385. A day in my life – productivity, managing work & balancing family | My Relocation Diaries

Hi everyone. Welcome to my Relocation Diaries, episode number four. Today I want to share with you a bit more about my day to day life. I'm going to talk about productivity, what my day looks like, what my week looks like, how I balance between family and work, maybe a bit more about my work for those of you who don't know what I do really, and how it is different from my life back home because I recently relocated to Barcelona and it has an immediate impact on my productivity and my day to day life. So I want to talk about that. But first, just to say thank you for being here, thank you for watching, thank you for all your beautiful comments. I'm going to keep making those videos, I hope weekly, not daily, and just I hope you find value in it. So even if you're not relocating or you haven't relocated, you haven't immigrated, I hope you can still find value in this, whether it's just an English practice, if you listen to it or watch it, or if you might find something useful in how I manage my week and my day specifically today. So let's, let's dive in. First of all, I'm going to tell you what my life looked like before moving to Barcelona. So I had a studio outside of my home for almost seven years back in Tel Aviv. And I wasn't working from my home. I mean, I was as an entrepreneur and content creator, it feels like you're working all of the time, especially since you have your phone with you and most of the work happens through your phone, or a lot of it at least. So there's a huge problem for people who are doing what I do, having an online business or being a content creator, being present on social media. There's a huge problem with putting the boundaries, setting the boundaries on what's considered work, what's considered just like downtime on social media and what's considered playtime or family time. And I really, really struggled with that back home. So I did have a studio, which was great. Like, I loved leaving my home in the morning, going to a different place, my work environment, working from there, recording videos from there, and then going back home to my daughters. But first of all, I've been doing it for so long that at some point it started feeling repetitive. And for, I can tell you, for the past year or so, I did feel like work has become repetitive in a way. Not creating content, definitely not teaching my students, but just going to work, you know, answering emails, managing my team, doing things. Like I'm the type of person who likes change and who likes to. Who likes new things? And I didn't have and we had projects in our company, but these were things that we already knew how to do. So because I wasn't feeling super creative every single day, I it has affected my productivity. So it would take me a lot more time to get things done and to create things. And I wasn't feeling super joyful to go to work every day. Like I really enjoyed going to work, but it wasn't like I felt super accomplished at the end of the day. And that has been the case for, for the past year or so. But I still love what I do, don't get me wrong. And I loved what I did back then. Another challenge that I had when I was living back home is my daughter's schedule. So I don't know if you know this, But I have two daughters. One is Amalia, she's 10 years old. And the other one is Asia, she is eight years old. My heart and soul, both of them really. And their school used to start at 8:30 in the morning and end at 2:30. And on Tuesdays it was 1:30. So their day was really, really short. And I have a lot of work to do. So it ended up being almost impossible for me to get a lot of things done during that period of time. So I ended up not always picking them up from school. Thankfully. Gil, my partner, we are equal sometimes he does a lot more than me when it comes to picking up the girls, making food, making sure that the household is running well, especially when we get into busy periods. So I ended up not having because I didn't pick them up at a certain time. Sometimes I did. So a few days a week or once a week I would go and pick them up. And on other days I would just come home at around 4, 5 and sometimes even later at night when I would have to teach or or have meetings until really late because I work with US time. And then the hours are different. Like I would have to work in my afternoon when I teach or when I work with my team who's based in the US So there were no clear boundaries around when the day actually ends. So I would say, okay, today I'm going to get home at 4 and then I would end up getting home at 5 or 6 or I would go pick the girls up at 2:30. And then that said the day's over and I haven't had time to do things. So I would try to finish some things up at night. So it felt really, really scattered. And also we would take them to school. By the time I got to the studio, it would be 9am already. Like I'm already tired from my morning. So my days were not super efficient and I wasn't super excited about like doing the work in the workspace that I had now. Some every now and then I would go and go to this co working space or go work at a cafe. And usually I get a lot of stuff done when I'm taking myself outside of my regular workspace. That's just how I work. And I do get inspired when it comes to creating content when I'm at a different place every now and then. So that's how things went. And it was going well. Like I. I did get work done. I did spend a lot of time with my daughters. Also, like back home, my daughters were really busy. A lot busier than here. Like they had friends to go to extracurricular activities. They had all these things that they wanted to do after school. So it wasn't like we had a lot of time at home. We would get home at like 7 or 8pm and eating dinner and getting them ready to sleep after a really, really long day with a lot of activities, which was amazing. But also like we didn't have a lot of quality time in