Welcome to the Elevated Edit Podcast.
Speaker AI'm your host, Blakely Ramsey, and the goal of this podcast is to discuss all things personal development, wellness, and the art of editing your life in an elevated way.
Speaker AFrom mastering morning routines to mastering your mindset, we're going to sift through the noise and empower you to take elevated action.
Speaker AMake sure you catch the show notes for all the details.
Speaker AEnjoy the show.
Speaker AToday I'm going to help you reframe the way that you think about time management and productivity and habits and all of the things.
Speaker AOne of the recurring things that I'm hearing with not only my coaching clients, but with women in general.
Speaker ASince I have published this podcast and since I started showing up on social media as more of a systems and habits coach, I am hearing the same thing over and over again.
Speaker AThere's really two different camps of mindsets.
Speaker AThere is the mindset of I have no systems at all.
Speaker AI am just so overwhelmed, I can't get caught up.
Speaker AI'm always running late, I can't ever remember anything.
Speaker AAnd then there's the second camp of, you know, I've got these systems, I've got like three planners and I've got, you know, four digital planners and I've got all these CRMs and they're talking to each other and I'm just so overwhelmed because I've got too many systems.
Speaker AAnd I really wanted to dig into why this happens and why I think women in particular are underserved in the productivity space.
Speaker AAnd this is coming from someone who has read a lot of productivity books over the last couple of years, like an embarrassing amount of productivity books.
Speaker AAnd I'll be super honest, the majority of the, the best productivity books were written by men.
Speaker AAnd, you know, I try to, you know, be there for my ladies.
Speaker AAnd so I'll buy a book written by a woman.
Speaker AAnd a lot of them are just fluff pieces.
Speaker AAnd that is not me knocking anyone in particular.
Speaker AThere are definitely some very well written books by women in the productivity space, but they're far and few between the majority of them.
Speaker AAnd I understand why they do it because fluff pieces sell.
Speaker AYou know, they we as women, we'd like pretty things and so we go for the covers or if it was written by an influencer or whatever the case is.
Speaker AAnd a lot of the productivity and time management habit books that I go back to time and time and time again are written by men.
Speaker AAnd I think that they have great information and I've learned a lot from these books.
Speaker ABut the problem is a Lot of these books were written by men from, from a men's perspective.
Speaker AAnd I think men are excellent at a lot of things, decision making.
Speaker AThey have us beat by a thousand.
Speaker AI was talking to my husband about this and you know, I told him, I was like, that's why men excel in the workplace so quickly.
Speaker ALike, they advance so rapidly is because men are not afraid to make a decision and look like a fool and just jump straight into the next decision.
Speaker AYou know, that is what they do.
Speaker AAnd so, you know, their rate of failure is high, but because they are failing forward, they're learning so much faster.
Speaker AAnd so, you know, they do get the, the raises and the bonuses and, and all that.
Speaker AAnd women, we are very intuitive and we are very nurturing and we are very critical thinking.
Speaker AAnd I think that that is definitely a strong suit.
Speaker ABut I think that we have not been served well in the productivity and time management space because a lot of the information is not suited to us.
Speaker AIt is not suited to being intuitive and going based off of your intuition and a hunch.
Speaker AAnd I mean, that's where all of my best decisions have come from, is it just felt right.
Speaker AAnd like that's not really taught in productivity and time management books and courses and things.
Speaker AAnd so it is my personal mission.
Speaker AI decided on my walk this morning, it is my personal mission to reframe the way that we look at this space face.
Speaker ABecause I feel like it is damaging to a lot of women where they go, you know what, I am just lazy or I'm just an unmotivated person.
Speaker AAnd it's like, no, you're far from it.
Speaker AYou just are trying to use systems that weren't created specifically for you.
Speaker ASo I did a lot of research leading up to this episode because I really wanted to understand, you know, where the productivity space even originated and how it evolved and where we are now compared to where it really got started.
Speaker ASo if you look at the, like late 1700s, early 1800s, we were in a space where we were, funny enough, we were very value based when it came to work and time.
