1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:07,120 Productivity can feel like such an icky word. Like even when sort of writing out my 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:11,160 notes for this episode and doing research and figuring out what I wanted to say. It can feel 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:17,879 like the word productivity can feel so icky because you think, but I don't. I'm not on planet 4 00:00:17,879 --> 00:00:24,760 Earth. To maximise optimise, make every minute of every day as productive as possible. So I thought 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:30,300 maybe actually that's the reason why I need to do the episode. Because productivity can mean a 6 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:35,360 million different things. Like rest is productive. Taking care of yourself is productive. Slowing 7 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:40,320 down is productive. And so even though the word productivity can feel icky, it's still very 8 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,919 important that we talk about it today. So I run two very successful businesses. I also lead a life 9 00:00:45,919 --> 00:00:52,600 that I just bloom and love. You know, I still find time to prioritise my partner, my friends, my 10 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:57,840 family. I go to the gym pretty much every single day. I still eat healthy food and I feel like I've 11 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:03,569 just got it right in terms of time management now. And I don't say that to like, brag. Obviously I'm 12 00:01:03,569 --> 00:01:07,969 not perfect. I've not got everything right. But I think when it comes to time management, it's been 13 00:01:07,970 --> 00:01:14,209 a real journey over the years. I think, um, I thought the wrong things about productivity. I was 14 00:01:14,209 --> 00:01:20,089 very much part of like The hustle broke camp for a long time and have done a whole 183, 60 or 15 00:01:20,089 --> 00:01:24,529 whatever you want to call it on that. And so it's important I talk to you about productivity today. 16 00:01:24,569 --> 00:01:29,010 And before we get into this episode, the biggest disclaimer that I'm going to give is we don't all 17 00:01:29,010 --> 00:01:34,610 have the same 24 hours in a day. Like technically, of course we do. But some people have childcare 18 00:01:34,610 --> 00:01:39,369 responsibilities, some people have caregiver responsibilities, some people are managing grief, 19 00:01:39,370 --> 00:01:43,889 mental health issues, depression. We're working different work schedules. Some people are working 20 00:01:43,889 --> 00:01:49,289 night shifts. Some people are just working the 9 to 5 like me, and so are 24 hours are very 21 00:01:49,289 --> 00:01:54,169 different depending on where you are and what you're doing. That being said, I'm not going to 22 00:01:54,209 --> 00:01:58,659 kind of negate the things I'm going to give you in this in this episode. There still are really 23 00:01:58,660 --> 00:02:03,260 important and I think can apply to everyone. So what I am going to assume throughout this episode, 24 00:02:03,260 --> 00:02:08,059 and I want you to apply this to your life in whatever way works best for you. I am going to 25 00:02:08,059 --> 00:02:13,820 assume we all work a 9 to 5, and we work seven hours a day in those nine to fives. The reason I'm 26 00:02:13,820 --> 00:02:18,939 going to assume that is just because I can't be making those disclaimers over every single point 27 00:02:18,940 --> 00:02:23,419 that I'm about to say. So some of these will be harder for certain people. Some of these will be 28 00:02:23,419 --> 00:02:28,860 easier for certain people. Some of these will just need to be moulded to reflect, you know, that 29 00:02:28,860 --> 00:02:33,179 different type of work that you might do. But I'm just going to, for the sake of this episode, talk 30 00:02:33,220 --> 00:02:38,940 about productivity inside those 35 hours we have at work. And the reason I want to talk about those 31 00:02:38,940 --> 00:02:43,859 is because that's where I think we can have the most impact in making the rest of our living life, 32 00:02:43,899 --> 00:02:49,860 you know, better, productive, more wholesome, more like family, friend orientated, whatever your 33 00:02:49,860 --> 00:02:54,899 version of like wholesome and happy life is. So here's my four biggest productivity hacks. And 34 00:02:54,899 --> 00:02:59,309 these are the Anti Burnout Edition. This has probably been my favourite episode to plan and 35 00:02:59,310 --> 00:03:04,350 scope out because I've gone into like some of the real nitty gritty around my life and work and the 36 00:03:04,350 --> 00:03:08,390 way that I plan it. And I think you'll probably find it's quite different to a lot of business 37 00:03:08,390 --> 00:03:14,509 owners. A lot of business leaders in that I actually work is not my biggest priority. It 38 00:03:14,509 --> 00:03:19,989 really isn't. It's, you know, probably a few, a good few down in my priority list. And so the way that 39 00:03:19,990 --> 00:03:26,270 I view productivity, the way that I see productivity now is how do I optimise my time 40 00:03:26,270 --> 00:03:32,949 within work to make sure that outside of work, I can be as stress free as like fun 41 00:03:32,950 --> 00:03:38,269 loving, caring, nurturing to