Why we love self-partnered productivity

On Wednesday of this week – the 14th of September – Andreea Ioana Gătin (our masterclass magician here at Growmotely) and I kicked off the first masterclass, called Self-Partnered Productivity, in Growmotely’s new series of masterclasses. 

We were thrilled to see people in our community from all over the globe log in to join the masterclass: Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Bulgaria, Romania, Pakistan, Scotland, the United States, England, Uruguay and Nigeria. 🌍

In addition to having a global audience, one of the things that is characteristic of our masterclasses here at Growmotely is that our attendees always have an eagerness to learn, and Wednesday was no exception. 

To kick off the masterclass, I asked one of our most loyal masterclass attendees – England-based Rachel Luxton – to lead the group in some breathing exercises, as being in a relaxed state is conducive to high productivity. (David Allen – personal productivity guru and author of the book Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity asserts that “your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax.” I have found this assertion to be true mind you!)

Once the breathing session was complete – and we were all relaxed and feeling ready to learn – I kicked off the content of the masterclass! I’ll give you a brief taste of it here; only just enough to whet your appetite however…in hopes that you might sign up for some future masterclasses with us!

We began by exploring what ‘personal productivity’ means to all of us. For me, in a nutshell, it is about getting from point A to point B…and having the tools to do so in the most efficient and stress-free way possible. 

When asked “How do you define personal productivity?”, here are some of the answers that came through from the masterclass participants:

✨ I really love the idea of working within your own strengths and touchstones.
✨ Getting everything done in an efficient manner.
✨ Being effective at completing my tasks with joy.
✨ To achieve goals in the most effortless way possible.
✨ Getting stuff done from my ‘to do’ list

We then unpacked the concept of self-partnered behavior, which is not quite straightforward because – as one of my friends pointed out recently: the term is paradoxical! Self is one; partnered implies two! 🤔🙃

For me, self-partnered behavior is when I show my authentic self 100% respect. Self-partnered behavior for Melanie Tonia Evans (the woman from whom I learned this term initially) defines it as such: “Being with ourselves (our emotions) unconditionally … warts and all.” Fascinating! 

The opposite of self-partnering is when we self-abandon, and upon asking workshop participants to give me examples of when they self-abandon at work, here are some of the things they shared:

✨ Not being able to say no
✨ Going along to get along
✨ Not setting boundaries
✨ Working past my body’s capacity
✨ Not expressing your feelings

Interesting food for thought…

Once all of us felt comfortable with the two terms in question – both personal productivity and self-partnered behavior, we jumped in to explore the relationship between the two…using this graph (that my PowerPoint virtuoso – Lahiru – helped me put together!) -->

So this begs the question…

What quadrant do you see yourself in?!

I then went on to share a few tools that I use consistently in an effort to ‘hang out’ in the desired quadrant A! For example: 

➡️ Practicing radical honesty
➡️ “Putting myself outside of myself” 
➡️ Consistently tracking and renegotiating agreements (“A renegotiated agreement is not a broken one!“)
➡️ Giving myself permission to apply all of my productivity tools to any of my life pursuits

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As we brought our time together to a close, I shared the reasons why – for me – I was drawn naturally to Growmotely given my interest in self-partnered productivity. Remote work allows me to easily spend time with my family members in different countries; asynchronous work allows me to listen to my body and respect its rhythms – especially when it comes to sleep; conscious culture allows me to be in an environment that encourages me to climb up the Y axis.

Here at Growmotely, our aim is to redefine work for humanity. In order to do that, we are committed to looking closely at what isn’t currently working in our global work culture, and reimagining it. Just like we did at this week’s masterclass on self-partnered productivity.

We see the Future of Work as a place where we don’t have to self-abandon; on the contrary, we see it as a place where exquisite self-care – and self-partnered productivity – reign. 

We would love for you to join us in creating this glowing Future of Work! 💫

Written by: Vanessa Kettner (Growmotely’s Creative Writer and your Remote Work Cupid)
Dedicated to: Andreea Ioana Gătin – Mulțumesc for inviting me into your masterclass universe!

P.S. Friends! The countdown is on! If you’ve been thinking about investing in Growmotely (via our Republic Crowdfunding Campaign), just a friendly reminder that the days to do so are dwindling. (Our campaign closes on Monday, 26th September.) Click here if you’re feeling ready! 🙌🏼