Productivity, Habit Stacking and Morning Routines with Kara Kayrouz

In this solo episode, Kara dives into the world of productivity, habit stacking and fine-tuning your daily routines for success. Offering 8 actionable tips, she guides you to make the most of your busy day. She talks about productivity not just from a professional perspective, but also for personal growth.

In this episode, you’ll discover how you can craft your ideal day, from morning routines to evening wind-downs, all aimed at boosting productivity. Kara also highlights the power of simplifying your life to help you reach your goals and conserve your energy all while maintaining balance.

Kara provides practical strategies to enhance your focus and efficiency through habit stacking, multi tasking, leveraging work timers and scheduling rest time. She also emphasizes the importance of a “do it now” mindset, and how by taking action we can further propel our motivation, ultimately driving productivity and progress.

If you’re looking to optimize your time and protect your energy, this episode is for you.

Resources:
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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:12 Maximizing Productivity and Mindfulness
• 3:13 A Day in the Life with Kara
• 8:57 Top 8 Productivity Tips
• 9:31 Tip 1: Simplify
• 10:59 Tip 2: Being Intentional
• 14:05 Tip 3: Planning Ahead
• 15:40 Tip 4: Mindset
• 17:21 Tip 5: Habit Stacking
• 19:04 Tip 6: Multitasking
• 21:58 Tip 7: Timers
• 24:26 Tip 8: Planning Rest Time
• 27:06 Join the Pod Squad

Transcript

00:00:00.550 [Music]
00:00:13.960 welcome to the gateless podcast I'm
00:00:15.719 really glad that you're here I'm your
00:00:17.320 host Kara Kayrouz this is where you'll find
00:00:20.279 conversations with self-made women who
00:00:22.800 share their playbooks their tips their
00:00:25.800 actual experiences on the journey to
00:00:28.160 success I also chat with experts and
00:00:31.000 practitioners of mindset stress
00:00:33.480 productivity emotional and mental health
00:00:36.120 because if you're listening to this
00:00:38.040 you're somebody that bets boldly on
00:00:39.760 yourself and you care about optimizing
00:00:42.520 how you feel perform give back love and
00:00:45.520 just move through the world this podcast
00:00:47.800 is here to help you become the absolute
00:00:49.840 most incredible version of yourself in
00:00:51.920 life and in business be sure to
00:00:54.920 subscribe to the podcast so you never
00:00:56.800 miss an episode we really appreciate
00:00:58.680 your feedback and review views the only
00:01:01.120 way that we grow right now is from you
00:01:02.879 sharing your favorite episodes with your
00:01:04.959 family and friends on social media so
00:01:07.240 thank you for doing that go do that big
00:01:09.880 cool thing that you've been dreaming
00:01:11.320 about today this is a solo episode today
00:01:14.000 with me Cara your host I want to talk
00:01:16.439 about productivity habit stacking
00:01:19.040 morning and evening routines and just
00:01:21.000 getting things done in your life we are
00:01:23.680 all busy if you listen to this you're
00:01:25.439 probably a busy person and you find time
00:01:27.079 to listen to this while you're doing
00:01:28.920 other things or it's time that you've
00:01:30.880 carved out to learn and grow as a person
00:01:34.560 as a professional whatever it is and I
00:01:37.280 think we're all if you're a listener of
00:01:38.960 this podcast then you're probably
00:01:40.360 somebody that really cares about
00:01:42.000 optimizing every moment of your day and
00:01:45.439 your life really the moments turn into
00:01:48.960 days weeks years and your life goes by
00:01:52.360 really fast so being super productive
00:01:55.040 towards the things that you want to
00:01:56.759 accomplish is top of mind and what I
00:02:00.320 care a lot about is optimizing my time
00:02:03.640 for sure but also optimizing how I feel
00:02:06.960 so that I'm really productive with my
00:02:08.520 time both you know mentally physically
00:02:11.120 emotionally so I think those things go
00:02:12.840 hand inand and if you can get really
00:02:15.040 intentional about how you think of
00:02:17.640 productivity and how you move through
00:02:19.760 your days and your weeks it puts you on
00:02:22.760 the offensive as opposed to the
00:02:24.800 defensive so what you can expect from
00:02:27.160 this episode are very tangible tips and
00:02:30.519 tricks that I have learned along the way
00:02:33.519 to be
00:02:34.879 hyperproductive I'm somebody that has a
00:02:38.080 lot on my plate personally and
00:02:39.800 professionally and I genuinely do not
00:02:42.159 feel stressed out that isn't because the