family, friends, partner as I possibly can be so that I can close my 42 00:03:38,270 --> 00:03:44,709 laptop at 4 or 5 p.m. on a Friday and if I want to, I can have a relaxing weekend, I can walk, I can 43 00:03:44,750 --> 00:03:49,069 be in nature, I can do whatever I want to do. I don't feel anxious about work. That's my version 44 00:03:49,070 --> 00:03:55,999 of productivity is like making these decisions that allow me, outside of that kind of work. He 45 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:01,039 productive stuff to be who I want to be, to be the best version of myself, to be free, to feel 46 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,800 flexible, etc.. And if that's the way that you want to be productive too, then this episode is for you. 47 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:10,199 So here's my four biggest productivity hacks. These are the Anti Burnout Edition. And by the way, 48 00:04:10,199 --> 00:04:17,079 before I get into this, it is so valuable for you guys to like, comment, subscribe and review 49 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:21,399 everything within this podcast. It really helps. Like I cannot tell you how much it helps us with 50 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:26,159 things like algorithms pushing it out to more people. It can be tough to get a new podcast off 51 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,839 the ground, but the reception so far has been amazing and I just would love it if you could 52 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:36,800 review, comment, like even just like absolutely anything. Share it with a friend. All of it really 53 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:43,559 does help. So productivity hack number one is a word you need to get so much more 54 00:04:43,559 --> 00:04:49,119 comfortable with, and that I have been on a ten year journey. 20 year journey probably with is the 55 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:55,969 word no. You can invest in the next big like productivity tool 56 00:04:56,010 --> 00:05:02,328 plan, a time blocking framework, blah blah blah. None of it will work. Literally none of it will 57 00:05:02,329 --> 00:05:08,970 work if you have not learned how to say no. And I think we tend to assume that by saying no, we're 58 00:05:08,970 --> 00:05:13,850 going to upset people. We're going to piss people off. I guarantee the better you get to saying no, 59 00:05:13,890 --> 00:05:18,410 the more you value your own time. People start to respect your time more because they know that 60 00:05:18,410 --> 00:05:21,889 when they are with you, when they do get the time with you, if you're saying no to the things you 61 00:05:21,890 --> 00:05:26,009 don't want to do, it means that you are saying yes to the things you do want to do and you can spend 62 00:05:26,010 --> 00:05:32,809 more quality time. And yes, obviously this goes to meetings like if you are in back to back meetings 63 00:05:32,810 --> 00:05:36,729 every day. Obviously that is tragic and so frustrating, and it means you don't get to spend 64 00:05:36,730 --> 00:05:41,329 that time doing the working on work, the really important on work, but something that can just be 65 00:05:41,329 --> 00:05:47,569 really like silently, quietly, quite detrimental is the shorter stuff. So, you know, the kind of 66 00:05:47,609 --> 00:05:53,459 meetings where let's say you're like, okay, I want a time block my day to have a really productive 67 00:05:53,459 --> 00:05:57,299 day. I'm going to do some of the working on the teamwork, the leadership work, you know, the 68 00:05:57,299 --> 00:06:02,779 systematic work, the big project work. So I'm going to keep my day free today. And then someone just 69 00:06:02,780 --> 00:06:09,739 goes, can I just grab half an hour with you at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. or half ten, whatever. All of a 70 00:06:09,739 --> 00:06:14,140 sudden that is your entire morning thrown off because you're going to get into work in the 71 00:06:14,140 --> 00:06:18,379 morning. And instead of hitting the ground running and going right. 9 a.m. let's get the coffee down. 72 00:06:18,380 --> 00:06:23,019 Let's get hit. In that project, you're going to look at your calendar and go, okay, I've got a 73 00:06:23,019 --> 00:06:28,940 meeting at half ten, so I can't really that's only about 90 minutes, maybe like 65 minutes after 74 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:32,579 we've, I don't know, got a coffee, answered our emails or whatever. So I can't get stuck into 75 00:06:32,620 --> 00:06:37,059 anything big now. And then you finish the meeting. It's 11 a.m. and it's almost lunchtime. You're 76 00:06:37,059 --> 00:06:41,340 like, oh, I've got lunch in an hour, so I know what I'll do. I'll just do these tick box things. I'll 77 00:06:41,340 --> 00:06:46,820 pull together this thing for this client here, and then I'll start that project work after lunch. Can 78 00:06:46,820 --> 00:06:51,140 you see how? And then you maybe get to 2 p.m. after lunch and you're like, oh, I'm just a bit 79 00:06:51,140 --> 00:06:54,469 tired now. Like, my day has been a bit stressful. You know, I've been answering all these questions. 