Welcome to The Spark Show! In this episode, we'll be talking about:

• How to find balance in chaos
• The #1 tip to still be productive 
• 3 ways to practice self-care

How to find balance in chaos

It’s a different time right now - you can call it weird, crazy, it’s definitely NOT normal. So we can expect ourselves to act normally. We can’t expect to feel the same way as we did before all this happened. 

So first, let’s acknowledge that. Awareness is always the first step. So now that we know that and acknowledge it, we can begin to understand and give ourselves and others compassion on our reactions.

Since this has never happened before, there is no rules or standards on how we’re supposed to act. Ex. Weddings and funerals - we’ve been through them before, there are guides, so we kind of know what happens and what we do. 

This is my first pandemic, this is the first time everything is pretty much shut down. We have to stay home, we can’t travel. If you can work, you work from home. We can’t go out to eat, to movies, life is different and we are figuring things out as we go along. 

So there’s a lot of things going on - there’s the pandemic itself (number of cases, death rates, washing hands, wearing masks) and then there’s our health (physical, emotional and mental), then there’s external factors like the economy and politics. It can be challenging to process all of these things at once, especially if you’ve been laid off or if your situation is not secure.

Everyone is wondering: what’s going to happen now? 

And this is chaos. 

So I wanted to offer my experience in how I’ve been finding balance in chaos. I’m very grateful to have an online business so I’ve been working from home but I am still affected by everything that is happening. 

My husband is now working from home too, so that has created chaos in my normal work routine. Him being home is great, but also not great. We’ve had to learn how to navigate the apartment and who gets what room, especially when we both have meetings or when I’m filming. 

So the #1 thing that’s helped me still be productive is to stick to a schedule. We get up and do our morning routing - walk the dog, I do my meditation and journaling and I get ready since most of the time I am on camera. I also think getting ready for the day helps me be more productive in general because I’ve found that when I don’t put my face on and do my hair, I don’t feel as productive. So it’s going to depend on you, I invite you to try it out and see if it helps. At the end of the day, it’s all about figuring out what works for you. 

After I get ready, I usually work and we eat lunch together and walk our dog. Then back to work. I usually start my workout around 4:30 and then we go for a really long walk around 6 when he’s done working, we walk the dog again then have dinner then our free time. For my free time, I’m playing ukelele, watching TV, reading, and I’ve just started Face Yoga Method. 

So that’s my schedule, and sticking to that Monday-Friday has really helped me stay productive. This is similar to my normal schedule pre-Corona but now during my work hours I’m also reading the news or seeing it on social media because as a content creator, I like to stay up to date on what’s currently happening and also how it’s affecting my industry. 

I read up on what’s happening in the economy, in the marketing industry and social media. And this can be emotionally draining too. So I have to balance this out and make sure I limit myself on the type of content that I’m consuming. I have to balance out the negative vs positive content. 

Now on weekends, I usually work on Sundays and we have a weekly meeting for our business. But Saturdays I usually give myself the day off so I don’t plan out what I’m going to do so I can spend time doing stuff I wanna do. We always walk though, because we love walking. 

The structure is there as a guide, but the balance is there by giving yourself permission to deviate from the plan depending on your feelings. It’s okay to feel tired, sad, weird, anxious...any feelings that come up. Because again, this has never happened before. 

3 Ways to Practice Self-Care

Make a list of things that make you feel good

This could be anything from taking a bubble bath, listening to music, getting a massage from your partner. Commit to doing at least 1-2 things on that list every single week. Put it in your schedule, add it to your Google calendar and make it a non-negotiable. 

Give yourself what you need 

If you’re feeling isolated, recognize that you need to schedule a weekly check-in with friends. If you need time away from your partner because they’re driving you crazy, go for a walk by yourself. If you need to stay in bed for an extra hour or so, don’t feel bad about giving yourself what you need. 

Practice kindness to yourself and others

Now that you are aware and have acknowledged that this is something new and has never happened before. You know people are going to be acting weird, including yourself. So practice being kind to yourself and others when people start to do things differently and don’t really know how to react. (Some people are overposting right now, some are really showing sides that you’ve never seen before). Know that we are all going through this together and we can offer kindness and compassion to others and to ourselves. 

Listen to the full episode here:  

Watch the Masterclass

Gwenlane.com/masterclass

Listen to Previous Episodes: 

How to Pivot Your Content featuring Lindsay Myers

The Right Time to Launch Your Online Business

How to Work with Brands During a Pandemic

The State of Influencer Marketing featuring Tinger Hseih

How to Create Content During a Crisis                

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