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Our Tips for Increasing Productivity - Episode 54
26 Plays6 months ago
If you're here, you're likely in the entrepreneurial, business owning, lifestyle improving space, and you probably are no stranger to seeking out ways to improve your daily productivity.
Today, Beth and Ayla list out a few things they do weekly and daily to maintain a productive lifestyle, and this includes all kinds of tips, from keeping your home, to organizing your work tasks. We're here to encourage you that a productive lifestyle does not have to mean that you're moving a million miles an hour, but you're instead optimizing a few tasks at a time, each day. You would be surprised at what a FEW small changes a day can do for your productivity.
Got a tip that we missed? You know the drill, you can reach out to us on instagram @artofintentionpodcast, or email us personally at [email protected]
You've got this!
Xo - Beth and Ayla
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Transcript
Why is productivity necessary in a multi-job world?
00:00:00
Speaker
In a time where most people have to have multiple jobs or income streams to afford their lifestyles, we think that it's more important than ever to know how to be super productive with the time that you do have to work on every task you have to do. Today, we're going to go over some of the best methods and tips for increasing productivity on any given task. Some of these are going to be daily, like more small lifestyle shifts, and others are just more singular tips you can use in certain scenarios. Either way, if you feel like you struggle to get long to-do lists done, this episode is for you.
Introduction to 'Art of Intention' podcast
00:00:30
Speaker
Welcome to the Art of Intention podcast with Beth and Ayla. Two best friends turn creative entrepreneurs. This is a place for us to discuss everything business friendships and faith and occasionally more. We're so excited for today's episode. We think you're going to love it. Stay tuned.
Understanding true productivity and focus
00:00:49
Speaker
All right, we're not trying to make any guarantees here, but we're pretty confident that if you aren't currently doing any of these things that we're about to talk about, productivity tips 101, you might be able to work twice as fast, faster than you ever thought once you implement them with regularity.
00:01:06
Speaker
Productivity can often be interchangeable with doing a lot of things every day. And sometimes that is exactly what productivity means. But I've also come to learn as a business owner and just employee, wife, friend, all those things that productivity isn't always just the amount of things that you do in a day, but it's doing things and doing things well. Think about it. Say you accomplished 10 tasks yesterday. You replied to some emails. You went grocery shopping.
00:01:33
Speaker
You cleaned your house, you had some client calls, you picked some events, sent out a gallery if you're a photographer. Plus more, that may sound like, whoa, what a productive day. But what if you forgot some of your groceries? What if you missed some areas in your house? What if you didn't read your client emails very thoroughly and then responded to them wrong? Or you weren't able to give your clients on the phone your full attention?
00:01:53
Speaker
Sometimes productivity comes in the form of learning how to do less things in order to do them well. Oh my gosh, absolutely phenomenal. I love that. I love everything you said. And that's a really good point. I think you're right. Not a lot of people have thought about that. And it's kind of weird because I don't think a lot of people are taught how to work. You know, it's a weird concept when you think about it, teaching people how to be productive.
00:02:15
Speaker
But I've met, you know, quite a few people in my life who haven't been told about some really simple things they could do to increase their productivity or people who don't realize how impactful some of the seemingly smaller habits are to daily productivity.
Difference between productivity and motivation
00:02:29
Speaker
And of course, we aren't saying you have to do these things or even that you necessarily should. We just are sharing for those who want advice for boosting productivity. So if that's you, we're making this episode for you.
00:02:40
Speaker
We do want to clarify real fast that the things we're sharing today are different than motivation. Motivation is like a whole thing and we do plan to speak in another episode about motivation and increasing that because it can just, man, it can be hard sometimes.
00:02:55
Speaker
But that is a longer conversation and one that frankly isn't quite easy to change as your productivity. So let's say you're super motivated already. Boom. Here's your productivity tips that we're going to share today in hopes that it'll help you. Yeah. Whether or not you struggle with your motivation. Yeah, exactly. I personally struggle with motivation a lot. So some of these habits have actually been a lifesaver for me and have allowed me to get a ton done during times when I was feeling motivated so that I didn't fall as far behind when I'm lacking motivation.
00:03:24
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That's such a real one. Like you and I are both like big burst of energy, like people. So taking advantage of that when you have it. And sometimes I found like, because I do struggle with my motivation a lot. Like my motivation mostly comes from deadlines. I'm like, I have no choice but to do this. But for the other things, like, you know,
00:03:43
Speaker
maybe taking care of my house or like the more, the less important stuff. I noticed once I implement some of these productivity things I've learned, the feeling that you get when that's done is motivation in and of itself. So sometimes it's like what comes first, the productivity or the motivation. Like sometimes you've got to just like start and it's hard, but then I don't know, motivation comes from that. But with that productivity, here's our tips.
Sleep's role in productivity
00:04:07
Speaker
Here's what we know. We're going to jump right into it. Beth, go ahead and take it away.
00:04:11
Speaker
Love it. Okay, let's do it. Let's start off with one that can be talked about so much. There are so many reasons to talk about this one. Let's talk about this consistent sleep schedule. So there are so many reasons to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. But since we are focusing on productivity today, I'm going to simply say that being well rested and on a consistent sleep schedule boosts your productivity. A study in the archives of clinical
00:04:38
Speaker
neuropsychology found that a consistent sleep schedule, one where people's bodies have been trained to follow naturally and they wake up feeling rested, have better cognitive functions, including better memory and better focus. So there's also been more attention in the news in recent weeks on studies coming out saying that there's actually no such thing as people who need like almost no sleep or less sleep. I don't know if you've heard people say before like, Oh, I can, I don't think that's very much sleep.
