Productivity Paradox

In this week’s mini-episode, I’m sharing a question from listener, Annie in Minnesota. She asks for ways to keep multiple work projects and little tasks organized so that she can work on them at the right times. I’m giving multiple tips for how you can map out your goals and projects using systems, and how to manage the time you allocate to those tasks.

Through these listener questions, you’ll learn how to reduce the stress that comes when you’re constantly trying to keep our personal, family and work lives organized. Sometimes it’s difficult to maintain our productivity systems or to delegate to our kids or coworkers - especially during the busier seasons in our lives. I’m sharing my favorite strategies, productivity tools and how to assess what system you need in your environment. What’s In This Episode: • How to keep up with your productivity systems and routines… even during your busiest times. • The key to consistently delegating tasks to your family (even young kids!) and your team at work. • Examples of how you can customize your productivity tools to help keep the different compartments of your life organized. • Tips for creating family meetings that will run smoothly, and leave you feeling satisfied instead of burnt out at the end of your day.

In this week's episode of The Week Ender, I wanted to build off of episode 38 and share one more app that I don’t think many know about. Learn about the app you can use just like a walkie-talkie to chat with friends or discuss tasks with coworkers…. No matter where they are.

Become more organized and get your customized systems in place by using technology. Even if you love paper products, like we do, these tech strategies and tips will help boost your productivity at work and at home. I share several app recommendations and ideas you can start using today to manage your time and systems more effectively. What’s In This Episode: Creating and sharing a system within Google Drive and which tools are most helpful. Examples of how to use technology systems for home and personal life - not just work. Automating with Asana, allowing your teams (at home or work!) to collaborate, communicate and be accountable for tasks. How to manage your time wisely and bookmark resources using Pocket Why you should start using Reminders on your phone for time-based or location-based tasks.

In this mini-episode, I’m talking about delegation and what to do when a delegated task doesn’t go the way you hoped. The solution isn’t to just delegate the task back to yourself. Instead, I’ll give you the three keys to turn the situation around and get the task completed in a positive way.

Learn why delegating to your team at work or home is an integral part of being productive and keeping up with your customized systems. I’m discussing the various barriers that keep people from delegating and how to persevere through those perceptions and assumptions. After listening to this episode, you’ll understand the steps you can take to easily delegate to your team, allowing yourself to work more effectively on what matters most. What’s In This Episode: • How to empower and lead your team to work together and complete tasks. • Four main reasons why people don’t delegate tasks and how to move past those perceptions. • Solutions for combating situations when you feel like you can’t delegate. • Six kinds of tasks that are great to delegate to your team. • Strategizing the steps from start to finish for your delegations so you will see them through to the end.

It’s common to feel overwhelmed or unsure where to begin when setting goals and trying to get started on tasks. Set yourself up for success by creating springboards for your personalized systems. The best part? There are many different kinds of springboards that you can learn about and implement today. Your processes will now work more effectively and you’ll stay on track with your priorities, goals and projects. What’s In This Episode: • Learn which areas in your life you should create springsboards for. • How the domino effect can work for your springboards and lifestyle. • How to find ‘bottlenecks’ in your systems and ways to move forward from them. • Examples of springboards in your business, work and home that will allow you to work more effectively. Join our Facebook group at inkwellpress.com/group

Learn how to use automations as a system that will help you with tasks that need to be done very week or every month. We’re continuing our topic for this season all about personalized systems by discussing how automations can help you take the thinking out of it, as you break down and easily manage tasks, allowing you to complete any goal and project on time and without stress. What’s In This Episode: • Eliminate decision fatigue by implementing automations into your lifestyle. • How to make sure automating tasks works for you at home and at work so that you always complete your tasks and projects. • Everyday examples of how I automate my chores, projects and tasks, and you can too. • Actionable tips and how to use your free download to help you create your own automation systems. To join our Facebook Group go to inkwellpress.com/group

