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Hi there.

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It's Sue.

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And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.

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These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and

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things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.

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If you'd like to submit a topic,

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DME over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped.

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Okay. Patty,

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I am calling you out here on my podcast.

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Sorry, but not sorry to fill you in.

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Patty has been a dear friend of mine since childhood.

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I'm so fortunate because I'm still super close with a lot

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of my girlfriends from that time.

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And Patty was our leader.

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Not exactly sure why,

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but maybe it's because she has four older sisters and an

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older brother who's looks put a Greek God to shame because

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of her older siblings,

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she was well-known instantly popular and always in the know about

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topics school-related and social that every teen girl wants in on

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Patty. And I spent countless hours together,

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sleepovers tennis matches trick-or-treating ice cream runs.

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And she's the one who got me involved in cheerleading and

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fifth grade.

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That was the start of my whole cheerleading career.

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But it's another story.

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Hmm. Maybe that would make a good podcast topic actually,

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but let's stay on point here.

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As with all teens,

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we were obsessed with clothes.

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This is back in the day when we actually dressed up

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for school,

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jeans were allowed only on Fridays,

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but that didn't work for us because that was always cheerleading

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uniform day.

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Anyway, on one of those lazy afternoons,

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when Patty and I were just hanging out in my bedroom,

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she decided that my Monday through Thursday wardrobe needed to be

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accounted and planned for after that each summer,

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as we anticipated the start of our next high school year,

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Patty would come over and together.

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We'd create a schedule of my attire for school all the

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way up to holiday break.

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What resulted was a list of outfit,

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perfectly matched and merged together in a variety of combinations to

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make the most of my wardrobe side note,

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Patty later went on to Vogue design school.

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So I guess this was in her blood all along.

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Anyway, this list was photocopied and petty checked when we got

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to our lockers each morning to make sure that I was

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following the plan.

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If I got a new outfit together,

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we would figure out how that would fit into the schedule.

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The new version of the schedule was then photocopied,

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no joke.

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It was strict and serious,

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but all in fun.

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However, it could cause some problems because weather here in Chicago,

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isn't predictable and on a cold and snowy day,

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my outfits sometimes didn't quite fit,

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but I'd wear it anyway.

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I'd come down to breakfast and my mom would say,

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Suzanne, what are you thinking?

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And I'd say,

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but this is what was on Patty's list.

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So believe it or not,

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my mom would respond.

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Oh, okay.

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Then I told you,

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Patty was a leader.

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Plus my parents loved her.

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She has that type of personality.

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You know,

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to know her is to love her.

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This was my introduction into the key of how to supercharge

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my productivity through Patty,

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a master.

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And dare I say,

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obsessive list-maker Patty had lists not only of my school outfits.

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She had lists of every single thing in her life.

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She was actually hysterical.

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Here's another unique one.

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She decided she wanted to try every single shampoo and conditioner

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on the market.

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So she started at the upper left shelf of the Herbinger

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drugstore and use the product that was there.

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First, when it was finished,

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she'd go onto the next one.

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And the next one.

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And the next one,

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you can only imagine her anger and confusion.

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If they rearrange the shelves.

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Luckily for her at that time,

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they didn't do that.

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So often as we do today,

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as we got older,

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she decided we should try all the restaurants on the north

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shore. How was that done?

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Well, alphabetically of course,

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that led to some interesting experiences for sure.

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One more thing about Patty.

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She had a memory for dates like nobody else.

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She knew everybody's birthday anniversary day,

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a pet passed away days of all sorts of memories.

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I should ask her.

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I bet it's because she keeps a list.

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Anyway, this leads to the key of supercharging,

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your productivity,

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one simple five letter word,

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L I S T S they don't have to be the

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crazy ones like Patty and I used over the years,

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I found a more rational form of list creation that made

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its way into my daily habits as well.

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On the personal side,

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I have lists for packing a list for holiday gift purchasing

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a list of my favorite go-to recipes for various occasions.

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This one has actually made it onto my phone complete with

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accompanying recipes.

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So if I'm traveling and I want to make a special

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recipe for dinner,

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easy peasy,

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and as I consider the business end lists are one of

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the productivity techniques I teach for how to use my inspired

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daily planner.

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That's a structure of lists,

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actually goals for the year projects for the month tasks.

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For your days,

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you can watch a free video on this at gift biz,

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unwrapped.com forward slash inspired.

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If you're interested.

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And I use lists all throughout my business to stay on

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track, remind myself of important things that are coming up,

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all that type of thing.

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I've bet you've heard the term operating procedures.

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In essence,

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each operating procedure is a list that can be followed of

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documented activities to perform any function within your business.

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They're particularly beneficial.

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If a task is repetitive that way,

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you don't have to remember all the steps and in what

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order, just follow the list.

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Once you have one,

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imagine how useful it can be.

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When you bring on employees,

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they can follow the same system you've already created easy and

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a great way to minimize errors too,

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by the way,

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there are even productivity apps.

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Now that help you electronically organize lists.

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We use a sauna here at gift biz on wrapped for

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the podcast and written content creation.

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The podcast has easily over 80 different steps for each episode.

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Yes, seriously,

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that's no exaggeration.

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And this list and process gets tossed from me to mish.

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Who's our podcast editor to Valerie,

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who does the show notes and other content creation for each

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show at any given time,

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each of us can see where an episode is in production

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to plan our workdays and ensure that each episode is done

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on time.

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I can't even imagine trying to do this without an operating

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procedure or in simpler terms,

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a list.

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The other thing lists can do is give your memory a

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break. Maybe you're like me and find that you'll have a

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great idea that you know,

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you're going to remember then just an hour later,

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it's like,

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what? Why is that again?

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I have to do lists of all sorts of tips and

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talk topic list and lists for new apps to check out

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gift ideas.

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Shoot. I even have a vacation destination wishlist.

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The time savings involved when working with lists is enormous.

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This is why it leads to newfound time and speed in

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getting things done.

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You know how sometimes particularly when you're faced with an unknown

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or less than exciting job that you need to do,

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you just stall right at the start,

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because you're confused about how or where to start when faced

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with this next time,

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write down all the random things that need to be done

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to complete said project.

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Then arrange them in logical order and start with the first

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thing on the list.

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You'll see that activity creates momentum.

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And in no time,

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the project will get done.

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You can go back and rearrange the order.

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If you see,

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as you worked through it,

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that it could be done a better way.

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So that the next time it'll be easier.

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And joy of all joys,

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perhaps one day,

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you can hand off the entire project to someone else because

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you've already created the roadmap for them to follow lists an

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excellent way to become more productive,

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not only in your Workday,

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but in your entire life.

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Let's create an acronym for this L lovingly.

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I invented S systems T two S sanity lists,

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lovingly invented systems to sanity.

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That's a wrap.

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I'm a get to the point kind of girl.

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And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

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sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream

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of yours.

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Share your handmade products with us.

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We want them,

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and they bring us both so much happiness.