Speaker ASo we had a lot of farmers, there were a lot of artisans, there were woodworkers, there were bakers.
Speaker AYou know, it was not a.
Speaker AYou clock in and you have to be here for eight hours and then you leave.
Speaker AIt was like, you know, did you make enough loaves of bread?
Speaker ADid you feed all the cows?
Speaker ALike, are all the tasks done?
Speaker ASo it was value based versus time based.
Speaker AAnd then we had the Industrial revolution and brilliant minds like Henry Ford.
Speaker AI don't knock him at all.
Speaker AThey started to view the workspace as a machine that can be optimized.
Speaker AAnd, you know, at that time, machines were not really a thing.
Speaker AAnd so the machines that were optimized were human beings.
Speaker ASo people like Henry Ford would, you know, study people and try to get the most impact he could out of his workers because he wanted to really have that clean, smooth assembly line.
Speaker AAnd so we started to treat human beings like machines where it's like, okay, I've got you locked in this building for 10 hours.
Speaker AI want to get the most possible impact out of you that I can.
Speaker AAnd then we drift into the next big shift was corporate America in the 50s.
Speaker AAnd this was rooted in, like, showing up, not necessarily feeling aligned.
Speaker ASo you need to show up in the office.
Speaker AYou've got to be here these hours, you've got to check these tasks off.
Speaker AIt's not necessarily like, oh, I'm aligned with this job, because it, you know, aligns well with my skills or whatever it is.
Speaker AIt was very just like a showing up and checking things off of a list.
Speaker AAnd then we moved into hustle culture and we're still dealing with this one today.
Speaker AAnd this was a self help boom.
Speaker AAnd this is where a lot of the productivity books that we read today came from, was this self help boom where you were told to optimize or you fell behind.
Speaker ASo it was all about optimization.
Speaker AIt was all about, how much can I get done in the shortest amount of time?
Speaker AWe weren't looking at quality, we were looking at quantity.
Speaker AAnd it, in my opinion, was extremely damaging.
Speaker AAnd we're still dealing with repercussions of it today.
Speaker ABut today we have an even bigger problem, I think that impacts women way, way, way more than it impacts men is that now productivity is also expected to be aesthetically pleasing.
Speaker ASo you can't just have a planner anymore.
Speaker AYou've also got to have a planner that you can do a flat lay at the coffee shop with your MacBook and your monogrammed pen and your Matcha and post on Instagram and, you know, just have everyone be so jealous of you.
Speaker ABut then you open said planner and you don't use it.
Speaker AIt's not optimized for your actual brain.
Speaker ALike, it doesn't actually help you follow through.
Speaker AAnd there is this pressure, and I'll be honest, I fall in this trap.
Speaker AThere is this pressure to post your aesthetic workspaces and, you know, have all these things be so pretty and so, you know, pinterest worthy.
Speaker AAnd that's totally Fine, if they also help you follow through.
Speaker AAnd so we have just like, like I said once I was doing research on all of this.
Speaker AI'm like, wow, we have been severely underserved in this space and this is not like I am not a victim mentality kind of person.
Speaker ASo I'm not like, oh, poor us, but what are we going to do about it?
Speaker AYou know, like, I am very action oriented.
Speaker AYou will not hear me sitting around complaining about stuff.
Speaker AAnd so like I said, that is my mission.
Speaker ASo today we're going to shift our beliefs around some common productivity tools and tactics and strategies.
Speaker ABecause I really think a lot of the issues that we're dealing with now is the way we look at things.
Speaker AAnd we are looking at it from a very masculine, very optimized energy, which can be very overwhelming and overstimulating to us as women who are very intuitive and emotion driven.
Speaker AAnd I think those are beautiful things.
Speaker ABut I do think we need to ensure that we are looking at things from that perspective and we're not just trying to fit ourselves into a box of what we've been told is productivity and what is time management.
Speaker AAnd there are two productivity extremes.
Speaker AAnd you might fall in one of these buckets.
Speaker AI know I did a couple of years ago, so if you did, that's totally okay.