00:05:05
Speaker
I think that's me. I'm a six-hour night queen. Okay, okay. We'll hear this. Okay, tell me. Confront me with it. Let's go. These studies have been coming out a lot recently. I've been hearing it even on the radio, but apparently this has been a big thing that has come out and it's kind of stirring people up. People who think they're able to perform well and only let's say three, four, five, maybe even six,
00:05:28
Speaker
hours of sleep are actually harming their bodies and brains. This is what's so crazy. What might look like normal functioning to them and the rest of the world is actually their abilities are still stunted. I think in simple terms,
00:05:44
Speaker
you would be even more focused, energetic, you know, like your brain would be fully stimulated, healthy if you got more hours. So even if you think we go and functioning fine at like this level, how much more could you do if you got more sleep? Does that make sense? So just because you can survive the day on less doesn't mean you should. And it actually makes me kind of sad because I know a few people, I didn't actually know that you were a six hours sleep person. I mean, I guess I kind of knew, but not really. Yeah. Like I'll get more if I can take it, but my average is definitely
00:06:13
Speaker
Probably at like six to seven for sure. Yeah, okay Well, that's a little bit better than I know somebody who literally claimed it only need like four or five hours of sleep a night And after reading these studies, I already was so sus I was like I feel like you could do better, but I'm like, what are you stealing from yourself? You know, would you be happier? Would your memory be better? What is it that they are stunting and lacking? Because they are refusing to get more because they think they can function just fine on the few hours. So I
00:06:40
Speaker
That's all I'm going to say about that one. If you have anything you want to say about that, you'll feel free. Well, I did hear like a tiny bit about that study, like more sleep. And I heard specifically, I don't know if it's the same study or not. Some people who are on like the TikTok world and stuff might've seen this video floating around, but it was how women specifically need more sleep than men. Oh, I saw that one too. Yeah. Just because of like what our bodies are like doing and everything like that, like men
00:07:08
Speaker
Um, I think are around like that eight to nine mark and women around that nine to 10 plus one extra hour, like while you're menstruating. And that's super real actually. Like I've noticed if I can get at least like one little nappy nap in during that week, you'd be surprised how much better things go, like just extra rest. So, um, that's just like a men and women thing, but that totally made, made a lot of sense to me. And I think that clicked for a lot of women who maybe are like going to bed the same time as their husbands and stuff realizing like, Oh, it's normal for me.
00:07:36
Speaker
to maybe need a little bit more. And it depends on other factors of your life, but that doesn't surprise me very much, you know, that that's like going around. Like I think I knew that, but now seeing it kind of come out in a study, it just, yeah, it kind of makes sense. And it also just kind of reminds me of like, if you imagine somebody who eats, like who eats not very well, like just kind of like junk food or whatever saying like, Oh yeah, but I do great and I feel great. It's like, right. But how much better would you feel if you not even fully changed anything, but just like made some healthier choices?
00:08:06
Speaker
things like that. Well, and so I think all I would say about this too is just like, if you are one of the people who thinks you need less sleep, but you also feel somewhere in the back of your mind, and maybe the reason you're listening to this episode is that
00:08:18
Speaker
You could also be a little more productive. Just try this
Morning habits that boost productivity
00:08:22
Speaker
one out. Try having a consistent sleep schedule, which means you go to bed every night at the same time, wake up every morning at the same time, and you get more than seven, eight hours of sleep a night. Just try it for a couple of weeks and see if it helps you with your focus, with your productivity and all this kind of things, kind of snowball together.
00:08:36
Speaker
But okay, um, actually real quick if I can just continue to the next one because yeah keep going this So i'll just say the next one so fast. Oh another one that kind of goes along with this is um, actually tip number two Making your bed in the morning or like getting cleaning done first. So The specifics will probably look different for everyone, but I like to uh, well actually i'll start with the bed thing So with making the bed specifically real fast, this is so random and this is something that um when I was in college I heard
00:09:06
Speaker
like a list of tips of like how to have a more productive day, yada yada. And one of the things was make your bed every single morning. And I was like, that's such a scam. Like that's not gonna work, but it's easy enough to try.
00:09:17
Speaker
I tried it and it freaking worked for me. I don't know what it was, but my body liked that so much. I'm telling you on the mornings I made my bed, I was so much more productive. It just worked. I decided to research it a little bit more to be like, what is this? Is this real? Is it all in my head? Apparently, it triggers the reward system in your brain. I don't know. I think I might have talked about this on another episode, but just for anybody who didn't hear that.
00:09:41
Speaker
When you start off your day and the very first thing you do is something that is like getting a task done, something productive, um, you kind of trigger the like rewards in your brain to be happy when you do something productive. So your brain chases after wanting to do more tasks that give you that feeling, which would be more productive tasks. So if you start with a task, then you've kind of wired your brain for the next few hours to want to do productive things. It's kind of like, does that make sense? So it's really, yes. Oh, 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:10
Speaker
So that being said, I, most mornings I try to start my morning out by making the bed at the very least. And then like I said, also I try to get my housework stuff done first or at least some kind of housework tasks. So if I need to like, you know, do a load of laundry, start that right away, or if there's some dishes from the night before I do those right away, you know, stuff like that. Um, and I start with like a clean slate if possible.
00:10:32
Speaker
Yeah, no, this one is so real. And I actually remember Beth years ago, when you were in college telling me about the bed one, and I notoriously never fricking made my bed in high school. My room looked disgusting. And I didn't when I first lived alone either. And I was like, yeah, sure. I thought the same thing. I was like, really? And I'm not going to say that it solves all your problems. But let me tell you, I don't work from home 100% at the time anymore. But when I did,
00:11:01
Speaker
I also made my bed first thing in the morning. And it was also something about just passing by my room throughout the day and seeing it made versus seeing it messy. Also, I don't know, it was just kind of like calming through the day. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's where I rest or something like that. But what I did
00:11:19
Speaker
in the morning, and what I still do on the day is that I work from home, because again, I work two jobs, my business, and then in coffee. But the days I'm home, I still wake up, make the bed, and then usually, since I'm home, I'll make breakfast for Chris and I real quick, and I clean up breakfast before I get started. And that can stress me out. Sometimes when I'm busy, I'm kind of like, no, I just want to get in my office and get going. But if I bare minimum make my bed and just clean up breakfast, even just get it all in the dishwasher, just generally get it cleaned up.
00:11:49
Speaker
It's it's amazing. Like I always think I'm like wasting time by doing that but then it's amazing having the feeling of like having that done and then sitting down to work like in my mind kind of like what you said that it like triggers the like reward center and you go after more that feeling and for me like the way it kind of works in my mind is it like tricks my brain into working like yeah because it's the morning you're trying to get your brain going and it's like I need to use my brain to get those small tasks done so then it's awake by the time it's time to sit down and work and
00:12:17
Speaker
usually I've made a coffee or something too. And I just like, I've done some things. Um, and the power of routine too, like your body responds to routine. So if it's like every day you make your bed, maybe make breakfast and clean it up, your brain's like, Oh, this is what we do before it's time to work. And kind of like, I don't have science to back that up. I'm just saying, I feel like that's what my brain does. And then yeah, those rewards centers, it goes after more of that.
00:12:40
Speaker
And then this is also kind of going back to the sleep point, but I've noticed, I don't know if everyone would react to this, but a made bed means better sleep for me. Like if I'm getting into a bed that's unmade that's still crazy from the night before and I just put the covers on me, that's fine. Something about getting into a made bed at the end of the day. It's a little thing that I feel like relaxes me so much more. And I don't always make my bed. Like when I work my second job, I'm sometimes up early in the morning and Chris is still sleeping. So I just go.
00:13:09
Speaker
So it's fine, like I don't have to have that all the time, but I notice if it is made and I get into bed, I'm just like, oh, this is nice. So it could just mean better sleep going back to the first step too.
00:13:19
Speaker
Yeah. Love that. Love all of that. Okay. Up next. Um, this one is very simple, but easy to do. So that's to just drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. Um, all night without drinking water, your body's ready to use them again. And fun fact, uh, even really mild dehydration, like that, the most, most mild, uh, form of dehydration, uh, it affects your
00:13:41
Speaker
Alertness concentration and short-term memory. So when you wake up in the morning, if you don't drink water Already you have like a little bit of dehydration kind of working against your focus and your productivity in that way So just drink water first. Ooh Yeah, I heard that generally
00:13:57
Speaker
as opposed to coffee, you know, like if you're a coffee drinker, um, it's not like you have to completely cut that out, but I, I do my very best. Actually, not even my best. I very much do drink water in the morning before. And it's not even like, Oh, I have to get through this water before my coffee. It's just natural. It's just like, I've done it for so long. It's at the point if for some reason I do drink coffee before any water, my body's like, whoa, I can't use this. Like I can't do anything. Oh, wow. Yeah. No, like I definitely.
00:14:24
Speaker
have to in the morning. And that was something I started doing when I used to just like wake up and drink coffee. I don't do that anymore. I eat and drink water.
00:14:32
Speaker
It's amazing. You can actually feel your body meeting the water and then when you have it, you can actually feel it using it because you've been dehydrated for eight, nine hours, whatever. Love that. The next one, I really love this one. It's kind of an underrated point, but get dressed in the morning even if you aren't going anywhere. I'll tell you right now, there's sometimes during busy season, I'm just like,
00:14:56
Speaker
This is who I am. I sit down at my desk and I'm like, I have no calls today. But just like the little bit of self-care that it takes to just put on an outfit doesn't have to be your business best or anything, but put on an outfit that you might go out in that's still comfortable, makes you feel nice, clean, and just makes you feel good. Even if you aren't going anywhere, that helps a lot. If I stay in my PJs, I'm very much like my brain just wants to stay in bed. That's a super real thing.
00:15:25
Speaker
yeah same it's weird i don't know why it works but i think it works similar to the making of that thing too for me it's just like if i'm in like nice slacks and a blouse my body definitely isn't going to want to just sit around and watch you know tiktoks like yeah well and i think also before the big like work from home boom of 2020 i knew a few women in my life like you know 40s 50s ish who had jobs where they worked from home and they always got dressed
00:15:51
Speaker
It was never this, like they didn't need to be told like get dressed to increase productivity. They were just like, we're going to work. So we get dressed like it still might be comfortable, but they still change. And then when I actually was home to school, I grew up homeschooled. We, it was funny. A lot of people were like, you can stay in your PJs all day, but we did it like we had breakfast and then we went and like got dressed for the day. And it's kind of funny how it's become this thing we have to remind people to do. Cause it's just, it's so easy in this day and age to seek like comfort and stuff.
00:16:17
Speaker
But I think that was a pretty normal thing pre the big work from home boom. So it's just a nice reminder that it's like a very normal thing to do. And it is for a reason because you are going to work even if you're in your own home. So something kind of similar, I guess it's not that similar, but like kind of along with the like organization putting yourself together is having a clean space.
Creating a productive environment
00:16:37
Speaker
Clean space overall as far as your home, but I would say like most definitely your workspace if you if you do work from home.
00:16:43
Speaker
Actually, even if you do go to an office or whatever, just maintaining a clean space wherever, because a clean space equals less distraction, and maintaining your space is important. I can say have a clean space, but I know things happen and your space gets messy, so you have to maintain it. What are little things you can implement each day in order to maintain a clean space? I mean little things. I'm not very good at the day-to-day organization and cleaning. I'm better at living in chaos and then fixing it all in one big go.
00:17:10
Speaker
But there are little things that are so important you can do every day to maintain a clean space. I recommend getting into an open and close mindset, just like a store. There's things that are done every single morning and every single night so that the store is ready for customers each day. They don't do one big clean a week. They do little things every single day. So in the morning, you might open your blinds.
00:17:35
Speaker
You get your materials out that you need to do for your job. And then at night, pick up your desk, put everything away, put your work things away, close your computer and close at nighttime. It's kind of, again, that like tricking your brain into routine thing. But again, every other business in the world pretty much runs on in like an open and close mindset. So I found doing things like that around my home and stuff are similar. That's like for maintaining your work space.
00:18:02
Speaker
but then this could apply to like other areas of your house. Just like after dinner, you close down your kitchen. You know, like I've worked in food service for so long that if I think of opening clothes rather than just like cleaning or like the resets, it kind of just like helps my brain a lot. So even just changing your words like that.
00:18:19
Speaker
I love that. I would never have thought about that. And that's a great way to think of it. I think that's a great, great tip. Thank you for that. Okay. So switching gears a little bit, not quite in the same category as everything we've been talking about. We're going to start talking about ways you can eat differently than maybe will help your productivity. So yeah, hopefully this may be a given, but of course, if you're eating really bad, you're not going to be able to concentrate as well. You're not going to be as focused and you're not going to have as much energy. So you can't be as productive.
