Stay focused while working from home & on the road

We have big dreams, but staying focused long enough to achieve them can be quite a challenge. In today’s episode of Self Discovery, I’m breaking down a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the last 6 years while working from home and now, on the road. ALL of these are totally doable and do not require a giant investment or for you to flip your life upside down. They focus on creating clarity, so when you get ready to work, you’ve got action items ready. to. go. I also include a few products that I’m LOVING that may make you a little more excited to get your booty to work, too!

Journal:

Rustico.com, discount code: JACLYN

Planners:

Danielle la Porte Desire Map Planner 

Savor Life 90 Day Planner

Laptop/Camera Equipment Bag:

The exact one I have has been discontinued, but these are almost exactly the same. 

My Little Strawberry Timer:

The cutest little nugget timer.

Ryze Superfood Mushroom Coffee:

https://www.ryzesuperfoods.com/, discount code: JACLYN


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Transcript

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Where the man Hello, hello. Hello beautiful people and Happy Wednesday to you. Today is Episode 47. I am recording it in my little RV I'm in Arizona right now the weather is perfection and that little snort that you just heard no, that was not me passing gas. That was my dog sneezing. So anyways, we're gonna pretend like that didn't happen, and I'm just gonna roll with it. And hopefully that gave you a little giggle. Anyway, today's episode 47 is about staying focused, while working from home and on the road. I've been getting asked recently about how I stay productive. And so today I'm spilling, just kind of all the tips and tricks that I've picked up over the years, working from home and now having been on the road for the last few months working on on the road. But before I dive into today's topic, I want to do a self discovery spotlight. This is the part of the show where I share an awesome five star review that was left. And these reviews are just so incredibly helpful in making this podcast seen and heard by other people. So please, if you haven't left a review, leave one it'll take you a couple minutes it will absolutely make my day. And why not what in the world right, this review was left by fierce Pierce, he gave self discovery five stars and he said stellar insight from a beautiful soul. Jacqueline nails it. Her kind voice mixed with life experience gives her a unique ability to approach the topics at hand in a splendid way. Highly recommend for those looking for little guidance and motivation. Thank you very much fierce peers I so appreciate that. And yeah, I put my heart and soul into these episodes, I hope that you can hear me smiling. And like being energetic on the other end of the mic, because recording this podcast is such a joy for me because I feel like the information that I've picked up, and some of it has been from you guys. But the information that's being shared in this podcast is stuff that I truly 1,000,000% believe in and stuff that's helped me in my life. So let's spread the word and let's just keep the goodness going. Okay. Without further ado, let's dive into today's episode, which is staying focused while working from home and on the road. 2020 has been if you are a Parks and Rec fan, you will understand this reference. But no, it's been nuts. 2020 has been absolutely crazy. And so many of us are working from home. So many of us are working from the road. And traveling and being out of a routine for me has been difficult, and then trying to stay productive on top of that. Like, how are we supposed to do all the things in 24 hours. And with so many people experiencing this right now I just I want to address it. And I want to share a few things that have really helped me. I do want to preface this episode with a fun little fact. And that is this. I have not been perfectly productive while working from home or working on the road. Okay, I don't want anybody to think that

I am like 5: 3:42

30am, just a productivity machine until 5pm. I do have days like that. But that is not every day because I am human. And sometimes I'm tired. And I also have hashimotos. And sometimes I struggle with anxiety and exhaustion and all of the things so I try and take it day by day. And I try and use these tips that I'm about to share with you to just stay on course and have some kind of routine scheduled to keep to because that just helps me with productivity. So so so much. Like I said, there are definitely days where I will feel like I'm air quotes working. And at the end of the day, I'm like, I think I just chase my tail in a circle all day long. I don't even know if I got anything done. And so that's why I feel like what I'm about to share with you is so important because I personally was so bad at this at first and also needed these tips myself. So just know I'm walking this path with you. I am not fully an expert. Alright, anyways, enough prefacing I'm gonna dive in my first tip This is one of the most important because it is the essence of self discovery itself is to journal. What does journaling have to do with productivity my friends? Well, it gives us a freakin baseline, it gives us a baseline. And we have to know where we are at why we are there, and where we really want to go. And if you don't know exactly where you want to go, that's okay, too. But that's also why journaling is so important. Because as we write, and as we release our thoughts onto the page, somehow, miraculously, they become an jumbled, and it's like day by day puzzle piece by puzzle piece, it forms the picture that we need to see, journaling is epic. And it's absolutely essential. Like I said, we have to know where we are currently, and why we're there. And then we have to compare that to where we really want to go. And that in between stuff. That's the stuff that we should be working on every day to help us create the life that we want to be living eventually. But we have to have that baseline of where we're at to begin with. And I feel like, for me, even if you don't know exactly where you want to go yet, my advice is to start optimizing your day to feel your best. And what I mean by that is doing something productive everyday. So at the end of the day, you don't feel like you're chasing your tail, like sometimes I do, and you feel like you've accomplished something. If you do this, you'll be much better prepared for how to tackle your big dreams, if that's something that you are struggling with, currently not knowing what those are getting into the routine of journal, journal, journalizing. journaling, and optimizing your day will prepare you to tackle your big dreams, it's all of these baby steps that lay the foundation for the big stuff. So even if you don't know the big stuff yet, start with this small stuff, start with journaling, get an accurate baseline for where you are. And I can guarantee you that is going to bring so much clarity. If you have questions about that, let me know, I do want to touch on the actual journal that I use because I feel like I have often bought like cheap little notebooks and on sale journals. And there's nothing wrong with that at all. Especially if I'm you need to be on a strict budget right now do that. However, there's something to be said for buying a beautiful journal for me it had to do with self worth. I waited two years to purchase the journal that I actually wanted to buy. And it wasn't even that expensive. It was 40 bucks. But it's this gorgeous buckskin leather wrapped journal that just feels like something I'm going to treasure for the rest of my life. And so when I sit down in the morning, to write in it, it feels like a ritual, it doesn't feel like a cheap little notebook that, you know, I could lose and forget about and whatever. This feels like a treasured possession. And I think when we invest in ourselves with things that we appreciate, and things that are beautiful, it's a reflection of our self worth. And so this journal that I'm talking about is from a brand called rustico. They have gorgeous like, hand made leather items and the most beautiful journals. Just that I have. They're just absolutely beautiful. If you don't believe me, go check it out. Resta co.com. And if you do want to purchase one of their items, use code Jaclyn, that's jc LYN, and you will get 15% off. Like I said, these journals are a small investment but I feel like they're just so beautiful. And when you sit down and you touch it and you start writing in it, then it's just it's these small rituals that make up a really special and beautiful day and you are worth investing in my friend. Next thing I want to talk about in order to stay focused while working from home and on the road is having a clear to do list and goals. I know this sounds so basic, but it is absolutely necessary. The most difficult thing for me is not having clear objectives. It's hard for me to be motivated if I don't have a clear understanding of why I'm doing something and what I need to do in order to get it done. Do you have a clear and measurable goal? Do you have action steps for how you are going to achieve that goal or those goals. These are important Questions be asking yourself, and I'm going to give you an example, on a personal example. So when I first started this podcast, I just wanted to get it out into the world. I decided I would try it for six months and just see what happened. And that is great. I did that. And it was a good start. But it wasn't a super clear or measurable goal. When you're starting a new endeavor, sometimes the goal needs to be as simple as getting it out into the world and not sitting on it anymore. Okay. But now that I've been podcasting, for almost a year, I have a more specific goal. And it's this reach 25,000 podcast listens by February 4, of 2020. That is a clear and measurable goal. And now from here, now that I know what my goal is, I make action steps. So here are a few examples of action steps for me, number one, brainstorm 25 new ideas for episodes. Number two, choose 10 of those episodes and script them out and assign each one a due date. Number three, record each episode, and assign it a due date. Number four, edit each episode and assign it a release date. Number five, and I know these are kind of tedious, but it just helps me to break everything down. So I don't go to my desk and go, what the hell am I supposed to do today? Okay, number five, make episode graphics for each episode. Number six, post and share episode, and graphics on each respective release date. Next thing I want to talk about is these aren't necessarily nitty gritty tasks. But these are overall, like umbrella ideas that I think will contribute to me reaching my goal. And then once these umbrella ideas are fleshed out, then I can assign them a due date, blah, blah, blah, put them in the task list. The first thing that I might do to help me reach 25,000, podcasts listens is to spend an hour or so researching how to increase my podcast reach. I also might connect with a podcasting community and get involved or go over my podcast stats and see how I can improve on those. Maybe another one is pour into the listeners that I already have in existence, and figure out how to bring them more value. That feels really good to me. Then another thing I might do is consider limiting podcast interviews to 45 minutes. Another thing that I could do is research successful podcasts and identify some common denominators that I might be able to employ in my podcast if that's appropriate. So all of these things considered having these fleshed out tasks. And then these kind of umbrella ideas, this helps me achieve or get closer to my goal of having 25,000 podcasts, listen. So you could just say I want 25,000 podcasts listens and cross your fingers and hope that it happens. Or you can create a system like this. And so when you have this clear and measurable goal, a to do list with due dates on it, and some of the nitty gritty base level things that are needed to accomplish them. And then on top of that some ideas for how you might be able to go above and beyond and really exceed and expand past your goal. It's only a good thing, right? I want to talk about mindset at some point too, because we can only grow to the level of self worth that we have. And we can't reach goals we don't think that we deserve. But that's a huge, big topic, and one that I think I'll probably save for another day. If that is something that you're interested in hearing about. Let me know. And I will definitely craft some content about that mindset. Okay, next thing. This is also something that's kind of obvious, but something that I noticed a lot of people don't do, and that's have a planner to hold yourself accountable. I love planners and calendars. I seriously geek out over them. And I probably wouldn't get anything done except taking my dogs out and feeding myself every day. If I didn't have a planner. I've used many different systems over the years. And I think the key is finding what works for you. So I want to give you a couple of free resources. And you'll probably know about most of these but Google Calendar, Apple calendar, which is my preferred calendar, Asana, which is awesome. And then some physical planners, and I've used a lot of these over the years because I like to experiment. I've used Stephen Covey and I've used moleskin and I've used all kinds of other stuff but my favorites are Danielle reports desire map planner. Oh, I love it so much and I'll link it below and the savor beauty, my neck 90 days planner, I recently started using this one and it's the bomb. It's so great if you have big goals during the quarter that you want to accomplish, it helps you break everything down and then hold yourself accountable. I've read about the bullet journal method and there's also another planner that hones in on just 90 days of planning. But my go twos are Danielle's desire map planner have been using it seriously for five years and the saver beauty my next 90 days planner, because in those, it also talks about emotional state, what kind of vibes and feelings you want to have throughout the day self care, they're just definitely more feminine, definitely more my speed. Um, and I keep reaching for these print out calendars, because I'm old school like that. I love writing things down and it helps me commit them to memory. And so yeah, I just prefer writing things down. If you're a digital kind of gal or guy, great. If not, no worries, try one of these planners. And bonus tip. I use Evernote for organizing. Right now I'm using Evernote to script out this episode and it's in my podcast notebook in season one. It's also where I keep all my show notes and tags. While I love, love, love writing things down in a planner for longer form writing Evernote is just fantastic. It's like an unlimited Trapper Keeper from middle school. And I may have just aged myself right there. But I don't care because I like to be organized. I love Love, love to be organized. Okay, next thing and this is really important too is a designated work split workspace is a designated workspace with your supplies out, y'all. This is one of the most important things, we have to eliminate the obstacles. To begin, we need a workspace, we need to make it pretty. I have my laptop, and my keyboard, and my pretty pink mouse pad and candles and essential oils and water and lip balm and moisturizer and all of the beautiful things right at my fingertips right now. I hate having to find supplies, and then take them out every day or put them away every day. It just like I'm a procrastinator, I will put it off. So having the supplies out makes a big difference. For me, having a beautiful workspace makes a big difference for me, I want to be able to sit down, light a freaking candle and begin my tasks. Not being organized or having a designated workspace makes me not want to begin my work. So if you're mobile and constantly working from different spots, I totally get that to consider an organized backpack or briefcase with a place for everything to help with easy setup and breakdown that has kind of been my saving grace when I'm on the road. It's such a gift not to have to dig around for a notebook