the afternoon because they were so busy. And we were also busy trying to juggle work and life. And Gil also work with me in my business. Like it's been happening less and less in a good way because he wants to pursue other things and he's doing all these other things as well. But still, like sometimes he has to do a lot of important things inside our business and we're both busy. So it wasn't ideal, but it was also working for us. But the main thing is that I felt I didn't have clear boundaries between work and between my personal life because of all the things that I told you. And also it's a mindset thing, right? Like you could tell me, well, Hadar, you could have just decided to, to finish at 4pm and that's it. And it's true. But I felt like I needed external circumstances to be different for me to be able to do that, which is what I have now. So I'm going to tell you more about what I have now and how it has changed my productivity and how I work. So now we drop the kids. So different. The day here is so much longer. Their school starts at 8:30. It ends at 4:30 already a lot longer. The good thing is that they do have a long break in the middle, like they have a 90 minute break, which was not something that they ever had. And I think it's great they have time to be with their friends, to chill, to eat well, even though they don't really eat there. But that's a different story and, and it's great. So it is a longer day, but it's more spaced out. However, it takes them almost an hour to get to school because the school they go to is only 20 minutes away. But the bus stop that we go to is pretty early on in the route. So it takes almost an hour to get to school because they have to pick up more kids. And by the time they get there, and that's not a good thing because it adds two hours to their day without them being with us. But what ends up happening is that my day starts at 7:30am Something like there were times where my day, I would just wake up at 7:30 back home. So it's really like it has added an hour and a half, additional hour and a half in the morning for me. And if my day used to end at like 3 or I would continue feeling like, you know, I have to catch up until 5 or 6. Now the day ends at 5:15 or even 5, right? The day ends at 5 because they go and pick them up or Gil goes and picks them up. And then we spend time together at home because they, we have a lot less time together. And it's really important for me to be intentional about the time we spend together. So even though they might just need to eat and chill for a little bit and, and watch TV for half an hour because they had this really, really long day. And don't forget they're trying to adapt. They're learning two languages, they are learning how to be social with new people. They're learning all these different topics that they've never learned before. The level here is completely different. So they have all of this to process and to invest energy in during the day that by the time they see us, I mean, they give us a hug, they just want to eat and chill until they're ready to be present with us. But we've made an intentional decision to be there with them even if they're watching tv, right? So all of a sudden from kind of like this mishmash of work and life and girls and phone and all of that. Like I have, my day starts at 7:30 and then it ends at 5 and that's it. And sometimes I catch up on work when they go to sleep because also I Love it. Like I love doing certain things on my computer. I prefer that so much more than watching tv. I think it's great to watch tv, but like, no, I chill by either being on social media or by doing some of the work that I need to do. I'm also in the process of getting certified to become a life coach. So I do have a lot of content that, that I consume there that is really inspiring. That gets me excited and I sometimes do that at night, like or in between. So as you can see, my day is a lot longer. My work hours and also I have clear boundaries. Another thing that I noticed is that my weekend is longer in back home in Tel Aviv. Like Friday would be half a workday, so, so we would only have Friday and Saturday off. Friday would be half a workday. You gotta go run errands, do grocery shopping. You know, that's the only day that I had with the girls that we could do things in the morning where, where things are open because Saturday everything is closed. And Friday after 2pm everything is closed. So Friday would always feel very, very stressed and like rushed. So it didn't feel like a full day off. And then Saturday would be our day off, like when we would do things with the family, with friends, travel. So technically I only had one day, Friday. I would also film a lot of times like for the entire day. So I used to work on Friday and here, no like Saturday off, Sunday off. Right. So I feel like I, I have a lot more time for myself and for my family and that has had a huge positive impact on my well being and our relationship with our girls. So I'm really, really happy about that. And I really recommend for anyone who tries to catch up on work during the weekend, it's so important to set clear boundaries, especially all you entrepreneurs, content creators, like really give yourself those two full days to recharge, to recover. I'm speaking from sheer experience, it has only been two months since we got here and, and I can tell you that I start the week with a lot more joy, with a lot more energy than how it used to be when I used to work over the weekend or at least when I used to have it just one day. Right? So two full days and even more if you can do it. I can't currently, but that's definitely my vision for myself to only have a four day work week, but there is still work I need to do. So, okay, so I have this, this week of five days that, where I start my day at 7:30 and at 5 I decided that when I have meetings and when I teach, it really takes up a lot of time and energy, right? Like preparing for it or afterwards, after I have a few meetings