Being productive isn’t about going faster.
 
It’s not about cramming more and more shit into your day.
 
Being productive is about not wasting time and getting where you need to be/go. It’s about creating the outcome with as much ease as possible.
 
Sometimes in order to achieve that we have to take things slower and take our time, sometimes we have to stop fucking about and crack on.  
 
BUT remember, it’s about getting there in the most easeful way without wasting time, effort, energy & attention.
 
In this week’s episode of the podcast we are going to be diving right into this one, so grab your headphones or simply press play loud & proud… 

 

So, let’s have a run down of the things that make you stacks more productive! 

 

1️⃣  Clarity

 

When you have no idea what you need to be working on then the likelihood is that you are going to find yourself messing about.  Perhaps on the scroll, perhaps a feeling of just not knowing what you should be doing, perhaps paralysed by fear of getting it wrong. 

 

Clarity is HUGE.  When you know the stuff that is going to be most impactful in your business then you can simply crack on with that.  It’s one of the MAIN reasons why every Monday morning in the Supernova Growth Capsule we dive into what you’re working on right now, untangle any stucks and create an action plan for the week.  No need to be flailing into the week without that clarity! 

 

If you know what you’re working on, what will be the most impactful tasks and how it fits into your growth strategy then it’s so much easier to crack on!  

 

2️⃣ Focus 

 

 Being able to focus on your work is a biggie.  We live in a world full of distraction and it’s so easy to find yourself wandering off and doing other things. 

 

It might be that you are procrastinating.  I always say procrastination is a choice.  It often evokes an eye roll.  I get that it totally doesn’t feel like a choice as it’s a sneaky bugger (it’s the same as overwhelm – also a choice).  It’s probable that you have a procrastination behaviour, something you do when you’re putting off getting on.  It might be that you head off to Instagram or Pinterest and got lost in the feed of pretties, it might be that you go off and create some images in Canva, heck – I know people who start off on a rebrand every time they are caught in procrastination (thankfully it’s not too often 😂).  I reckon you’ll have “a tell” that you’re putting things off! 

 

It might be that notifications stop you from cracking on.  I’ve had no sound on my phone for about 5 years now because I can’t be trusted with a notification ping.  I check my emails, Social Media & other platforms upon which I work with my clients at set times of the day so that I can focus on other things at other times. 

 

I give my business the same respect as I give my clients.  I wouldn’t be nipping off to check other shit out if I was on a client call so I shouldn’t be doing it when I’m working on my business. 

 

Airplane mode on your phone can be a goodie too! 

 

We will go a little deeper into this one on the section “time” below…    

 

3️⃣  Removal of Resistance 

 

 Are you avoiding doing the thing because it scares the pants off you.  You might be worried you’ll get it all wrong or you might be worried it’ll be a roaring success and then what will you do 😱 

 

Being aligned is a biggie. 

 

Trusting yourself is a biggie. 

 

If you think this is you then ask yourself WHY you’re resisting.  What’s coming up?  What stories are you telling yourself?  Examine it.  How likely is it?  Is it the truth or is it a big fat lie?   

 

It might be that you need a little hand to remove that resistance and talk it through with someone.   

 

4️⃣  Tasking It Out

 

 It’s so hard to crack on and get stuff done when it feels like an overwhelmingly massive job.  If you’re the kinda person who’s writing down tasks like “sort out my website” or “schedule a week’s social media” or “create a new freebie” then no wonder you tie yourself in knots.  It feels huge, where to start, you’ll never get time to get it all done, there’s too many moving parts.  Break It Down Buttercup! 

 

Having individual 5-10 min tasks is much easier to tackle (and produces a stack more cathartic ticks on the list).  << yeah, have a list too! Lists are cool!  

 

5️⃣  Time 

 

 The most precious asset in your business! The one thing that you can’t make more of and once you’ve spent it you can’t get it back nor can you replace it! 

