Nov 14, 2021
The Highly Sensitive Business Owner: Module 4
Below is a snippet of Module 4 of the Highly Sensitive Business Owner™, all about how you work, when you work, and where you work.
How do you structure your workdays? Blocks of time, or to-do lists?
Both have their charms, and I like to toggle between them as needed.
I find the block approach works best for large creative projects (like writing a whole entire book about running a company with SPS.). How far I get on any given day doesn’t matter—what matters was that I sit my ass in the chair and put words on the screen.
I also use the block approach to make sure I’m not going over scope for my retainer clients.
The biggest drawback with the block approach is that it’s not really conducive to creative flow, because it introduces an arbitrary cutoff time. More often than not, I’m midway through a piece when the block is technically over, and it makes more sense to keep going and finish what I started.
Buuut…
Goddamn I love my lists.
When I’m overwhelmed, I make a list of everything that needs to get done, and when, so I can make a plan. When I travel, I make a list of all the items I need to pack and all the little things I need to take care of before I leave. When there are a couple things I really want to do this weekend, I put them on a list and then set the list in the middle of my desk, where I can’t miss it. When the house needs a top-to-bottom cleaning, I make a list of each individual task (clean bathrooms; vacuum stairs, etc.) so it doesn’t feel so daunting.
I’m a nerd. Deal with it.
From an HSP perspective, I think this is an ‘open loop’ thing. A list means all the open loops are present and accounted for, right there in Asana or whenever you get your lists on. And that is MAGIC. ✨
Which do you prefer?
If you like discussing this kind of thing, along with all other work-structure related things, read more about my program here.
I’m bringing in my business coach Stephanie Hayes for a guest interview on this one, because most of what I’ve figured out in this department has been with her help.
About Sam
Samantha Pollack is a Copywriter & Creative Director who works with ethically minded, mission driven businesses who are actively trying to reshape our culture (and possibly tear down the patriarchy). She’s also the founder of The Highly Sensitive Business Owner, a 12-week online program that helps HSPs & neurodivergent business owners create healthier, more sustainable systems in their work.
Sam also writes about feminism, privilege, pop culture, entrepreneurship, the creative process, and whatever else is on her mind. She currently lives in Asheville, NC.
Emails for cult thought leaders.
(Personality included.)
Want to learn how to craft emails that inspire action and engagement WITHOUT the “tried and true” (cough: patriarchal) norms we’ve all been taught?
I’m doing it, and I can show you how to do it, too.
(But sometimes, I also like to write about the books I’m reading, or the creative process, or the entrepreneurial experience, or why I hate Steve Jobs, or how I met my BFF. I’ll send you emails like that, too.)
*Just kidding. It’s only an email list.
Books. Cats. Rants. Drawrings.
(and every couple months or so, an unexplained absence 🤷🏻)
