Productivity Is Overated...

The habit I'm ditching in 2023

It’s good having friends and family who live in different cultures, I find being reminded that there are many different ways to live life very helpful when I’m spinning plates. It’s easy to become tunnel visioned and forget that it doesn’t have to always be this way.

Earlier this year I was chatting online with my bestie in Cairo, and while she is a busy woman with heaps of responsibilities on her shoulder, I’m always impressed by the way she maintains a sense of calm. We were discussing the inevitable busy-ness of kids growing up and us doing the things we do, then she dropped in this golden nugget:

Productivity is overrated

It rather stopped me in my tracks as I’d not thought about it before and I’ve mulled it over for months since. And you know what? I think she was right. We charge through life being busy and following our noses down todo lists galore, but is it always for a purpose? Or is it sometimes because of habit, because we think we should, or that’s how life is meant to be….. Is it?

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a list. I even got spreadsheet socks for Christmas. But it’s important that we keep hold of the key, and not the other way around. There are times in life when we benefit from slowing down to refill, and that’s 2023 for me.

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I have decided to only have one diary. Not quite saving the rain forest I know however, I’ve always had a Filofax for my planning and then a second diary for more detailed todo lists day by day. Managing family life, podcasts, radio, TV and seeing friends etc has always been planned out in diary two (ensuring I could maximise my productivity), but I’m not sure I want to do it that way this year. It’s worked well for decades but I’m opting to change the habit in 2023 and stick with just the Filofax. One week to two pages, and if there’s not enough space on the paper, there’s not enough space in the day.

Life is underrated

I don’t know if it’s turning 50 that’s done it, but I’m pausing for a refill. I’m in the thick of hormone change, both kids are leaving this year for University and I’m in the middle of an MA. So, I’m pulling back on everything else. Fewer lists, less social media, more friends, more family, more time to fill my tank because at this moment in my life, I am feeling that productivity is overrated, and that life is underrated.

#becausewecan

Our hashtag isn’t about doing, it’s about challenging the shoulds and should nots that often cloud our way. Do what’s right for you at this time - because you can!

Hormone change can be so bloody difficult on many levels. Everything happens around that time with kids leaving home, older parents needing support and illness/death becoming resident in most conversations. We take life for granted and plough through our younger years without a care and then all of a sudden, the ticking of the clock just gets that little bit louder, day by day.

So it’s time for a bit of living and these gorgeous pictures sum it up just perfectly. They are of my menopause clinician who you’ve heard on the podcast, Sharon Hartmann. She has just opened a clinic in Weston-Super-Mare which will do both online and face-to-face consultations from 5th January 2023 so if you want to get your hormones balanced, or talk to someone you can trust, who really knows their stuff, click here.

She is the most open, approachable and gorgeous human being who fully understands our bodies and everything that’s going on. She’s been training GPs for the last few years as well as working as a women’s health nurse and it’s brilliant that she’s opened this clinic for those who can’t access the help they need through their own GP. She does both NHS and private, so do check her out.

In the meantime, season 1 of the Women What Whistle podcast has hung up its whistle for now. There are 109 episodes to listen to if you want to catch up or re-listen, you can find them on all podcast platforms or just click below.

So, on the final evening of 2022, I hope 2023 leads you through times of contentment, joy and adventure. I hope you are bold enough to follow your nose and brave enough to take on the challenges you face. Most of all I hope that love and compassion line your path - the world needs it more than ever.

I’ll touch base with you soon.

Love first,

Pipa x