 

Firstly, schedule in time to work on your business.  I know it sounds obviously and I know that you know that it’s an impactful one BUT I know it’s one that’s so often missed.  The likelihood is that you’ll pretzel yourself into a super tight knot to help everyone else, you’ll protect your client time fiercely but you’ll probably sacrifice the time you’re going to spend on your business with ease.  I know that LOADS of gorgeous Rockstars will come back and tell me how impactful it is when they schedule time to work ON their business rather than work IN their business.  For some people it’s the first hour of each day, for some it’s half or a full day each week, for some it’s the final hour of the day.  Work out what suits you and schedule it in, non-negogitable.  I will only change the time I’ve scheduled in for working on my business IF I’d move a client appointment for the same reason and I always commit to reschedule that time in within one working week! 

 

Now, let me introduce you to #rockstar15 This is a little concept I work with.  EVERYONE has 15 minutes per day! I don’t care how busy you are I bet you waste 15 minutes of each working day (so I’m not even talking about sacrificing non-working time for this) and it’s probably attached to overthinking or Social Media 😂 .  Anyway, if every day you gave the development of your business just 15 minutes then you would be getting 91 & 1/4 extra hours per year working on your business – mind blowing! So even if you committed 15 minutes per day to a development strategy tasks then that would soon add up and with CLARITY & FOCUS you’ll be amazed at what you can actually get done in 15 minutes. 

 

Cave time is a concept I brought over from my corporate days.  We would have one day per week where the morning was dedicated to cave time.  It was about powering through lists.  No client appointments, phones diverted, no distractions, no interruptions and just GO GO GO! It works an absolute treat (as long as you have clarity on what to work on, the focus to crack on and the list to power through!)   

 

6️⃣  Stop Being Mean 

 

 Credit where credit is due!  Lots of people will tell me about how little they’ve got done but when we then go on to the brain download of all the tasks they’ve completed they have a massive epiphany that they have in fact got stacks done and that they are simply putting too much focus on what they haven’t got done rather than what they have! 

The list that’s ticked can really help alleviate this.  Also writing down what you’ve done at the end of each day can help you to appreciate what you did get done. 

You are not behind.  When I’m told by someone that they feel behind I ask them “what exactly are you behind” and the answer is always a variation of their own expectations.  The thing is, some days you’ll get more done than others, for many reasons AND that’s OK!   

 

7️⃣  Working With Yourself 

Stop working against yourself! 

Stop trying to fit into the habits and routines that other people are implementing – it might just be the wrong fit for you.  I work with clients who work best in very different ways.  It’s about fitting the strategy to being more productive to the person.  I have some people who are incredibly visual and creative right brainers and some very logical and methodical left brainers and some who are a mixture of both, some people who have huge attention spans and some who don’t, some early birds, some night owls – you get my drift.  Fitting the strategy to fit the persons characteristics is important.  You need to be honest with yourself, if you’re most productive on a morning go with that, if you’re more productive later in the day, go with that. 

Also, don’t try to write if you’re not in the mood, at best you will produce something that’s average and forces out (and overstraining can produce hemorrhoids). 

You can also look to outsource the stuff that simply makes you want to poke forks in your eyes too.  

8️⃣  Your Energy Levels 

 An extension to working with yourself rather than against yourself – when are you at your best? 

I also want to talk about hydration here! I know, I know! We all know it’s good for us but are you doing it?  Your cognitive function and ability to be super productive is hugely enhanced by being hydrated! I know that lots of my clients are stunned at just how impactful this one is <<one not to ignore! 

PLUS if you are injecting tired and lethargic energy into your business then you are going to make your business tired and lethargic! Which brings us on to….

9️⃣  Sleep & Rest 

Rest is as important as work! Giving yourself a break means that you can come back to your work refreshed and rejuvenated.   

Equally, if you’re tired you’re dragging your ass through the day and won’t get stacks done.  Everything will be hard.  You will be injecting your business with that tired and lethargic energy. 

A little mantra I like to use (for many different things) is “less is more if more is shite.” AND that applies too to your working time.  Just working longer and longer isn’t the answer.  You’ll be amazed how much you can get done when you’re rested, feeling creative and not tiredly trying to get through the day.  Your work will also be much more impactful and positive. 

🔟 Cheeky 10th, Uncovering The Impactful! 

