Hello my friend!!!
I have returned safely from the lands overseas! While I was over there, I did some serious thinking about my business and I thought I would share these rambling thoughts of mine with you!
The whole center of these thoughts was “time off” and how I feel that my two weeks away doing almost no work (and releasing the pressure on myself to do work) have positioned me for more intentional productivity than if I had spent those two weeks working. So, if you’ve been feeling like you need a break, here I am to give you permission to do so. Because after 2 weeks away from the office, I feel more energized than ever hoping back into “the grind”!
What time off has taught me about productivity…
As someone who works entirely on their own schedule, it’s easy to fall into the “working 24/7” rut.
Aside from penning you this newsletter and checking in on the occasional question from my assistant, the last two weeks I did virtually no Beeler Publishing related work.
It felt weird. It felt wrong. I felt lazy. I kept asking myself: Should I be doing more with my time here? I have so much time to get things done. I felt like I should hunker down in a cafe, plug in my earbuds, and grind just like I would any other day at home—because another perk of being a solopreneur is that you can virtually work wherever and whenever.
BUT the truth is, time off is IMPORTANT. As a solopreneur, it can often (always, lol) feel like the success of your company is contingent on you working all day, every day. Because any second not working is a second that could have been used to further your business. And O.M.G are there 63366277732 things to be doing all at once all the time everyday….holy moly! (not complaining, just the reality of the situation I’ve willingly—and happily—put myself into).
I could be working, but “should” I be working? What’s the expectation of someone who is working to build their business on their own?
Gaining a Fresh Perspective
Time off has given me the time to think about my goals and the direction of my business with a breath of fresh air (and a few pints of Guinness). Stepping out of the trenches (*cough cough* Google Workspace) and looking at all that’s been done and what’s to come has given me a fresh perspective on:
Where I want to go in the next year (this would be a whole newsletter reflection of its own lol! But I’ll save that for another time...just know big things in the works for both Sacred and Tropetails)
What I value and what I get the most/least joy out of doing (so important to reflect on. I made a diagram of all the things I do in the average day (yes, including my social media doomscrolling…ugh, I’m working on it!!), what sucks my energy and what gives/recharges my energy—EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS OFTEN—it’s so important to reflect on the things you do most often: are they adding to your joy or subtracting from it? If subtracting, can you figure out a way to delegate those tasks to someone else?).
When I am most in my “zone of genuis”. (A term from the book The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks—an incredible (and short) read which I highly recommend to anyone, entrepreneur or not). The whole idea of the “zone of genuis”, as quoted by Gay, “is the set of activities you are uniquely skilled at, passionate about, and that bring you the most joy and energy, often resulting in effortless, high-value work”. Something to think about…what’s your superpower?
All this to say, I highly recommend taking a break every so often. Your company (or whatever it is you are leaving behind) will not implode with you gone (given that you’ve set up the necessary measures beforehand—which is important and should be done). Unplug, so to speak. Breaks are GOOD, and no matter what society tries to hammer into your brain about “grind culture” just remember that not everything that is shoved down our throats is inherently healthy for us.
And hey, I finished reading two whole books in that chunk of time off too! So I’d count that as a bare minimum win (aside from all the other revelations I had).
Now the fun part where I share some of my favorite pictures I took while traveling through London, Brighton, Galway, Ennis, and Limerick!! I am so grateful to have had this time away (and eternally grateful to my assistant (and auto-replies on Gmail—lol gotta shout that one out frfr) for keeping the pulse of my business beating while I galavanted across the Emerald Isle with an overflowing pint of Guinness in my grubby hands):
Let’s Recap!! (basically the TLDR but at the bottom)
Maggie had some fun thoughts about time off and the renewed burst of energy it gave her coming back.
Big things coming for Sacred and Tropetails..stay tuned 👀
But let’s not forget your favorite part of this newsletter……..
My human has returned from her extended vacation away from me. While she was gone, I got to hang out with Auntie Kendall, my humans friend, who gave me lots of love! I am now back with my human and enjoying this strange new cave/bed she got me…it looks pretty derpy…
on a scale of 1 to ridiculous, where does the bed land?? 😂
That’s all from me for now!! Thank you for taking the time to read through my little updates hehe I love hearing from you as well, so let me know if you’ve ever takem the time to think about what your “zone of genius” could be? I’d love to hear what you think your superpower is!!
Cheers + Talk Soon,
Maggie 🥂
PS: I am releasing a new project on Kickstarter on 4/20 (in just a few short weeks!!). It’s an adult satire book about my cat, Sarge, and you can give it a quick follow on Kickstarter to be notified the second it goes live! It’s quirky, it’s cute, and it’s sure to make any houseguests laugh their bums off. For animal lovers and folks with a sense of humor 🐱
Here are some fun projects friends of mine are running now on Kickstarter! Feel free to check them out if either of the banners pique your interest👀
Complementary Produce: A spin on a classic trick-taking game or a learning tool for your kids. Your new go-to for any outing. Check it out here
The Hands On Crowdfunding Retreat for Authors: A 5-day small-group retreat in beautiful Edinburgh for authors who want to leave with a ready-to-launch crowdfunding campaign. Check it out here