CLIENT CORNER: A Guest Blog Post by Charlotte Settle
Tim and I are thrilled to have a new series on the blog called CLIENT CORNER. In this series, we'll be featuring posts by guest artists- artists who are active parts of our growing IVS Community. If you'd like to contribute a piece of writing, please send it to hello@innovativevoicestudio.com!
Paradoxical Productivity
(Alt. Title: I LOVE a good alliteration)
By Charlotte Settle
Hello, everyone!
This week I've been thinking a lot about productivity, and what that word means to me. Before the world exploded and I lost my job // left New York to temporarily move back home with my parents, most of my days would include teaching at least 2 yoga classes, some sort of workout or dance class, sometimes multiple auditions, a voice lesson, a babysitting gig... the list goes on. In a nutshell, I was doing THE MOST. And I feel like maybe a lot of you were, too.
Since I've been home // quarantined, I've constantly struggled with feeling like I'm not doing enough. That I'm not PRODUCTIVE enough. But what I've come to realize is that I was previously measuring my productivity level by the quantity of tasks I was accomplishing, rather than the quality of how I spent my time. I've gone from teaching 12-15 yoga classes each week to teaching only 5, but with that reduction in quantity, I've been able to give more of myself to each class. My "down time" previously consisted of flopping on the couch to watch mindless TV or just pass out from sheer exhaustion, but now I have lots of "down time" every single day that I can use to mindfully reflect, to check in with myself, to read, to write -- things that I didn't previously prioritize because of how drained I was constantly.
With all of that said, what would happen if we measured productivity not by how MANY things we do each day, but by HOW we show up for ourselves in what we choose to do? Can we treat our quiet moments of reflection as just as much of an accomplishment as meeting a deadline, or anything else we consider to be "work"? What if every single moment of our lives is "work" - - our conversations, our reflections, our moments of joy and play -- as opposed to just the moments when we are pressured to complete tasks? Just things to think about as we press forward into the week ahead...
And just so ya know, every second that you spend on your yoga mat is productive AF WORK! And with that...
Here's my class schedule for this weekend/next week:
Tuesday, 630pm EDT: Core Flow
Thursday, 630pm EDT: Music-themed Power Flow (I'll announce theme on IG @charlottesettle on Wednesday)
Friday, 8am EDT: Strength/Stretch
Saturday, 12pm EDT: Energizing Flow
Sunday, 6pm EDT: Restorative Flow
SIGN UP HERE or message me directly with which classes you'd like to join!
If any of you out there in the IVS community would like to receive more of these musings + details on my class schedule in your inbox every Monday, head to this page to enter your name and email!
I hope to see some of you in class. Either way, I hope you all have a PRODUCTIVE week, filled with rest, reflection, and joy.
With love,
Char