Going through a divorce is a complicated legal procedure that involves no shortage of emotions. A divorce can be draining on your mental, physical, and emotional spirit. Not only is it an emotional roller coaster, but it can feel like you’re thrown completely out of your element, as you’ve likely been married for quite some time and are embarking on a new journey. And you’re not alone: roughly half of all marriages end in divorces.
If you’re a business owner/entrepreneur, you’ve got a lot riding on your success. You need to keep your business operations afloat without letting your personal life interfere with your progress, and ultimately your fiscal bottom line. In order to properly move forward, it’s important that you stay positive and productive. But staying productive during such a hard time is easier said than done. Here are a few tips:
- Morning Meditation Sessions
Meditation can have a tremendous impact on your daily happiness and productivity. Many people falsely assume that they have to dedicate huge chunks of time to meditation for it to work. Once they fall into the myth that meditation “takes long,” they might feel it’s counterproductive to their work lives. The truth is, just a few minutes of meditation per day can make all the difference, and it’s a great starting point for newbies.
- Avoid Social Media Distractions
When you’re going through a tough time, it’s natural to look for distractions. While at work, those distractions often come in the form of social media. It can tempting to check out the social media accounts of your former partner, but there are much better things to do with your time. “Social stalking” won’t help you recover from your previous relationship, or be productive with your current tasks. Fortunately, there are a few online tools to help you stay focused:
Escape: This app tracks how often you complete certain tasks throughout your day, like opening your email or heading over to social networks. At the end of each day, you’ll get a report detailing how often you were distracted and strayed away from tasks.
RescueTime: With this app, you can block certain websites that tend to take up your time (like Facebook), and even track your offline activities.
One Big Thing: One Big Thing hones in on one major project or goal you want to achieve during the day. For example, perhaps you work in the HR department and want to go through all the resumes you’ve been sent. You can also create secondary tasks that allow you to better focus on that One Big Thing.
- Avoid Divorce Communications
When you’re going through a divorce, it can certainly feel like it’s taking over your life. It’s important to remember that you have complete control over the situation, and you don’t have to succumb to too much “divorce talk.” For this reason, you should keep all divorce communications during work hours to a bare minimum.
According to Bradford Law, a legal company based in Raleigh, “It’s for people going through a divorce to set boundaries that allow them to go through their day uninterrupted. They should set aside their own ‘office hours’ for the day, allowing themselves one or two blocks of time per day to communicate with their lawyer and former partner about the progress of the divorce.”
- Create Daily To-Do Lists
Let’s take your work day one step at a time. Of course, there are certain events that you need to plan out weeks in advance, but for the most part, you can manage your tasks daily. Creating to-do lists allows you to plan out your day in a way that fits your schedule and prevents you from running into unnecessary distractions. Once you have a high-level overview of your day, you can better manage your time. Check out this list of best to-do apps.
- Start a New (Open-Ended) Project
During and after a divorce, the goal isn’t to cram as much work into your day as possible to stay busy. Too much cramming could actually have a negative impact. However, it’s helpful to start a new project that involves learning a new skill and doesn’t have a clear-cut or hard deadline. Working on a new project between your own tasks allows you to focus on something fresh when you’re feeling restless at work or bored.
For example, let’s say you’ve been using the same template for your email marketing campaign. Why not create a new template in your email builder? Maybe this will involve brushing up on your graphic design skills, or learning how to navigate the MailChimp platform. Whatever the case, make sure it’s something that you enjoy learning, and that your company and yourself can benefit from in the long-run.
