Episode 40 Full Transcript:

Natalie: [00:00:00] We all want to be more productive, squeezing everything we can out of each and every day. But what does productivity look like to you? How are you efficient with your time and how does that help you in your everyday life? ​ If you listen to last week's episode, episode 39, you heard from several of my guests on how they stay motivated and productive. I love these clips. I learned so much from experts and learning how they structure their day. They make lists, they delegate, they stay focused. It's all so valuable to learn from smart people. ​ So, this is a special episode as my producer, and I have spent time bringing you these ideas and clipping the answers from my guests throughout the year to this question, what is your top tool for productivity? So before we get to that, I have written a guide with my top productivity tools. And I'd love to share that with you for free, you can go to Natalie tisdel.com. ​ And look for resources. You're going to find that free download [00:01:00] there. So you can also find that link in the show notes here to this podcast onto the show now, and we start with relationship coach Jocelyn Freeman. This was episode nine of the podcast, very popular episode. We all know that relationships, their work, right, but with a few adjustments they can do. ​ Amazing and believe it or not, arguments can be better than you ever imagined. I encourage you to listen to this episode for some great tips from Jocelyn and her husband. Aaron Jocelyn's tip for productivity. Isn't about keeping lists, not an app, but listen in here to find out how she stays on task. ​ Jocelyn Freeman: I'm going to answer it slightly different because people think of productivity is in like, and I love my checklist. Believe me, I'm like a notebook queen also having a clear vision. Helps productivity. And a lot of that people are spreading themselves thin and doing things that don't really matter and feeling overwhelmed with how to prioritize, because they're not clear on their vision. ​ So I would just suggest that people spend [00:02:00] some time going, what is my vision and what doesn't align with my vision that I can eliminate, or I can delegate, or I can promise at a later time, you know, being able to. Manage your time is to also know what aligns with what I'm focusing on now and what doesn't. ​ And we are super clear on what our no's are and what our yeses are aligned with our vision. And I love that vision as a couple too, that it can be it having an individual. And what's your, what's your vision? We actually have a system for that. That's one of our core. We take a couple through a process. ​ Natalie: This next tip is a big one. When I have taken to heart and it comes from Kari Kampakis. She's a mom of three girls who uses her experience in her books. She is a best-selling author and blogger. We talk about making connections with your kids. This is one of the most popular downloads of the podcast so far, very encouraging, packed with ideas. ​ So what did Carrie have to say about productivity here?[00:03:00] ​ Kari Kampakis: I would say my two favorite tools, it's hard to pick. One is, and this is something I think that just has come with age is to expect a little bit less of myself because you're right. I mean, even now with what I'm doing, there's so much more required of a writer than six years ago when my first book released, because now there's podcasts and social media on top of writing the book and doing speeches and things like that. ​ And so I used to just try to do it all at one time. And now I'm like, no, I can do this many speaking events or this week, I'm going to focus on these articles and I'm going to. I feel accomplished, even though I might be accomplishing a little bit less each day, I'm saving some energy for my family. And another thing is to really, like we talked about earlier, have seasons for things, and that has helped me just to kind of cut things off. ​ And so an example is when my first book came out, I had all these speaking events and I just booked whatever came my way. And I was also writing my second book and I talked to one of my writer, friends. I'm like, how in the world are you juggling? Both of this is these things it's so hard. And she said, I have seasons. ​ If I'm in a writing season, I'm not speaking. And if I'm in a [00:04:00] speaking season, I'm not writing. And that was such common sense, but it was really enlightening to me. Like I would never consider that as an option. And so with my second book, I learned to do that. I'm like when I'm after the book launches, I'm not writing anything. ​ I'm in a speaking season of doing podcasts and all of that. And also knowing that I know that that's a busy season, that six weeks after a book comes out and I had taken a break after. I know a lot of writers that will do that because there's so much energy energy that goes into writing a book and, and, and launching it to that. ​ You need that time to regroup and reset and really leaving an open space for that. Do