Structure That Doesn't Suck, Part 3 - ⚡️Kristen Kalp

Structure That Doesn’t Suck, Part 3

structure that doesn't suck // a series by kristen kalp

This is part of the Structure That Doesn’t Suck podcast series.  Please listen to part one and part two, or this will make absolutely no sense!

There are 35 new podcast episodes in 2019!  If I helped you make more than $35 in your biz this year — support this ongoing work with a payment of $35.

We’re so inundated with advice and good ideas that of course you didn’t start setting up a Luna or Hermione Hour as a result of listening to last week’s podcast! Most likely, you listened, thought it was a good idea, and then went about your life with no changes whatsoever.

That’s a perfectly normal response to free advice, as well as to modern life, so I’m not shaming you in any way. But I am slowing this series down in order for you to get what you need from it.

For the first time in That’s What She Said podcast history, we’re going to pull the brakes and talk about why this structural change is so important. We’ll use this episode to wrap our minds around the change to your daily schedule and to talk about what is and isn’t a good use of your dedicated Hermione or Luna Hour.  (Again: start with Structure That Doesn’t Suck part one or this won’t make sense!)

Also!  ::pulls email to screeching halt awkwardly in the name of being the example of how to do this shit in the real world::

First up, Lunas, ways to use your Hermione Hour effectively:

You may be tempted to use your this hour to go further down your secret rabbit holes. That means you may use your time to look for part-time jobs, or to play Fantasy Job League (YES I COULD BE A BACKUP DANCER FOR TAYLOR SWIFT THANK YOU VERY MUCH), or to go hunting for a different house/career/partner/life. This is not a recommended use of your Hermione Hour.

Likewise, using this hour to withdraw from reality in any way is not the intent. This isn’t the time to focus on learning new methods for your art or craft, or even to go into Do Not Disturb mode.

Use this time to be focused on being in communication with people about your work.

That means responding to phone calls, photographing and sharing your work, talking about your work on social media, publishing your podcast/blog post/story/article/essay/photographs/product launch, clearing your inbox of inquiries, and generally doing the hard work of selling what you’ve made with the world at large.

Other tasks you’ll learn to enjoy include: sending invoices, bookkeeping, setting up new products within your cart system, filing business paperwork, meeting with your accountant, and updating your business systems.

You can also go from zero to e-mail list in fifteen minutes; get paid, dammit; and find your enough number.

If it involves numbers, data, money, and/or the physical world, it’s the perfect focus for your Hermione hour.

It’s also a great idea to meet with friends, coworkers, colleagues, or professionals who can make this transition to addressing the left-brained part of your business a bit easier.

Many Lunas come to me because their business is doing ‘okay,’ but they’d rather not rely on financial support from their partner any longer. That often means sorting out pricing, systems, marketing, and selling in short order. If you need help with these tasks in the form of a business coach, KK on Tap is a great idea! I’d be happy to help.

Hermiones, here’s how to use your Luna Hour effectively:

Let’s talk about all the things you can’t do during this hour. You can’t get caught up on your business reading, your CRM, your SEO, or any other acronyms, okay? We’re working on the tasks that are hardest for you to handle, which are some form of risk-taking, silence, stillness, and space.

It’s easy to get caught in the loop of being extremely tired, bordering on the edge of burnout or apathy at all times. Society will reinforce those feelings with the idea that you should work toward increasing productivity forever, as if at some magical future point the demands you’ve placed on yourself will suddenly disappear and you’ll feel fucking GREAT.

If you don’t feel great right now, adding more tasks and productivity to your plate won’t make you feel better.

Your job during Luna Hour is to live like a thirteenth century king or queen. You have (completely unrelated to your work) books to read! Films to watch! Music to enjoy! You have clean water, nutrition, and a shower or bath tub!

You’re also free to use Luna Hour to do the things you enjoy but don’t ‘let’ yourself do. For you, that might be painting, sewing, song-making, or writing. (If you get paid to do any of those things, they are NOT for this time. We’re talking not-for-sale, creative-for-the-sake-of-being-creative activities.)

If you’re absolutely stumped about what you might enjoy, think of what you did as a kid. (Cliche? Yes. Truest formula possible for finding the part of you that’s been betrayed by work work work work work? Also yes.)

You can climb a tree, stare into space, meditate, bake, bathe, dance, sing, or take a walk. It’s also a great idea to meet a friend for coffee or through Skype to talk about not-work.

Finally, you can meditate, chant, pray, do breathwork, or practice yoga during this time. Tending to your interior continent and your spiritual needs is 100% awesome for this hour.

During my Luna time, I do breathwork, scope out new library book orders, and catch up on whichever Kim Anami class I’m working through at the moment. (Right now, it’s Vaginal Kung Fu.)

Finally, a note for everyone, no matter your deepest tendencies: this is not an hour for your aspirational self.

Lemme explain. I was going through photos from about eight years ago and found a Fuji instant photo of me wearing a thick black belt with a ruffly top. I was in Paris, and I had put together this outfit with so much pride that I demanded my travel partner take the photo.

My aspirational self wears belts. In real life, I hate belts with all my heart.

My aspirational self also speaks many languages (the reason my 4.0 in college was ruined? French.) and runs marathons (I’ve tried and I hate running THE VERY MOST).

Adding structure to your life doesn’t mean stoking the fires of your aspirational self. It’s not about completely remodeling your existence.

Structure is about engaging in the discipline of bringing your work to the world as a whole, fully engaged human.

For Lunas, that means taking care of physical world realities that tend to be ignored.

For Hermiones, that means taking care of the desires, musings, feelings, and intuitive nudges that tend to be ignored for something ‘practical.’ (Podcast episode to help you sort these out: nourishing or numbing?)

In both cases, structure rounds out your natural tendencies with complementary practices that strengthen your whole self — because bringing your best, highest self to the table is the name of the game.

Once again this week, I’m asking you to add a single hour of either Luna or Hermione time to your calendar for each work day.

Try to be as specific as possible with what you’ll be doing during the hour, and please give yourself more time than you think you need to accomplish your tasks.

Lunas, it may take 2 to 3 hours to get an email list up and running to your liking. That’s okay.

Hermiones, scheduling 15 minutes of breathwork, 15 minutes of yoga, 15 minutes of reading, and 15 minutes of meditation is NOT the idea.

Give yourself the gift of s p a c e. And remember, it doesn’t count if you don’t enjoy it.

P.S. Keep going! Here’s the rest of the Structure That Doesn’t Suck series: