Boss Lady Series: How to Maximize Your Week with Maya Horgan Famodu
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.
Boss Lady Series: How to Build a health conscious Routine with Yasmin Kumi
Do you have a routine or a way to approach your day? Setting the tone for your day has a massive impact on how much you accomplish. This month I will be showcasing the routines of several leading ladies who work on the continent. Learn how they balance working hard with staying on top of their physical and mental health. [bctt tweet=”Routines are a trial and error process and take time to build – @ynjkumi ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] By sharing our experiences, learning from others and deciding what works for us as individuals, we all can have a good life. I had a chance to sit down with Yasmin Kumi, the founder of the pan-African consulting firm, Africa Foresight Group. Yasmin travels between 3 to 4 times a week and wakes up at 3 am to set her priorities for the day. She is a problem solver and has learned how to approach her wellness by trying new things and focusing on what works for her. I put together a list of things I thought others could keep in mind from her experience. 1. Keep your personal goals and routines fluid No two days in Yasmin’s life are the same. Given all the work she does the most important thing for her to do is not put additional pressure and stress on herself by feeling bad about not having attained certain personal goals. She has introduced ‘if’ rules for different situations that allow her to create some consistency in her head. Try using this phrase to build your own ‘if’ rules: – “If some conditions hold, then this is what I have to do…” 2. Playlists can help you get into or handle a Mood Yasmin is a very audiovisual person, so she reacts a lot to music. When she feels tired, she knows what music to play to get back up to speed. When she needs to relax or focus on something, she has a playlist for that. She also has a playlist to start her bedtime routine that usually ends with a prayer. You can use music to motivate you or remind you to do tasks you normally avoid. 3. Understand Your Personality to Maximize Your Output Yasmin describes herself as a borderline extravert and though she loves her team, she sometimes feels like she can get more done if she spends some time working from home before she gets into the office. Though not for everyone, Yasmin feels most productive when she wakes up early, at 3 am, to work undisturbed until about 6 am. Find what works for you and helps make you feel productive and successful. 4. You are What You Eat Yasmin is hardly ever home. When she is traveling, she normally spends part of her evening networking or socializing with clients and her team. She always feels so much healthier and efficient when she is at home, this is primarily because she has control over what she eats. Yasmin believes that with good food, you think better. She loves to make dinner for herself and while cooking she reflects and feels rejuvenated after a long day. When eating, reflect and think about how the food you eat makes you feel. 5. Do You! When some people look at Yasmin’s lifestyle, they assume that it is unsustainable. She encourages people to not get too influenced about what others think. You have to find out for yourself, physically and mentally what is healthy and what you are comfortable with. Focus on how you feel and what makes you comfortable when building your routine. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Interested in contributing for She Leads Africa? Click here.
The GoalGetter’s guide to creating schedules for productivity
Where does your time really go? The goalgetter’s guide is here to change your life! Whether you are a full-time student, employed, a small business owner or you’re juggling all three, we are all bound to have moments of wishing for more time. If you watched our webinar on personal efficiency and time management, with Tafadzwa Bete-Sasa, and you’re still not sure how to create the time and discipline to be productive, NO WORRIES, we’ve designed for you a practical guide with some tips and tools to get you organized to and enable you to get more things done. Get you the goalgetter’s guide to learn all you need to know about time management, productivity, and discipline. And guess what? You’ll also get more tips directly from GoalGetter after signing up for this guide. Topics this guide will cover: How to schedule your weeks and days Creating routines Prioritizing Time management tips and resources The last two points will definitely do you good if you spend half your day doing sweet nothings, binge watching episodes on Netflix, or stalking Queen Bey and the twins on Instagram. Getting access to this guide is easy: just fill out the form below to join our community and get access to this guide, as well as AWESOME weekly content. Don’t forget to send the sign-up link to all the serial procrastinators you know. Help a sister, brother, or frenemy out.