New productivity plan … unlocked

Remember when we had slot bracelets and encyclopedias? How about when TRL Live was popular? When the most scandalous thing on daytime television was the MTV spring break, which, by the way, was always super fun to find out where they would be. Right. We are Generation X, also known as the Oregon Trail Generation, MTV Generation, The Forgotten Generation. They call us the Forgotten Generation because there aren't as many things written about us or too many things that distinguish us from other generations. But I think we're actually the best generation. Not to say I'm biased, though.

I remember when I was in college and having to wait for AOL to dial up and get on the Internet, it took like 5 minutes for that stupid thing to get online. I could literally go make a whole snack before I got on the Internet. Well, it probably wasn't that long, but it felt like it. And I bring all of this up because somewhere in between, the simplicity of all of that and understanding how Google worked, life got really busy. So fast forward to today and here we are. We're balancing businesses, side hustles, careers.

Maybe you have children that you're still taking care of or maybe your parents are aging and you're starting to look after them. I started this podcast because, like many of you, I found myself juggling a lot of these things. And I remember on one day that I was so fed up with how much client work I had. I think I finished the work around like 9 p.m. And then I realized I didn't actually do anything that I wanted to do for the rest of the day. And that royally pissed me off.

So let me back up a second In case you don't know my backstory, I have a 17 year old daughter. I have a labradoodle. I live in Atlanta now. I got divorced about seven years ago. So I've basically been raising our daughter basically on our own because he lives on the West Coast. And like I said, I'm on the East Coast and some days are just so busy that at the end of the day, I make it a point to do nothing and just watch an hour of TV before I go to bed.

Doesn't matter what it is. I just have to put something on so I can just zone out. And to me, those are the worst days because I don't want to get to the end of the day and feel like I didn't do shit. I don't want to get to the end of the day and look at the list of things that I actually wanted to do and realize that I didn't get to do any of it. So those kinds of days suck for me. And I turned 44 this year, and it hit me that I was about halfway through life based on statistics. Right. And I have a lot of passion projects that I'd like to do.

Unfortunately, they end up half finished because I have actual work that I need to do and work that I need to do to in order to pay the bills. For instance, I have a fiction novel that I've been writing for like two years. I have an idea for an app for teens that I would love to get off the ground, hopefully before my daughter goes off to college. So she'll be able to use it. And I'm guessing that you are probably going through the same things. You have plenty of passion projects that you'd like to accomplish, and we need a way to be more productive without losing our minds and without feeling like everything is out of our control. And that's why I created the productivity pathway. It's a way for me to bring back that feeling of doing less. Like when I used to grow up, I felt like I was doing less, but I was getting everything done.

The amount of things that I did when I was in high school with less resources. But I always felt like I still was able to get everything done. And yet I still always felt happy, even though I had all of this work to do, like schoolwork and work, work. You know, back then when I was like 17, 18, I was just working in a restaurant or as a hostess or whatever. But even amidst all that, I still had time to hang out with my friends and do what I wanted to do. So I wanted to bring back that feeling of doing less things and feeling really good about it. Or at the very least, completing all of my responsibilities, but in a way that feels more impactful. At the end of the day, it's about thinking about your energy, your routines, your time and your goals everything in a holistic way So here's the breakdown of the productivity pathway. It's like, think of it like your favorite old school game, whether you used to play Mario Brothers, Zelda, the organ trail, whatever it was.

There are levels to each of your video games, so the productivity pathway has four main levels, and each level brings about its own set of challenges and achievements. So let's go through each level. Level one is fuel your fire. Your entire foundation is going to be built on energy management, and it's all about knowing when you're at your best. So everyone has a particular flow of energy levels throughout the day. For example, my energy peaks around 10 a.m. and then again around 7 p.m., and then it dips in the afternoon from about 1 to 3:00 when I'm really tired.

Most people will have similar energy patterns, and your sleep habits largely influence those energy shifts during the day. And you probably already feel some of this. Are you a morning person? Are you a night owl? When you figure out those peak energy times. You can give yourself the best self-care in order to manage it and to work around it. And that's going to have a huge impact on your overall productivity level two build your blueprint. Now, this level is going to be about consistency and structure.

Think of these as your routines. But. routines don't have to be boring. If you remember, we used to have TGIF on Friday nights and Saturday morning cartoons. Those were routines, if you think of them in those sense. Like, I knew exactly what shows were coming on and when I have to be plopped in front of the TV because before our family got a VCR, if I missed it, I missed it. It was gone. So I knew that I had to have this routine set up. I had to eat dinner, be done with homework, and get ready to sit down and watch TGIF or his true story.

When I was even younger, I used to wake up at 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings to start my day. Because. Guess why? Because Jem kicked it off and she made the start of my day. Something to look forward to. I remember watching Jem and the Smurfs, the Snorks So those are routines. And even being as young as I was, I had a routine that I wanted to get something done. I wanted to watch something, and I knew that once it was gone, it was gone. If I missed that episode, I'd have to wait for maybe a rerun later on. And who knew when that was coming? Right.

So similar to that school of thought, you want to make sure that your day has its routine highlights too. Level three is mastering your minutes. This is about time blocking and time blocking is your best friend. This is when you map out your day so that you're not just busy, you're productive. It doesn't have to be this big production of, like, blocking out every single spot on your calendar. Because I know that when I said time blocking, you probably had this flash of a calendar through your head with like blocks and colors and everything was blocked out every single second in every 30 minute block. It doesn't have to be like that. And I'm guessing that if you saw something like that, you probably wouldn't find it appealing. So it can be as simple as blocking 3 hours during your energy dip period and then knowing that you aren't taking meetings during that window. It can be just as simple as blocking out an hour or two. And that's the time that you check emails So it can be as simple as those very easy. But even if time blocking is not your thing, You still need to master how you spend your time. So we'll also definitely work on that in different tools and ways to do that if you don't want to time block And it's all about, at the end of the day, just making sure that you're spending your time how it really counts. Level four is your Northstar goals, and this is where your goal alignments match your achievements.

And finally, we're at the top level. This is where you align your goals so that everything that you're doing is leading you toward something bigger. So if you think about Dorothy following the yellow brick road, she had a destination to get to. What impact do you want to make? Where do you want it to take you? Why do you want to be more mindful and productive? This is where you figure out what really drives you and make sure that your daily actions are all pointing you in that right direction. Because life is too short to be working on stuff that doesn't light you up. It doesn't have to be serious, but it does have to be something. It could be as big as leading clean water campaigns. Or it can just be as simple as making sure that you always have a scheduled you time on the weekends or you can meet up with friends or that you want to retire comfortably at a certain age. Okay.

Sound good. So that is the introduction to the productivity pathway and to this podcast. So if any of this resonated with you, I want you to keep coming back each week and join the newsletter. I'll put the link for you down in the show notes. That's where I'll go more in-depth with some of these topics. And also that's where you can find out when I have relevant products to help align you with these pathways. And if you're ready to understand productivity as it relates to your entire life holistically, then stick around. Hit that subscribe button and I will see you next week. Until next time, keep it real. Keep it productive and keep it fun.