A date night with work

When I have to but don't want to work!

As a freelancer and an (aspiring) creator for many years, I had to figure out how to keep myself motivated and consistent with my work.

Because when you are your own boss and love to do a million things (and nothing), sometimes it is unbelievably hard to keep yourself on track. Well, at least it was for me.

I have read blogs and watched countless hours of YouTube videos on productivity and consistency, which made me feel like a sore loser when I saw how much these productivity gurus get done.

I tried to take their advice. One technique after another. Pomodoro, calendar blocking, accountability partner, and whatnot?

While some worked, some didn’t, and others worked for a short while, I have managed to identify my blocks and figure out what works for me when.

And I really wanted to share this one thing with you-

Work date night

Or a chill workday (if I do it in the daytime)

Okay, let me say this upfront that it’s not crazy groundbreaking.

But for me, it has worked magic on days I would otherwise get absolutely nothing done; on the days that the task list gave me anxiety and overwhelm; on the days I just wanted to give up on everything I’m working on.

Here’s what I do -

• Set up a romantic or any sort of nice ambience (candles, light music, diffuser, etc)

• Get good food (it could be a proper meal or munchies and something nice to drink)

• Wear the comfiest clothes or actually dress up (depending on the mood)

• Pick an activity to go with it (an already watched show, painting, cooking or learning something). One important thing here is that you shouldn’t need 100% of your focus for this, or it must need for you to take breaks. Like water colours, you need to give a break for a few minutes between painting different layers.

• Add in some self-care stuff (a face mask, foot soak or whatever floats your boat)

Now that we have gotten the things ready for the date night, here’s the mindset you bring-

I’m just gonna chill with my work. Flirt with it a little bit. No pressure to go all the way. Just give it a little attention and then pull away. Tease. Only if I feel a spark and am drawn to it, will give I my 100%. Otherwise, there are other elements of the date to focus on, right?

To put it simply, there’s no goal to be productive during this time.

I break my tasks into the tiniest of chunks and do them in between the fun parts of the date night. If I don’t get into it all, I will just drop it completely.

But most of the time, what happens is that I start getting into the groove and literally have a wonderful date with my work. Like I will be grooving to the music, doing something on the side that’s super fun and end up having small but highly focused blocks of work time where I end up doing much more than I’d have otherwise done.

Other days, because there is no pressure, I end up relaxing without guilt and show up better the next day.

Either way, it ends up being a wonderful date.

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Little Joys

“Joy is always around if only we pause to acknowledge it.”

With life's burdens and big ambitions, it's easy to overlook our everyday joys. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the small joys from the last week. Here are mine -

• I paid a bomb for a workshop only to realise that that particular direction is not for me in this phase of my life. A huge weight off my shoulder and totally worth the money and time spent!

• I have been practising ukulele almost every day!

• After a long time, I had an explosive episode of dancing to Tamil songs. I haven’t seen myself dance like that in a long time.

• I have been enjoying sushi, which I didn’t think I would.

• I drew a lilly and it fricking not just look like lilly but it looked pretty toooo!