She Leads Africa

SLA Logo

Maya Horgan Famodu came to Lagos about four years ago and knew no one.  She had no connections and no start-up capital.

What Maya had was an idea and the drive to establish Ingressive, a venture capital fund and a fantastic team that is building tech ecosystems across sub-Saharan Africa.

Even if you are just starting out in Lagos, she told me, “…you can do whatever you want here. Don’t let someone tell you aren’t good enough or that your profile is not typical. You can create the space of your industry, and you can get it done.

[bctt tweet=”Start now before you are crazy busy to develop good habits – @mayahorgan” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]

She has come a long way from when she started her business.  She has gone from working all day and week on her business to figuring out how to break up her day and week into manageable pieces, so she is not only successful professionally but has time to follow her non-business-related interests.

Maya shares how she spends her weekend and has some suggestions on how to balance your work with your other passions.

Divide up your week so you can tackle all aspects of your professional life

If you are like Maya and you tend to get very involved with details, you can schedule out your week with specific tasks, so you are forced to focus on every aspect of your business or position.  For example, Maya focuses on internal team meetings and planning on Monday.

Her Tuesdays are for reviewing the companies she works with. Wednesday is for external meetings and networking. Thursdays are for dealing with paperwork and reviewing internal processes.   Similar to Wednesday, Fridays are for business development.

She usually attends extended in-person meetings that might lead to a relaxing dinner or drinks. You can use Google Calendar to help you stay on track of your critical daily work themes across the week.

Make the most of Your weekend

Maya used to spend a lot of time going out but realized as a Lagos transplant she needed more time to reflect and rejuvenate in her favorite spaces so she could be her best.

If she is not hanging out at her house or at the beach, she will only schedule meetings with individuals who she has both professional and personal relationships with.

She calls Saturday her ‘Enjoyable Partnerships Day.’  

Give yourself some quiet time, but start small

She has learned that she needs time to rejuvenate to be at her peak.  Maya plans to attend yearly quiet retreats that can last up to ten days.  She tries to incorporate some of the same techniques into her life in Lagos. Her Sundays are entirely offline.  

She doesn’t check her emails or phone and might do some offline planning for the week. She also spends time reading and writing. She has found that when she reflects, she has space to think about new ideas.

You might not be able to take ten days off or even an entire day off your social media, but you can start small.  Maya starts off her day mediating, and you can start off by meditating for a few minutes to work your way up to 1 hour.

Maya suggests waking up an hour earlier, she usually is up by 7 am, during the work week to get in some silent time.

Make the most of your tribe: Find Your Core People

When she is not working, Maya spends most of her time by herself or with one to two people. She credits her tribe with helping her get through the good and tough times as an entrepreneur.  She suggests that you surround yourself with the right people. Focus on quality, not quantity.   

[bctt tweet=”You should have one to three people you can call on when things go poorly or that you can lean on – @mayahorgan” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]

Maya suggests having advisors you can turn to for your business or professional career and then emotional support, people who can tell you everything is going to be ok or set you straight.

My biggest takeaway from Maya was the idea that you should start now before you are crazy busy to develop good habits.  You don’t have to spend 24 hours working. Entrepreneurship and life, in general, is a marathon. If you want to do it for the long term, you need to set yourself up for success.  Developing the right habits and routines can help with that.

How do you plan out your week? Are you making sure to include time for your other interests?

Want to learn how to build a health-conscious routine? Read our Good Good Living Part 2 series w/ Funmi Oyatogun


 Interested in contributing for She Leads Africa? Click here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *