Excerpt
Doing more is not the same as being productive. In this episode of The Productivity Sweet Spot, Anne Rajoo talks with entrepreneur and Mamas Making Commas host Kate Moir about doing less, being intentional, and learning to truly manage your time and protect your energy as a mom entrepreneur. Kate shares the 2017 burnout moment that changed her business, her 80/20 flip between energy management vs time management, the simple seven-day time audit she still swears by, and honest working mom tips for balancing career and motherhood — including how she weaves her daughters into her business instead of pushing them away. If you're navigating entrepreneurship and productivity in fifteen-minute pockets, this conversation gives you permission to release the pressure, build productive habits around your real energy, and keep the main thing the main thing.
Transcript
Anne Rajoo: I'm very excited to have Kate here with me today. I recently recorded with her for her podcast, Mamas Making Commas, and we had such a good conversation that I really wanted to have her here on the podcast with you. Before we recorded her episode, she shared a little bit about her story — her journey in entrepreneurship — and she said something that really struck me, because it was part of my experience too: all these things we do might not always be productive. So Kate, maybe take us back to that situation in your business. Paint a picture of what was going on, and then tell us what changed for you.
Kate Moir: Yeah, for sure. Thanks so much again, Anne — I'm so happy to carry on our conversation. I can remember the moment specifically: 2017. It's funny, when you look back, you can always remember where you were and what you were feeling. Everyone in that room with the company I was with was crying because they were so excited and grateful — there was this amazing opportunity to make a lot of extra income before the holidays. They were saying, “I'm going to start doing this, and I'm going to do that.” And I was in tears too. This lady said, “It's okay,” and I said, “No, you don't understand. I have nothing left to give.”
Here all these people were thinking, I'm going to start, I'm going to finally show up, I'm going to finally help other people. And I was already working until one or two o'clock in the morning, then getting up at six or seven the next day — working insane hours with nothing left to give.
So I went home from that meeting, and I said to my team, “Listen, I have to step away. There's a gift here for all of you — it's there if you want it. If you want to go for it, go for it. But I actually need to do a little less, and I need to be more intentional with my time. Because if I'm not, I'm just going to burn myself out.” That was the moment.
And it was funny — that was around October 10. By October 28, we had hit our goal. My husband and I — I'll never forget — I said, “We hit our goal two days ahead of schedule.” What a gift to be rewarded for actually stepping back and not adding more and spinning my wheels, but rather being more intentional about the things that move the needle the most, and releasing the pressure and expectation to do all those nice-to-do things.
Anne: I love that. It's amazing — you managed to do less, and you actually hit your goal two days before the deadline. That is really a testament to the fact that if we are intentional with the really important things, we can still generate the income, achieve the goals, put these projects together. We can still do it.
It reminds me of a client of mine who had a very similar experience — really unhappy in her business, stripping it all back, going back to the roots. And a couple of months later she messaged me: “I had the best revenue month ever in all these years of business, and I worked less than half the hours I used to.” We need more messages like that.
So how did you actually go about it? You realised, okay, I need to do less — but how did you decide what “less” is? What are those crucial things, and what were the changes you made?
Kate: As you continue to grow and evolve as an entrepreneur, it's something you have to do frequently — it's not a one-and-done. Every season of business — and I say season of business because it's different from weather seasons; you have high seasons and low seasons. But 80 percent of it is you: your mindset, your energy, your outlook, your belief, your gratitude — the things you can control. And 20 percent of it is what you actually do.
Most of us spend 80 percent of our time on the doing and less than 20 percent on our energy and ourselves. So first of all, I had to put myself first. As a woman and as a mom, it's unnatural for me to put the oxygen mask on first. It's a challenge to this day — something I have to consciously make an effort to do, because I love what I do and I love to work. Working is natural to me; going to work out is not. Some people are the opposite of me, and that's cool — sometimes I wish I was.
So it's asking: what actually moves the needle, if I could only spend 20 percent of my time? If you really strip it down to the tasks that would move the needle toward that goal in the fastest, clearest way — and strip away everything that doesn't. And that's the hardest part. A lot of times people say, “I know, I know — but I just love making graphics.” But nobody has ever bought from you because you have beautiful graphics. Nobody has ever bought from me because my reel that I spent an hour on looks fantastic. Those things are nice to do. But if I'm not in conversation, if I'm not doing customer care, it's all for nothing.