Speaker ABut today we're going to try to find a balance in between the two.
Speaker ASo the first one is lack of systems.
Speaker ASo you're just avoiding productivity altogether.
Speaker AYou don't want to have anything to do with the industry.
Speaker AYou don't want to read any of the books.
Speaker AYou don't want to hear about it.
Speaker ALike you, you don't.
Speaker AYou're not interested at all.
Speaker AAnd this might look like you have nothing written down.
Speaker AYou're just working from chaos, flying by the seat of your pants.
Speaker AI'll figure it out.
Speaker AOh, I forgot about that.
Speaker AOh, I forgot to text you back.
Speaker AOh, I didn't read that email.
Speaker AOh, I'm so sorry, I forgot.
Speaker AAlways running late.
Speaker AYou might, you might know someone like that.
Speaker AIt might be you.
Speaker AIt's okay.
Speaker AThat's okay.
Speaker AIt's okay if it's you.
Speaker AThis is driven by identity blocks.
Speaker AAll or nothing.
Speaker AThinking where you go.
Speaker AOh my gosh.
Speaker AWell, if I'm not doing all the things, I'll just do nothing.
Speaker AOr a fear of being boxed in, where you think that systems are going to limit your creativity and your free time and your joy.
Speaker AAnd this can create burnout and procrastination and very reactive living the other end of the Spectrum is having way too many systems.
Speaker AAnd this was where I was a couple of years ago where I had a CRM and I was using Trello and I had my notes app going and Google Maps and Notion and email and all this and all that and a planner and all the things.
Speaker AAnd look now like in at the time of this recording, I do have multiple systems, but a, they have habits built around them.
Speaker ASo I'm not just expecting them to, I'm not expecting myself to touch base with all of these habits every single day or all of these systems.
Speaker AAnd they talk to each other, they make sense, they flow, it's effortless, it's not a struggle.
Speaker AAnd it has taken me years to build up to this.
Speaker AAnd so that's why I always say like start simple and add on later because you don't want to be me.
Speaker AWhere you've got a million different dashboards and you rewrite your planner every morning and then there's no actual follow through.
Speaker AYou're just, you have all the systems and you've tried all the planners and you have all the things, but you're so overwhelmed by everything that you don't actually follow through on anything.
Speaker AAnd this is driven by perfectionism and a fear of failure and performance based worth.
Speaker AAnd this can create, much like being, having a lack of systems, this can create decision fatigue and friction and a lot of mental clutter.
Speaker ASo I want us to reclaim some of the tools that we have maybe misunderstood, maybe we have misused in the past and today we're going to think about them in a different way.
Speaker ABecause I think every tool can be beneficial if it is used in the right way and used in a way that fits our lives and our schedules.
Speaker AOkay, so we're going to go through four of the biggest tools that are misunderstood in the time management and productivity space.
Speaker ASo number one, and I will say this is my favorite productivity tool.
Speaker AI know even the word productivity is a trigger for some people, but we're gonna, by the end of this, I think you're gonna be like, okay, I get what she's talking about.
Speaker ABecause when I talk about productivity, I don't want to be doing all of the things all the time.
Speaker AI want to be very intentional with my time when I am being productive or when I am in the moment.
Speaker ASo like, if I'm with my husband, don't call me.
Speaker AIf I am doing a time block, my phone is across the room.
Speaker AIf I am texting someone, I want my entire focus to be on that text.
Speaker AIf I am driving I want my entire focus to be on driving.
Speaker AIf I am writing emails, I want my entire focus to be on writing emails.
Speaker AAnd to me, that is productivity, where you are being fully intentional and fully immersed in the moment, and you are giving whatever task is in front of you your full attention, and then that way you can complete it and move on to the next one.
Speaker ASo if productivity is a trigger word for you, just know that that is my language when I'm using it.
Speaker AWe're not trying to do all the things.
Speaker AWe're just trying to do the things that we are doing really well and be really focused and really intentional with those.
Speaker AOkay, so back to time blocking.
Speaker ATime blocking.
Speaker AThis is one of my favorite things to do.
