By Gargi Mishra
Being a woman, it’s sometimes not easy to follow your passion and manage your daily life. We often tend to overcommit ourselves and end up burning out faster than our peers of the other gender. However, by following some simple rules, we can avoid finding ourselves in this situation. In this post, we present a few tips to increase your productivity without burning yourself out.
Clarify Expectations
Expectation plays a big role in our daily lives, be it our personal or professional lives. Not setting clear expectations leads to stress and uninvited complications. Avoid stress triggered by misunderstandings by establishing well-defined expectations. One simple way to do this is to set up one-on-one meetings with team members and define clear deadlines and roles. Also explain your availability and align tasks based on their priorities. On the home front, the same can be achieved by delegating tasks and defining appropriate chores for all family members.
Encourage Open Communication
An honest dialogue can solve problems at all levels. Always keep your mind and heart open for dialogue and hear out the person working with you. Most of the time, people go in other directions in your life when there is less space for open dialogue. By maintaining a policy of open communication, you will not only keep your friends and relatives happy and healthy, but also help to nurture a healthy work environment.
Manage your Health
Managing your health is as important as managing your career and time. Good health brings more positive energy and happy hormones. Set up an exercise routine, join a dance class, gym, or just go for weekly walk. If you are living in the UK, Australia, or South Africa, you may have a parkrun (www.parkrun.com) near you: join them for a weekly walk and release all stress while making new friends and enjoying a walk in nature.
Pick a Me Time
Being women, multitasking comes naturally, but sometimes this also leads us to have no time for ourselves. Diarise some time just for you, when you can read, enjoy a long bath, or book yourself into a spa to get that much-needed “Me Time”. There are also small steps that one can follow for quick wins: switch off your mobile now and then; regulate times for checking emails, Facebook, Twitter; make a To Do list. Our favorite tip is to wake up early: just by getting up 30 minutes earlier than everyone around you can give you that much-needed time to plan and organize your life. Try not to use this early morning time to check your social media updates, but treasure this peace by meditating, reading, or just sitting in your garden or patio and letting your thoughts run free while sipping your favorite tea or coffee.
Get Tech Savvy
Let technology work for you. We are living in an age where our phones are becoming smarter and faster. Use technology to help you organize your tasks and manage day-to-day life. We will do a post soon on some of the most productive apps. Automate your social media postings, use notes for your To Do list, or use a couple’s app to maintain a common task list between you and better half.
My name is Gargi Mishra. I am the founder of Mining Innovation Portal. I started this initiative with the philosophy of “Be the change you want to see”. The mining industry is currently at a crossroads and the need for innovation is acute. This requires raising awareness about much-needed innovation in the industry and building an ecosystem in which such innovation and new ideas can thrive. Mining Innovation Portal aims to create an enabling environment for such collaboration and innovation in the mining sector.
I am a diamond exploration geologist and my work has taken me to countries including Canada, Angola, DR Congo, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Australia, and remote parts of India. In India, it’s uncommon to see a field geologist working in remote conditions. I have tried to break that barrier and rise to be a role model for young and aspiring geologists. I hold a PhD in geometallurgy from the University of Johannesburg and am currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mining innovation and empowerment of women are two topics close to my heart. I am also busy writing a memoir-style book based on my field experiences to inspire young girls to consider geology or mining as a career, to be geologists, mining engineers, or scientists, and to learn that there is nothing impossible when we are determined to chase our dreams.