What matters most in sales? Customer acquisition and customer retention — and then duplication, if you have a team. Nothing else matters. So 20 percent of my time should be focused on those things, and 80 percent of my time has to be focused on my energy, my ability to show up, my ability to represent personal development — all those things. It's really shifting your focus to what matters most and releasing the pressure of all those nice-to-dos if they're not actually going to help you get to where you're going.
Anne: And what would be a practical tip — what did you actually do to release the pressure? Because I imagine in the beginning there was a lot of pressure. From my own experience, the longer you go on doing things differently, the easier it gets. The pressure goes down; the little voice that comes through gets quieter. But what were your initial ways of staying in that lane? I'm sure there was some discomfort, some weird-enough feelings coming up for you.
Kate: Part of it is declaring it — making that declaration so people know where you're coming from. And then trust yourself that you're actually going to stick to it. If you say you're going to do something, trust yourself to follow through. And remind yourself — I have it written on a sticky note right in front of me: this is the main thing; keep the main thing the main thing.
And those nice-to-do things — there's still value in them. I did end up hiring somebody to do some of those nice-to-dos. I love making graphics, for example — I just love it. But it is not an income-producing activity, so I can have somebody else do that. And I do not enjoy cleaning my house. I like a clean house, but I don't enjoy cleaning. Having somebody come in once a month is a gift I can give myself and my family — but then I have to be intentional during those three hours. I'm not just sitting on the couch; those are three hours I can spend on income-producing things that only I can do.
So a practical tip: for an entire seven days, write down what you do — hour by hour, half hour by half hour. Literally do a time audit. Don't overthink it. Don't say, “Oh, I shouldn't write this down.” No — if you spent an hour watching TikToks, write it down. Then go back at the end of the seven days and ask: what was income-producing? Highlight it in green. And what was literally wasting your life? Highlight it in red. If you can replace red with green — wow. You just doubled your time, tripled your time, most likely.
It's about getting better at asking: if I only have an hour to work, what are the things that will move the needle the most in that hour? I often found myself wasting the same hour every day. Okay — what can I do in that hour that's more productive than wasting it? Could I be better prepared? How can I stack my day to maximise my high energy? It's really being a time hacker.
Anne: Yes! And I think as moms, we're really good at hacking time — we're very good. If you only get an hour uninterrupted, or even 15 minutes, how can you maximise it? I got really good at that.
Kate: The 15 minutes in the car pickup line after school!
Anne: Exactly — those 15 minutes in the line are just: okay, knock out all these messages and all that stuff I just wouldn't do otherwise. It's exactly those 15 minutes.
And I often teach my clients to create those time containers — limited time, because the limited time makes you more efficient. Also for people who maybe don't like the sales or acquisition part of their business — a lot of my clients love the creative side of things more than the sales part. But you've got to do it; like you said, it's the needle-moving thing. So make it a very short, half-hour window, get in, do the job, and come back tomorrow and do the same thing. Consistency. If you can't do sales for a whole hour, fine — that might be how it works for you. Be really intentional, focused, and efficient in those time windows.
But you were speaking about energy, and I'm wondering what works for you there — I'm always curious how other people handle the energy part of things. How do you combine work, the children, and the different kinds of work? You mentioned you're going for a walk after we finish recording. What do you do? Let us look into your day.
Kate: I wish I could say I have a magic formula — no one has one, and every day looks different. If anybody out there listening gets up at five every single day: way to go! But I've gotten older — I'm 41 now — and my 30s looked way out of balance. I'll be honest: I look back and think, oh Kate, you gave so much to everyone else but yourself. Now I look at my 40s as a gift, because soon enough I'll be in my 50s, and I don't want to look back and think, wow, you wasted your 30s and 40s.