80 00:06:54,469 --> 00:07:00,389 I've been pulled in a million different directions. So just by having 130 minute, can I 81 00:07:00,430 --> 00:07:05,390 quickly grab your brain? Can I pick your brain? Can I? Can we have a quick catch up on this thing? Can 82 00:07:05,429 --> 00:07:11,909 take away an entire day. And the reason that that can be so dismantling to 83 00:07:11,950 --> 00:07:18,429 your like, I guess mental health like to your burnout, to your life, to your burnout, but like to 84 00:07:18,469 --> 00:07:24,269 to how close you could get to burnout is add that up. Imagine if that was just to happen two days a 85 00:07:24,269 --> 00:07:28,509 week, three days a week. You start to just knock on all these projects. I'll do it next week. I'll do 86 00:07:28,510 --> 00:07:34,789 it next week. Then when it's urgent and the thing is due, or like say, let's say for example, you were 87 00:07:34,789 --> 00:07:38,629 meaning to give your team a bit of important feedback. You might not give it in the moment 88 00:07:38,629 --> 00:07:42,949 because you're like, oh, I just, you know, I'm a bit tired today or I've got this quick tick to do or 89 00:07:42,949 --> 00:07:47,509 I've got this meeting to have. So you push it back, you push it back by a week and then you push it 90 00:07:47,510 --> 00:07:51,199 back by another week, and then you don't end up having it. You don't end up doing the thing, and 91 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:57,599 then next month it becomes urgent. Then it's a fire that you've got to put out. And so just by 92 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:02,640 saying no to that 30 minute meeting, that quick tick, you know, can I just. Can I just grab your 93 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:07,640 time? Can I just, just by saying no there and then I know you might think in the moment you feel 94 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:12,359 like you're unhelpful, you feel like you're not being a villager, you're not helping that person. 95 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:18,160 You actually are saying yes to having a full day of a really productive ticking off your to do 96 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:23,519 list, doing the working on the work you're buying back your time in the future. Like you can go home, 97 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:28,199 feel an accomplished feeling happy, feeling like you've really progressed today. Do you see what I 98 00:08:28,199 --> 00:08:33,319 mean? Like those small no's, they add up, they build and they build and they build. So if you were 99 00:08:33,319 --> 00:08:38,279 coming into this episode, kind of like expecting me to give you some big, you know, I time block or 100 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:42,799 do this, do this, we're going to get into a little bit of that. But the the biggest thing you can 101 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:48,440 take away from today is start saying no. So much more time is your only finite resource. It's the 102 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:53,090 only thing you can't get back. You can technically make more money. You can technically get more 103 00:08:53,090 --> 00:08:58,728 people. You can technically have more friends. You can technically get another job. Time. You can 104 00:08:58,729 --> 00:09:03,689 never get it back. Once it's gone, once that day is gone. That day is gone forever. It's never coming 105 00:09:03,689 --> 00:09:10,650 back ever again. So be so precious and so cautious over your time. This takes me into point two, which 106 00:09:10,650 --> 00:09:16,889 is you need to think about time as though you can buy it back. And this is essentially an investment. 107 00:09:16,890 --> 00:09:21,329 So you want to invest your time. Well, if you think about what a traditional investment is like 108 00:09:21,330 --> 00:09:26,568 thinking in money, it's paying for something. Now that's going to be worth more in the future. So 109 00:09:26,569 --> 00:09:31,728 you buy something for £10, whether it's a stock or a share, whether it's a handbag, whatever, you 110 00:09:31,729 --> 00:09:36,889 invest in it now and in ten years time it's potentially worth like ten x what it is today. 111 00:09:36,929 --> 00:09:43,570 This is how I want you to think about your time. How are we buying back more of our time with the 112 00:09:43,570 --> 00:09:49,059 time we're using right now? What on earth am I talking about? So what I mean is, let's talk about 113 00:09:49,059 --> 00:09:54,459 some very traditional like management conundrums we find ourselves in delegating, okay. When we 114 00:09:54,499 --> 00:10:00,419 delegate a task, the amount of times I have either said to myself or heard other managers say it'll 115 00:10:00,419 --> 00:10:04,218 just be quicker if I do it myself, it'd just be quick. Oh, it's just quicker. You know, they messed 116 00:10:04,219 --> 00:10:08,259 up before. They're not very good at it. I don't want to risk. I don't want to risk it not being 117 00:10:08,259 --> 00:10:12,299 done. Well I can't be bothered to coach them in it. So I'm just going to do the thing. I'm just going 118 00:10:12,299 --> 00:10:17,699 to do the task. You are essentially not. You're chucking your money away. You're chucking your 119 00:10:17,699 --> 00:10:22,179 time away. Because although yes, that task is urgent and it's been done in the moment and it's 120 00:10:22,179 --> 00:10:27,459 been done to your standard, there is no buyback of time in the future. So when that thing happens 121 00:10:27,499 --> 00:10:32,140 again next month and then the month after that, and then the week after that, you again, you're the 122 00:10:32,140 --> 00:10:35,460 only one who can do it. You're the bottleneck. And now it's even worse because it's got a bit 123 00:10:35,460 --> 00:10:39,739 awkward because you've been doing it so it feels harder to delegate. Whereas if you flip that and 124 00:10:39,740 --> 00:10:45,699 try to buy back your time, try to invest your time better, you would say, okay, I know it's probably 125 00:10:45,699 --> 00:10:50,150 going to take me about 20 minutes to properly delegate this thing to my team member. And when I 126 00:10:50,150 --> 00:10:56,949 say properly, I mean explain the context, explain the why to them. Um, you know, give them 127 00:10:56,950 --> 00:11:02,030 autonomy over the outcome. Ask them what a good deadline is. Be there to coach them if they need 128 00:11:02,030 --> 00:11:06,629 more support. Allow them to make mistakes and then help coach them through those mistakes. All of 129 00:11:06,669 --> 00:11:13,509 that takes a bit of time. But what you're thinking about is the next 12 months of your career and 130 00:11:13,509 --> 00:11:18,829 how now that you have taken the proper time and you've invested that time to delegate that thing 131 00:11:18,830 --> 00:11:23,749 properly. That person forevermore will be able to take this thing away from you. Do you see what I 132 00:11:23,749 --> 00:11:28,429 mean? Another example of buying back time is having difficult conversations is just making 133 00:11:28,429 --> 00:11:31,988 sure that we never ignore a difficult conversation because it just gets worse, it gets 134 00:11:31,989 --> 00:11:37,709 harder to deal with, and it might not take up more time in terms of like you having to have more 135 00:11:37,710 --> 00:11:42,668 conversations, but it takes up more mental space. It takes up more cultural space inside the team. 136 00:11:42,669 --> 00:11:47,039 When everyone's dealing with this negative energy or this person who shouldn't really be in the 137 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:51,399 team because you've not dealt with it. And now all of a sudden it's a big thing that is reducing 138 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:56,439 everyone's productivity. And everyone's like how they feel about work. Well, like 1,020% has this 139 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:02,519 huge knock on impact. Just because you made a bad investment of your time one month or two months 140 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:09,519 ago. And so it kind of goes back to that age old. Is it an analogy or whatever age old phrase 141 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:15,159 of like, buy cheap, buy twice? You know, if we buy cheap, we avoid the difficult conversation. If we 142 00:12:15,159 --> 00:12:19,959 buy cheap, we do the tasks that we quicker ourselves, but we buy it twice. We have to buy it 143 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,640 again. It won't just go away, it will come up again in the future, and you're going to have to pay for 144 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:29,519 that thing again with your own time or with someone else's time. And so really think about 145 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:35,319 your time as like the most important resource investment you will ever manage and ever deal 146 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:40,918 with. I said no last month to more things than I have ever said no to in my entire life, and it 147 00:12:40,919 --> 00:12:44,809 blooming hurts sometimes. I got invited to I'll have to name drop it here, because don't make me 148 00:12:44,809 --> 00:12:50,890 feel better about not doing it. But I got invited to a party at Google HQ, which was Google's like 149 00:12:50,929 --> 00:12:56,728 team summer party with some of the like, big C-suite people at Google to go to their London HQ. 150 00:12:57,090 --> 00:13:03,689 Rooftop barbecue DJ's the coolest thing in the world, right? For Google to showcase new products. I 151 00:13:04,010 --> 00:13:08,409 just I just know it's not a good use of my time. As much as it sounds brilliant, as much as 152 00:13:08,409 --> 00:13:13,009 there'll be some great people there for me to, like, network with, whatever. It's just not a good 153 00:13:13,010 --> 00:13:16,728 use of my time and I could try and convince myself it is. But getting a train down to London, 154 00:13:16,729 --> 00:13:22,449 staying overnight, it's a whole like 24 hours. That 24 hours I could be working with my team to build 155 00:13:22,450 --> 00:13:27,449 some brilliant innovation inside custard. Like we could be building out a new feature. We could be 156 00:13:27,450 --> 00:13:33,449 creating more content to help our audience. Like, is it really helpful for me to go and have a few 157 00:13:33,450 --> 00:13:38,369 drinks on Google's rooftop? I don't think so. Things like South by Southwest, the festival I got 158 00:13:38,369 --> 00:13:44,178 invited to go there. Amazing again full of incredible humans Speaking on panels like it's 159 00:13:44,179 --> 00:13:49,180 great to just be seen there and take photos there. But again, it's like nearly a whole week out of my 160 00:13:49,180 --> 00:13:54,419 life and I get invited to these things and it's so hard to say no. Like, trust