Important Dates for your Diary
Plus thoughts on being busy vs being productive
Upcoming Dates for your diary:
Our next Power Hour session is on Saturday, October 6th. It's free to paid subscribers, and you can spend a dedicated hour working on whatever you’ve been putting off!
Book your next GWDC 1:2:1 session with Suzanne or Mark here.
Mark’s Office hours are today, September 20th. There is still time to book a 15-minute appointment with him to discuss challenges, receive feedback, or discuss whatever else is going on with you and your business.
Mark has organised a quarterly Goal-Setting and Review session on Saturday, 28th September, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., to which GWDC members are invited.
This interactive session will help you stay on track and motivated. Whether you're a seasoned goal-setter or new to the process, this event is for you. Don't miss this opportunity to boost your productivity and achieve your dreams. Register now and get ready to crush your goals!
Remember that now is a great time to set New Year Resolutions that stick.
As a final reminder, I will be appearing with my pianist George Webster at Crazy Coqs, Zedels, Soho, with my new show, The Dirty Blues: Hot Dogs & All, on Tuesday, 24th September, at 7 pm, with special guest clarinettist Lana-May Hodge. Tickets are only £20.
You can look forward to a riotous night of dirty songs, funny stories and a sing-a-long.
Being Busy vs Being Productive
How does your calendar of commitments contribute or detract from your productivity?
Pre-pandemic, I attended many meetings. Half my day was often taken up with the time it took to travel to a meeting, have a meeting, and return from a meeting. On reflection, nearly all of those meetings could have been online.
On the flip side, some but not all of those meetings created valuable connections and relationships that I suspect would not have happened had we had 30 minutes over Zoom. Could I have segmented them by order of importance? Yes, indeed, but I suppose I was caught in the grip of busyness and didn’t make the time to do that.
Nowadays, I attend almost no face-to-face meetings, and when I do, I consider how important they are to my work and whether meeting any of the attendees in person will make a genuine difference. Will they help generate another contract, lead to a commission, or potentially form a partnership? Or is it simply an excuse to leave my home office and get some fresh air?
Justin Welsh, a solo entrepreneur whom I admire, says this,
"I'm too busy" is the biggest lie in business.
Here's what it usually means:
"I don't manage my time well."
Being busy is easy.
Being productive is hard.
Busy people say yes to everything, multitask constantly, work long hours, and then complain about lack of time
Productive people are different.
They say no strategically, focus on one task at a time, work smarter (not longer), and create time for what matters
I used to wear "busy" as a badge of honour.
Then I realized that true success isn't about filling every minute.
It's about making your minutes count.
What's one "busy" habit you'll break today?”
I’ll leave you with that thought for the weekend, when I hope, like me, you’ll be taking time off and enjoying the two-day break from work.
Until next time,
Suzanne