you know what I love about that? I think everyone can apply that to their life. For instance, the first week of school is crazy. Everybody's trying to figure out their new routines and our, maybe it's the first month of school, but to give ourselves enough grace to say, this is going to be. ​ I'm not doing coffee or lunches or anything until, you know, for the first two weeks of school, but to like, think about that ahead of time and give yourself that season to just settle in, let [00:05:00] everybody get their ducks in order. And then, but to I had another podcast guest call that compartmentalizing, and I'm just going to have that compartment for now and this one for now. ​ I love that I'm going to do more of that. And I said it when my daughter went and I named my daughter, you know, she was graduating last may. And so when my editor, so that's all them. I want to get my manuscript to you by the end of April, because I'm taking the home at the may and June off, just to kind of focus on getting her ready for college and enjoying the last first senior year. ​ And I was able to enjoy that much more because I didn't, I wasn't trying to multitask too many things and try to make everybody else happy. Exactly. ​ Natalie: Up next, the author of the book makes some noise. Andrea Owen, this was episode 26. If you take a look in the show notes, you can listen to the full episode. We talked about why so many of us play small. It's interesting. And yet so frustrating, especially for women. We do this. Andrea talks about owning your story and growing from your story. ​ Andrea Owen: I wish it was more philosophical, but honestly, and I'm recently diagnosed [00:06:00] with ADHD, which explains so much about how my brain works, but I love, and I'm mildly obsessed with Google tasks, really anything like G suite or Google related I use. because it, it connects to all of my devices. I use it mostly on my Google calendar and it connects with my phone. ​ It's basically a to-do list and it's so. Versatile like you can drag and drop. You can add notes. Like it's, it's simple but robust at the same time. If that makes. So it keeps you on task, Google tasks. I use everything else in the Google suite. So maybe I need to look into Google tasks. You can also connect it with your email and then create a task from an email. Oh, that in your email as a to-do list. Oh, that is such a pro. Where the email list just gets longer, longer than you don't delete one. And then you mark it as unread. You know, I can sh I can share my screen with you and show you. ​ I'm like, I love telling people about it. I don't, I'm not an affiliate. I don't get paid. I just love helping people, [00:07:00] but she tasks and then look into your g-mail of how you can add. Okay. Totally going to do that. Okay. Thank you, Andrea. Okay. Okay. Encourage everybody to Google it. You can learn how to do it. ​ Shouldn't make a tutorial on YouTube. Absolutely. Should I love it? ​ Natalie: Another very popular episode of the podcast is with an expert in the nervous system. Wow. That's what I have to say about this. I learned so much from Irene Lyon and apparently all of you did too. As we had so much feedback on this episode, you can only shove difficult things down so far and you know, what's gonna happen. ​ They're going to come back up later in your life. We need to pay attention to our own wellbeing, both mentally and physically. That was episode 31. If you want to listen in here's Irene's tip for productive. ​ Irene Lyon: So when it's a good day, the night before I will clear my desk off and I won't put stuff away that doesn't need to be there. It's really simple. Right. But [00:08:00] yeah, old post-it notes that have already been taken care of. I mean, I've got a bill from ups here that shouldn't be there, but it's still there. So, you know, I, like I said, on a good night day, 24 hours cycle, I will clean everything off. ​ And I will take, I don't even use a journal. I just do use old scrap paper that the printer spit out that was useless. And I put it on a clipboard like that and I will restart what needs to be done the next day on a fresh piece of paper that's recycled. So that would be like more a behavioral thing that I do to, you know, and it's true. ​ Like when the stuff around you is cluttered, You can't focus on the thing you have to do. And I don't always do that. You know, if I'm exhausted, and my eyes are tired from being on the computer all day that I'm not going to force it. So I'm also letting myself stay in the flow because sometimes these routines can actually take us out. ​ [00:09:00] Of our natural, authentic capacity, but of course you don't want it to pile up to the point where you can't find anything. ​ Natalie: The next clip is from a friend and a mom who runs an organization called through the game. They specialize in the mental health of young athletes, and we know how important that is. I love what they are doing as many of you know, I'm the mom of a D one collegiate athlete. Our daughter is a lacrosse goalie, the