The Business Cousins Podcast
We mix family and business!
The Business Cousins Podcast
EPISODE 15 Busy Doesn't Mean Productive
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“Some of y’all are busy all day… and still not moving forward.”
Main Points
- Movement vs progress
- Prioritization
- Time leaks
- High-impact actions
All right, welcome, welcome, cousins. It's the Business Cousins Podcast. I'm your co-host, Bruce. Better questions Hill.
SPEAKER_00Yes, hey, cousin, we made it. Tasha C. Wear, HLS Collective. How are you doing today, cousin?
SPEAKER_01I'm fantastic and feeling fine. You pick fire topics because one of my goals this month was to send a hundred touch points on LinkedIn every day. And the question, if you go to uh if you look through the YouTube channel, you'll see it. It says, What happens if you're consistent for 30 days? And so then you pop up, you know, hey, what should we talk about? How about busy doesn't mean productive?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Because some of y'all are busy all day and still not moving forward.
SPEAKER_01But that happened to me about day six. I mean, I was up early, I was doing this, I was doing that, doing that. And end of the day, my accountability partner was like, hey, how many LinkedIn messages did you send? And I was like, Oh, it's like 8 p.m. I said zero. What were you doing all day?
SPEAKER_00You know, that is something that my clients, I swear, I get it at least it was five days in a week, five times a week. Oh, I was just so busy. And in our coaching call, I said, Okay, busy doing what? What did you do? You were at work. What did you do? What did you do at work? Oh, I got all these emails. Okay, so you checked emails and what else? And I went to meetings. And and okay, and what else? Did you do your work? What work did you do? Like, what did you do? Um, and it feels their day and their time and their mind to be unproductive. Like they didn't actually move the needle of the work that was due on Friday at five o'clock.
SPEAKER_01There it is, right there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because I think a lot of times, this is what entrepreneurship taught me, this is what sales taught me. You don't get paid for showing up. No, you don't get paid for how tall you are, how attractive you are, uh, degree you have, you get paid for results. And I think fitness is the same way, right? You don't get paid for thinking about going to the gym, planning going to the gym. You gotta match an outfit in the gym, or even going to the gym. Because some people go to the gym and they take a picture and leave.
SPEAKER_00They do, indeed.
SPEAKER_01You you get results from the work you do. So, how do we make sure we're being productive and not busy?
SPEAKER_00Um, and you know, I always go back to measurables, you know, uh like you're you gave a very specific measure, 100. You had a number, either you did it or you didn't. That one day, I think we met that day, it was a sixth day, and you said, I'm only at 16 or something crazy.
SPEAKER_01You're right, you were.
SPEAKER_00And I said, Well, we got you got time right after this to do some more because I got it done, you know, and so this is what I have on my app for my clients. I actually have a compliance report on my app. Okay, and so it gives that it gives a weekly percentage. You have to check off that you drank your water, just have to click that you completed, at the click that you completed a workout, you completed a walk, that you did your dig, I make them do something a digital detox. Like, did you put it away so that you can finish that book you said you wanted to finish? And it sends me a message that they did it and that they when we meet once a week, I can say, okay, well, you did 50% of what the plan was, and this is the progress we made.
SPEAKER_01The accountability is real.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the accountability is written, and then that way it takes it off of me as the trainer to say, oh, the program doesn't work. Well, you did 50% of the program, so you got 50% results, it's immeasurable, so it takes away that again, like we talked about in another episode. What did you feel like though on or what did you you said you thought about you looked at the app, you thought about the app, you thought about the plan, but you didn't actually do oh, we're talking about motivation. Yeah, you just didn't do the plan. So people are doing a lot of busy work, which is avoidant to what they should just actually be doing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's good. I something my buddy uh Aaron was one of the most genius numbers guys I know, but he's also an artist, crazy combination. Yeah, um, he taught me, I think it's called the Eisenhower matrix. Okay, there's four. I'm gonna do this real quick. There's four four quadrants. There is not important, not urgent. Okay, there's not urgent, important, and then there's not important, urgent, and then there's urgent and important. You gotta write it down, you need to visualize it or google it. And what happens is a lot of us get stuck in these urgent things that really just aren't important. Check emails. I gotta respond back. Old Navy's good about this. Oh, you know, 20% off today only. Like y'all know y'all gonna have another sale tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Before before you get that, before the email day is up, you might get another one.
SPEAKER_01And so I think a lot of people get stuck in that urgent, and they don't really do things that are important. They're not, they're not mental. So at the end of the day, I'm just worn out, tired, stressed out, frustrated, and my to-do list is longer, not shorter.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and those become time leaks, like those small distractions, especially with the phone opinion. I I've had to have clients pull out their phone in the session, and I'm like, take the game off your phone, turn the notifications, yeah. When and they're distracted by the notifications from the old Navy emails or whatever emails that keep popping up. And by the end of the day, again, I have to say, well, we scheduled an hour for emails. We scheduled an hour for that, which sometimes it gets real specific with my clients. What where is your time going? Like we said before, you get 168 hours in the week. And if you sleep the appropriate amount and you work the amount that's not, you know, over the labor law, where are the other hours going?
SPEAKER_01They don't know.
SPEAKER_00They don't know. It's distractions, it's interruptions, it's um conversations that don't necessarily need to be had. Uh oh people in there, in the in the I'm gonna call out some of my clients in their group chat. I'm like, you spent more time in the group chat, you should have got on the Peloton. Group chat on there.
SPEAKER_01That's really the only question I ask. Listen, I'm not a productivity specialist. Uh they should get Melton and Michelle Welch. Phenomenal when it comes to productivity and operations. The only question I ask, I said, Hey, does this help me make money? So, as you know, as a business owner, that's my question. So many things you could be doing. I'm like, is this gonna help me make money? And if it's eventually or maybe, then I just don't do it. Or I'll try and get somebody else to do it. I'll I'll have a team member do it.
SPEAKER_00So, how do you equate our podcast? Because this is time consuming. How do you put this in your productivity wheel when it comes to that portion?
SPEAKER_01That's great. This is this is important, not urgent. And so important things that aren't urgent get scheduled. Simple as that. So I've already where's my checklist? Oh it's on the floor. I've already done my hundred touches on LinkedIn today. It's done. So everything else is extra. This was on the calendar of schedules designated time, so it's not a distraction when you schedule it. And uh, hopefully, our goal is to bring awareness, say, listen, we're gonna help you grow your business, multiply your success by teaching as better questions, right? And you're saying, Listen, we're gonna help you not just have a healthy self but healthy lifestyle through the HL Collective. And our goal is to create awareness in the introduction at least to new clients. So this is forward progress. Uh, even if you're not gonna see instant results, I think a lot of people want instant results. Um, so that's that's why this is valuable today and tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And I'm glad that you said that. And one thing that you started with at the beginning is the structure part, it is scheduled, yeah, and that's why it's working. We can quantify it, we've moved forward, we can measure it. We're on number 15.
SPEAKER_01We were we did some research on this, it goes back and forth, but there's a lot of uh podcasts that just have one episode, and then the rest of them don't make it past 10. And so if you get past 10, you're in the top 40 of podcasts worldwide. So we are 15, y'all. Thank you for tuning in. Tell a friend at tell a friend. Yes, and that's where we had to decide are we being busy or we're being productive? Because we could, you know, spend more time on um naming the podcast or writing the perfect show notes or designing the flyer, or I don't know, whatever people waste that one. We can record, yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know what it is, I think what we're we're what we're exemplifying is the busy work of doing the flyer and the name. That part is comfortable, and it avoids like real decisions or real, like let's just do it. Yeah, just hit the button. You gotta do the uncomfortable part. Like, no, we have to go live, we have to hit record.