Speaker AI am kind of a psycho when it comes to time blocking.
Speaker AI will literally time block my day down to 15 minutes.
Speaker AAnd I don't do this every day, but I'll tell you, the days where my days are time blocked down to 15 minutes are my best and happiest and most fun days.
Speaker ANo lie.
Speaker ATruly.
Speaker AThe original purpose of time blocking was meant to protect your deep work.
Speaker ASo if you are not familiar with what time blocking is, it is essentially a assigning one task or one area to a specific time block.
Speaker ASo, for example, I like to have, you know, a deep work time block in the mornings where I am just working on projects.
Speaker ASo I am doing the research for the podcast.
Speaker AI am, you know, working on messaging for content or for the sales page or whatever it is.
Speaker AAnd then I might have a time block for emails.
Speaker AAnd so I just go through and focus on emails for, you know, 15 minutes.
Speaker AAnd then the next time block might be, you know, Canva, where I've got a list of things that I need to get done in Canva.
Speaker AAnd so I'm like, super focused time blocked on that one task, and then you get it done before you move on to the next.
Speaker ASo instead of, you know, sitting down to work and you're like checking email, and then you're making a Canva post, and then you're checking Facebook and then you get a phone call and then you go look at your QuickBooks and then you might, you know, make another Canva post and then you have another idea and you never actually get anything done.
Speaker ALike, time blocking can help with that.
Speaker AHowever, time blocking, of course, as with a lot of things, have has been misused, and I think it's the way that we look at it.
Speaker ABut a lot of people will over schedule and they will not add in any buffer zones, any white space this is so, so important.
Speaker AAnd the newer that you are to time blocking, the more buffer space that you need to give yourself.
Speaker ABut so, for example, if I am time blocking a day that is like intense, so intense for me would be from like typical workday is going to be from 8 to like 8 to 5, 8 to 6 in the season right now.
Speaker AI had a couple days last week that were 8 to 7 and they were intense.
Speaker AAnd I had a lot of things already pretty pre time blocked.
Speaker AAnd so I went in and time blocked some buffer space into my day because I'm like, you know what?
Speaker AAt some point in the next 11 hours, something is going to come up, something is going to need my attention.
Speaker AAnd if you don't block in those buffer times, then things run over and things get left out and you end up not following your time block.
Speaker AAnd then you're like, that was more stressful than anything.
Speaker ALike, that was awful.
Speaker AI didn't have time to get anything done.
Speaker AVersus if you actually schedule in the buffer zone, when something does come in, you can tell that person or whatever it is, you can say, hey, I can't get to this right now, but I actually have an open block from 1 to 1:30 this afternoon.
Speaker AI'll get back to you then, or whatever it is.
Speaker AAnd that can really help you just maintain your momentum.
Speaker AOr if it is something that is truly urgent, you can move your time blocks down so you can go, you know what, Actually I, I scheduled 30 minutes of a buffer into my afternoon.
Speaker ASo I'm just going to move this time block down 30 minutes and then I can go ahead and get this done right now or whatever it is.
Speaker AAnd the way to fix this is to add in that buffer zone and then maybe start with one time block a day.
Speaker ASo maybe you have like an AM focus or like a PM execution or an evening buffer, whatever it is, start small and then slowly work your way up.
Speaker AYou don't want to see my calendar after I have time blocked.
Speaker AYou'd be like, this girl is bananas.
Speaker AAnd I think that's part of the problem too is when we get on social media, we do see someone who just has like this crazy time blocking system.
Speaker AAnd I have been time blocking for years, you know, not to this level definitely that I'm at right now, but it's taken me a long time to get here.
Speaker AAnd so give yourself grace.
Speaker ALike these are skills that you're learning.
Speaker ATime blocking is not something that is natural.
Speaker AIt is not something you're going to try one time and be good at it is a skill that you have to practice and build and learn.
Speaker AAnd the best way is to just get started and to start small and that way you can be consistent with it.
Speaker ASo we're reframing the way we think about time blocking because I think time blocking can be so beautiful.