pressure of sports. ​ All ages is so much, and our kids are paying the price. We absolutely have to pay attention to their mental health. That was episode four. If you'd like to listen. Catherine has some super advice for not only young athletes, but for all of us. ​ Kathryn Ames: Yeah, it's funny you ask, because when I read that question, I thought, well, gosh, I'm not that tech savvy, you know, like I was like, I don't know, but I do know. And you know what it is. I think the best thing for productivity is self love and self care. [00:10:00] And I'm going to go about this from a different angle. ​ I think we need to have boundaries. No, our values. And prioritize. And boy, I mean, there's been times in my life, I've lost sight of that, where I've put other people, you know, other people's needs in front of my own because I'm not a selfish person. And just because you take care of yourself, doesn't mean you're selfish. ​ I think I had to really shift my mindset around that, but the more I can. Take care of myself, go for a walk, take some deep breaths. I'm better. I am more productive when I can do that. And so that's the ticket to me. It's not go, go, go, go, keep up with the Joneses. That's a fast burnout. ​ Natalie: And next another successful woman who came on the show to talk about the stages of life and how we can maintain and even improve our health at all stages. Dr. Vonda Wright is a double boarded orthopedic surgeon and the author of [00:11:00] five books. How does she get it all done? ​ Dr. Vonda Wright: Sometimes people do ask me how I get it all done. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There are lots of ways. It could be a whole podcast onto itself. But what I tell young professional women is that you do not have to do it all. ​ I delegate a lot of things in my life. If I have one hour free in my life, I would rather hire someone to help me clean my house. Then buy a new purse, right? If I have to choose where I spend my money, I am going to choose things that buy me time because I can never get my time back. So if I have a tiny bit of money, I am going to find somebody to help me buy more time. ​ And in doing that become more productive. And less stressed, stressed out. I've never heard it defined that way. We're choosing to buy the purse versus this. I've heard many people say I'm going to leverage myself like that, but I'm the same way. ​ Natalie: I want to [00:12:00] end today with another very special episode on the topic of resiliency. Robin Henley, Defoe specializes in this every day. What makes one person able to bounce back from hardship quicker than others? We all go through hard times. And we know that it can make us stronger, but it doesn't always happen for some people. ​ This is a must listen episode, if you haven't already heard it. And again, we have linked in the show notes where you can find each of these episodes. You can also go directly to episode 33. ​ Robyne Hanley-Dafoe: So that's a great question. And I think it varies right at different seasons and stages of our lives. It's going to vary when the children were little. It was very brief, right? It was tiny little windows. Now that they're a wee bit older. I find for me like optimal is to be able to like, get some, a few minutes outside, like outdoors. ​ Like I have to physically leave the house, walk the dogs, and thankfully dogs are great to keep us on a system. Right. They let me know that they'd like to go out. So doing that [00:13:00] outdoor time is absolutely crucial coming back in, you know, listening to a podcast, having that cup of coffee, just having a few minutes, that might be five minutes. ​ Sunday. It could be 20 minutes Sunday, but something that I know is I physically have to get out of the house, come back in that door with my mind map. And that I find, and again, even rain, snow, but you know, it doesn't have to be optimal weather. I'll still, I trust that system now often what I think happens sometimes is people try to base it on motivation, right? ​ Like, am I going to feel like going for a walk in the morning, then they see the rain and they're like, I'm not going outside. What I've learned is like, you got to trust your sister. I know, even if it's raining and I walk for 20 minutes, half an hour, I will feel better. I'll have a clean mind. My heart will be aligned. ​ So you trust your system. Don't rely on our motivation. Cause it's pretty fickle. It doesn't always show up for us. ​ Natalie: I love this tip from Robin on productivity, because it's a reminder to put yourself first, listen to Robin, explain, That's it for today. Thank you for listening. [00:14:00] And I hope you are as encouraged as I am after hearing from some of my guests over the past year, let me know, drop me an email, a direct message on Instagram, or you can visit my website and we can connect there. ​ I am so appreciative of you and listening to the podcast. I hope you will share it with your friends and subscribe. I wish you well, as we head into the new year and I'll talk to you again next week