SPEAKER_01Uh, a couple weeks ago, what what you call it?
SPEAKER_00Perfection paralysis, paralysis, yeah, yes, it's the perfection paralysis, it's avoidant. The busy work is avoided. My clients say, like, oh, I have to learn this, I have to learn this. You want to learn all the things about some nutrition plan? When I'm saying just do this list, don't you know the whole point of having a coach?
SPEAKER_01Listen, listen, y'all. You could learn everything that I know. It might take you 30 years, but you could, or you could just hire me, we could get there faster and smoother. Yeah, you could learn everything. It's a no, it might take you 30 years, or just hire this coach. Yeah, don't figure it out. It's 2026. We recorded this, maybe we'll listen to 2036. Don't figure it out. Bon small has already figured out that's credible, that's proven success. Are you going to YouTube, watch the testimonials? You can go to our LinkedIn, look at my recommendations, right? They've got documented success, and just follow their instructions, just take action. Just stop planning and start doing.
SPEAKER_00Yes, stop planning and start doing. Had that talk today. My client, she's a she's a NASA, she just helped with Artemis going to space and coming back successfully. Yes, a shout-out to Corley. She works in navigation and communication, so awesome. But I have to bring her back and say, you know, so your wellness plan is not Artemis. I don't need you to think that much. I actually need you to think less. I need you to plan less and just do. Just do. And she's like, okay. And she took her notes, and I'm like, I'm gonna let you take notes on this, but I need you to do.
SPEAKER_01That's wow, there's a lot of lessons in there. I think people will use uh success, right? You're you got a big project at work, you got a high profile case to avoid or procrastinate on taking care of themselves.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yes, and they turn sometimes they turn it into a project because I work with execs and they're in projects and creating projects and decision making all day long. They don't know how to put that down and just give themselves care. Like I just want you to give yourself care.
SPEAKER_01We talked about that when we first started. I don't know if the camera was rolling. Remember, we said on just being action takers, where sometimes it's just hey, listen, we'll we'll do it and then figure it out.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I mean, but it's one step forward. We are better now at episode 15 than we are at episode one because we just did it. Absolutely, you know, we didn't turn it into busy work, you know, real fast and distractions. It's like sometimes you're not busy. Just be honest with yourself. You are distracted, you are scrolling. Stop scrolling.
SPEAKER_01You're not busy, you're distracted. Yes, what did the streamer say? Chat click that.
SPEAKER_00You know, I mean, they say what the average adult's attention span is like seven seconds now.
SPEAKER_01Seven seconds, seven seconds, but that was goldfish.
SPEAKER_00No, that is that is attention span. Oh adults in 2026, it's about seven seconds.
SPEAKER_01Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So while you're pondering all the let's just say you're doing marketing online, everybody, just get it out there, don't overthink it, post it, just post it. It don't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be perfectly lit and all the that'll come. Get it out there, do your work and move on, post it and move on.
SPEAKER_01Listen, I think I I might have said it before because but I this is one of many examples. I sent a message on let's just say Tuesday, right? And it said happy Monday at the end. I was like, oh what happened? Nothing. The IRS didn't come shut my business down, right? Didn't find me the FTC didn't find me. So there's a lot of things we try, and and this is that professional paralysis where we're like, well, I just want it to be perfect, it just needs to be uh it just needs to work, and so I'm not telling you to go start being a brain surgeon today, but what can you what's the small step you can do today that's forward progress where you can look back and say, Hey, I've made a little bit of distance uh than yesterday. That's that's your rubric. What can I do right now that's gonna make a difference?
SPEAKER_00Right now, intentional action, you'll be proud of intentional action.
SPEAKER_01Oh, you'll be proud of it. That's a good metric. Would I be proud of myself 15 minutes from now? Yes, somebody write that down. That's a good one. Yeah, you look you scrolling your phone, you're like, well, would I be proud of myself 15 minutes from now if I keep doing this?