Speaker ATo give something your full undivided attention for one hour.
Speaker AYou can, you would be so surprised at how much you can get done.
Speaker AYou can move mountains.
Speaker ALike, I will set a timer.
Speaker AI'll do this next strategy I'll do.
Speaker AI'll set a timer and this.
Speaker AThe amount of things that I can get done in one hour is mind boggling to me.
Speaker ABut I am completely focused.
Speaker AMy phone is down.
Speaker AI am not checking my email, I'm not checking social media.
Speaker AI am literally just working on the task in front of me because I'm trying to get back to fun.
Speaker AI'm not trying to work all the time, even though I am working all the time in the season.
Speaker ABut hey, we've got to have this push season sometimes to, to get us through.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AThe next tool that we are going to rewire our, our language around is the Pomodoro method.
Speaker ASo you've probably heard of it, but essentially it is having spurts of work followed by a spurt of, oh, I do not like that word.
Speaker AWhoa.
Speaker AThat I don't think I thought I said that out loud when I was rehearsing, but maybe I didn't.
Speaker AI set amount of time to work followed by a set amount of time to rest.
Speaker ASo there are all kinds of different ways you can do this.
Speaker AThere's apps, there are YouTube videos.
Speaker AYou can just do it with a simple timer.
Speaker AI just ordered a one of those tomato timers off of Amazon and essentially you just set it for 30 minutes.
Speaker AYou work for 30 minutes and then you take a 10 minute break.
Speaker AAnd the original purpose for this was to fight procrastination with momentum.
Speaker ASo instead of being like, oh, I need to procrastinate, it's like I need to be working for 30 minutes and then I get a 10 minute break.
Speaker ABut this has been turned into a, in my opinion, a negative because a lot of people give themselves a lot of shame around it and I think the shame comes from using it too much and not thinking about it the right way.
Speaker ASo if you are looking at this method of like, okay, I have to do 30 minutes and then I have to do 10 minutes, I have to do an hour and then I have to do 15 minutes.
Speaker AAnything that's rigid for me I'm automatically out with it.
Speaker ALike, I, I can't do that.
Speaker AAnd so if I am in the zone and my timer goes off, I'll just add another 15 minutes.
Speaker AOr if my break, like if what I did in that 30 minutes or that hour was really intense and I feel like a 10 minute break wasn't enough, I might give myself 15.
Speaker ALike the over complication of it has really made it something that can be very shameful for a lot of women.
Speaker AYou know, I've had a lot of women talk to me and they're like, you know what?
Speaker AI, I tried to do the Pomodoro method and I, it was, it was fine to start the task with, but then it wasn't enough to finish the whole project and I'm like, but that's not what it's for.
Speaker ALike the Pomodoro method is really in conjunction with your time blocking and it's really just meant as a space for you to really focus in and then ensure that you take a break.
Speaker ALike, it's not meant to be this like sprint and, and jump and sprint and jump.
Speaker AIt is just meant to say, okay, you know what, I'm going to make sure that I give my brain the rest and the space that it needs.
Speaker ASo it's actually really meant to be a very intuitive tool and to work with our, you know, attention cycles and something meant to make us feel really good.
Speaker AAnd I do think a lot of the productivity industry has turned it really negative where you see these like super extreme, you know, Pomodoro method and oh, it's like so aggressive.
Speaker AAnd you know, we're like working for two hours straight, then we take a five minute break and like to me in the morning I can do a pretty decent stretch.
Speaker ALike I can work for an hour and then take a 10 minute break.
Speaker ABut if you catch me in the evening, I'm like, okay, 20 minutes of work, 10 minutes of rest.
Speaker AAnd so if you have been curious about it, just start small.
Speaker AI know y'all are going to be sick of hearing me say that, but start with 30 minutes, start with 15 minutes, start with 10 minutes.
Speaker ALike do 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off.
Speaker AYou'll be surprised if you start doing that.
Speaker AYou might be like, blakely, I can't take every 10 minutes off.
Speaker AIf you're working on like a task based project, you might get more done doing that than just trying to sit there and procrastinating the whole time.