00:18:45
Speaker
So when you're lacking nutrients, you can feel yourself getting more sluggish, having a hard time concentrating, being motivated. So just remember, our brains need healthy oils, they need protein and the vitamins. So make sure you're eating healthy. Simple as that. Kind of with that, so I want to talk about breakfast real fast because they're
00:19:04
Speaker
is always that phrase breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that's become more and more debated over the years um as to whether or not you even need to eat breakfast and if so what the breakfast should be like i'll just share for me personally because my routine with breakfast actually i think helps my productivity so i don't eat breakfast it didn't really start out intentionally i just kind of wasn't hungry in the mornings and i was like why am i going to force myself to eat breakfast when i'm not hungry yeah and that's also a waste of time for me
00:19:33
Speaker
So along with that, I also, I would say one of my tips is to eat food only when you're hungry throughout the day.
00:19:40
Speaker
So I don't like pointless routines and that's kind of one of the things we're talking about today is like how to be productive and so I don't do things that are like super pointless. If I'm eating breakfast or any meal particularly at a certain time just because society tells me I should but I don't actually need it, I just don't like to waste my time training my body to do that. Again, I just think it's a waste. So I focus best when I eat when I'm just hungry
00:20:04
Speaker
And rather than trying to create a fake routine, because I noticed I would be distracted in my brain. I'm like, oh, because I need to eat breakfast or I need to eat lunch at a certain time. When in reality, if I'm not hungry at those times, I find myself being able to complete tasks throughout the day without my brain going, oh, there's a little bell in my head that goes, oh, it's time to eat, even if I'm not hungry. So I just wait to eat until I'm hungry. Oftentimes, that means I'm eating for the first time of my day around maybe 11 or so. And then I'm eating dinner. Maybe I'll snack again and I'll eat at dinner.
00:20:33
Speaker
Like, so it's kind of untraditional, but that's how it's for me. You actually eat very similar to me. That's almost exactly what I do. I thought I'd be different, but yeah. You know, I'd love to hear what you do. Yeah. So, I mean, I've been all over the place with breakfast. Most of my life I've been similar with you. I mean, I cannot eat right when I wake up barf, especially if it's like eggs and stuff. I cannot do it. Chris is amazing. He can just like wake up and eat sometimes and he'll cook for himself. And I'm like, no, like he can't do that for me.
00:21:02
Speaker
especially with working early shifts and stuff. At my job right now, actually, I take my break around 10.30, and that's usually the first time I'm eating in the day. Sometimes, it's okay. I'll get into it. That is generally what I do. I do believe breakfast is important because it's in the word. You're breaking your fast. What you do put in your breakfast is important, but it's just whatever you eat first. It doesn't matter what time it is, but what's actually breaking your fast from sleeping. Yeah.
00:21:27
Speaker
And that's why it's important. It's not really when you have it, but the contents in it are important because it's the first thing you're feeding your body in probably, you know, nine, 10, 12, 15 hours. So and yeah, we totally know this might not be for everyone. Some of you out there may need to wake up and eat. And that's exactly what Beth is saying, like just eat when you're hungry. I don't have it perfectly down to a schedule. But the only thing is I do get really annoyed if I'm starting to be productive and then I get really hungry out of nowhere. Like I do get annoyed if I sit down to work in the morning
00:21:57
Speaker
And I do get really hungry, like, you know, around that 10, 11, sometimes 12 marks. Sometimes my first one wasn't around like 12 or one again. Some days it just depends, but I will try to get a little something maybe. Okay. I know what I just said is confusing. I'll try to get something in my body around that 10 a.m. Mark.
00:22:14
Speaker
Because sometimes if I wait till 12 one when I'm actually hungry I'm like annoyed that I'm right in the middle of doing something and now it's like I need to go eat and sometimes that causes me to like run and go pick up something rather than you cook it or to eat chips like I don't want my first meal of the day to be like chips or a snack or something and
00:22:32
Speaker
So I will try to make at least something small around that 10 a.m. Mark whether it's like overnight oats or a smoothie like something that's satiating but still like kind of fits within like what I want to eat that early so I hope that makes sense like I will try to eat before I really get into the meat of my work day but I'm the same as you I don't eat right when I wake up it's usually around like 10 or 11 in the day and then I just make sure it's a good like satiating
00:22:56
Speaker
meal so that I don't have to like get up and eat again in a couple hours that I'm like good to go so and yeah like I said I don't want my first meal to be like junk food if I wait too long and then I'm too lazy to make anything so yeah yeah I hope that makes sense. No that makes plenty of sense I like that and I think it just examples too that you got to get to know your own body and your own routine and what's going to work for you I like how you said sometimes you have to think ahead to where like if you if you're going to be in a task at 12
00:23:20
Speaker
then maybe you are going to make yourself eat closer to 10 so that you don't have to take a break from your task for you know or go buy something quickly if you're starving at that time so you just have to get to know what's going to be best for you but we just want to let you know it doesn't have to be you eat breakfast and lunch and dinner and there at certain times if you feel like you don't need that because that can really hamper productivity and just cause your body to be in a routine that it doesn't need to be in
00:23:45
Speaker
Oh yeah, I guess like, oh, that was the other way I'm similar to you is I'm not a lunch eater. Like I said, I'll do a later breakfast, just like you, a little snack and then dinner, because man, if you feed me like a burger and fries or something in the middle of the day, I'm going to bed. Like I am not doing anything else for the rest of the day. Yeah, I don't know if that's the whole person thing or what, but no, I do something small in the middle of the day, usually, and then like a larger dinner. And then those are kind of my meals, but yeah, anyway.
00:24:12
Speaker
Yeah, that is so funny. I didn't know we were actually that similar. I love that. That's awesome. Yeah. Um, I love hearing people have different eating habits. I like that. I think it's good. People need to be able to have autonomy over how they eat and have a good relationship with food and their own bodies. Well, and like intuitive eating, like that could be a whole thing and I'm still learning a lot of the research of it, but like your body is the same with actually like intuitive drinking water.
00:24:36
Speaker
Like some people say like get this much in in a day and your water is very important. You want to be hydrated, but it's almost like you can let your you can trust your body to tell you like when it's.
00:24:45
Speaker
Thirsty and stuff and then like trust it to build those own habits because your body knows what you need and when you need it So yeah, that's yeah Yeah as long as you're not having to break any Obviously unhealthy habits like if you if you if you're listening to your body and you're only eating like once a day That's not enough or if you're only having a glass of water every day Like, you know, obviously might build
Task management for better efficiency
00:25:06
Speaker
up the habit. But yeah what you're saying in general for the average person You know our body it'll tell us you're right
00:25:12
Speaker
The next one, I love this. Beth and I are big list girls, so make a list and cross off what you've done so far. That's a free, I don't know if it's like a good thing, but free serotonin booster right there, especially for the entrepreneur. Similar psychology to making your bed triggers your brain reward system to cross things off of a list. And for me personally, one thing about lists, like I said, I'm a big list person. Sometimes I'll even do things and then put it on my list and then cross it off. So if I didn't have
00:25:42
Speaker
do the breakfast dishes on my list but I did them I'll put them on the list and then like cross it off but uh one thing with lists is to keep your lists realistic you don't have to feel like you need to make a list of 20 things for that day if you know you cannot do it that day I used to make these big old lists because with like a million little tasks because I was like I'm gonna be so productive if I can get all this done and then I'd be so bummed at the end of the day and so discouraged when I couldn't do it all
00:26:07
Speaker
This may look different for everyone, but I'd say for starters, your list doesn't need to be more than five to seven essential tasks. Then if you really want to get into it, you could make a list of secondary tasks that aren't as important that you can do when your main ones are done or in between. But when we say making lists, it doesn't have to be so much that you overwhelm yourself. It can just be like,
00:26:31
Speaker
four, five, six, you know, things you're gonna do and cross them off to get started and like learn how to manage that effectively, I guess. Yeah, love that. Couldn't have said it better myself. Okay, kind of moving on to other productivity categories, I guess. So here's a personal rule that I have for myself. This may seem random, but hear me out. So personal rule, it doesn't leave my hand until it's fully put away. All right, so listen to everything. Essentially,
00:27:00
Speaker
If I'm using something, whether it be like a pair of scissors, tools, dishes, shoes, keys, I don't care. Name anything. I don't know, a piece of paper. I don't know. When I'm done actively using it, I do not let go of it until it's put away or dealt with, which would mean the dishes would be rinsed in the dishwasher or put away in its spot, whatever it is. This tip is obviously about productivity with work so much as it is with household things, but
00:27:24
Speaker
If you aren't productive with household chores, then you're really wasting more time on household things than you need to be. Time that could be spent doing other things, even if that other thing is resting, you know? So I actually work my fastest on household things because I don't want to be wasting time on things that don't make me money. Now, hear me out. I'm not bad. That is such a you thing to say. That's so true.
00:27:46
Speaker
I'm not bashing taking care of the home. I actually enjoy it. It's very important. It is to be prioritized, but I think I'm able to enjoy it because I can do house things so quickly. I'm very blessed that my mom taught me a lot of these things.
00:28:01
Speaker
And that I just have, I don't know, heard a lot of advice and implemented it, I guess. But, um, yeah, I, I, it hasn't become a big burden for me. I'm also well-practiced in the art, I guess you could say, of always doing multiple things at once. So I'm always doing multiple household things, um, or something else while I'm doing household tasks, which actually, if I can jump right into it, Ayla, leads me right into my next, my next one. Oh my gosh.
00:28:29
Speaker
I don't know. So that, I know that was random, but I think that actually makes such a huge difference, especially if you think you're someone who messes, piles up around you and they think you have to waste a lot of time cleaning up after yourself. Literally, that is going to be one of the most important life hacks that you could ever do for yourself. Don't let it leave your hand until it's put away. Just try it. That's so real. I'll implement that tomorrow. That is, that's really crazy. No, that's good.
00:28:51
Speaker
Okay, I love it. There's a couple little things I have like that that I've done that are, I feel like they're like secret, like life secrets. I don't know. Okay. Now, next one kind of leading into this, master doing two things at once. So I'm really, really, really hoping I can explain this well, because I'm actually not talking about multitasking.
00:29:09
Speaker
True multitasking isn't always the best because, as you may or may not know, you can't fully focus on two things at once. So you will always end up doing subpar work on one or both tasks when you're multitasking. I'm saying, when I say this, look at the time gaps you may not have noticed before within certain tasks. So when I say do two things at once, I mean order your tasks intentionally.
00:29:34
Speaker
All right, again, hear me out. I'll try to explain this. I guess I'll start with examples because that's the best way I think I'll be able to like really conceptualize this for people. For example, start your laundry. Why are laundry is going in the washer? Start doing dishes. And then while the dishwasher is going, you know, the washing machine is going at the same time. Work on something that requires your full attention, something you can't multitask on, such as emails, maybe editing photos, paying your bills.
00:29:59
Speaker
While that's happening, you have three things going on at once. And this may be kind of self-explanatory to some people. Maybe that's a given, but some people don't know about this or don't think like that. And I'm going to get more detailed too. But you want to start a couple of things that can be going in the background right away and then do something that requires your full attention. So you're doing three things at once.
00:30:16
Speaker
Once the laundry is done, you know, switch it over while it's drying, you're going to unload the dishwasher. And while you're unloading the dishwasher, maybe you can do a phone call with a client, with a family member, something like that. There's that gap there where you don't need your full attention for doing, for unloading the dishwasher. So that's a time gap you could fill with something else that doesn't take your full attention.
00:30:34
Speaker
Um, so okay, that's again small but just to get you just that's amazing So during busy season sometimes I'll even bring my laptop into the kitchen with me and edit like a podcast episode while I make dinner, you know Listen if a possible amazing
00:30:50
Speaker
Listen to this. If you have a pot going and the meat needs to cook, you don't need to just stand there on your phone or stand there, you know, literally watching water boil. You can do something else. So for me that it just so happens that that is actually a task that I find goes really easily together because also when, okay, specifically with editing a podcast episode, you're listening to a lot of it and only jumping in when you have to edit something. So you can do a lot anyway. So that's all right. I'll keep going. I like, um, I,
00:31:19
Speaker
trim my nails and cuticles. I don't know if it's productive, but I said like mess with my fingers. Well, I love that. But yeah. No, I actually love that. So, and again, I'm going to actually use that as an example real fast. That's always think about if you're going to do it anyways and it doesn't require your full attention, what can you pair it with?