So lately it's: I can still use my legs, I'm blessed to have flexibility in my schedule — so can I carve out even 30 minutes for myself? Today I did not have a lot of time. But my girlfriend texted — why not have an accountability partner? She asked, “What time are we going to the gym?” and I had about 45 minutes. So I went, even though it wasn't perfect. I didn't have a plan; I showed up, did some movement, worked some muscles. And she said, “You actually have more colour to your skin” — she could feel my energy had shifted just from that quick 45 minutes. A barely-scraped-together workout, but something is better than nothing. Releasing the pressure of perfection.
The second thing: I love going for walks, and my dog needs to go for a walk — I will always do more for others, and my dog was getting a little fat! So me and my dog go for a walk, and a side benefit is I can put on some personal development, catch up on voice notes, or take a call while I'm walking. Again — release the pressure. You don't always need to be in your office to work; you don't need to be sitting in a seat to be productive. I do a lot of my business on the go.
And the third thing, which I've really started doing over the last year, is being intentional about gratitude. I start my day with gratitude, and when I feel myself getting into a funk, I just look around: I'm so grateful the sun's out today. I'm grateful summer is almost here — I can see the weather changing. I'm grateful I have this house, that I can talk and see and feel today. Sometimes I'm grateful for just a cup of coffee. It can be simple, simple things — but that shifts your energy too.
Because if you're coming from a certain place — like you said, sales is something your clients don't necessarily love; I don't think anyone says, “I love going and selling things” — switch it instead to: who can I serve today? Whose problem can I solve today? I'm so grateful I have an opportunity to help other people. Think of how your sales will come across then. It's not “who can I get to buy” — it's “who do I get to help today? Who do I get to share my gift with today to solve their problem?” Just that shift in thinking, that shift in energy. Anytime I get into a funk: if you shift your perspective, you're going to shift your results.
Anne: I love that. That's brilliant. I'm definitely going to use that the next time I have a client who says, “I know I need to schedule sales calls, but I can't.” I'm going to tell her that.
Okay, I want to talk a little bit about the motherhood-and-entrepreneurship piece, because I'm always curious how that goes for other women. For me, it was definitely a big struggle in the beginning of my business. It's gotten a bit better because the kids have gotten a bit bigger. What was your experience, and what would you give as a little word of encouragement to other moms who are running a business and really trying to juggle it all? And if you want to go there — I loved the little story you shared, when we were recording, about you and your daughter doing a bit of creative business together.
Kate: I've been in business as an entrepreneur for 10 years, and my youngest just turned 10 on Friday — so really, mom owning a business is all she's ever known. But looking back, I remember feeling: when they get older, it'll be easier. When they get older, it will get easier. And it never gets easier — it just gets different. So you have to embrace the age and season you're in and adapt your business accordingly.
The biggest thing I was taught, and have always felt, is: my why for my business is my kids — so my excuse to not do my business cannot be my kids. Your why cannot be your excuse. A lot of times people use their kids: “I dream of paying for their school, or travelling with them, or being home for them — but it's just so busy right now. I'll do it later, I'll do it later.” No — you can do it for them. And it's not “go away, Mommy's working.” My kids are very involved in the business. At first they were putting stickers on catalogs, or helping package up orders — “go and find me anything that's black.” Maybe I had to correct some things, but it was fine. The labels went on people's thank-you cards crooked, and people knew it was my kids. I liked that: the labels are on crooked — my kids did it. And people said, “That's so cute that you include them.”
Now my oldest daughter is turning 12. She had all these clothes she wanted to give away — clothes I had just bought her, still with tags on. And I had a bunch of clothes too, some also with tags. So first of all: we have a problem — we need to stop buying clothes! But second, between the two of us we had five bags of clothes to give away. I gave them to my girlfriend; she took a few pieces and gave them back with three more bags. So now we have eight bags of clothes, and I'm thinking: what do people do with all these clothes? It was a lesson moment.
So I said to my daughter, “What do you think about doing a little online marketplace for our community?” We came up with a business plan. We came up with a logo. We came up with a name. She takes the pictures — they're not super awesome; her Canva skills are not quite there yet. But it's something we can do together. It's been four months, and now we check in: hey, are we enjoying it? Is it productive? Is it rewarding? And if it isn't, maybe it's not the right fit for us — or are there ways to scale it, now that we've tried it out?