back to back. Like I can't go back to focused work. And a lot of the work that I do requires focus. I write copy, I write content, I develop courses, I develop different things. I, you know, I think about the big picture of the business and to do that, like, I really need to have the space and capacity and I can't do it in between meetings. My brain is just not there. So I noticed that if I group or batch all my meetings on one day or right now it's two days a week, two and a half days, then I work a lot more efficiently. So I didn't used to do that before, but now I'm, I'm pretty strict about it. So I have Monday, which is a meeting day. We have like department level meetings and we have our leadership meeting on Mondays. So Monday is a day of teaching and of meetings. But then it's like a treat for a very busy day. And it's, it's not nice to start Monday. Like you start the week and you want to get a lot of things done and you can't because all your day is, is covered with meetings. But then Tuesday is a no meeting day. It's a focused work day. I usually go somewhere. There is a co working space that I love going to and I just walk there for an hour. It's by the beach, so it's farther away from my house, but I walk there. That's my daily workout. And I work there for the entire day. I get a lot of stuff done and I come back here. So that's on Tuesdays. Then Wednesdays. I usually have like a meeting day. Thursday is on and off. Like I would have some meetings and then maybe run some errands. I am still in the process of, you know, getting stuff organized for my home. I still don't have a lot of furniture and things. I don't know if you can hear the echo because this is. Because this room doesn't have a lot of furniture. So I need to also take care of things. So that's usually on Thursday after I, you know, I do some things during the week. And then Friday is another day of focused work. So either I record videos or I write content plan things. No meetings on Friday and Friday is usually a shorter day. My girls come home earlier and again like that's the beginning of the week. So I try to just like Close things for the week and prepare myself for the weekend so I wouldn't have to work or it wouldn't feel stressed. So I make sure that I finish all the most important things that I had for the week. So that's my schedule, but now how I organize my day. So technically I work with the system where I set three main things that I want to accomplish for the week. So I set that at the beginning of the week or the end of the week, right? So I have those three big things that I want to accomplish. And then I have a list of other things that I need to do, people I need to contact. So those three objectives need to get done by Friday. And a lot of times if I don't have clarity on what I need to get done, I get sucked into the ongoing work because there's always something. There's always someone who needs something and emails to respond to and messages to respond to. So I'm really clear about what my week needs to look like for me to say this was a good week or I have accomplished what I needed. So I have those three main goals, but then I also have that for the day. Now, for a day where I have a lot of meetings, my goals are related either to the meetings or are smaller. Like I don't have big goals because I want to make sure that I get them done. So I try to do it in between meetings and I'm. I'm. I make sure that I set those three big goals for the day. So I have it for the week, but I also have it for the day. And I want to make sure that it's feasible. Otherwise I would feel like I haven't accomplished something. And then I also have a lot of small to dos that I usually don't get to On a day where I have a lot of meetings, but I push it for the next day to the next day. And then I try to get that done to cross it off my list. On a day where I have more of a focused work, I also work. So I have like my full focus planner. This is what I work with, where I can choose my top three for the day. And I organize my schedule at the beginning of the day and I can also choose there my top three. I review the week, I look at my goals for the quarter. So I use that. Not fully, but I use that. And I also work with task management software called Monday. So this is how I work with my team. And I check my. I check Monday every single day, not just on Mondays, to see what My most important tasks are, and I try to include that, right? Because sometimes it's not something that I'm planning, it's something that my team needs me to do or to review. So I try to do that as well. Right now I'm in the process of looking for an executive assistant to help me organize my time, organize my meetings, organize my schedule, and to make sure that I get things done. So I think that is definitely going to help me with being on top of it, but not planning all day. I sometimes need someone to plan what I'm going to be working on, when, where, communicate with others, the times of the meetings, and that's it. And I think that would save me a lot of time, and I would just show up to do the work. So that's a big step for me. And I think I've been wanting to get an executive assistant for years now. All my team is like, hadar, you need an assistant. And. And I know, but it's so hard for me to let go. But now I feel like I'm a lot more focused. And again, part of why I decided to move to Barcelona was to try out new things, to get out of my comfort zone, to do things differently. I was very, very happy and grateful for my life and happy with my life and with my work. But, you know, there comes a time where you're like, okay, how do I grow more? How do I change? And that needs to happen with physical changes, right? Close the studio. Open a different studio. Move to a different country. Hire someone who might help you with the things that you need help with, set clear boundaries, recharge yourself properly. So, like, sometimes you need to do those things to get you out of your comfort zone