00:02:44.440 things that are on my plate are not high
00:02:46.239 stakes they actually are it's that I use
00:02:49.720 these tips to stay on the offensive and
00:02:52.840 not be on the defensive and move through
00:02:56.360 my days and weeks really intentionally
00:02:58.280 so that I can have a productive day most
00:03:01.640 of the time and I can preserve my energy
00:03:05.159 and use it as a tool and a resource and
00:03:08.280 as opposed to something that feels like
00:03:09.879 it's constantly being depleted so I want
00:03:13.280 to start by just sharing what an ideal
00:03:16.640 day looks like and that might not be the
00:03:19.760 same for you but this is just an example
00:03:22.239 my ideal day is waking up before I have
00:03:26.000 a one and a half-year-old so waking up
00:03:28.280 before my child wakes up
00:03:30.360 I have a little bit of alone time to
00:03:31.959 meditate first I then exercise in some
00:03:35.200 capacity whether it's going on a run
00:03:36.879 outside by myself exercising in my
00:03:39.640 garage if I can't leave the house that
00:03:41.400 day and getting that done before he
00:03:44.319 wakes up then I like to have a matcha
00:03:48.680 latte by myself again I don't really
00:03:51.319 want anybody to be awake when I'm
00:03:53.159 enjoying this time and it's really my
00:03:55.439 time to think about my energy for the
00:03:59.439 day what I want to prioritize I will
00:04:02.120 have already blocked out what my day
00:04:04.360 actually looks like prior to the morning
00:04:07.159 but it is a reflective time to just
00:04:09.680 think about be mindful enjoy slowly
00:04:12.079 drink the matcha I really don't like to
00:04:13.680 do that in multitask we'll talk plenty
00:04:16.000 about multitasking and then by the time
00:04:18.680 my son wakes up it's like 7:30ish my
00:04:22.320 husband's probably also up at that time
00:04:25.000 but I've already had a loone time I've
00:04:26.320 already exercised I've already enjoyed a
00:04:27.840 matcha so I'm like feeling really good
00:04:30.039 at this point occasionally if I can fit
00:04:33.320 it in before anybody in my house wakes
00:04:35.120 up I do like to cold plunge it makes me
00:04:37.320 feel like I can tackle anything it's one
00:04:39.160 of the hardest things you'll do in the
00:04:40.520 day but you also feel so good so getting
00:04:43.639 that out of the way first thing makes me
00:04:45.240 feel like I I can really conquer
00:04:47.280 anything then spend some time with my
00:04:49.560 son before the work day begins usually
00:04:53.440 about an hour so if it's nice out I'll
00:04:56.560 put him in the stroller we'll go for a
00:04:58.320 walk outside and while I'm walking with
00:05:00.639 him I'm either talking to him if he's in
00:05:03.360 a chatty mood or I'm listening to a
00:05:06.600 podcast and I don't have my headphones
00:05:08.320 and I put it in the stroller so he can
00:05:10.479 also hear it and I could be totally
00:05:13.360 fooling myself but I think I'm exposing
00:05:15.320 him to a lot of vocabulary a lot of
00:05:17.960 topics and interesting things he doesn't
00:05:20.639 fully understand at all but he
00:05:21.960 understands some of it so we listen to a
00:05:23.600 podcast together or we just chat I am
00:05:28.000 intentional in the way that I actually
00:05:30.160 listen to that podcast now I don't
00:05:32.240 usually do it all in one walk or sitting
00:05:35.400 I know I want to listen to maybe 20
00:05:37.160 minutes at a time and that just helps me
00:05:39.720 keep my attention focused on it longer
00:05:42.759 as opposed to if I were to listen to One
00:05:44.440 podcast for an hour even if we are
00:05:45.960 walking for an hour I don't love that so
00:05:48.280 I kind of like bite-sized chunks of
00:05:50.400 listening and then we come back to the
00:05:52.720 house I hand off gray my son to our
00:05:57.120 nanny who comes to our home and
00:06:00.400 then I get myself ready for the day and
00:06:02.560 while I'm getting ready for the day I'm
00:06:04.280 usually just again present I'm not
00:06:06.199 trying to multitask when I do that I'm
00:06:07.800 present in what I'm doing just being
00:06:09.080 intentional trying to get it done pretty
00:06:10.479 quickly and then I come into my office
00:06:12.840 and know what is laid out for me so I'm
00:06:16.800 moving through the day but I really rely
00:06:19.120 on work blocks I don't like to context
00:06:21.800 switch a ton during the day so by that
00:06:25.080 morning I would have already planned out
00:06:26.680 what hours of the day I'm focused on
00:06:28.199 certain things and then in the evening
00:06:30.800 very intentional about blocking when I