Speaker ALike knowing that you're going to be able to take a break in 10 minutes could really help you.
Speaker AI will say be cautious, be cautious of that because it takes, I think it takes 10 minutes to get into a task like truly focused.
Speaker ABut if that's where you need to start, start small.
Speaker ALike if you can't focus for 15 minutes, that's okay.
Speaker AWe're going to build that skill.
Speaker AOnce again, this is a skill.
Speaker AThis is not something that we are naturally inclined or going to be naturally good at.
Speaker AThis is something we're going to have to build up over time.
Speaker AOkay, up next are habit trackers.
Speaker AThe original purpose of habit trackers were to reinforce your identity.
Speaker ASo to reinforce your identity of who you're working towards, who you want it to be.
Speaker ASo I want to start working out more, I want to start journaling more, I want to start reading more.
Speaker ABut and this is why I personally, I don't really love habit trackers.
Speaker AI've got friends that live by them and they have phenomenal habits.
Speaker ABut for me, they, they do kind of trigger a little bit of perfectionism for me because if I don't check off every single day, I'm like, oh well, I'm a failure.
Speaker AAnd it's, it's so counterproductive to, you know, actually really building a habit is to just show up every single day and like, yeah, you might not show up perfectly and some days you might not show up at all.
Speaker ABut like, just knowing, like, okay, you know what?
Speaker ATomorrow, like I'm back in it, like I'm back in the game.
Speaker AAnd to me, habit trackers, like, because I do like to check things off, I like for there to be a clean slate.
Speaker AI'm not good at seeing those days where I didn't do the task.
Speaker AAnd so for me it does trigger my perfectionism.
Speaker AThere's a little bit of an obsession with it and it is very unrealistic.
Speaker ALike I will say when I was doing 75 hard, I was obsessed with 75 hard.
Speaker AThat's all I talked about.
Speaker ABut it was because I wanted to make sure that I checked that task off every single day.
Speaker AAnd so I think a calmer and easier and better way.
Speaker AI don't love using the word better, but I do think the stuff better way is to scale it back and pick one to two high impact habits that you can work towards every single day.
Speaker AYou might not do them to perfection, you might not do them every day, but on the days where you don't do them or you don't get to them, you know, maybe do a little journal session with yourself at the end of the Day and be like, what prevented me?
Speaker AWas it actual?
Speaker ALike, was there something, you know, in my system?
Speaker ALike, do I need to anchor my habit to something?
Speaker ADo I need to prep ahead?
Speaker ADo I need to change my mindset?
Speaker ALike, what is it?
Speaker AOr am I self sabotaging?
Speaker AThat has been me in the season.
Speaker ABecause my nervous system is like, girlfriend, our comfort zone is way over there.
Speaker ALike, we need to get back to that.
Speaker AAnd so I've really had to ask myself, like, is this actually hard for me or is my nervous system just not wanting to grow?
Speaker AAnd I'll be honest, the majority of the time, she does not want change.
Speaker ACrazy.
Speaker ACrazy, huh?
Speaker AShe wants to keep me safe.
Speaker AAnd so, yeah, start small one to two high impact habits and then celebrate your progress, not just your streaks.
Speaker AThis is something I am not good at, so be better than I am.
Speaker ABut I am trying to celebrate tiny progress.
Speaker AIt is hard.
Speaker AI want to see the whole spreadsheet filled out perfectly.
Speaker AAnd I am sometimes really bad at being like, man, I haven't made any progress.
Speaker AAnd I've actually made a lot of progress.
Speaker ABut because, you know, I failed a couple times, I'm like, oh, well, I'm a failure.
Speaker AYou know, I gotta start all over and do better.
Speaker AAnd so we're in this together, okay?
Speaker ANone of us are perfect.
Speaker AWe're all working on this and we're all trying to rewire the way that we think about these things because some of the messaging is off, okay?
Speaker AAnd last, but certainly not least, and maybe the most controversial, depending on who you ask, are morning routines.
Speaker AAnd I want to say this.
Speaker AWe all have a morning routine, whether it is intentional or not.
