New to the Solopreneur Diary Entries? Welcome! This weekly newsletter comes to you every Saturday, featuring anti-hustle success tips & the behind-the-scenes scoop of solopreneurship.

Hi Reader,

From the blog archives:

• ​What is TOXIC Productivity: 5 things you need to know about toxic productivity, the ways in which it affects you (professionally AND personally), and an alternative to it!
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Six years ago this summer, I was just starting the process of becoming a solopreneur again after a failed attempt at a business partnership (that’s a story for another day — hit reply and let me know if you want me to get into that and I’ll share more in a future edition of the Solopreneur Diary Entries!)...

During all of that upheaval, I absolutely needed to prioritize my energy and wellbeing.

…but I also had a business to run!

My energy levels were all over the place, and I had my usual workload to do plus the emotional stress plus the worst anxiety attacks of my life plus the process of switching everything from the business partnership *back* into my solopreneur business (the business partnership had been an entire year in the making, so it was a LOT of work to undo all of it)...

Whew. It was heavy!

And you know what saved my business during all of that?

Anti-hustle productivity ♥

I’ve been an online business owner since 2010 (and I’d been deep into the blogging scene for 2 years prior to that). That’s a full 14 - 16 years of being in this space… and I’ve seen a lot of business owners experience similar dramatic upheavals during that time.

Because life HAPPENS. Sometimes things beyond our control creates ripple effects into our businesses…

…The question is always this: How are you going to handle it?

A lot of business owners aren't prepared to handle it in a constructive way — which is why I've seen so many of them unfortunately burn their businesses to the ground or experience extreme burnout.

When we come to that question of "How are you going to handle it?", I’m NOT talking about it in the context of “Be disciplined” or “Put your nose to the grind” or any of that ;)

What I’m talking about is:

• What are the thoughts and feelings you’re experiencing during this upheaval?
• How are you honouring and acknowledging those thoughts and feelings (rather than shoving them down, which likely just means they’ll erupt later on down the line)?
• How are you unpacking and processing those thoughts and feelings so they don’t derail you?
• What types of systems and processes have you set up in your business to ensure things keep running smoothly regardless of what happens?
• How will your systems and processes sustain your business even when you need a break from it?
• What are your options for taking a step back from your business when you need it? (Do you have any options for that?)
• How adaptable is your business for quick pivots when it feels like the floor has disappeared beneath your feet?
• What is your creative capacity for being able to solve problems and explore new options?
• What is your energetic bandwidth for balancing big-picture thinking without dropping the ball on everyday tasks?
• How are your intrapersonal skills for navigating overwhelm, imposter syndrome, procrastination, and perfectionism — and for being honest with yourself and trusting yourself throughout this journey?
• …etc

Your responses to these types of questions can give you some insight into how you are going to handle unexpected upheaval.

Your responses to these types of questions can indicate your ability to handle unexpected upheaval, WITHOUT needing to burn your business to the ground.

When you go back through that list, you might be thinking, “I don’t have answers to some of these questions,” or, “I’m not satisfied with my answers to these questions” — and that’s okay! The important thing is that you’re thinking about it NOW.

Your ~ability~ to handle unexpected upheaval is a skill that can be developed; it is the strategies that can be put in place and the mindset that can be shifted.

You have power in being able to improve and build upon all of those questions listed above ♥

And at some point, if that upheaval DOES come along… It will very likely save your business.

When I say that anti-hustle productivity saved my business, I am not being hyperbolic. It was the foundation for how I got through that REALLY rough year between 2018 - 2019 when I was transitioning back into solopreneurship. It was the hardest year ever for my business. And fully embracing anti-hustle methodologies and personality-based productivity — which became the foundation for my Productivity Powerhouse framework — saved my business.

(If you don’t experience any upheaval, ever, that’s awesome! In that case, taking the above preemptive measures is simply going to ensure you have a streamlined, simplified business that truly supports your personal life and wellbeing, and it’ll probably be very helpful for your stress levels, and it'll make staying on track with your goals significantly easier and more enjoyable. So… win-win, either way!)

Even the “little” upheavals, like just experiencing a random weird low energy week (hi, it’s me, this has been my entire past week!) can be derailing and stressful if your business isn’t set up to withstand them…

…OR — or! — it can be okay. It can be MANAGEABLE. It can be an, "Oh well, guess I’m taking some unplanned rest time, and I don’t need to stress out about my business because it’s set up to continue carrying on even when I take a break” situation.

This gets to be your choice.

It's all about tweaking some things in your business to make it manageable.

Here’s how to tell that your business needs some upgrade and improvements to manage unexpected upheavals:

1. If something came up on this coming Monday morning and you couldn’t get work done (for whatever reason! Maybe you win a surprise trip and need to leave NOW, or maybe your Internet unexpectedly cuts out, etc)... Would your business still be able to function pretty well, regardless?
2. How much does even the *idea* of the above scenario stress you out, with regards to your business progress/productivity/tasks?
3. When you take a cursory glance at your business systems, processes, and strategies, your task lists and goals, your mindset and relationship with yourself and with your business… How do you feel about all of it? (There’s always room for improvement, of course! But do you feel pretty solid with all of it, or is there anything that you want to skip past and pretend you don’t see because you KNOW there’s a lot of work that needs to be done? That's telling ;)

Those 3 questions are a REALLY good starting point to determine whether this is something you need to work on ♥

→ By the way… This work is exactly what we’ll do in the Productivity Powerhouse Immersive Experience. The extended, interest-free 4-month payment plan expires TONIGHT at midnight! Now is the perfect time to join.

As always, I love hearing from you…

Hit reply and let me know what comes up for you in all of this!

Have a great weekend,
Sagan (she/her)

Personal Fulfillment & Solopreneur Success Coach
​SaganMorrow.com

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