Don’t let your community run you
Gain peace and productivity by refreshing routines
Spring is often thought of as a time of new beginnings.
But sometimes new beginnings take energy we just don’t have.
Here are some comments from a recent conversation in The Hive that I honestly felt in my soul:
🐝 I am constantly decluttering, but I feel like I never complete the process.
🐝 I need a routine that makes me feel more in control and less reactionary.
🐝 I have more ideas and dreams for my business than I can realistically do right now.
🐝 I am forever trying to do too many things so I can’t really complete one project.
🐝 I feel pulled between too many things, and that is definitely causing decision fatigue in no time at all.
“Decision fatigue,” a term first coined by social psychologist Dr. Roy Baumeister, means the more decisions we make, the more difficult the next decision becomes.
It turns out your decision-making energy is like your iPhone battery. It starts out at 100%, but depletes with every use.
And once our brains are tired, we default to the easiest decision – even when we know it’s not necessarily the best one.
Luckily, you can shield yourself from these less-than-great decisions by shifting your habits so the best decision and the easy decision are one and the same.
The key is in your routines.
A routine gives your tired brain a rest. The right actions are strung together so you don’t have to think about what comes next; you can just do it.
As you spring clean your routines, look at them from three sides:
💫 Your personality.
Everyone’s brain works differently. Building routines you can stick with starts with knowing what feels good to you.
✔️ Do you like a plan, or do you feel restricted by one? Some people are stressed when they don’t know what’s coming next. Others rebel against anything that feels like a rigid rule.
✔️ Are you a maintainer or an overhauler? I’m a maintainer. I like doing little bits of things at regular intervals, so I don’t get overwhelmed and systems stay intact.
I live with an overhauler. He’d rather spend a chunk of time going deep on a project once than keep touching it over and over.
💫 Your triggers.
You might not realize it, but there’s a good chance your bad habits are routines. When you recognize the trigger that sets that routine in motion, you can remove it or rewire it so your decision-making energy flows in a more productive path.
✔️ When Hive member Dr. Martha Kenney wanted to spend less time on social media, she removed the trigger by deleting the apps from her phone. By restricting her social media use to the time she’s at her computer, she’s able to intentionally engage instead of mindlessly scrolling.
✔️ In his book “The Power of Habit,” Charles Duhigg tells a story about a habit of getting a cookie from his building’s cafeteria every afternoon. After some experimentation, Duhigg discovered his urge to eat the cookie wasn’t about food at all – he craved the social interaction he got in the cafeteria. He was able to rewire his desire for midafternoon socializing to trigger a visit to a colleague instead of a sugary snack.
💫 Your history.
Take an honest look at the routines you have now and those you’ve had in the past.
✔️ What’s working, or what worked in the past? A lot of Hive members have great success with time blocking and love our weekly “Busy Bees” co-working sessions. Some people swear by the Pomodoro Method. Maybe it’s as simple as not responding to emails until after your first cup of coffee.
✔️ What’s NOT working, or what didn’t work in the past? Remember, every brain works differently. If you’ve never been a morning person, my morning routine of getting up before dawn probably won’t work for you, and that’s OK. Find something that does.
As you work through your routines, be compassionate with yourself. Habits take time and adjustment. Celebrate small, consistent wins along the way.
Revisit and refine your routines each quarter to make sure they’re still working for you. Different seasons call for different ways of showing up.
Here's to a productive, purposeful season,
PS. Community founders often need a reminder that they can’t take care of their members unless they take care of themselves first.
Ready to build a thriving community without feeling lost, overwhelmed, or alone? The Hive is a space where community founders support one another as they build and scale profitable communities.