me, there are some of 161 00:13:54,419 --> 00:14:00,820 the hardest nos I've ever known. And yet I just know that when the time comes for those things to 162 00:14:00,820 --> 00:14:06,499 be happening, I'm going to be annoyed at myself that I said yes. And so I trust me. If someone has 163 00:14:06,499 --> 00:14:11,419 got like, just invest, say no and invest your time, this is where we're at. Then the third 164 00:14:11,420 --> 00:14:17,180 productivity hack, and this is one I learned a while ago called the Eisenhower Matrix. So this I 165 00:14:17,219 --> 00:14:22,380 guess technically is like one of the productivity hack tool things that you hear about. But this is 166 00:14:22,380 --> 00:14:29,379 the only one that's ever, like stuck with me and being important, which is tasks will fall into 167 00:14:29,420 --> 00:14:35,579 four camps, but for all intents and purposes, to simplify it, they will either be urgent or 168 00:14:35,820 --> 00:14:41,618 important. Now, an urgent task is the stuff that we tend to just fall into all the time. It's things 169 00:14:41,619 --> 00:14:47,499 like doing our emails, ticking off whatever, like short, quick tick to do lists you've got to do, 170 00:14:47,499 --> 00:14:52,939 replying to our team on slack, responding to clients. It's basically like that. Things you have 171 00:14:52,939 --> 00:14:58,419 to keep up with every single day within the business. Then you've got important. Important is 172 00:14:58,420 --> 00:15:03,498 the stuff that it isn't urgent right now. Like if you don't do it today, no one's going to come 173 00:15:03,499 --> 00:15:09,740 knocking to say, why hasn't this thing been done? Urgent is like the bigger project work. But the 174 00:15:09,740 --> 00:15:16,699 problem with important is if you don't force it to be urgent, it will just get more and more 175 00:15:16,700 --> 00:15:21,260 urgent, and it will get more urgent to the point where eventually it's going to stress you out 176 00:15:21,260 --> 00:15:24,979 because you've been meaning to do this project for so long, you've never forced out the time to 177 00:15:25,020 --> 00:15:29,779 do it. And now you go on holiday next week and it's due. And so it's Friday at 4 p.m. and you've 178 00:15:29,780 --> 00:15:33,940 still got six hours of work to do. You lose your weekend, you're stressed, you're anxious, you're 179 00:15:33,940 --> 00:15:38,819 starting to feel those feelings of burnout because we've been prioritising the urgent things 180 00:15:38,819 --> 00:15:43,189 all the time. Now. People usually say to me here, like, but you've got to do the urgent thing. You 181 00:15:43,190 --> 00:15:47,469 know, I've got to answer my emails. I've got to go to the meetings. I've got to like, do these quick 182 00:15:47,509 --> 00:15:52,629 tick tasks. So what I always say about the urgent, of course, we're always going to be there. Like 183 00:15:52,629 --> 00:15:57,869 we're never going to be able to fully remove ourselves from those quick ticks. How can we? So 184 00:15:57,869 --> 00:16:02,749 your urgent tasks are things that you should be constantly looking at to think, how can I delegate? 185 00:16:02,789 --> 00:16:09,550 How can I automate, how can I systemise? Or how can I just get rid of or do less of? So like inbox for 186 00:16:09,550 --> 00:16:15,430 example, I guarantee you do not need to spend as much time in your inbox as you think you do. When 187 00:16:15,430 --> 00:16:20,269 you respond to an email, people just reply back. I always say this to the team and I'm like, I'll, 188 00:16:20,269 --> 00:16:25,509 I'll get maybe once every like four months. I'll have an amazing thing where I manage to get my 189 00:16:25,509 --> 00:16:31,829 entire inbox down to zero, and I'm so proud of myself. I'm like, whoa, we've done it! Then give it 190 00:16:31,830 --> 00:16:37,309 an hour and I'll have 17 emails again, because your inbox is just a list of someone else's 191 00:16:37,309 --> 00:16:41,558 priorities. Like they are not your priorities. It's just someone waiting for you to get some 192 00:16:41,559 --> 00:16:45,799 information to them. And this is when we risk becoming the type of manager who's just like a I 193 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,760 think they call it like a pedal pusher. You're just moving information around. Those type of 194 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:55,119 managers are the types. Sorry to be a bit fear mongering here. They will get made redundant by AI 195 00:16:55,160 --> 00:17:01,039 eventually. Like if you're just moving information around, that's the layer that doesn't matter 196 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:05,719 anymore. It's going to get less and less important. You need to be part of the layer, the valuable 197 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:12,240 layer where you are improving your systemising you're working on innovating and experimenting 198 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,799 and you know you've got your KPIs, whatever they may be. How do we test out new things with the 199 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,199 team? How do we and you know what these are. They've been on your to do list forever. I don't 200 00:17:20,199 --> 00:17:26,719 need to tell you what they are. You have to force I'm going to use that word, force out the 201 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:33,279 