Knowing which tasks are the most impactful in the progression of your business is the key to getting the stuff done that turns the dial and not being distracted by the unimportant! 🙌 

 So, what’s the actual impact of this stuff?  Getting more done ✅  feeling more confident ✅  making more progress ✅ everything being less hard ✅  here’s what Jenny has to say…

“Just thought I’d drop this little feedback thingy for you…. This week, thanks to the Monday morning sessions, I’ve been more focused, relaxed and calmer. Not having or feeling that intense pressure of a scrambled brain trying to do all of the things has meant productive days, proper rest breaks and a shrinking to-do list. Thanks Emma, you’re amazing xxx”

Jenny H

Perhaps a not so quick synopsis…

Here’s the thing – I see so many gorgeous Rockstars who feel super fragment, bits floating all over the place, super reactive and feeling like they are highly charged all of the time. They live off a nervous energy of forgetting shit or the plates they are spinning cracking down on their head. Sometimes it’s important to really focus in and do one thing well. Do you need to add all the extra stuff?
 
One of the things that I work with my gorgeous Rockstars on is FOCUS and being able to give projects their time, effort, energy and attention and therefore getting the returns on that investment (through being able to support more people, make more sales and make more money).
 
Do you need to take some of the SHOULDs off your list??
 
The second thing is we could change this quote to “Sometimes To Do Your Best You Have To Start To Rest.”
 
I waffle on about it all the time.
 
✔️ Rest is as important as work.
 
✔️ Rest will make you more creative.
 
✔️ Rest will make you more productive
 
You know this, just make sure you’re fucking doing it 🙌🏼
 
Both of these are counter intuitive to some degree. We feel like we should keep pushing, people tell us we have to hustle.
 
FOCUS, CLARITY & REST will help you build a sustainable business.

Get More Resources To Help…

Get Your Hands On More Resources To Help..

Over in the Rockstar Vault (a free to access members area) you can find both the Productivity Bible & The Flexible Working Pack..

AND What If There’s A Super Busy Week Incoming – What Then??

Here’s so top tips for if the week ahead looks a little stressful, it might be that you’re entering school holidays this week or it might be that you have a mega busy diary – these tips will help;
 
💫 Be realistic – we can often assume that we can get the same amount done despite different pulls on our time coming into play. This is a good one to remember always but particularly on busy weeks. You only have so many hours in the day and days in the week. Working yourself to the bone will only result in you burning out and being no good to anyone. Take an honest look at your diary and the time you’ll have available this week.
 
💫 Work out what you want to get done – often in busy times we forget to write down that stuff that NEEDS doing and what results is that we carry around a massive to do list inside our heads. This simply takes up brain space and means that you fret about forgetting stuff. Get that list out of your head. Write that stuff down. Then you can work out what the most important tasks are and schedule them into the time you have available.
 
💫 Don’t be tempted to wedge extra stuff in – trying to shoe horn more tasks into your diary is just going to leave you feeling scattered. Do the important stuff on busy weeks and leave the other stuff until you have a bit more time.
 
💫 Be kind to yourself – busy periods are NOT a time to beat yourself up about your lack of time or how much you are getting done or how productive you are being. Be kind to you and accept that there are times that are a little more challenging on the time and energy than others.
 
💫 Take time for yourself – it’s even more important when we are busy than at any other time. Make sure you have scheduled some time to take care of yourself and to meet your own needs so that you can keep topped up for those busy periods.
 
💫 Smile – if all else fails a smile and a chuckle will do you the world of good.
 
💫 See the lessons – when we are super busy this is usually a heads up for a few little lessons to come our way – how can we prepare better for busy periods in the future? do we need to space out our appointments better? can you schedule in days of no appointments (I call them cave days) into your diary? 

I hope you’ve found all the hints, tips & advice super duper helpful!  

You Don’t Have To Do It Alone

You Never Need Navigate Alone!

I run a fabulous and hugely impactful mentoring incubator called The Supernova Growth Capsule where we get away from the fear of getting out there loud and proud with your messaging, making your business magnetic and looking at all the different communication avenues in your business and how you can supercharge each area. 

It’s so so so different from any other membership and group. It’s ALL about the support for YOUR business. Love it, Kat Reynolds ~ The Business Beautician 

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