SC Episode 11
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Kleidi Jeen: [00:00:00] Hello there. Welcome to Sundae Creative, where we're throwing outdated hustle culture in the trash and giving creative entrepreneurs the self care strategies they actually need to thrive. I'm Kleidi Jeen, Creative Wellness Strategist, your fellow creative entrepreneur, and your go to for making sure your business doesn't burn you out before you get to enjoy your success.
I'm talking real deal self care, the kind where we're all about balancing those Big, bold, creative dreams with the energy and well being you need to sustain them because the real flex is a thriving business and a thriving you. So go ahead, grab your matcha, get comfy, and let's get into it.
So in episode six, we talked a bit about shifting our perspectives on productivity and questioning why it is in the first place, we are desiring more capacity to produce. And so to kick it up a notch today, we are going to get into the [00:01:00] nitty gritty and uncover the myths that are underlying the way you think about productivity, time management.
and self care. These possibly keep you overworked and under nurtured. So I really want to get into these. And if you have more to add, I do want to hear from you. So are you ready? Let's dive on in. Let's talk productivity first. Everybody's always trying to be more productive. I, sometimes I just call it the P word because it's like, It's almost this, , flagrant foul word for me in the self care world.
Okay, bet. While I'm not a big fan of getting caught up in obsessing over doing more and more and more for a jolt of dopamine, some people love it. And honestly, there's infinite demands on you as a business owner and that creative brain of yours is trying to actually make it all happen.
, let's get into the myths then. Myth number one around productivity. Being [00:02:00] busy means being productive. Why don't you tell me, is that true, yes or no? Truth. Okay. Productivity is about being efficient by working on the things that matter towards making your big picture vision happen. When you have that big picture vision, things just line up.
Especially if you have it written down. In a few sentences, one to three sentences, when you are getting lost, when you're getting out of focus, when you're feeling frustrated, when you're feeling foggy, you go back to that big picture vision and boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You feel it in your soul because you did some soul work to get it out of you and things simply start to align.
So just having a packed schedule, it is you do want to produce towards whatever it is you want to see in the world, , so let me know what you think about that. And here's the second myth
multitasking makes you more productive. Okay, how do you feel about multitasking? Well, studies [00:03:00] show that multitasking makes you less efficient and riddles your work with mistakes. Mindfulness teaches us that focusing on one task at a time is much more effective and much more meaningful and fulfilling.
You know, how many times do you get through checking off the to do list and getting through your day and all of those things and you don't really feel great about it. It's just, okay, that happened. What if you could feel fulfilled from the work that you do? And that's what happens when we are in alignment with the work that we really want to bring into the world.
And we're doing that instead of worrying so much about productivity for productivity's sake. Last myth on that I want to bring up is waking up at 5 a. m. makes you more productive. Hmm, what do you think? Well, here's the truth. Productivity depends [00:04:00] on working with your natural energy cycles, not forcing yourself into a wake time that feels horrible .
Now, if 5 a. m. feels great, if it feels natural, then of course, go get them. But, , just be careful and observant of your need for increased productivity, ? Getting wrapped up in the busy work often serves as a great way to spend less quality time with yourself, which makes it easy to ignore difficult feelings and thoughts that could arise.
, and there's healthier ways to deal with that, to deal with those thoughts and feelings, , instead of running and hiding from them by masking them with doing more , with productivity. You know what I mean? , okay. That was fun. How about now we look at some of those time management myths? Hmm.
Anybody? All right. So is anybody pointing the manage your time better finger at you these days? So here's a myth. You can manage time. Well, the truth is , it should be [00:05:00] called priorities management because. We can't manage time. The best we can do is prioritize something and focus on it as best we can to make that priority happen.
, time is doing its own time thing which is like bigger than us by infinite amounts of time. So, it's our own priorities that we're managing, not time itself. Here's another myth, and let me know what you think about that. So yeah, , here's another one. The more hours you work, the more you get done.
Is that the case for you? Well, here's the truth. Overworking leads to fatigue and burnout and falling , out of love with what you do. If you are staring at the computer for nine hours, it doesn't mean that you're getting nine hours of work done. It just means that you're staring at the computer for nine hours. Right? So, Working in alignment with your energy, like that's something that's [00:06:00] more realistic and beneficial and productive.
I'm going to go ahead and say that. And productive in terms of taking action and reaching the goals that you have for your creative biz. Here's the last myth for time management. You need a strict deadline. Now, here's the truth. Deadlines should be realistic and adaptable so you don't get stressed the F out by that looming end date.
Also, this one is sort of like energetic pacing, which we talked about before, , where you have to Understand whether you work well or not with strict deadlines. I don't. Okay. Not in all instances. In some instances I do and some I don't. , it took me several tries to launch something unsuccessfully to realize I kept psyching myself out because of the deadline.
Now, in collaborations, for example, yes, I can deadline all day, but in my own business, there's some strategies that I just don't [00:07:00] successfully implement with a hard and fast date like screwing with my mind. So that's just one example. , so instead of managing your time, , all of these myths and truths to say instead of managing your time.