00:06:32.440 stop my workday and pivot back to being
00:06:35.280 a mom so I get several hours of focused
00:06:38.319 mom time with my son I get to hang out
00:06:41.319 with my husband we usually end work
00:06:42.919 different hours but we try to get
00:06:44.560 outside as a family after we're done
00:06:46.919 working sometimes that's before dinner
00:06:49.000 sometimes that's after dinner and then
00:06:51.000 we really protect the time typically
00:06:53.800 between 5 and 7:30 to spend as a family
00:06:57.000 together we're not doing work dur during
00:06:58.840 that time
00:06:59.919 and then in the evening I usually do
00:07:02.720 have some work to do in the evening
00:07:05.000 whether it's for this podcast or for my
00:07:07.639 full-time job or just planning family
00:07:10.319 things um but almost every night there
00:07:12.520 is some work that I have to do and you
00:07:15.000 know there's a whole other podcast
00:07:17.199 episode that I could do on sacrifice and
00:07:20.199 I I will talk about that it's something
00:07:21.520 that I want to talk about with this
00:07:23.000 community but I have sacrificed not
00:07:26.240 family time and work at this phase of my
00:07:28.400 life I've sacrif more social things or
00:07:30.879 things of pleasure I say no to a lot of
00:07:33.080 social events out of necessity I I don't
00:07:35.879 have as much time I'm still very
00:07:37.879 connected to my small number of close
00:07:39.800 friends but I'm not able to say yes to
00:07:42.080 everything anymore and I really very
00:07:44.039 rarely drink alcohol anymore and that's
00:07:47.199 for many reasons but if we're just
00:07:49.159 talking about productivity here and it
00:07:51.159 does you no favors if you're trying to
00:07:53.840 live a very productive life and make the
00:07:55.520 most out of every moment in your day I
00:07:58.520 want my brain to feel 100% all the time
00:08:01.639 I want my sleep to be 100% all the time
00:08:03.759 and I want to feel in a really good mood
00:08:06.120 and it's not that even a small amount
00:08:08.319 will just totally put all those things
00:08:09.879 out of whack but it's not helping you so
00:08:12.039 that is where I have sacrificed and it's
00:08:13.560 a choice that I've made and it helps me
00:08:16.080 again just make the most out of every
00:08:17.599 day so I do a little bit of work and
00:08:20.159 then I make sure that I have wind down
00:08:21.520 time right before bed whether I'm either
00:08:23.319 reading watching a little bit of a show
00:08:25.639 hanging out with my husband we're on
00:08:27.240 different biological clock so he usually
00:08:29.440 works a little bit later than I do but
00:08:31.560 we make sure that we hang out before one
00:08:33.559 of us goes to bed whomever is first and
00:08:36.240 then I feel like really accomplished and
00:08:40.159 like I had a productive day at the end
00:08:41.958 of the day so that's my ideal day during
00:08:43.719 the work weeks weekends look different
00:08:46.000 and I know everybody's ideal day looks
00:08:47.760 different especially during the work
00:08:48.959 week but I want to get into how really
00:08:52.600 you can make the most out of everyday
00:08:55.920 tips for productivity you can leave this
00:08:58.760 episode
00:08:59.720 feeling like you have a couple of things
00:09:02.000 that maybe are new to you that you can
00:09:03.360 try some of this stuff you probably have
00:09:05.000 heard before I don't think I'm
00:09:06.120 revolutionizing anything I think I'm
00:09:08.920 taking what I've heard from other people
00:09:12.000 other podcasts just life and what works
00:09:14.320 for me and packaging it in a way that is
00:09:16.800 authentic to how I leverage these tools
00:09:19.000 to be productive every day so I'm going
00:09:20.320 to go through them there are eight of
00:09:22.600 them and hopefully this sets you up for
00:09:26.120 success and you can try some new things
00:09:27.519 that you haven't actually taken in a to
00:09:29.720 your life of productivity so number one
00:09:33.320 this is not only a tip for productivity
00:09:35.680 but it's also a tip for Life simplify
00:09:38.720 many many people get very overwhelmed
00:09:41.000 when thinking about all that is on their
00:09:42.640 plate and all of the things that need to
00:09:44.079 be accomplished and that is the one of
00:09:47.440 the biggest things that creates analysis
00:09:50.560 paralysis and prevents action which is
00:09:53.600 just overwhelm looking at all of the
00:09:55.800 things that you have to do looking at
00:09:57.279 all of the things on your to-do list not
00:09:59.200 to mention to-do this could be
00:10:00.519 overwhelming just on a daily basis let