00:31:40
Speaker
You don't need your full attention when you're doing dishes. You don't need your full attention when you're clipping your nails. So why, if it's going to take 10 minutes anyways, what can you pair that with? Those are the time gaps I'm talking about, if that makes sense. So think about the, I know it's weird, but think about, this is what my mind does. I'm always thinking too many miles an hour.
00:31:59
Speaker
Think about the park in your life where there is a lot of standing around time, like I was saying, like making dinner or whatever. Also, in regards to making dinner, quick note, you should always be cleaning up as you go. This goes into class. It's kind of like they don't let something leave your hand until it's put away thing, but you'd be surprised how many people don't do this and it makes it so much harder.
00:32:19
Speaker
So does the meat need to cook on the stove? Wash the cutting board and the knife then while that happens. You know, if you pull that ingredients, put them back before you turn back around. Like always do this. If you work this way, by the time you're done cooking dinner, your kitchen will be clean or almost clean. So imagine enjoying your dinner without having to clean up the kitchen afterwards.
00:32:37
Speaker
Like there, I only know about the people in my life who do this and the other half don't. And so it's always a piece of advice I love to give out. If they ask, you know, I only, I don't give out unsolicited advice if you're not just like, Hey, I need to ask questions about this kind of thing sometimes. Okay. So always looking at the small tasks you can do that just take a couple of seconds committing to doing them is going to be what makes the biggest difference in the long run.
00:33:02
Speaker
You can't really just choose to do more. Instead you can choose to change the way you do things and that will in turn lead to more things getting done. So kind of like I mentioned before with never leaving a room until you've done something in it. So like
00:33:20
Speaker
Okay, no I actually didn't mention that before so let me mention that actually now it's very similar to things I've said but another rule I have for myself is I try not to leave a room without doing something in it so like if I pass from like the bedroom through the living room to go into like the kitchen in the living room I if I see something I have to do it so like if I see a sock on the ground just on my way I grab it and I put it in the laundry amper so a rule especially in busy times or when I feel like the house is a little bit messy this is a rule I have where I'm not allowed to go
00:33:48
Speaker
in and out of a room without doing something in it and by doing something I mean like clean something in it so um okay no that's a good way like I said maintaining it's not even like you have to perfectly deep clean every time but like those little acts of like maintenance you know yeah yeah something usually it's something tiny like picking up a pair of socks and putting them in a hamper
00:34:07
Speaker
But when I do this every day, it makes the biggest difference. I haven't had to do a full big cleaning day in years. I don't even remember the last time I had to do a big cleaning. Really? Wow. Always doing small things each day. And the most I'll have to do is if somebody comes over for hosting somebody, I'll do a deep cleaning. But like an actual cleaning, like I'm maybe cleaning surfaces, I'm dusting things, stuff like that. That is not every day.
00:34:30
Speaker
But it's been a really big relief in my life not having to do like a cleaning Saturday, which I used to do where I'd clean so much and organize so much because I'm just always doing little, little things. Some people have a natural tendency to spread out tasks and separate them, but you could be combining them instead. So that's kind of what I'm trying to say overall with this is like it may be natural to have like a to do list where it goes one thing and then another and then another and then another. But think how you can kind of start combining tasks.
00:34:59
Speaker
And it doesn't have to be overwhelming, like we're saying. Doing dishes while you're on the phone, not overwhelming. Picking up as you go while you're not overwhelming. Never leaving a room without putting something away. It's not overwhelming. And these are going to make the biggest difference overall.
00:35:13
Speaker
right right like we're not saying you have to just like be like speedy gonzalez and just like overwhelm yourself but yeah i love what i love what you said especially about even like starting the laundry and then starting the dishwasher like so many passive things yeah that you might leave off to the end of the day or what like just getting those getting those started yeah i really like that yeah the point of this was actually to avoid overwhelm like i
00:35:35
Speaker
I really started trying to conceptualize this and put it into words in the last couple years talking to a couple of friends I have who have talked like specifically asked me for if I had advice for like keeping things clean or having like really productive days working at home and I tried to keep track of what are the things I do that maybe not everyone does or that my mom maybe taught me to do
00:35:58
Speaker
There might be a little bit thinking outside the box that I could explain to somebody and this was I think one of the biggest things I do I really combine a lot of things not true multitasking because that doesn't work like I said But I try to think about how you can do tasks and order them in a different order them in a different way And I'm always always picking up after myself. I just I cannot explain how important that is I don't know maybe we'll talk a little bit more about that too, but just that's just so important I cannot stress enough how you will
00:36:26
Speaker
lead yourself into overwhelm if you're not being diligent about cleaning up after yourself, whether it's with cooking or cleaning, it just doesn't matter. You just have to clean up after yourself as you go. Yeah, amazing.
00:36:39
Speaker
that's so that's so good yeah i like don't have anything to add that's crazy i just know that i think if i wasn't married i don't think i would pick up after myself um yeah chris was out of town recently and i was just like oh he it's not like he gets mad but you know i was like i'm aware of my own mess like the mess in the house is mine and that's okay and it wasn't the worst but i let things devolve a little bit
00:37:00
Speaker
And then just like did a big cleanup before he came home. But I think I knew that's not sustainable. That was just for like a few days, but it's again, like natural tendencies. Like your mom does teach you a lot and you know that stuff, but I think you are naturally inclined to that. Whereas like for someone like me, I can, I just talked about making the bed, but you know, before that business owning and marriage was like a huge game changer in these things. Cause before that I would happily leave the bed unmade, like happily leave my things around.
00:37:26
Speaker
leave dishes in the sink for days. I don't remember the last time I did that. My sink's pretty much empty every day for now my own sanity. So there's some things that have changed, but I'm just saying. But there's a lot of areas where I could, as you explained that, I could see some improvement to be made.
00:37:43
Speaker
And yeah, not because I have to, but it's just like, why wouldn't you, if you're seeking out, uh, like improving your productivity, you know? Yeah. It's just like, it's little changes where I think at first it might be hard, but within a little amount of time, I think it would be because like you said, it's become natural to you now and it can feel so daunting at first, but it'll come. You just have to keep practicing.