Speaker ASo I have a friend, she actually has a podcast, she has a very large podcast.
Speaker AAnd she.
Speaker AIt gets like, so angry about morning routines on her podcast.
Speaker ABut it's funny to me because every single morning, she posts the same thing on Instagram.
Speaker AAnd she does it every single morning.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, you have a morning routine.
Speaker ABut I do see where she's coming from because she thinks that a lot of people believe if they're going to have a morning routine that they have to wake up at the crack of the dawn.
Speaker AAnd the crack of the dawn, goodness, I'll just be making stuff up over here.
Speaker AAnd they have to, you know, run with their weighted vest and they have to, you know, do the ice plunge and all the things.
Speaker AAnd so I do see where she's coming from.
Speaker ABut I do think that morning routines can also be something that is very intentional.
Speaker AAnd it's Very grounding and gives you a little space to pray or journal or reflect before you are, like, dumped into everybody else needing you for the day.
Speaker AA common misuse of morning routines, as I mentioned, are unrealistic routines where you tell yourself, okay, tomorrow I'm going to wake up and do these 20 things that I've never once done before, but somehow tomorrow morning, I'm going to do it all.
Speaker AAnd then the comparison loop, which is very easy with social media.
Speaker AMorning routines are very popular on Instagram.
Speaker AThey're very.
Speaker AThey can be very aesthetically pleasing.
Speaker AAnd I do think this damages a lot of people because they go, you know what?
Speaker AI can't do all that, so I'm not even going to try.
Speaker AI'm not going to do anything.
Speaker AAnd one way to fix this is to anchor one habit to something that you already do, which is habit stacking.
Speaker ABut on a simple level, anchor one habit to something that you already do.
Speaker ASo if you get up in the morning and make your bed and brush your teeth and get a drink of water and then go make yourself a coffee, and you want to start reading 10 pages of a book every morning, the best thing that you can do is to anchor reading those 10 pages of a book to something that you already do, something that you're gonna do.
Speaker ALike, even on your day off, you're just.
Speaker AIt's.
Speaker AYou're just in the motions.
Speaker AMaking coffee is a really good anchor for a lot of people because it's something that they already do almost unconsciously.
Speaker AAnd so if you want to read 10 pages of a book, you can literally set your book in front of the coffee pot, machine, espresso maker, whatever you have, and attach that habit to that task that you're already going to do.
Speaker AAnd so you go, okay, I'm walking into the kitchen.
Speaker AOh, there's my book.
Speaker AI'm gonna go ahead.
Speaker AI can read two pages while the coffee's brewing.
Speaker AAnd then you can either stand there and read the other eight pages, you can go out on the back porch, you can go on the couch, you can sit on the floor, you can sit in a chair, you can do whatever you want to do.
Speaker AAnd it's gonna feel a little uncomfortable at first because it's new, but eventually, one day, you're going to not even have to set that book in front of the coffee maker or that Kindle.
Speaker AYou're just going to wake up and you're going to make the bed, and you're going to brush your teeth and you're going to drink your water.
Speaker AAnd you're going to go make your coffee and you're going to go straight to read that book and you're going to look up and you'll be like, oh, this is a habit now.
Speaker ACool, Great.
Speaker AAnd it's going to take some time.
Speaker AI think they.
Speaker AThe old saying was it was going to take 21 days to create a habit, but new research is showing that it takes 66 days, and I think it might take a little longer than that, depending on how much you really integrate it into your identity.
Speaker AYeah, it.
Speaker AIt takes a.
Speaker AIt takes a little bit to develop these habits and these skills, but they can be so worth it.
Speaker AThey can make our days feel easier and more effortless.
Speaker ABut I hope that these shifts just showed you that a lot of these tools are neutral.
Speaker AAnd it is the way that we use them that determines whether they create clarity in our lives or whether they create more chaos.
Speaker ASo I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Speaker AThis one was one I was really excited to prepare for.
Speaker AI put a lot of time and energy into the outline and the research now that I am done with the archive, which is the digital digital planner that I created.