00:10:02.680 alone when you look at your entire week
00:10:04.480 it could feel very overwhelming so
00:10:07.079 simplifying the most important things
00:10:10.279 and then simplifying the action actually
00:10:12.600 required to move the needle are two
00:10:15.160 things that I try very hard to do so if
00:10:18.480 I know that I've got three main big
00:10:21.839 things to accomplish in a week there's
00:10:24.279 probably 10 20 30 tasks that fall under
00:10:28.560 those Cate ories but it's like what are
00:10:30.560 the big three categories for the week or
00:10:33.480 for the day and feeling like okay I've
00:10:37.200 simplified it I could put a box around I
00:10:39.040 understand what those three things are
00:10:40.720 really helps you understand a what to
00:10:42.480 prioritize and B what are the actions
00:10:44.760 needed to move the needle on those big
00:10:46.360 three things so simplification I believe
00:10:49.000 is the key to taking any action it does
00:10:51.079 not need to feel overwhelming it does
00:10:52.440 not feel like a to-do list that's never
00:10:54.200 going to end simplify your big three
00:10:56.839 things to accomplish in a day or in a
00:10:58.720 week and start there number two is
00:11:01.320 getting very specific and intentional
00:11:04.320 proactive not reactive with your morning
00:11:07.959 and evening routines so when you think
00:11:11.160 about the way that you begin a day this
00:11:13.959 sets you up for the rest of your day
00:11:16.000 this is not new everyone has heard this
00:11:17.680 but I want you to really think about it
00:11:19.360 and hold yourself accountable for if
00:11:21.000 you're actually putting it into practice
00:11:23.200 when you wake up first thing in the
00:11:24.399 morning maybe you wake up by an alarm
00:11:26.120 maybe you wake up by natural sunlight
00:11:28.120 and the first thing that you do is an
00:11:31.360 input into setting your day up for
00:11:33.200 Success such as rolling over brushing
00:11:36.279 your teeth drinking a bunch of water and
00:11:38.600 then meditating you're starting your day
00:11:40.880 off intentionally in a positive way to
00:11:44.040 set yourself up for Success now let's
00:11:46.560 rewind that and I'll play it back to you
00:11:49.240 when the first thing you do is something
00:11:51.720 that's maybe depleting your energy or
00:11:53.880 setting yourself up for and your day up
00:11:56.040 for distraction and re reaction which
00:12:00.200 are two very negative things that we do
00:12:01.720 to ourselves all the time distraction
00:12:03.120 and reaction you wake up maybe by an
00:12:05.079 alarm you roll over you check your phone
00:12:07.760 and you see that you have a few missed
00:12:09.920 text messages you see that you have
00:12:12.160 emails you see that you have
00:12:13.600 notifications on social media apps
00:12:16.199 automatically you're in a place of
00:12:17.639 reaction you don't own your time anymore
00:12:19.600 you feel like you need to react to What
00:12:21.440 that phone just told you was important
00:12:23.279 to you that does not work for me I
00:12:26.360 usually don't have a good day if I start
00:12:28.240 my day up with with reaction and I don't
00:12:30.839 feel like I'm owning my time and more
00:12:32.839 importantly my energy so taking a look
00:12:35.600 at your morning in evening routine I
00:12:37.760 think is a really critical component of
00:12:40.320 being as productive as you can be the
00:12:42.320 small changes such as plugging your
00:12:44.040 phone up not next to your bed but across
00:12:46.040 the room or in another room so that
00:12:48.079 there's friction between being able to
00:12:50.360 be inundated by all of those
00:12:51.800 notifications right when you wake up is
00:12:53.839 a really great first step having a
00:12:55.920 moment to yourself you don't have to go
00:12:57.800 through that whole morning routine that
00:12:58.959 I told you wake up early do the exercise
00:13:00.440 have the matcha do the cold punch all by
00:13:02.000 yourself doesn't even have to look like
00:13:03.639 that even if you carved out 5 minutes to
00:13:07.120 just spend time reflecting and thinking
00:13:09.920 about your intention and energy for the
00:13:12.160 day will be a game Cher and everybody's
00:13:15.000 circumstance is different not everyone
00:13:16.600 has the luxury of being alone for any
00:13:19.560 amount of time in the morning it's just
00:13:21.480 about finding the ways to protect your
00:13:23.279 energy in the morning and not be on such
00:13:24.839 a reactive footing and then in terms of
00:13:27.880 evening routines same things I mean
00:13:30.959 feeling like you're the last thing you
00:13:32.720 do when you put your head on the pillow