00:38:06
Speaker
And it's not like I'm perfect, obviously. There are some times where dishes are left in the sink and where things aren't picked up. But I also think it's really important, something you just said that I want to expand on real quick, when you said about how some people may have these tendencies naturally to not do this or to do this.
00:38:22
Speaker
But you, you know, we're talking to people who want to maybe make changes in these days. We're not saying that this has to be, there's only one way to do it. I can tell you that statistically, if you live in a way that you're letting messes pile up, I mean, studies show that it is going to affect your mental health and it is going to affect. You're more likely to be. Yeah. And if you have children, it's going to affect your children's mental health and stuff like that. So, I mean, there is that, those are facts.
00:38:48
Speaker
But if you are fine with that and you want to live how you're living and it's not bothering you really to an amount you don't think is noticeable, then fine, we're not judging you. We're just saying that this is maybe one way. Yeah, that this is something you can do if you want to see these benefits. Yes, that was perfect. I think you summed that up perfectly.
00:39:06
Speaker
Okay, moving on to my last kind of few productivity tips. These ones, let me double check what I have. Okay, these ones are super real for me. I use these every single day and some of them are like big changes. So I don't love this, but my
00:39:22
Speaker
freaking phone is a huge thief of productivity massively.
Reducing distractions and enhancing focus
00:39:28
Speaker
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's alone, but some people can be super self-disciplined. I'm working through this right now. It's embarrassing how much I pick up my phone and scroll when I have so many things to do. If any of my clients are listening, just ignore this, but I will literally sometimes have six galleries that need to go out the door, a podcast episode that needs to be done.
00:39:48
Speaker
life things like dinner cleaning and then I'll sit there and scroll for 20 minutes, 30 minutes. And I can't tell you why that happens. It just does. I tell myself it's a little break, but then you do that over and over.
00:40:00
Speaker
And it is terrible and phones are just such a huge thief of joy and productivity. So a huge, and I mean, I got passionate writing this in like the outline because it's just drives me not so much that that happens, but a huge and huge, huge thing that helped me almost cut that. Guess what? I put my phone in another room. Oh, genius.
00:40:24
Speaker
Are you a slave to your phone? Because we're lazy human beings sometimes. And if my phone's in a whole other room, I probably won't get up from my desk to go get it. So I'm not even kidding that my phone's screen time was probably cut in half, if not more, by just putting it in a different room. Of course, if you're expecting an important call or need to be reachable by family,
00:40:48
Speaker
a very poor husband of mine has needed me and my phone's been in the other room so you know like with what you can um you know this this may not always apply but even having my phone out of my reach in my office i've got a shelf to my right even putting it over to the far end of that shelf so i can still hear if a call comes in but it's out literally of my hands reach
00:41:11
Speaker
The amount of times I reach for it less, like something about having it right by my palm was making me just grab it all the time, but putting it out of my reach, putting it in the other room. Like, like I said, it might be assigned to some like laziness, but not having it right there was just a game changer. I've even had my husband take it from me because like, and hold it because he can let me know if there's an important text or call, but he won't let me on it to scroll. He won't. I'll be like, can I check my phone? And he's like, what do you need? Which might sound weird, but he knows that I'll just like sit there and let it distract me. So yeah.
00:41:40
Speaker
like get your phone away from your hands, put it in another room if you can, put on Do Not Disturb, because I'll get like an Instagram notification that means nothing. And I'll be like, oh, it's time to scroll Instagram now. And it's just like, it's insane. So like, get your phone away from you as much as you can. And when you're cleaning and stuff.
00:41:57
Speaker
I adore that. That is actually some hard truths right there, like tough love that I think even I needed to hear. Yeah, just listen, guys, the most productive people, they're not on their phones most of the day. We have to be humble and realize that this is not normal. It's not good for us. And, you know, another thing to think about, I think with what you're saying, Ayla, is sometimes the reason we're on our phones is for stress relief and relaxation and the dopamine hit.
00:42:22
Speaker
So we have to find other ways to get that. If we feel like we're really lacking it before you start working, if you feel like you're really having trouble sitting down to work because you're lacking maybe a little moment of stress relief or a little moment of dopamine, then find something else real fast to get you that before you start working. And hopefully the tips we were mentioning earlier, like making your bed, starting out with symptoms that trigger the rewards in your brain will help with that. But yeah, Ayla, I love that tip of just putting your phone in another room.
00:42:50
Speaker
I've found that even just turning my phone upside down if it needs to be near me, like even if it's upside down, I'm not seeing it light up. Yeah. Crazy. I love that. Oh my gosh.
00:43:00
Speaker
Good. So my next one might contradict this a little bit, but hear me out.
Incorporating breaks and small changes
00:43:04
Speaker
Um, it is to take little breaks. So not saying like, again, it's not sitting and scrolling for half an hour at a time, four times a day. Um, but take little breaks where like, I actually get away from my office and my desk. Um, if you're self-employed, it can be so easy to just work, work, work. I have done that time and time again. And I know it may sound counterproductive to literally stop working. Sometimes we're talking about productivity. We're talking about how to accomplish more.
00:43:30
Speaker
And sometimes the solution to that is to just stop working sometimes. I have found that I am not only more productive, but I'm literally more happy and therefore more productive. If I step away from my desk, go outside for 10 minutes, go on a little quick walk, go sit on my balcony, talk to my husband, or take the weekend off. Sometimes it's bigger breaks. Sometimes it's like I need to be out of my office for Saturday and Sunday. I'll get so in my head and just stressed if I'm working 24 seven.
00:43:59
Speaker
And then I'm more likely to go after those dopamine hits, like you said, with the phone, with, you know, like meddling around and just procrastinating. I get into this weird cycle of like working a lot, but then I do weird other things. Whereas if I just took like a break, a 10 minute break, a 20 minute break where I wasn't working or thinking about it for a second and then coming back and sitting at it, like there's a reason school had recess and lunch breaks and stuff like that. And it's the same thing. So sometimes little breaks,
00:44:25
Speaker
You chill out more. Like I, I've even found, you know, if I'm, if I'm pushing a deadline, I'll wake up, start working at 8am and I'll go till the end of the day till, till six or seven. And I get things done or I'll have a day where I start at eight. Then I go and make myself some food.
