Productive Living: Reimagining Success, with Anna Lundberg – TPW481

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.