00:13:34.440 is close out notifications and close out
00:13:37.240 all of the things that people need from
00:13:38.959 you subconsciously just isn't a great
00:13:41.760 way to relax into the evening and relax
00:13:44.639 into to sleep so creating separation and
00:13:48.399 book ending your morning and your
00:13:50.240 evening that should be you time and
00:13:52.320 should be relaxing and sleep focused
00:13:54.800 with something that isn't the phone I
00:13:57.240 believe is a very very important thing
00:13:59.079 to set yourself up for Success day in
00:14:00.920 and day out for productivity and
00:14:03.120 optimizing all of your moments number
00:14:05.680 three this is obvious but I think we
00:14:09.440 fail to do it sometimes planning ahead
00:14:12.079 and specifically planning your energy
00:14:14.759 bursts so I heard this on a podcast a
00:14:18.480 while ago mindset mentor and just the
00:14:21.040 concept of planning your energy burst
00:14:23.800 really resonated with me I never knew
00:14:26.160 totally why but I'm so creative
00:14:29.199 and my brain is on fire in the morning
00:14:31.120 and I I genuinely feel like my
00:14:33.040 creativity and brain stop working by
00:14:35.399 about 500 p.m. every day so I'm not
00:14:37.959 going to be somebody that does a ton of
00:14:40.040 creative work in the evening it's more
00:14:41.560 like tasks that just need to be closed
00:14:43.839 out for the day whereas if I need to
00:14:46.320 solve a big problem or I need to be very
00:14:48.959 creative in my thinking and think about
00:14:50.880 a problem differently or think out of
00:14:54.160 the box that has to happen in the
00:14:56.160 morning for me preferably one of the
00:14:58.399 first things that I'm thinking about and
00:15:00.800 so looking at your day and saying to
00:15:04.800 yourself which of these tasks require
00:15:07.959 creative thinking which of these tasks
00:15:10.199 are well like Taskmaster type of
00:15:12.480 execution which of these things require
00:15:14.800 deep thinking and focus and knowing
00:15:18.320 yourself and knowing what times of the
00:15:20.480 day you are best set up for success to
00:15:24.320 focus on creativity deep thinking
00:15:28.000 Taskmaster Focus whatever it is and
00:15:30.959 using that to your advantage bucket the
00:15:33.560 things that require a specific type of
00:15:35.720 energy together and do it during the
00:15:38.120 time of day that suits you best number
00:15:40.839 four mindset mindset is everything
00:15:45.399 especially when it comes to productivity
00:15:47.680 when productivity can feel a bit
00:15:49.079 overwhelming day in and day out having
00:15:51.880 this uh mindset of just get done
00:15:55.480 and creating momentum around that I
00:15:59.079 believe works so you know this is not a
00:16:01.920 New Concept but I was listening to
00:16:04.480 another podcast recently with Adam Grant
00:16:07.800 and Robin arzone and she was talking
00:16:09.600 about how action is what creates
00:16:12.240 momentum in her context she was talking
00:16:14.440 about working out but she also
00:16:17.319 extrapolated that to life when you just
00:16:19.759 take action that is when the momentum
00:16:22.079 and the motivation kicks in very few
00:16:24.199 people sit around by sitting around feel
00:16:27.480 motivated and feel momentum that doesn't
00:16:30.040 just doesn't really happen it's like the
00:16:32.680 analogy of running taking putting the
00:16:34.839 shoe on and taking that first step after
00:16:37.639 you get out your front door and then the
00:16:40.000 second step and then the third step and
00:16:41.240 all of a sudden you're in a stride and
00:16:42.319 all of a sudden you're like wow this is
00:16:43.360 beautiful I feel great I should keep
00:16:44.880 going and then you're a couple miles in
00:16:47.800 and you feel great if you hadn't taken
00:16:49.880 that first step in that first action it
00:16:51.279 wouldn't have happened this is the
00:16:53.440 difference between a do it now mindset
00:16:56.680 and a Do-it later mindset for full
00:16:59.360 productivity and balanced productivity
00:17:01.800 not just hyperfocused productivity on
00:17:03.639 one aspect of your life you really need
00:17:06.240 to try to rewire your brain to have a do
00:17:09.359 it now mentality because action begets
00:17:12.720 momentum begets motivation use that as a
00:17:16.359 tool in your toolkit know that about
00:17:18.319 yourself don't forget it so simple but
00:17:20.559 so powerful number five habit stacking
00:17:24.400 so habit stacking is not the same as
00:17:26.839 multitasking that we will talk about
00:17:28.679 multitasking habit stacking is almost