and to start doing the things that you want to do or the things you need to do to get the results you want if your vision for yourself is different. And I think everyone should always have a vision for themselves that is different from where they're at. Like, I'm all about being content. I'm super content at any given moment, super grateful, love my life. But I also feel that I should always have a goal or always have a vision for where I want to go, because that keeps me motivated and inspired to show up every single day. And it helps my brain focus on what I need to do. If I have a goal, if I don't have a goal, then I'm just, like, doing the same thing over and over again, right? But if I have a goal, a bigger goal, and sometimes even like an impossible goal, then I'm like, I'm more focused and then I only do the things that would help me get to that goal and not a lot of other things that are fun or that other people want me to do, but they're not things that I actually need or want to do. I hope that makes sense. And don't get me wrong, I do make space for a lot of fun. We love traveling. I love going to restaurants. I hang out a lot with my daughters. We do silly things all the time. Now we're starting to explore the nature around us. We're doing a lot of things as a family. I try to spend time alone with Gil. We still don't have a babysitter and we're still very busy during the day. But that's definitely a goal to plan more time just for the two of us and not just us as a family. I think it's important. But yeah, I'm all about when you work, you know, you set clear boundaries and when you work, you work in a really, really intentional and sometimes even intense way. That's how it is for me. But then when you're done, you really enjoy the people around you and what life has to offer. I also noticed that because I have extra time in the morning, I do try to take more time for myself in the morning. And that has been really, really helpful and impactful. So what I do is once I drop the girls off at 7:30, I either go to the gym or I go for a walk, which is really nice because there's a lot of space here and there is this beautiful avenue not far from me that once I get there, it's so inspiring to just walk. I'm going to record a video about what I love about being here. And one of the things is definitely walking in the city and seeing the city and seeing the city waking up, I love doing it. That inspires me so much and really helps calm my brain down. So I either go out for a walk or go to the gym and listen to a podcast or listen to one of my lessons inside my coaching program. And then I go home, take a shower, make myself coffee, look at my day plan, my, my three things for the day. I try to get into the habit of journaling a little bit in the morning. I haven't really built that habit, but that's definitely a goal of mine, to do that as part of my getting ready for the day routine. So just journal for, for, for a few minutes or to write my goals, like my big goals. I used to do that and that has been really nice. And I want to do that again. So I try to do that, and then I start working. So I do notice that I invest more in myself and I have more time for myself. And I think it's intentional, but also because of the schedule and also because the gym is like three minutes away from my home and because I have this gorgeous avenue to walk in and. And that makes me more excited about doing it. I think it's possible to do it in whatever circumstance you're in, but it's just easier, easier here, which is good because it helps me do those things that I want to do. This is why I haven't done them before. It was more laborious. There was more friction around doing the things. So that's it. That's what my life looks like right now. And I'm sure it's going to change. But for now, I feel like those changes have been good, and I've been feeling more productive and I've been feeling more present with my family and. And I hope to maintain it. I, like, there are a lot of ups and downs when you relocate, especially with my girls. Like, there are days where they're super joyful and happy and excited, and there are days where they really miss home, especially my little one. It's hard to manage all those emotions. And of course, I could get sucked into it as well, and that might affect my ability to stay present, to do the work, to be focused. So I just surrendered to it because there are some days. For example, last week I had a really, really busy week, and then Friday I had a focus day and I just couldn't do anything. I just stayed in bed. I felt exhausted. I felt like I was getting sick, actually, but I was just working too hard and my body was like, nope, you're going to rest today. So I rested for the first part of the day, hung out with Gil a little bit, and then did a few small things, but that's it. And so when I recognize that, that my body says, you gotta take a break, I listen to it. All right, that's it. If you feel like it, you can share a little bit more about how your day looks like, what your favorite part of the day is, maybe a bit about your morning routine. You can share it in the comments. You can send me a DM on Instagram. I'd love to hear more about you. And thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. That was it. That's episode number four in my Relocation Diaries series on the influency podcast. If you're watching this on YouTube, know that you can listen to it on the podcast on your favorite platform. Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple podcasts. Just look for the Influency podcast. And if you're listening to this on the podcast and you are a big fan of YouTube and video, know that there's also a video version of the podcast, but it's the same words. It's just with an image of me speaking today. My cat wasn't here. She was a little bit at the beginning, but she was just scratching the door. That's it. All right. Have a beautiful day. Thank you for being here, and I'll talk to you next week. Sam.