time to move away from the urgent and into the important, even if it's just like, I don't know, 202 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:39,328 blocking out a full day to do it. And you say to yourself, right from the hours of nine till 12. I'm 203 00:17:39,329 --> 00:17:44,488 deleting slack. I'm getting rid of teams turning off all notifications, which you should have off, 204 00:17:44,489 --> 00:17:50,010 by the way guys, because notifications just steal your focus away. I have no notifications, nothing. I 205 00:17:50,010 --> 00:17:55,010 have like three people on my phone that I allow through for notifications, which is literally my 206 00:17:55,010 --> 00:17:59,649 partner and my parents. That's it. No one else is getting a reply from me. And do you know what's 207 00:17:59,649 --> 00:18:04,729 crazy? People still think I'm like a fast responder. Like a fast reply I have no 208 00:18:04,729 --> 00:18:09,290 notifications on because you will still look at him. Trust me, you won't miss anything. I guarantee 209 00:18:09,329 --> 00:18:14,249 even if you don't look at your phone for two hours which hit like who? Who does that? If you do, 210 00:18:14,290 --> 00:18:18,409 if you don't look at your phone for hours on end, amazing go you. But we all just do. So it's like 211 00:18:18,449 --> 00:18:23,169 turn off notifications. You don't need your emails pinging up in the corner of your laptop while 212 00:18:23,170 --> 00:18:28,328 you're working. It's just going to distract you because you see it and you think, oh, I can just 213 00:18:28,329 --> 00:18:33,169 quickly reply to that. I can tick it off my list quickly and it's safe. It's like this dopamine hit 214 00:18:33,209 --> 00:18:39,499 of urgency. You don't need to, like, carve out an hour at the end of every day to do the quick tick 215 00:18:39,499 --> 00:18:43,619 stuff. Quickly respond to everyone on email. Get them the information that they need. Delegate some 216 00:18:43,620 --> 00:18:49,379 stuff. Automate some stuff. Other than that, spend as much time as possible in that important 217 00:18:49,380 --> 00:18:55,979 category. Okay, for your fourth hack, I'm gonna expose your calendar. I'm going to expose you a 218 00:18:55,979 --> 00:19:00,698 little bit. So I want you to go and take a look at your calendar. Don't do it if you drive in or if 219 00:19:00,699 --> 00:19:03,899 you are, in fact, don't do it right now. But write this down. I want you to go and look at your 220 00:19:03,900 --> 00:19:10,779 calendar. I when you look at that calendar, I want you to think if you if someone had like a gun to 221 00:19:10,780 --> 00:19:17,699 your head right now and said you have to reduce 50% of these meetings. So you've 222 00:19:17,699 --> 00:19:24,459 either got to get them down by 30 by half or removed them, cancel them completely. Which 223 00:19:24,459 --> 00:19:29,419 ones would you cancel? And don't do it yet. This is just an audit for now. Which ones would it be? 224 00:19:29,459 --> 00:19:33,379 Maybe write them down like have a bit of a list for yourself on a piece of paper. When you look at 225 00:19:33,379 --> 00:19:40,188 your calendar, Which ones aren't really that crucial. Or you could get down to 15 minutes. 226 00:19:40,510 --> 00:19:47,349 What are they? And then I need you to go and do it. Like I need you to start making a routine 227 00:19:47,390 --> 00:19:51,389 of every Friday. Sometimes I do this on a Sunday, but if you don't want to work on a Sunday, then do 228 00:19:51,390 --> 00:19:56,949 it on a Friday. Sometimes I do this on a Friday whereby sorry on Sunday, but do it on a Friday 229 00:19:56,989 --> 00:20:01,509 whereby you look at your calendar for the next week and you just play a game. I used to do this 230 00:20:01,509 --> 00:20:05,749 at sage a lot, and I think it used to piss a lot of people off, but I don't care how many meetings 231 00:20:05,749 --> 00:20:11,829 can I cancel? How many can I cancel? Honestly, generally, people actually are glad because they 232 00:20:11,829 --> 00:20:15,949 get their time back too. And don't push it out to the next week that just pushed it down the line. 233 00:20:15,949 --> 00:20:21,229 That just means you're spending more time thinking about the thing. Remove. Say to someone if 234 00:20:21,229 --> 00:20:25,709 you don't use loom. By the way, loom is a really great Chrome extension that we use where you can 235 00:20:25,709 --> 00:20:30,550 screen records. So you can generally like get if you want to show someone something, you can be 236 00:20:30,550 --> 00:20:33,719 like, let me just send you a screen recording and then you can just come back to the screen 237 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:40,399 recording. So using tools like that like looms really great. Try to avoid meetings at all costs. 