00:17:32.200 like leveraging reminders for yourself
00:17:35.360 that will get you to do the do habit
00:17:37.960 maybe it's a new habit or just get you
00:17:39.360 to do the Habit in general that is
00:17:40.840 important to your routine to your health
00:17:43.480 to your mental and physical wellness so
00:17:46.320 an example of this is I know that to
00:17:49.480 feel optimized every day I want to take
00:17:52.679 my supplements morning and night and I
00:17:56.360 know that something I will not forget to
00:17:58.080 do every day is make my matcha because I
00:18:00.400 love it so much something I will forget
00:18:02.320 to do every day is take those
00:18:03.840 supplements so I specifically put my
00:18:06.960 supplements right next to my matcha
00:18:09.840 maker downstairs not my matcha maker but
00:18:12.080 you know that little whiskey thing I put
00:18:13.840 them right next to each other so that
00:18:15.120 when I go to the habitual matcha I know
00:18:18.320 I'm going to see the supplements and I'm
00:18:20.240 going to take the supplements it's
00:18:22.360 something that you can leverage in many
00:18:24.880 other things if you know that journaling
00:18:27.400 in the morning is going to set you up
00:18:29.720 for a more proactive mindful day that's
00:18:32.880 in turn going to make you more proactive
00:18:35.559 but you keep forgetting to journal maybe
00:18:38.480 you put that journal next to the coffee
00:18:40.400 maker maybe you put that journal on your
00:18:43.080 bedside table as opposed to your phone
00:18:45.360 on your bedside table so leveraging the
00:18:47.679 Power of Habit stacking as a tool to
00:18:50.919 optimize your productivity in a day
00:18:53.919 don't sleep on it it's important it's
00:18:56.159 not hard to do but it's very impactful
00:19:00.360 and you'll accomplish more in the day if
00:19:02.880 you leverage habit stacking as a tool
00:19:04.760 number six actual multitasking so this
00:19:07.880 is different and I'm typically actually
00:19:10.320 not a fan of multitasking like I hate
00:19:13.240 when I'm on a call with somebody and I
00:19:14.880 can tell they're doing something else
00:19:16.480 and I'm guilty of it sometimes and I
00:19:17.799 know how cringey it is so I try really
00:19:19.240 hard not to do that I really dislike it
00:19:21.280 when I'm on a zoom and I could see
00:19:22.640 somebody's eyes over here when in
00:19:24.720 reality the camera is right here it's
00:19:26.400 not a great look and there's nothing
00:19:29.720 more wonderful than feeling like
00:19:32.320 somebody's focusing 100% on you and you
00:19:34.480 know that it's not just about the way
00:19:35.840 that you're making the other person feel
00:19:37.000 that's great but you're also going to
00:19:38.440 just do better quality work if you're
00:19:40.200 focused 100% right but multitasking in
00:19:43.760 certain instances can be helpful so
00:19:46.640 maybe you want to consume more
00:19:49.120 information and education via podcasts
00:19:51.480 or audio books and you also really enjoy
00:19:54.480 working out I love leveraging my
00:19:57.799 exercise exercise time to also listen to
00:20:00.240 podcasts they're both very important to
00:20:01.960 me I don't always have time to have an
00:20:03.799 hour to exercise and an hour to listen
00:20:06.600 to a podcast you can only give up so
00:20:08.039 much sleep right so I will listen to my
00:20:11.960 podcast while I'm in the garage gym by
00:20:15.919 myself while I'm on a walk by myself
00:20:18.120 occasionally I even do it when I'm with
00:20:19.400 my son so I'm getting outside time I'm
00:20:22.559 getting quality time with my son and I'm
00:20:25.200 learning all at the same time that is
00:20:27.520 the type of multi tasking that I am down
00:20:29.400 with and I think you can use to your
00:20:31.360 advantage so when you look at your day
00:20:34.280 this is how you actually apply it when
00:20:35.480 you look at your day and you think about
00:20:37.360 what part of my day has some dead space
00:20:39.799 in it for me that was well when I'm
00:20:42.679 exercising I could listen to music and I
00:20:44.360 do enjoy music but I could probably
00:20:47.360 easily replace that dead space I'm going
00:20:49.960 to be doing the same thing I'm going to
00:20:51.240 be doing the same exercises I'm going to
00:20:52.640 be running I'm going to be walking
00:20:53.799 whatever it is instead of listening to
00:20:55.720 music I I could just replace that with
00:20:57.280 something else that's very very
00:20:58.280 important to me which is learning via
00:21:00.320 podcasts that was an easy multitask for
00:21:02.640 me another thing occasionally when I am
00:21:05.679 getting ready while I'm putting makeup
