Dear Readers, at the end of a long day, what can you do to remain productive for the rest of the week? Are you too tired to do anything other than scroll and drool over Instagram posts? Are draining work-related thoughts polluting your mind, making it impossible to be at peace? Who can live like this? Where is the work-life balance you’ve been craving? Keep reading to find out how much more meaningful your life would be when you work full-time.
Welcome to the Branding24Seven community, Dear Readers! As a reminder, this website answers all of your branding questions. In case this is your first time visiting, this blog is the brainchild of JMStrategy LLC (JMS), a boutique consulting firm that offers strategic solutions to strengthen your professional or personal brands. Now, let’s see how a strategic facelift of your evening routine will help you have the most productive year in 2020.
Before proceeding to today’s publication, Dear Readers, please take a moment to check out this article to understand what this blog means by evening chunk and finishing block and come right back!
Dear Readers, this blog insists that you should not waste away evening chunks simply because your minds have checked out for the day. Instead, think of them as the self-care mecca for the peace of mind you need to design the life you want outside of work! Consequently, this blog invites you to implement the JMS finishing block framework that will help you achieve balance and appreciate your journey thus far every single night.
So, in concrete terms, what are you supposed to do to achieve balance? Does it mean that you need yet another routine? Yes, in the sense that you want to have a predetermined roadmap loosely formulated beforehand to eliminate decision fatigue. Indeed, whatever little energy you have left should be channeled for something constructive Dear Readers!
In this get what is ours in 2020 inspired Blogmas series, this blog has shared with you the work two JMS clients have been willing to put in to have a more productive week this year. You check out how they have organized their mornings and after-work hours to achieve their goals and dreams. This blog chose two people with vastly different lifestyles and priorities to show you, Dear Readers, that you too can have a meaningful life regardless of your backgrounds! Now let’s explore how you could set up your evening chunk, Dear Readers.
Our aspiring accountant recognizes that she has no self-discipline. For that reason, she asked the JMS team to create a simple pattern that she can follow every day of the week. Please note Dear Readers, that this aspiring accountant had a long list of requirements the JMS team had to abide by for her to find real purpose outside of work. She wanted:
1) Weekends for leisure activities that included nail appointments on Saturdays,
2) Church service and brunching with girlfriends on Sundays,
3) No cleaning of any sort (except a load of laundry),
4) Tons of TV watching to catch up on favorite series,
5) Cancel her gym membership and find a cheaper fitness alternative. Any remaining errands were to be dispatched to Saturday mornings while phone calls to loved ones would be for Sunday afternoons.
Here is what the JMS team came up with for her:
As you see Dear Readers, she had a tall order to fill! Yet, the JMS team made it happen! We even managed to include a weekly planning session on Sunday afternoons. This way, she can organize morning lesson plans, chart her progression, and meal prep to avoid cooking anything during the week.
All in all, the JMS team was able to give her the freedom to indulge in a few guilty pleasures so that she would feel ready to face her much stricter regime every Monday and be the ultimate corporate gangster as she puts it! But what if you cannot squeeze an evening routine like our triathlete hero, what can you do?
Dear Readers, this blog understands that you might be just as short on time as our triathlete hero. With a bedtime set at 8:15 pm, what kind of evening routine is realistic to have? None and he is OK with that decision!
Remember that the purpose of having an evening chunk is to create space for finishing blocks. As discussed in the back to school issue, finishing blocks essentially fulfill the self-care aspect of your weekly routine. This blog believes that you, Dear Readers, will find a real balance and appreciation for the journey traveled thus far through finishing blocks.
So, if you cannot do it at night, move all finishing blocks to weekends! Do whatever you need to protect your mental health and avoid burnouts, just like our aspiring accountant practices yoga and journaling to cultivate inner peace!
Consequently, for his sanity (his words, not ours), out triathlete hero moved his finishing blocks to Saturdays since he has to complete a punishing long-distance ran on Sundays. On Saturday morning, he rotates between two finishing objectives. He either plays a few rounds of golf for a couple of hours with college buddies. Or he attends the mastermind ateliers the JMS team organizes to help improve the effectiveness of his team. From lunch onwards, he spends time with his wife. That’s their designated date night.
After dropping the children at Nana’s house, these two love birds have a healthy chunk of time to focus on themselves. The last finishing objective is to spend Sunday afternoons with his children. No matter how beat up he feels after his long run, he looks forward to that bonding time. He knows that he misses out a lot during the week, so he packs it all in on Sundays.
Now, there are a few caveats this blog must acknowledge to be as transparent as possible! These two JMS clients had to make choices that may not be available to you, Dear Readers. Indeed, the aspiring account practices intermittent fast and only eats two meals and a snack. That’s how she manages to have a long study session each morning since she skips breakfast. She is single with no dependent, not even a dog!
Her constraints are different than that of our family man, the triathlete hero. He has an incredible support system. Firstly, he has a loving wife who prepares all of his meals so he can focus on his training. Secondly, he has a fantastic mother-in-law who is happy to have her grandchildren stay overnight every Saturday so that he can have some serious R & R with his wife.
Your priorities, Dear Readers, are likely to be vastly different from that of our JMS clients. Your constraints will put pressure on your time management in a way that differs from what JMS clients have to face. However, Dear Readers, you too can achieve everything you want. With sacrifice, focus, and a few strategic choices, you will see your productivity increase exponentially outside of work.
There you have it, Dear Readers! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today! Has this blog convinced you that purpose, balance, and productivity are within your reach even while putting in 40 hours at your job? Which finishing blocks are you introducing to give your life more meaning and crush your goals in 2020? Did we miss anything? Come back tomorrow to wrap up this Blogmas series in a way that will fire you up to revamp your weeklies once and for all!
Let us know by email at jms@branding24seven.com or by mail at JMStrategy LLC
21 S. 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107.
Catch up with the first installment of this get what is ours in 2020 inspired Blogmas series in case you’ve missed it!
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