Having that connection, and helping raise the next level of entrepreneurship — I was taught: you go to school, you get a job, you work there, you retire, and then you have fun. No — I want to do whatever I want, whenever I want. I want this laptop lifestyle. There's a shift happening, and we get to embrace it. So what can I do with my girls to prepare them? You can go to school and get a job and work until you retire — or you could do something else too. The world is your oyster; there's so much possibility.
As moms and entrepreneurs, we get to give this amazing gift to our children — if we allow it to be a gift. But if we try to separate them, or push them out of the way — “sorry, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy” — we're essentially telling them: you don't want to be an entrepreneur, because you're always busy and you never have time.
We were talking earlier about your kids being home for spring vacation — you're not getting as much work done because you're having so much fun. I think that's amazing, because that's a gift you get to give your kids that most moms can't give when they're working nine to five. So embrace it. Because you and I both know: next week, when they're back to school, it's go time.
Anne: Exactly, exactly — focus mode is going to be on, and it's just going to be that. I love that.
I still have a hand-drawn logo from my son somewhere, from the time he discovered what you can do — now he uses Canva himself, but back in the day he would sit next to me and draw a little logo for me. These are memories that I keep with me, and I hope he keeps them too. The older one, I mean — the little one is probably still a little bit too young. But even he asks, “Who are you speaking to? Which part of the world is she from?” They love the fact that I speak to people from so many different countries.
It's not always easy. Sometimes I say to myself, I wish I was a bit better with the boundary between them and my business when it comes to Zoom calls — when they knock on the window, move the curtains, and poke their heads in. But that's just part of the way it is.
Kate: One last piece of advice, because I know we've got to wrap up: I include my kids and my husband in our decisions. I treat it like a family business, even though it's really my business. Because there were times when there was resentment — “You're always gone. You're always working.”
I remember one time I got offered a job, Monday to Friday. And I said, “Okay, guys. I can keep doing what I'm doing and be gone one or two nights a month. Or I can take this other job — but you're going to have to go to daycare at eight o'clock, and after school until five. We won't be able to afford time off, so we won't go on vacation. I won't be able to volunteer at your school anymore, and I won't be able to do this and that. But you will have me home every night at the end of the day. Which would you prefer?” And they said, “Ooh — you can keep doing what you're doing!”
When it comes down to it: “We like having mom home when we get off the bus at 3:30. We love that you can come pick us up and take us to all our activities.” And things get done during the day because I'm able to, because I'm at home. There are trade-offs, and I think it's important that the family is part of that decision, so there isn't resentment.
So sometimes I say, “Yeah, I've got to work tonight — but I'm not going to work tomorrow night.” Or, “I've got a meeting right now, but after my meeting we can go for a bike ride.” And then follow through. If you say it's five more minutes, it should only be five more minutes, guys — don't go on for another hour. Those are the things I've learned along the years, because my family has called me out on it. And I realised: I don't like that I'm giving them the worst of myself while I'm doing it all so I can give them the best of myself. So how can I shift? Again, it comes back to time hacking: how can you shift your schedule or your activities so that those you're doing it for still get the best of you — and you still get done what you need to get done?
Anne: Brilliant. I love that you squeezed that in — thank you so much. Well, let's wrap it up then. Where do people go if they want to know more about you? What's the best place?
Kate: You can search for me on socials: I am Kate Moir — K-A-T-E-M-O-I-R. Facebook, Instagram, wherever. Or you can search Mamas Making Commas — we're on Spotify and YouTube as well.
And I just love to help women. I know that you help clients get very productive with what they're already doing, and I think that's such a gift. But there are some people out there who don't know what they want to do yet. They think, “I know I want to do something, but I don't know what my plan B is,” or “I have this idea, but I'm not sure where to start.” That's what I love to do: helping people, in those 15-minute pockets, with my Coffee Break Formula — really turning that idea into an income, a revenue stream. So they can always reach out for that too.
Anne: Awesome — brilliant, I love that. I'll put all your links in the description. I'm really, really grateful for you being here and for your energy — I know you had a long day, and it's going to be a tough one. Thank you for making this possible, and take care.
Kate: Thanks so much — and I really appreciate you.