00:21:07.679 on or while I'm doing my hair or
00:21:08.960 something I am also going to listen to a
00:21:11.559 podcast that's another moment where I
00:21:13.679 can consume information and educate
00:21:15.279 myself and it makes me feel really
00:21:16.320 really good I don't have to carve out
00:21:17.799 another 30 minutes to an hour later in
00:21:19.279 the day to do so so look at your day and
00:21:22.120 think about when do you have dead space
00:21:23.840 in the day maybe it's a drive maybe it's
00:21:26.559 a walk Maybe it's while you're making
00:21:29.400 dinner maybe it's while you're making
00:21:31.039 breakfast whatever it is I'm not saying
00:21:33.120 you have to replace that with
00:21:35.120 educational podcast listing maybe you
00:21:37.279 take that time and you call your mom or
00:21:39.640 call your friend or catch up with people
00:21:41.559 in your life or that's when you're doing
00:21:43.799 your meditation probably not while
00:21:45.080 driving but you get my drift it's about
00:21:48.120 thinking of when you do have dead space
00:21:50.799 and if your goal is to optimize all time
00:21:53.080 and be productive replace that dead
00:21:55.200 space with something else that's
00:21:56.159 important to you that's on your big
00:21:57.480 three list number seven leveraging work
00:22:00.880 timers this is also such a simple
00:22:03.240 concept I learned this one from Haley
00:22:05.720 this is knowing that you have that big
00:22:08.080 scary task that you have to do maybe
00:22:10.640 it's respond to an email that's going to
00:22:12.440 require you to really focus and use your
00:22:14.400 brain in a deep way maybe you're scared
00:22:16.760 to send the email because you're worried
00:22:18.000 about the response maybe it's the phone
00:22:19.799 call that you have to make basically
00:22:21.440 think of all of the things right now
00:22:23.320 actually take a second think about two
00:22:26.320 things that you have been avoiding
00:22:28.640 that are not hard you just don't want to
00:22:30.880 do them this is when you leverage work
00:22:33.240 timers and you set a timer for however
00:22:36.000 long you think that should take you to
00:22:38.360 accomplish maybe it's 10 minutes maybe
00:22:40.679 it's 20 minutes whatever it is maybe
00:22:43.200 it's an hour set the timer you do not
00:22:45.720 get up and do anything else until it's
00:22:47.159 done leverage the timer as the trigger
00:22:50.000 for yourself to focus and get it done it
00:22:52.520 works for me every single time it's
00:22:54.320 usually for me it's usually ignoring
00:22:55.760 emails in my inbox that I just I'm like
00:22:57.400 uh I'll get to it later I'll get to it
00:22:58.840 later I'll get to it later or expense
00:23:00.960 reports I hate those who who likes them
00:23:03.000 everybody ignores those or something
00:23:06.279 like a non-f fund task like looking up
00:23:08.760 your property tax and paying that I'm
00:23:11.200 I'm making up silly examples but all of
00:23:13.440 those are great examples of things that
00:23:15.640 you could leverage a worker for say Okay
00:23:17.880 setting it for five minutes I'm not
00:23:19.400 doing anything else until I accomplish
00:23:22.159 this one task Game Changer something
00:23:25.520 else I learned recently that's related
00:23:27.000 to this I think also for mindset Mentor
00:23:29.440 was a concept called the Pomodoro method
00:23:32.840 and this is more for Focus but it's also
00:23:34.600 timers so setting a timer for 25 minutes
00:23:38.200 doing work during the 25 minutes and
00:23:39.919 then taking a five minute break and then
00:23:41.880 25 minutes on five minutes off it's like
00:23:44.159 an interval workout for work basically
00:23:46.640 25 minutes on five minutes off and it
00:23:49.400 keeps your focus for a longer period of
00:23:51.760 time this also works with when you're
00:23:53.520 training for longdistance running
00:23:55.640 there's I'm forgetting the name but
00:23:56.679 there's a technique it's five minutes on
00:23:58.799 2 minutes off S minutes on two minutes
00:24:00.400 off 10 minutes on one minute off and you
00:24:03.000 eventually work up to a place where
00:24:05.480 instead of 25 minute work block timers
00:24:08.159 maybe you get to the place where you're
00:24:09.039 doing 30 and 40 and 45 all the way to an
00:24:11.679 hour it's really hard to focus
00:24:13.640 exclusively for an hour so working with
00:24:16.640 a timer to accomplish specific tasks and
00:24:18.840 then also the Pomodoro method of 25
00:24:21.279 minutes on five minutes off can be very
00:24:24.279 effective in propelling action and then
00:24:27.000 the final one number eight is plan your
00:24:30.640 time off and this can be from a
