FR#14: How To Beat Overwhelm, Stay Productive & Get Organized With a Full Plate
If you’re a busy person chances are that you have no shortage of things to do. But there is one thing you definitely don’t have enough of: TIME.
The other things you seem to always run out of is your mental capacity.
That’s why your brain gets frazzled or turns to goo before the day is over. Not fun.
Between the many different kinds of commitments you might have: work, side hustle, passion project, family, social life, eating, planning… oh, and sleep is pretty important too… it can feel overwhelming to say the least.
So how do you, as a driven and dedicated business owner, stay productive and organized when you’ve got a full plate?
You need systems and structure that can provide you a better opportunity to do your best work.
There’s many different tips and tricks and tools you have available to you, and in this episode I share some of the techniques that have helped me the best over the past 14 years as a designer and business owner.
Key Takeaways:
2:35 - Learn to protect your mental capacity
4:00 - WHEN you do certain tasks is just as important as what you're doing
5:20 - Tackle your largest responsibility or the most intimidating task FIRST THING
6:55 - Create structure for your day that prioritizes your most productive hours - become aware of your most productive times.
8:50 - Use 90-minute Sprints to create FOCUS and STRUCTURE to your work day
11:25 - The importance of eliminating distractions - Every time you are distracted your brain has to reboot before you get back “in the zone"
12:51 - Work Sprint Hack: Set a timer for yourself to beat the clock
15:00 - Why you should have clear boundaries between breaks and work
16:10 - "You are only productive when you PRODUCE.” - Brooke Castillo — Productive work gives you a result at the end, versus being just busy work.
18:49 - HACK: Use distractions as Incentives to create a reward for getting things done. Reframe how and why you’re using things that become distractions.
22:22 - There’s no such thing as time management, only PRIORITIES. We can’t create more time, but we can increase the quality of the work we accomplish within that time.
Set just THREE top priorities each day.
24:48 - REFLECT on the previous day & set EXPECTATIONS for today: What is ONE WIN from yesterday and what is ONE WIN for today?
27:00 - Take Notes & Write it down instead of storing everything in your brain. Protect your mental capacity by using Evernote as your “external brain"
My Evernote Notebooks:
30:43 - Morning Routines - Start your day off right
31:18 - Organize Your To-Do list - 3 Buckets: Immediate, 2 Weeks, Eventually - Free yourself up to focus on what really needs to be done that day
App: Asana
34:00 - Be aware of the different MENTAL MODES you’re in: Creative vs Critique. – You can’t create and critique at the same time
36:20 - Protecting your mental capacity is one of the most important skills you need to succeed as a business owner.