Are you managing your tasks?

Is your to-do list too long?

Are your expectations of yourself too high?

Are you putting boundaries on the amount of work that you’re physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of doing, in a period of time?

I hear over and over from our clients that they’re underestimating how much time it actually takes to accomplish something. Women historically tend to struggle with boundaries, maybe a little more than men, in workplace situations. And anybody that’s in a caregiving role can really struggle with this including coaches, healers, and nurturers. In this episode, we’re talking about the third pillar of nine pillars for productivity: boundaries. If you missed pillar number one: environment or pillar number two: energy, then go back and watch it AFTER today’s episode.

There are actually two definitions for the concept of a boundary. The first one is a physical boundary, and literally, it’s a line that marks the limits of an area. So, that might be the boundaries of a state. It might be the boundaries of your backyard that’s marked by a fence. It might be a wall. Those are all physical boundaries.

But then there’s also, what I would call a mental or emotional boundary. And we’re actually gonna dive into these boundary types, a little bit more in the podcast. But it’s the limit of a subject or a sphere of activity. It’s putting a boundary around how we think about things, how we ask for support around the scope of a project. This is really important for creatives. In fact, this morning, I got right out of bed, made my coffee, and went straight to the canvas, to work on a painting.

Let’s take a look at how each productivity type approaches boundaries:

* Commanders don’t necessarily notice what’s happening around them because they’re focused on their tasks.

* Contemplators, the very cognitive style, need everything to be really neat. Visual clutter impacts them, whether that’s on the screen, or physical clutter, really impacts them.

* Conductors need to have physical space and time, away from people, because they’re so busy all the time. They nurture and take care of everybody they forget that they need some quiet time. So a physical boundary, for them, is going up to their bedroom to meditate, for five or ten minutes.

* Creators tend to invade everybody’s space because they’re people lovers and noisemakers. They’re very charismatic. They’re super creative, and their creativity can flow all over the house. So if you walk around my house, I’ve got art supplies pretty much in every room, in the house, except for Brad’s office.

Here’s an opportunity to really look at these different Pillars of Productivity, and say, “Which are the ones that I need to focus on? Where do I need to build in those renewal rituals, that we talked about last time? Where do I need to build in some clearer boundaries, around time, so that I’m making time to do the emotional work?” Listen to the full episode on boundaries.

Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz

Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business.

Take the Quiz today and get your results!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: