Last month, the French Network welcomed speakers Louise Miller and Martina Abagnale for the Productivity Series.
Whether you’re confident in your time and project management and feel secure in how you’re working to achieve your goals, or whether these are areas you want to work on, these two sessions offered valuable insight and tools. By no means did Louise and Martina attempt to sell us a one-size-fits-all plaster to solve our issues. Instead, they offered ways we can reflect on our practice and actionably feel better in our work.
Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash
In the first session, Louise Miller began by sharing her definition of productivity: ‘Getting the important things done efficiently to create space for the things you love’. These ‘important things’ are often client work, invoicing, those things with a hard deadline which always get done. Whereas the ‘things you love’ – working on your website, reading and writing articles, practising your hobbies – fall to the wayside.
Louise offered 5 steps to help us be more productive in our working lives: 1. Get clear on your vision, 2. Get clear on your goals, 3. Choose what to work on first, 4. Protect time for what’s most important, and 5. Get it done.
Of course, the act of ‘getting it done’ isn’t necessarily so simple. Louise encouraged us to reflect on where we spend our time, how our energy fluctuates throughout the day, and what we can do to maximise our attention spans. She reminded us that, ultimately, self-awareness is the key to improving productivity.
Louise has more insight and resources on her website: https://www.bettylouonline.com
In the second session, Martina Abagnale continued the discussion and echoed Louise’s encouragement to reflect on our goals. She spoke about SMART goals and reinforced the importance of getting clear on how, why, and when you want to work on a goal.
Martine also spoke about how we can be more intentional with our time. It is easy to say you’re going to work on something, but again, the actual work can be daunting. Like Louise, Martina recommended that we think about how we can make our work easier to manage, be it pomodoro methods, time-blocking, or distracting yourself (like throwing a ball when rehearsing a presentation!).
Overall, Martina encouraged us to find ways to give our brains a break. She shared how she used to burden herself with trying to remember everything about every client and project, and how she eased that stress by writing things down. With her husband, Martina built Lemon Twist, an adaptable project management system for freelancers. Lemon Twist is designed to be a canvas that you can adapt to suit the way your brain likes to work. You can find more information on its website: https://lemontwist.ing
Both talks reminded us that productivity is something you have to actively work on. It doesn’t just come overnight, and we’re not necessarily just born with it. For a lot of us, it takes real reflection, self-awareness, and trial and error to figure out how we can be more productive and content in our work. Check out Louise Miller’s and Martina Abagnale’s websites for more!
Thank you to Louise and Martina for your presentations, and thank you to Sophie and Sarah for organising this valuable mini-series.