SPEAKER_00Right, because you intentionally, if you decide to intentionally brain rot the 15 minutes, set a timer so 15 doesn't turn into 16. Yeah, you know, these are things you you can you can it's so many things and and focus over volume, don't turn into the busy B.
SPEAKER_01Hold on, hold on, focus over volume. What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00So focus on the task at hand, like you had your quadrants of what is urgent, important. Do the thing that's going to move you forward and focus on it, don't just keep piling onto your calendar to make your calendar full of things to do.
SPEAKER_01Gotcha.
SPEAKER_00Focus.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. This one's for my ADHD folks. Finish the task in front of you. Yes, yes, I know me. I might know you a little bit. Oh, by the way, and I gotta do this. Oh, before I do that, I gotta do this. Before I do that, I gotta do that. Before I do that, I gotta do this. Finish the task in front of you. It might be the most difficult thing you're ever gonna do, and it's gonna be the most rewarding thing. Yes, so I can't finish it. And that's one of the reasons I'll say this again pick something small, the small step of progress. Yes, you try to set these big old, you're trying to do a 5,000-piece puzzle in a day. I'm just saying, hey, I'm just gonna do five push-ups today, right? So wealth house, I'm gonna drink five bottles of water today, and that's where that's where we can be. This goes back to our conversation on consistency. Oh no, where is that? Go back to the show notes. Oh, there it is. Uh, you're not episode. Oh, that's a future. Oh go back to the show notes, type in consistency, and find out. Well, yeah, we leave some great tips on there. I won't reaction. Yeah, okay. So you said focus. Um, so finish the test in hand, say it plan it out. Uh, would you be proud of yourself 15 minutes from now?
SPEAKER_00And then and then one more, one more structure. We always gotta go back to structure structure over chaos. One minute you're checking emails, next minute you're doing this. No, set a time that you're checking your emails. Now you might have to check it a few times, but set whatever your tasks are, structure it out throughout the week. Like figure out your top four quadrants and put it on a calendar and make it real.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk about because there's there's somebody who's gonna say, Well, I have kids, it's not that easier, or you know, I've got uh whatever excuse people make. How do we have structure without putting ourselves into a box?
SPEAKER_00Without putting yourself into a box. It's not about putting yourself into a box, but you do have to set some boundaries. You can't, you are, you know, at a certain part, you are in charge, you're in charge of yourself and their schedule. Yes, there's gonna be some things that are out of your control, sure, but that's every day, all day, but you can still set some boundaries so that that does not affect the whole outcome of, as you say, did it make me money or not? Yeah, because they won't have anything to play, the kids won't have anything to do if you didn't make your quota. But you say you have lots of time to spend with your kids when you get fired fire because you were checking your emails right for six hours, for six hours, you know. Oh man, but they're even within that, and I like you said that is a task for the ADHDers, and that may be why maybe entrepreneurship is not for them in some cases, you know, it's not for everybody.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad you said that. This is not an anti-job podcast.
SPEAKER_00Keep your job, yeah. If you're not good at keeping structure or setting boundaries or knowing when it's time to, hey, log off and take a walk because you've been sitting there for four hours, and hey, labor laws are real. Like eat the lunch so that you have nourishment for your brain to make it through the rest of your day. Like, there's some things that you at some point you have to push back and you have to set your standards.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I can't end it no better than that. Listen, y'all, we don't want you to be busier.
SPEAKER_00No, we want you to be more productive, be more productive, check the boxes.
SPEAKER_01That's man, that's it. Thanks for tuning in to the business cousins podcast where we talk family and business. We want to help you grow and be better in every area of your life, not just the money making parts.
SPEAKER_00Yes, help is help as well.
SPEAKER_01That's why you're here. Listen, y'all, don't just listen to this podcast, go practice one thing you've learned and then tell a friend to tell a friend. All right, we'll see you next Tuesday.
SPEAKER_00See you next week.