00:44:42
Speaker
Then when Chris comes home, I talk to him for a little bit and I get the same amount of work done just more effectively because I'm not messing with my phone, messing with other things. So little breaks can actually increase it more because your brain needs to rest and recalibrate and regroup. Sometimes my galleries that I'm working on look better.
00:44:59
Speaker
when i step away from ten minutes and then come back so yeah little breaks for sure i love that it's it reminds me so much of that quote because basically that's what this is uh i think it's by ann lamont where she says almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes including you yes yes a little reboot just a little a little something yeah i love that
00:45:20
Speaker
And then my last, last one, this might not be for everybody. This is just kind of like a me situation, but I think a lot of people will relate. But the power of music and or podcasts like this one, but having this, okay, so this can work in two ways. The first way is just general, having something to help occupy part of your mind while you accomplish tasks like editing a wedding gallery or cleaning your house or cooking. Again, for me, this goes back to phone usage. Like my brain is just so,
00:45:50
Speaker
active that I straight up can't focus on meticulous tasks like editing similar pictures over and over and over or tasks like that without something in the background. You have to see what kind of person you are. Some people need complete silence to work and that's great if you're one of those people but definitely find out who you are. Like do you find yourself spacing out when trying to work, going on your phone, trying to procrastinate,
00:46:15
Speaker
creating noises like tapping or like talking to yourself and just like having a hard time. Sometimes something like music or podcasts can help silence.
00:46:23
Speaker
those active parts of your brain and let you focus on what you really need to do. Like that's a big one for me. And then actually the content of what's in there too. Is it a business motivation podcast or is it, um, just something you're passionate about, like a hobby that you're passionate about or something like something that inspires you, something that you like. I listen to a bunch of true crime. I'm not saying true crime inspires me, but you know, it's just something else I'm really passionate about that I enjoy. And so then it's like something I'm enjoying is like around me.
00:46:53
Speaker
while I'm also working, if that makes sense. It's just another way. And then also the literal science behind it, I could make a whole episode about this, but the rhythm and melody in music is proven to increase performance with athletes in training and exercise and to calm stress and anger, just like the actual what music
00:47:14
Speaker
is, connects with the human mind so much and can really help too. When I'm doing my taxes, it's silent, but for a lot of the other parts of my life and my job, I usually music or podcast going. I don't know if that's maybe a comment on people can't sit with their own thoughts, but for me, it just like quiets the active parts of my brain a bit and then I can focus better.
00:47:33
Speaker
You might be a music podcast person too if you find getting yourself productive and motivated is hard for you. I love that. That's a great tip. Yeah, exactly. Just experiment, see what works for you. I listen to old nostalgic TV shows. I don't watch them, but I listen to them while I edit because I find that occupies my brain in the perfect level. I choose ones I already know that I've watched or listened to a bunch of times because I don't feel tempted to watch it or be distracted by it.
00:48:02
Speaker
fills my brain with just enough entertainment and where I can zone it out whenever I need to. Cause I'm not hooked cause I know what it is, but I can also let it fill up when I start to get bored and those little in between moments. But I also will say I have to be careful because I think sometimes we don't allow enough silence in our lives.
00:48:21
Speaker
But that's kind of like the unplugging, like you said, taking breaks, making sure that we do have moments of quiet and sitting with our thoughts and stuff like that. Totally. I agree. And I will say it depends. Like emails and stuff will be quieter. It depends. This is super random, but after my busy season last year where I was dying for a little bit, then I took my Christmas holiday. I took a couple weeks off for Christmas. I was out of office. It was great. My whole January where I was back in office, I didn't listen to a thing.
00:48:49
Speaker
And I was like, is my brain just still decompressing from last season? Because I didn't do, like I'm usually, like I said, have something going. I did it for that whole month. And I was like, is my brain just still tired? It like still needs silence. So yeah, I don't know. It's interesting. That was like, I think I asked a lot of my followers, I was like, do any of you just work in complete silence right after your busy season? And a few people were like, yes, like we don't actually want to be here yet. So that was interesting.
00:49:14
Speaker
I don't know the science behind that one but I don't know I'd be curious to find that out too. Okay so as we kind of wrap up here I think I'll just make one little more point something to remember that I have found helpful when you're thinking about implementing some of these habits is that you aren't trying to prevent the big
00:49:33
Speaker
mess right so this this is going to be maybe going towards keeping your spaces clean or house stuff but just think about this you aren't trying to prevent the big mess you're trying to prevent the small ones it's human nature to want to make big changes we don't like making small things
00:49:50
Speaker
change to get a big result. But that's the only manageable way to do something like this. If you try to tackle a huge shift without making smaller habit changes first, you're essentially, I think, shooting yourself. You're essentially, I think, shooting your chance of success in the foot.
00:50:07
Speaker
It will be overwhelming and it probably won't last very long because you won't be able to keep it up. So you're trying to make small changes, prevent the small mess, not the big one because that's going to be how you make the big changes and how you prevent the big mess, if that makes sense. I love that. That's amazing. And also guys, don't forget, what is that study about habits? Like new habits take some time to
00:50:28
Speaker
to implement like 20 days or something like that before a habit becomes nature. So some of this like might feel hard in the beginning, but we promise just like keep, well, we don't fully guarantee, but we're pretty, pretty close to
Final thoughts and community engagement
00:50:41
Speaker
fully guaranteeing. Just persevere, keep trying. You'd be surprised how many of these little things that might feel hard at first might become second nature to you later. And just like, we're really here to help you guys in the best way we can improve your life, improve your business, whatever that looks like. And you guys have got this.
00:50:57
Speaker
We hope you're feeling inspired and, man, just ready to tackle more tasks today. If it wasn't mine, PM, my time, man, I'd be ready. Give a couple of these ideas a try. Let us know if they worked for you or if you have any tips for being really productive that we missed today. Definitely tell us. Probably something we could always implement too. Please send them our way and we'll share them on our Instagram. We love interacting with you guys like that.
00:51:22
Speaker
Tune in next Tuesday for another episode. You can find all of our episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Zencaster. And you can find our socials at Art of Intention Podcast, where you can just interact with us, come hang out. We have a pretty good time. And if you have an idea for a future episode or have any questions about the show, please don't hesitate to email us at artofintentionpodcast at gmail.com. And we will see you again next week. Bye. Bye.