Speaker AAnd I'm so proud of it because everything that I talked about in this episode today is encompassed within that planner.
Speaker AIt is very intuitive and very intentional and everything talks to each other.
Speaker AAnd it's not this overly beautiful planner that's super complicated, but it is something that's actually going to help you follow through.
Speaker AAnd I know because I use it in my everyday.
Speaker AAnd with the planner, it also comes with two bonuses that are bonuses, but I felt like were completely necessary when it comes to a digital planner.
Speaker ANow, within the planner, I do have video tutorials embedded throughout.
Speaker AThey're not crazy long.
Speaker AI think the longest one is maybe four and a half minutes.
Speaker AAnd it walks you through the technical and tactical side of the planner.
Speaker ABut I also have the two bonuses.
Speaker ASo the first one is the brain dump and prep session, which I'm so proud of, because brain dump is another thing that I think is a little bit of a buzzword and maybe you've tried it and people get really overwhelmed because, you know, I tell them, I'm like, a brain dump needs to be.
Speaker AEspecially if it's the first one you've done, it needs to be like two or three pages front and back.
Speaker ALike, I'm talking about every little tiny thing in your brain.
Speaker AYou need to get it out on paper, set a timer, get it out on paper.
Speaker AAnd then in the bonus, I walk you through what to do next.
Speaker ABecause I think that brain dumping in itself stresses people out.
Speaker AWhen they go, oh my gosh, you want me to write down every single one of my thoughts on a piece of paper?
Speaker AIn their minds, they go, that turns into a to do list.
Speaker AAnd it can be very stressful the first time you do it because you, you're like, oh my gosh, this is so much.
Speaker ABut I have a framework that you can use that will help you sorted.
Speaker AA lot of it's going to get deleted, a lot of it's going to get delegated, a lot of it's going to get deferred, and then you're going to whittle down your actual action list, like what you actually need to be working on right now, and you're going to find that that's probably a lot smaller than what you thought it was.
Speaker AAnd then the second bonus that comes with the planner is something called operational elegance.
Speaker AAnd this has been something that I've been kind of tweaking and working on for a couple of months now.
Speaker AAnd I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it, if I wanted it to be a standalone product or whatnot.
Speaker AAnd I was like, you know what?
Speaker ABecause I didn't have it all prettied out, like it's just kind of in a PDF form.
Speaker ABut I was like, you know what?
Speaker AThis isn't the most beautiful product I've ever put out there.
Speaker ABut the information is so incredible because it really does.
Speaker AIt just, it not only shows you what a system is and the why behind the system, but like, really just allows you to think, think differently about setting up systems for yourself and looking at your time and looking at your focus and what actually needs to get done.
Speaker AAnd to me, it is just such a beautiful way of looking at time management and productivity in a way that feels really good and not overwhelming and not stressful and is a little exciting and a little chic and a little fun.
Speaker AAnd so I'm really excited and proud of both of these bonuses and I'm beyond proud of the archive.
Speaker AAnd it is live now, finally.
Speaker AWe had so many technical issues.
Speaker AI was on the phone with multiple people.
Speaker AI think I've mentioned on the podcast, I don't have any full time employees right now, but I do have some people on freelance that have helped me with different portions.
Speaker AAnd so it has been definitely a team effort behind the scenes for sure.
Speaker AAnd then my coaches, of course, have given me a lot of feedback and everyone in my mastermind has as well.
Speaker AIt's been a very collaborative effort and I'm very thankful for everyone who has helped me bring this to market so it is available now.
Speaker AI will link it in the show notes and yeah, I hope you got some value out of this episode and I will see you in the next one.
Speaker AThank you for tuning in to the Elevated Edit podcast.
Speaker AI hope you found today's episode inspiring and full of actionable tips.
Speaker ADon't forget to check out the Show Notes for all the resources and links mentioned.
Speaker AIf you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with your friends.
Speaker AFollow us on social media for more updates and inspiration.
Speaker AUntil next time.
Speaker AKeep growing, glowing and elevating your life.
Speaker ASee you soon.