How do you define success in your professional and personal life?
I’m excited to share with you my conversation with author, podcaster, and business owner Anna Lundberg as part of our Productive Living series.
Who is Anna?
Anna is the founder of OneStep Outside, where she helps experienced professionals around the world design a career, a business and a lifestyle that brings them more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment – outside of the conventional 9 to 5. She is the author of Leaving the Corporate 9 to 5 and Outside of the 9 to 5, and host of the Reimagining Success podcast. She lives with her two young children on the south coast of England.
How Anna got started
Anna is originally from Sweden but grew up and currently lives in the south of England. She studied at Oxford University and although she was successful academically, she still wasn’t sure what her career path would be. After college, she found herself working in Marketing at Proctor & Gamble but left that career in 2013 and has been working for herself since then. Her life looks very different now but she is happy with where she is, despite the twists and turns along the way.
A typical day for Anna
A typical day for Anna is tricky because her days revolve around her children and their schedules. She tends to have longer days on Mondays and Thursdays, which means she can get more done. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are shorter and her son is with her on one of those days. In general, though, Anna tries to get up before her children each day so she has some time for herself to have tea, play a game, and give herself some quiet time. After that, she or her partner will take the children to daycare and then she will try to get a run in.
Anna is a big fan of time blocking and tries to work in flexible blocks throughout her day, prioritizing what is most important and focusing on that first. She is also really conscious of breaking up her day to include walks along the beach, having a snack, and getting in time to read or play a game.
Anna works with professionals to help them design their lives. Her work is varied, especially right now because she is pivoting a bit. When she first left her job in 2013, she didn’t have a plan or even support. She initially did some consulting and then moved on to coaching. Eventually, she created a nice blend of both of these and combined them with her background in marketing. This all happened very organically and Anna enjoys her current work. In the future, she wants to grow to focus more on companies and share her message of balance and productivity there within the corporate framework. Her message isn’t just for individuals and small business owners.
Anna is currently doing her work with the assistance of her accountant, her podcast editor, and her assistant. Having a support team is important, as it allows her to create balance in her own life with all the things she needs to do.
Productivity tools Anna recommends
When Anna first started, she wanted freedom – no alarm clocks, no schedule. Just the ability to do what she wanted, when she wanted. She realized, though, that she wouldn’t go very far with this and it wouldn’t help her to build her business. Anna is a fan of the “ideal week”, mapping out how she wants each day to look. She reviews her map at the first of each week to narrow down what she would like to prioritize. Her calendar is really important for this. Anna also likes to use Asana for recurring tasks and to manage her clients.
Another “tool” Anna recommends is to set boundaries with your clients. She feels like boundaries are so important to create a balance between your professional and private life. She models this kind of behavior with her clients while she is teaching them to do this with others. She sets specific times in which she will not reply to emails or answer texts or calls. Anna feels that people and companies who respect these boundaries are the ones who will be the best to work with.
The Busy Trap
The busy trap is the concept of being addicted to being busy. Being overly busy and distracted by emails, appointments, and other activities is something that is celebrated in our society. This is an easy trap to fall into, especially if you are already a high performer. Anna feels that there shouldn’t be productivity just for the sake of productivity and encourages us to ask ourselves why we are doing so much. There has to be something more to life, and there is a lot of evidence to show how harmful this is to our health and relationships. Life is short and if we’re just rushing through our days doing busy work, we will regret this when we’re older.
Anna herself has struggled with falling into the busy trap, especially before she had an assistant to help with her business. She was spending so much time doing busy work, rather than focusing on the more important things to keep her business growing. She had to stop and ask herself what her priorities were and where she should be spending her time. Asking yourself these questions isn’t always easy and might necessitate some scary changes. But, don’t feel rushed to make changes.
Small changes made consistently over time can make a huge difference in what our life looks like.
How can we avoid the Busy Trap?
Anna suggests we take a breath and ask ourselves, “What is this thing I am so busy with, and how important is it really?” Don’t let yourself fall back into old habits. Recognize that the busy trap is a habit and a choice. You can make other choices and create more time in your life for more important things.
Anna also warns us against letting other people influence us into doing things that consume our time. We need to make conscious choices for how we spend our own time. Avoiding the busy trap starts with awareness.
The Skills of the Future
Anna writes that there are certain skills that every professional must develop. Not just for productivity, but for fulfillment and overall success. We need to be proactive about where we want to be in our careers and be responsible for learning the right skills. These aren’t just obvious skills like learning how to code, working with AI, and so on, but also soft human skills, like adaptability, resilience, empathy, and self-efficacy. We need to be lifelong learners and constantly develop our skills as we go along in our careers.
Redefining Success
The overarching theme of the work that Anna does is all around redefining success for ourselves. The definition of success includes the accomplishment of an aim or a purpose, which is what got Anna thinking about this topic. If success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose, then we must know what our purpose is, and that’s where Anna thinks we go wrong. She thinks most people don’t ask themselves this question and instead get onto an accidental career path that isn’t a good fit for them. Sometimes we take on careers that other people, such as our friends or parents want for us (we are especially susceptible to this in our younger years). Anna doesn’t want us to spend time in careers that aren’t the best fit but instead to start to figure out our purpose as soon as possible so we can be fulfilled and productive.
Anna’s advice for someone who’s struggling with making changes
There is no rush to make a drastic change today. Instead, give yourself grace and permission to explore and answer some of the questions discussed here. What does success mean to you? Think about your values and what you do and do not enjoy about your work. Think of all the roles you have done, both in your personal and professional life, and map out where your skills and interests are. Where do you see yourself in the future? Maybe do a vision board to help you with this process, or do some free writing and journaling. Think of where there are gaps in your life and what you can do to fill those gaps. Once you figure out what you want, the rest will fall into place.
What does it mean to make a life that matters?
For Anna, this starts with a life that matters to her. It doesn’t matter to anyone else necessarily, but it has to make sense for her and her family. She also wants her life to matter to the world. She wants to make a change in the world and be helpful to other people.
What do you do to get back on track on a day when everything gets away from you?
Anna has these days and in the past, she has used podcasts to help her calm down and recenter. Above all, she tries to be present and focus on what’s most important, which is self-care, her children, and prioritizing the things that need to get done.
Anna’s last words for the listener
Take a breath and give yourself grace and permission to explore and decide for yourself what matters. These are your choices to make and you know what’s best for yourself and your family.
What do you think? Questions? Comments?
Do you have questions for Anna or me? Please share them in the comments section below or in The Productive Woman Community Facebook group, or send me an email.
Connect with Anna
- Her website
- on Instagram
- on LinkedIn
- on Facebook
- on Youtube
- check out Anna’s podcast Reimagining Success
- Anna’s books: Leaving the Corporate 9 to 5 and Outside of the 9 to 5.
Anna’s resource suggestions
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