How do we create and implement systems so that they are personalized and actually work for our environment? I’m answering listener questions about keeping up with systems when life happens or urgent items get in the way. In today’s episode, you’ll be able to relate to these real-life questions and examples of how you can maintain your customized systems with good habits through using actionable strategies. What’s In This Episode: • How to maintain customized systems when your schedule is inconsistent or hectic. • Using your mission statement for daily planning to push you to your overall goals. • How productivity is about making time for yourself and hobbies, not just getting more done. • Ways to talk to your employer/manager about a monotasking system in the workplace with boundaries and without distractions. • How to implement organizing, cleaning and productivity into your household with spouses and children. Ask questions for future Listener Q&A episodes at inkwellpress.com/question

Learn why the traditional to-do list is working against you. I’m showing you how to use a new system - the Priority List. This will allow to actually work toward the important items on your list, like your personal goals, instead of getting bogged down by Insignificant tasks. After this episode, you’ll be inspired and ready to start tomorrow morning off with your new and personalized list that propels you forward toward goals and big projects. What’s In This Episode: • Why to-do lists don’t really work in today’s society and workplaces. • Understand and combat that feeling that tasks are always eating away at you. • How to work more effectively by using the three priority levels that keep your tasks organized. • Everyday examples of how you can respond to Insignificant tasks so that you can focus on the Important ones. • Tips on how to begin using this new system in any area of your life. Join our free productivity group at inkwellpress.com/group

Author and speaker, Gretchen Rubin discusses how we can live happier lives by creating good habits through knowing ourselves. We often think it’s too difficult not only to create good habits, but to keep up with them as well. By using Gretchen’s quiz on The Four Tendencies and being aware of loopholes you may use, you’ll be able to cultivate systems and habits that work for you and your lifestyle. What’s In This Episode: • Learn the Four Tendencies Framework: Figure out if you’re an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger or Rebel so that you can learn how to best create good habits • Discover ten different loopholes you may be using to get out of your good habits. • Hear the Story of the Growing Heap - How ‘one coin’ can affect your consistency of good or bad habits. • How to create habits for tasks that aren’t always easy or black and white. • One action item from Gretchen that you can do today to successfully create YOUR good habits. Join our free community at inkwellpress.com/group

Cultivating good habits doesn’t happen magically or right away. It’s not about disciplining yourself so that you’re forcing routines into your life, and that’s what so many of us try to do. Today, you’ll learn the easy but effective formula for creating habits AND sticking to them. I’m also giving you steps to changing those bad habits you’ve been wanting to break for so long so that you have more room to focus on your personalized systems and good habits. What’s In This Episode: • How your brain works differently with discipline versus habits. • The easy formula for creating habits.   • Real-life examples of how you can get started on creating habits by starting small. • Top tips for cultivating good habits into great routines. • Learn how to get rid of those bad habits you’ve always wanted to change. Join our free community at inkwellpress.com/group

Discover why “eating the frog,” or getting your most dreaded or biggest task done first thing in the morning, is actually a bad idea and a device for procrastination. Instead, I’m sharing ways you can keep moving forward on goals you set, no matter how big. After listening to today’s episode, you’ll feel empowered to create a plan for yourself, instead of mindlessly completing insignificant tasks or procrastinating your progress to the finish line. What’s In This Episode: • Why the system of ‘eating the frog’ doesn’t work for productivity. • The formula you need instead of discipline in order to get tasks done and goals accomplished. • Big benefits to making plans and celebrating your wins. • How to make sure you don’t become burnt out at the end of the day or week. • Creating successful days full of momentum and progress. Join our free FB group at inkwellpress.com/group

Start saving yourself time and work smarter through batching your tasks. Today, I’m discussing how you can categorize tasks so you can implement a simple strategy to help you stay focused and work with intention. After today’s episode, you’ll be ready to begin producing higher quality work in less time.   What’s In This Episode: • Why you need to work with intention - the natural way your brain WANTS to work. • The two categories you can use to easily batch tasks. • Actionable steps to creating a plan for batching task so that your goal is completed. • Think you don’t have enough time to focus on batching tasks? I’m giving real-life examples and tips for how you can minimize or stop distractions. • Examples of tasks you can batch starting today. Get your free download, "Five Minutes to Peak Productivity" at inkwellpress.com/podcast

Perfectionism can take over when we’re trying complete tasks - from small projects to our biggest goals. Today I’m discussing the signs we should look out for to know whether or not we really may be perfectionists and how that cycle can be broken. With these 5 actionable strategies, you’ll be able to let go and walk away from your perfectionist mindset once and for all. What’s In This Episode: • Why we go after perfectionism in the different areas of our lives and the cycle of it. • How learning from your mistakes creates a better system for yourself. • Signs and examples of how you can know if you’re a perfectionist. • Why we need to “stop smashing our marble jar.” • Tips to creating a healthier mindset instead of keeping the cycle of a perfectionist one. • How high-stress perfectionism can affect your mental health Get our free download "Five Minutes to Peak Productivity" at inkwellpress.com/podcast

How do you accomplish your big goals and tasks? Start by eating the elephant! Using systems, like this and others will positively affect productivity, relationships and overall goals. In today’s episode, learn exactly what systems are and how to personalize them for you and your environment. What’s In This Episode: • Discover how to be more proactive instead of reactive with your systems. • How to customize your system to work for you and your environment. • Why you should Eat the Elephant: take bite-sized steps toward goals. • Actionable tactics you can use to break down big tasks, projects and events. To get access to our free download, "Five Minutes to Peak Productivity" go to inkwellpress.com/podcast

Do you get to Sunday night and wonder where the weekend went? We just need to streamline your Saturdays and Sundays for success so you can actually enjoy your time. We often feel the need to work throughout our weekend, but in today’s episode I’m giving 5 tips on how to combat working on the weekend. I’ll also share research on why it’s important to take this time off so you can maximize your productivity for the week ahead. What’s In This Episode: • How to cut back on weekend work, emails, texts, to-dos and more using my 5 easy and actionable strategies • Learn to consistently make the most of your weekends by streamlining Saturday and Sunday for success. • See what the newest research and studies say about how our brain, health and productivity are affected by working weekends. • Steps to creating good habits on the weekend so that you work less and spend more time on the right tasks and people. • Why you need to create hours of availability and hours of business (and the big difference between the two!) G

Eliminate end-of-the-week burnout and make every Friday your most successful and rewarding day of the week. Using streamlining strategies for planning your tasks, obligations and projects will allow you to ease into the weekend. Friday no longer has to be the most unproductive day of the week - let’s make it successful, productive AND relaxing! What’s In This Episode: Learn how to set up Friday for the ultimate day of success. How to streamline tasks, projects and more to avoid the Friday burnout.   Discover top trends to look out for at the office that contribute to Friday burnout and how to combat them Begin to implement clear boundaries between work and life To get access to the free download "Five Minutes to Peak Productivity" go to inkwellpress.com/podcast.

Many times our priorities and the tasks that are truly important to us get pushed aside. The urgent tasks call out to us and we end up prioritizing those instead of our goals. By using my priority levels system, you will achieve more because you’ll schedule in those personal priorities - both big and small.   What’s In This Episode:   • Learn how Calee Lee used two unplanned hours in her day to create a 7 figure business.
 • How to attain the mindset that will move you towards real success & productivity.
 • Implementing an easy priority system that allows you to schedule the tasks and events that are important to YOU. • How I schedule my business around stages of life that works for my family and me.   To get FREE access to the download "Five Minutes to Peak Productivity" go to inkwellpress.com/podcast.

Laura Vanderkam, author of I Know How She Does It, shares her strategies from her research on how women who have a career and family make time for both. We’re discussing how tracking your time and managing it is key to living the best, healthiest and most fulfilling life possible. Learn about the "scripts" we tell ourselves when it comes to how we manage time.   What’s In This Episode: Laura discusses the idea behind her book “I Know How She Does it.” Take a look inside how women allocate their time to both careers and family. See how time tracking can help you live the best life possible. Start viewing the week as a whole can help you look at the bigger picture & find harmony. Create sustainable patterns toward small wins.   To get access to the free download Five Minutes to Peak Productivity, go to inkwellpress.com/podcast