238 00:20:40,439 --> 00:20:46,478 Just do this audit I'm going to call it the 4 p.m. Friday audit. Cancel cancel cancel cancel. And 239 00:20:46,479 --> 00:20:51,479 don't make up bullshit excuses. This is what people fall into the trap of. Like, don't. Then go 240 00:20:51,479 --> 00:20:57,079 back to those people and be like, I'm sorry. I've just, you know, I'm really sorry. I've just I'm a 241 00:20:57,079 --> 00:21:01,400 bit I've been overwhelmed. It's no bullshit excuse, but I mean, people tend to like, fluff it up a bit, 242 00:21:01,439 --> 00:21:07,719 you know what I mean? And they'll be like, um, sorry, but I. I've got too much on next week. Can we move 243 00:21:07,719 --> 00:21:13,958 it to another time or, you know, make up a lie about the project not being whatever? Just be so 244 00:21:14,199 --> 00:21:19,920 transparent and direct with that person. I don't even think you need an apology. Like, just say, hey, 245 00:21:19,959 --> 00:21:25,679 just letting you know my priorities for next week are here, here and here. I'm going to send over a 246 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:30,279 loom video instead of doing this meeting because I think I can save us both half an hour. Then if 247 00:21:30,319 --> 00:21:34,889 you just come back to me and if we still need a meeting after that, we can discuss and decide that 248 00:21:34,889 --> 00:21:39,809 together. And it's like by cancelling a meeting, I think you need to realise you're actually the 249 00:21:39,810 --> 00:21:44,049 unsung hero. No one wants more meetings. There's no one out there that wants more meetings. So it's 250 00:21:44,050 --> 00:21:48,530 like, don't you know if someone messaged me to say they're cancelling a meeting, I'm buzzing. I'm like, 251 00:21:48,530 --> 00:21:54,209 great, I've got half an hour or an hour back of my day and it's like, take control. I think that's 252 00:21:54,209 --> 00:22:00,208 what I'm trying to say. You can build respect by taking control of being the one who's like, I am 253 00:22:00,209 --> 00:22:03,889 not going to put up with this crappy meeting culture anymore. My mom was telling me about 254 00:22:03,889 --> 00:22:08,929 something brilliant she did in her team the other week. So she runs a furniture e-commerce business, 255 00:22:08,930 --> 00:22:14,449 and they have actually restricted their meeting time to nine hours a week. So everyone in the team, 256 00:22:14,449 --> 00:22:20,648 they work 35 hours a week. That only allowed nine hours of meetings in any given week. And so 257 00:22:21,170 --> 00:22:26,849 think about it like that. Like what is your upper limit? Nine hours, let's say. How do we get it down 258 00:22:26,849 --> 00:22:32,060 to nine? Be ruthless. You can cancel meetings to your boss. I promise your boss will respect you 259 00:22:32,060 --> 00:22:38,299 more if you value your own time enough to cancel their precious meeting. Because burn out guys is 260 00:22:38,300 --> 00:22:42,339 quite often cause. And I've felt burnout. By the way, I don't think I've quite, like, gone over the 261 00:22:42,339 --> 00:22:49,339 precipice of having burnout, but I have. I remember back in it was May 2024. I was I didn't have any 262 00:22:49,340 --> 00:22:53,379 team inside the business. It was just me. And I just got back from travelling, and it was the 263 00:22:53,379 --> 00:22:57,259 first month that I was like properly getting the systems of the business set up, and we were 264 00:22:57,260 --> 00:23:01,780 launching Fresh Start. I was launching Fresh Start, I should say, for the very first time. So I'd 265 00:23:01,780 --> 00:23:06,020 filmed a fresh start as a six week boot camp for new managers, which, by the way, we are opening up 266 00:23:06,020 --> 00:23:10,979 again in September. So if you want to join, we've not opened it up in over seven months. I think it 267 00:23:10,979 --> 00:23:16,539 will be, um, it's just incredible. So I'll put the link to join the waitlist below. I would love you 268 00:23:16,540 --> 00:23:23,179 to be one of the 150 cohort in September, but when I was launching Fresh Start, um, for the very first 269 00:23:23,180 --> 00:23:28,180 time, I was filming the video modules, figuring out like how on earth to even set up like a course 270 00:23:28,180 --> 00:23:32,709 platform, you know, how to build a community, how to make it as powerful as possible, as impactful as 271 00:23:32,709 --> 00:23:37,629 possible. Because courses can be a bit shit. And I wanted to make sure that it was actually stuff 272 00:23:37,630 --> 00:23:41,509 that people could implement and that they felt challenged by, and they could go put in place day 273 00:23:41,510 --> 00:23:46,228 to day and would actually have this like real impact. And I put so much pressure on myself to 274 00:23:46,270 --> 00:23:51,949 make it amazing from day one. And I remember it was like the week leading up to our first ever 275 00:23:51,949 --> 00:23:58,749 launch. I was just on death's door like I couldn't sleep. I was riddled with I don't think it was 276 00:23:58,750 --> 00:24:04,389 anxiety. I think it was just such high cortisol from the stress levels. And I was like, fearful 277 00:24:04,389 --> 00:24:08,430 about, you know, what? If no one wants to buy it? What if I've completely missed the mark? What if 278 00:24:08,430 --> 00:24:13,709 this is crap? Like, what if I've done it wrong and you know everything? And at the time I was just 279 00:24:13,709 --> 00:24:18,269 doing so much. I was also working with clients, doing workshops, doing coaching. I was just doing 280 00:24:18,270 --> 00:24:24,669 so much. I was probably working like 12, 14 hour days, seven days a week. And that was I was kind of 281 00:24:24,709 --> 00:24:29,799 like flirting, let's say, with burnout. I was very close to that precipice of this is far too much. 282 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:36,519 Now, we've we've gone off the cliff. And I believe the reason that I caused that for myself 283 00:24:36,839 --> 00:24:43,358 was caring about the wrong things like I was. So I put so much