00:24:32.640 day-to-day perspective a week toe
00:24:35.159 perspective or something more macro like
00:24:36.640 your vacations but taking the lens of
00:24:39.159 dayto day knowing ahead of time when
00:24:41.320 you're going to stop working focus on
00:24:43.559 something that is unscheduled and purely
00:24:47.320 focused on family or friends or whatever
00:24:49.240 you're choosing to do with your
00:24:50.760 non-working time this is a moment when
00:24:53.000 you're not trying to be productive is
00:24:54.640 all I'm saying so whatever the
00:24:55.760 difference in those activities are for
00:24:57.200 you plan it ahead of time so that you
00:25:01.240 have a confine in which your work needs
00:25:03.799 to be done and when you know you're
00:25:05.720 pivoting and it's another mindset shift
00:25:08.159 so getting really clear every day for
00:25:11.279 personally for me I block my calendar
00:25:13.240 starting at 4:30 all the way till 7:30
00:25:16.480 and I know that probably between 4:30ish
00:25:19.200 and 5 I'm going to be like tying up
00:25:21.000 little Loose Ends getting to a place
00:25:22.720 where I can stop and I'm fully focused
00:25:24.880 from 5:00 to 7:30 on family time and
00:25:27.240 that's in my head I just know that's
00:25:29.120 what's going to happen and it puts me in
00:25:30.399 a place of proactiveness as opposed to
00:25:32.840 reactiveness I'm not looking at my phone
00:25:34.919 during that time I really not available
00:25:37.360 during that time and it really works for
00:25:40.159 me I know that I'm going to have those
00:25:41.399 hours to just we're not focused on
00:25:43.720 productivity anymore breaking out with
00:25:45.159 our kid our husband eating dinner going
00:25:47.640 outside just things that fill your soul
00:25:50.600 like I said none of these are probably
00:25:52.880 crazy new to you but a concise list of
00:25:55.559 eight things that you can try
00:25:58.159 simplifying the tasks at hand
00:26:00.320 simplifying your top priorities for the
00:26:02.240 week getting very clear on your morning
00:26:03.840 and evening routine so that you're in a
00:26:05.320 place of proaction as opposed to
00:26:07.320 reaction planning ahead and planning
00:26:09.480 your energy in blocks getting your
00:26:12.240 mindset in the frame of let's get
00:26:14.840 done let's take action action begets
00:26:17.480 momentum begets motivation habit
00:26:19.520 stacking so that you remember to do that
00:26:22.080 thing you want to add into your life
00:26:23.720 that you know is going to hone your
00:26:24.919 focus and productivity or mental
00:26:26.760 emotional Wellness
00:26:28.120 actual multitasking when appropriate
00:26:30.399 podcast listening while you're walking
00:26:31.720 and
00:26:32.679 exercising using work timers to get
00:26:36.399 through those tasks that you're avoiding
00:26:39.320 five minutes and I'm going to blow
00:26:40.480 through all of these email responses
00:26:41.760 that I need to blow through the Pomodoro
00:26:44.000 Technique which is a set amount of time
00:26:46.120 on a set amount of time off to rest and
00:26:48.919 then planning your time off eight simple
00:26:51.480 things that you could start to leverage
00:26:53.000 to feel like a more productive version
00:26:54.960 of yourself again if you're listening to
00:26:57.279 this probably try to optimize every part
00:26:59.760 of your life and here are a few things
00:27:02.840 that you can take into your day I hope
00:27:04.760 this was helpful see you soon are you
00:27:06.760 somebody that loves to listen to podcast
00:27:09.960 learn and consume knowledge in general
00:27:12.320 but maybe you find the process of
00:27:14.640 picking those episodes that are really
00:27:16.360 value packed and worth your time
00:27:18.080 challenging am I right you're busy I get
00:27:20.640 it if that's the case the pod squad is
00:27:23.360 for you every Tuesday Haley and I are
00:27:26.159 dropping in your inbox the absolute best
00:27:28.919 listens for personal development and
00:27:31.159 business podcast for the week we will
00:27:33.399 even give you the cliff no version so
00:27:35.799 that you can still apply the takeaways
00:27:37.559 and consume the knowledge quickly even
00:27:39.520 if you don't have time to listen to them
00:27:41.240 all to get the recre sent to you just go
00:27:44.000 to get
00:27:46.720 gatcombe or click the link in the show
00:27:49.880 notes and enter your email address and
00:27:51.880 that's all you have to do you will look
00:27:53.880 forward to this every single week and it
00:27:55.919 will just be your listening cue until
00:27:57.760 the following Tuesday I hope you
00:27:59.860 [Music]
00:28:14.519 enjoy