or a pen, or paper or whatever, everything's just got a little slot. I'm all about creating ease when I'm working because working itself is hard enough. And I'll link the camera bag and laptop bag that I got on Amazon. It's actually this giant backpack that has like a laptop sleeve, and places for my microphone and cameras and all that thing. It's kind of a like a miracle bag. My dog Shiloh is now scratching herself. Of course, I just cannot seem to get through this episode today without my dogs making a bunch of noise. Anyway, I will link that backpack in the Episode Notes. Next thing is a productivity timer. This is especially helpful when I have a lot to do. It helps me focus. And we live in a world now where there are a million bazillion gajillion distractions. So when I have something to do, and it's important, I set a timer. And I turn everything else off. And I just do that one thing I have because I don't want to use the timer on my phone. Although there, there are some great apps on your phone for doing productivity work. I got a physical timer because I want to put my phone on airplane mode and not touch it because when I touch it, and I see notifications or emails or whatever, it breaks my focus and it's hard then to refocus. So I have this cute little strawberry timer. I'll link it in the show notes. And I use that I will set it for half an hour or an hour and just go at my tasks like like whatever I don't have a metaphor for that. At this moment. I don't always use the timer. Again. I want to be totally honest with you guys. I don't want to mislead you in any way And have you figured that I have like this productivity machine. 24 seven, but when I do use the timer, whole leaf Moly productivity. I feel like I contend next what I can do in one hour when I use this timer and put my phone away and other, you know additional distractions when I really, really want to get into the nitty gritty of productivity. I also assign myself time slots for each task. For instance, maybe my task is right script for Episode 27 on productivity when working from home or on the road, and I put 45 minutes next to it. Then I put the timer on and literally give myself 45 minutes to execute my task. Now that I'm thinking about this, I'm like, dang, I need to do that for everything because it helps so much. Really, when you give yourself time limit, you will be amazed at how much you can accomplish. Okay. Next thing is accountability partner. I'm just starting this process. But the idea is to tell someone, ideally, someone who is working on big things like you are, what you want to accomplish at the beginning of the week. And then at the end of the week, have an honest roundup of what you did and didn't get done. This is great if you're just starting the work from home or work from the road process. And the freedom of it is actually overwhelming. My husband does this with his business partners, and then they knock ish out of the park on the daily because they have each other to hold themselves accountable. It's awesome. Okay, so accountability partner. Last thing I want to talk about, and this is a nutrition thing. We so often reach for coffee throughout the day to keep us energized and to help with focus. But some of the side effects of coffee are jitters, dehydration, overtaxing your adrenal glands and possibly your thyroid. And so one thing that I do is I use this mushroom coffee blend that has a fraction of the amount of caffeine but still a little boost and I actually use this in my coffee in the morning and mix it all up. Oh, I'll do a little post on this on Instagram, but I love it because it is a mushroom superfood coffee blend. It's mostly these mushrooms superfoods with just a little bit of coffee mixed in. And it's got quarter steps for stamina Lion's Mane for focus. Rishi for stress should talkie for immunity, Turkey tail for digestion and King trumpet for inflammation. And I've noticed over the last couple of months since I started using this, that I do just feel different, I feel more calm. I definitely feel more focused. I feel like my health has been steadily improving. from many things that I've switched up. One of those being hormone replacement therapy and I did an episode on that a few episodes back, but rise mushroom coffee has certainly helped. And superfoods in general are something that I'm really experimenting with and I feel like receiving a lot of benefits from so if you want to try this rise, mushroom superfood coffee, go to rise superfoods calm and enter code Jacqueline j AC Li n for 15% off. I have several friends that have gotten hooked on this and they have come back raving to me. So I'm really not exaggerating. Let me know if you like it and I hope that you do I absolutely love that below in the show notes. Okay, want to wrap this up. I recently listened to a Joe Rogan interview and he was talking with Matthew McConaughey. And Matthew was talking about losing a bunch of weight and getting down to 135 pounds for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. And Joe said something like that must have been so hard. I cannot imagine how difficult that must have been. And Matthew replied, and this is what I thought was so cool. No man. Once I committed to the role, it was easy. And I love that commit. Do the work and shut up about it. Everything is as hard or as easy as we make it. You have been listening to self discovery with Jaclyn Steele. For more information or to submit a question please visit Jaclyn steele.com slash self discovery pod. On Instagram I am at Jaclyn Steele and that's j AC Li n s t e l e and on YouTube you can find me@youtube.com slash official Jaclyn Steele. If you haven't already, please sign up for my high vibe Thursday newsletter where I send one email a week aimed at inspiring and elevating your day because you freaking deserve it. You can sign up in the show notes or by visiting my website Jaclyn Steele, calm. May you go and be big and brave and bold today. Remember that letter gets easier when we know who we are. And as always, and until next time, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening