  • If you are an expat going back to your native country, this is for you!
  • If you are someone who will be visiting returning expats, this is for you too!

 

If you are just now joining in:

We encourage you to go back into the archives and listen back to our first episode.  And we encourage you to go back and listen to Episode 9 to help get you up to speed on our big move!

You can also join in on the adventure via Facebook means you will get the first scoop and discussion on new podcasts!

AND…

We are on iTunes!

POP OVER TO LEAVE US A REVIEW ON ITUNES. This helps others find our podcast!