like control freak 284 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:48,999 energy. And this is just me personally on like making sure that my inbox was always at zero, 285 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:54,239 making sure that every single client got a response within one hour, making sure that like, I 286 00:24:54,239 --> 00:24:58,239 don't know, just so many things that was that urgent work that actually if I'd have just said 287 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:04,879 to myself, you know what? Today I'm just focussed on creating, tomorrow I'll do the more urgent 288 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:09,999 stuff and make sure everyone's responded to. And I feel like it was this. I was I was focusing on the 289 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:16,319 work about the work, like the meetings I was having with people, like the all the, the different 290 00:25:16,319 --> 00:25:22,439 things that I'm not sure were actually that helpful. And I'm convinced that in me that burnout 291 00:25:22,439 --> 00:25:27,209 was really caused by me focusing on the wrong things instead of the things that are like buying 292 00:25:27,250 --> 00:25:31,328 me my own time back in the long run. And I had a good friend at the time who was running a 293 00:25:31,329 --> 00:25:36,249 business, and I was working with her, and she'd ended up in hospital because of stress and 294 00:25:36,249 --> 00:25:42,969 burnout. And it's like, I it's just it is such an important topic, an issue that we addressed. And I 295 00:25:42,969 --> 00:25:49,328 think we have to get so good at using that. No, because it as much as I would love 296 00:25:49,409 --> 00:25:55,569 workplaces and businesses to take ownership over burnout and stuff in people, 297 00:25:56,329 --> 00:26:01,689 ultimately we have to take personal ownership over it ourself. And so yes, we'll keep pushing for 298 00:26:01,689 --> 00:26:07,129 the workplaces to do it. But just from a personal stance, like we have to make sure that, you know, we 299 00:26:07,130 --> 00:26:13,769 are saying no, that we are pushing back on the things that are urgent and not important. So to 300 00:26:13,810 --> 00:26:20,449 conclude, productivity, like the real big productivity hack, is not to like, 301 00:26:20,490 --> 00:26:25,659 squeeze as much as possible into your day to be as efficient at the highest output, blah blah blah 302 00:26:25,660 --> 00:26:32,499 blah. It's two. Delete. Decline. Push back on as much as humanly possible. 303 00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:38,659 That doesn't move the needle. And I think as well. And as well. Let's talk about what the needle is. 304 00:26:38,699 --> 00:26:43,259 Make sure that you know what your Northstar is. You know what your success measures are. You know 305 00:26:43,260 --> 00:26:47,859 what moves the needle in your job, because then you know how to focus on it and just delete 306 00:26:47,860 --> 00:26:52,338 decline. Say no to all those things that aren't moving that needle like go into the Google party. 307 00:26:52,379 --> 00:26:55,739 Google I would have loved to go, but it's not going to move the needle for me. I could make a 308 00:26:55,740 --> 00:27:00,139 small argument that it might win that networking, but I know it isn't deep down. And so I've got to 309 00:27:00,180 --> 00:27:04,540 say no. And that's how I kind of buy back that evening. Now I get to spend that evening with my 310 00:27:04,540 --> 00:27:08,099 partner. I get to spend that evening chatting to my best friend on the phone, like I get to 311 00:27:08,140 --> 00:27:12,459 continue to nurture the relationships that mean things to me. I get to have my eight hours sleep 312 00:27:12,459 --> 00:27:17,899 because I'm not up and down on a train two days. I get to keep, you know, realistically, going down to 313 00:27:17,939 --> 00:27:23,339 London for one trip is £500 out of the business at least because it's a train, it's a hotel, it's 314 00:27:23,339 --> 00:27:28,869 food, it's whatever. And it's like that money, you know, we're a bootstrapped custard as a 315 00:27:28,869 --> 00:27:34,109 bootstrapped business. Think what? I could spend that £500 on inside custard. Like I could spend it 316 00:27:34,110 --> 00:27:40,150 on so many more powerful things that would help grow the business. And so it's also just thinking 317 00:27:40,150 --> 00:27:46,109 about that opportunity cost, like every single yes comes with a no to something else. And just be so 318 00:27:46,109 --> 00:27:51,629 aware you can't just say yes to everything. We have to be so aware at what we're saying no to. Um, 319 00:27:51,630 --> 00:27:56,228 and what are the right knows what are the right yeses. Thank you for tuning in for another week of 320 00:27:56,229 --> 00:28:01,189 the boardroom. This is the podcast where we open the doors on all the conversations that, you know, 321 00:28:01,230 --> 00:28:06,348 historically, have been hidden, hidden away in the boardrooms across the globe, kept deep, deep in 322 00:28:06,349 --> 00:28:09,669 those vaults, the information that we never really get access to. So thank you for listening. Thanks 323 00:28:09,670 --> 00:28:15,309 for tuning in. We'll be back 8:00 again next Wednesday morning. Make sure you are subscribing, 324 00:28:15,310 --> 00:28:19,869 liking, commenting and drop any feedback you've got in the comments of the post.