Which can be the quickest way to feeling just overworked and unfulfilled and always on the hamster wheel. Instead of that, get clear on what your intentions are, what your goals are, what you want your daily life to flow like, and go from there. Now, you know I can't leave this episode without talking about self care.
So what are some of the self care myths that might have you thinking that you need to skip past the nurture when doing your creative thing? Hmm, let's think on that. Here's one that's always put out there. . Self care is selfish. Okay. , let me take two steps, get all my soap box, girl, look, I know you hear this one a lot.
I do too. Whether [00:08:00] it's the myth or somebody debunking this myth and even still, I have to address it because it's so ding, dang, dong important. Okay. Listen up. Here Succeeding at self care means creating well communities, which leads to well societies, which, and I don't mean to get all kumbaya and all, but it leads to a brighter future in some way, right?
If more and more of us are ourselves and being well, if we're doing it right, and I don't mean like right, wrong, correct, incorrect, like doing it in a way that Nurtures us the best, AKA not just putting on a face mask and getting our nails done. If we are deepening our self care, we ultimately reconnect to that which makes us human.
And the more of us that do that, the more webs of connections of well people will develop. And that's just about the least selfish thing going on here. Don't you think?
Okay, so yeah, if your self care is simply buying a bunch of [00:09:00] luxury stuff and calling it a day, yeah, I guess that could be considered some level of selfish. But real self care, like when you're truly nurturing your soul, when you're getting clear on your needs and desires, when you're leaning into that self awareness, yeah, no, that's not selfish.
That's priming yourself for authentic, meaningful connections. Which brings me to this myth. Self care is all about spa days and indulgence. Here's the truth. , this is pampering, spa days and indulging, , that's pampering yourself. Self care includes things like setting boundaries, communicating clearly, letting go of external expectations, , being more mindful, getting enough sleep, eating well, , managing stress, not just pampering.
Pampering is cool, but, that's not self care in and of itself.
So yeah, , when you're really engaging in true self care, like deep self care, , it's [00:10:00] really helpful for you in so many ways and it positively affects the people around you and moves out in positive ripples, , around you. Here's another myth. You need a lot of time to actually implement self care.
Here's the truth. Okay. I teach and coach all day every day about micro moments of self care, those small intentional actions like deep breathing, a short walk, a few minutes of journaling, , relaxing yoga exercise, , there's so many things you can do and those little things, those little moments can add up to make a big positive impact on your nervous system and its ability to recover from moments of acute stress.
So no, no, you don't need a lot of time for self care. When you do have that time, yes, absolutely dedicate more time to it, but those days which are more packed, go ahead and implement little micro moments of self care because [00:11:00] they do actually make a measurable difference. Here's another myth. Self care is only needed when you're stressed.
And here's the truth. Proactive self care prevents that accumulation of stress and stress and stress that leads to chronic stress and all of its health implications, medical implications, and burnout.
Instead of reacting to stress, , after it's happened we Integrate self care into our daily lives, just like with brushing your teeth. You don't wait until after you have a cavity to start brushing your teeth. You brush your teeth every morning and every night to prevent any of those things from happening.
So the same thing with self care is to prevent the burnout from happening. To prevent the chronic stress from giving us heart disease and things like that. , and the last myth I want to go over is Self care is about [00:12:00] doing what it takes to look good. And this one I think is going to be a little bit trickier to unravel.
Because the marketing around self care is all about thinness, about youth, uh, faces that look very youthful, um, about, you know, glowing skin and healthy hair that looks long and luscious.
You know, it's about fitting into this outfit and looking nice. The self care that is marketed towards us I would say like 85 or 90 percent of it is about looking good, but Real self care habits actually contribute to overall well being, mental well being, physical well being, energetic well being, , even spiritual well being, ?
And, , and our ability to , access a sense of fulfillment in the activities that we do. [00:13:00] And so when we are engaging in real, I'm going to call it real self care, like deep self care, like the six things that you find in my Sundae approach, then we have more access to experiencing our lives in a more fulfilling way.
So it's, which has nothing to do with looking good. , I would shift that a little bit to accepting and honoring and loving the way we are in the world right now, physically and everything else. So I want you to share any myths that you can think of about self care that I didn't mention today or about productivity or time management.
You can share those with me by email at hello at softSundae. com. I love to hear about the ones I missed because this was a really fun exercise putting this podcast together. And if you want some simple and actionable components of a sound self care strategy to compliment all of your other business strategies, let's hop into it.
I'm spilling the beans for free mind you [00:14:00] all you have to do is register to save your spot for my workshop the missing piece It's about making self care part of your business plan the link is in the show notes Stop waiting for your retirement to recover from the stress start taking care of your CEO self now Go ahead and register at the link which is in the show notes
And that, my friend, is a wrap on today's episode.
If any of this hit home for you, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you're feeling extra kind, leave a quick review. It helps more creatives like you find the show. Oh, and don't be a stranger. Come find me on Instagram at SoftSundaeStudio and DM me your biggest takeaway.
Let's make self care make sense in your creative biz today. Ciao ciao for now. Bye
