Before we jump in: This article was originally shared with my email community in August 2019. I'm sharing it with you on the blog today in the hope that it may be of some encouragement and insight to you in your creative journey right now, and also give you a little sneak peak of what you can expect from Weekly Letters too. If you'd like to receive letters like this one straight to your inbox every Sunday, you can sign up below. You'll also have access to all of my Mini Books too!

There’s this fantasy about being self employed, where you work from home and never have to feel overwhelmed, or bored, or dissatisfied by your work ever again.

But like with most fantasies in life, the reality can look a little different.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore my business and the work I get to do each week. I feel grateful beyond words that this is the work I get to do in the world.

But I’ve also lost count of how many times I’ve found myself in a little bit of a funk throughout the past five years of working for myself too.

It’s so easy to make daily decisions on autopilot that don’t actually support us to find a whole lot of joy in our workdays, and sooner or later things can start to feel a little monotonous along the way.

And because we don’t have any co-workers or a boss to check in with it’s up to us to find a way to bring that spark of joy back into our days, to make working from home feel closer to that fantasy we used to dream so much about.

Here’s the thing: there will always be deadlines to meet, emails to reply to, taxes to file, the list could go on and on. But I learn time and time again that my best work happens when I prioritise making my workday as joyful as it can be, instead of just counting down until I can be done for the day.

How that looks like you for might be wildly different than it does for me, but I thought I’d share with you today five little things that are making a big difference to how I navigate my workdays at the moment.

A simple morning routine

I shared more about this in a recent letter that you can read here, but my simple thirty minute morning routine of movement, journaling, and meditation has hands down made the biggest difference to my days recently. Having this anchor that helps me to start my days feeling super grounded and connected to myself means that I start each day in a positive headspace, and it makes it so much more likely that I’ll make intentional choices throughout the rest of my day too.

A five minute dance party

These are especially valuable to me on my client days, where I usually have 4-5 coaching calls throughout the day with a short break in-between each. It’s so important to me that I show up to each call feeling present and energised for my clients and one of my favourite ways to do this is to put on one of my favourite songs and dance it out just before our call. It lifts my energy while also clearing my head for the call, and whenever I find myself in a slump throughout my work day I know a five minute dance party will usually be the pick-me-up I need.

An intentional lunch

This is something new I’ve been adding to my workday. Usually I’d just have a sandwich at my desk or order something in, but lately I’ve been planning out my lunches each week with as much intention as we do our evening meals. Sitting down at the kitchen table and making the time to enjoy a good meal not only brings a whole lot of joy to my day but it also gives me space to slow down and recharge in-between tasks and calls too.

The transitional walk

In an ideal world I’d end every work day with a walk with my husband and our dog. It’s such a great way to transition out of work mode for the day, especially as we both work from home, and getting outside in nature always does me the world of good too. Sometimes the weather doesn’t allow for this, and sometimes I just don’t have enough spoons at the end of the day either, but when we do make this happen it’s one of my favourite moments of the day.

Put your own creative oxygen mask on first

This is something I’m really working on at the moment, protecting space each week for my own creative work - whether it’s writing these letters, working on my novel, or bringing to life a new offering or product. What I’m learning is that it’s best to do it first, before I tackle any emails or other demands from my business. This isn’t always possible for me on a client day, but during the rest of the week I try and prioritise at least an hour each morning for my own creative work before I then take care of any business tasks.

Hopefully there’s something on this list that can help bring a little more joy back into your work day if you’re in need of it right now too, and if not hopefully it can spark an idea for something that will.

More than anything, I hope today’s letter can be a little reminder from me to you that we don’t have to crawl our way through our workdays, that we can bring a little more joy, ease, and flow into them in whatever ways may work best for us.

So here’s to creating a more joyful work day, to supporting ourselves to thrive as much as we do our business.

As always, I’m rooting for you!

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Five Ways To Bring A Little More Joy Into Your Workday