Category: video

Wednesday LIVE with Evie #51

• Here’s the scenario – you’re at your desk, trusty to-do list at your side and you suddenly find yourself wondering how you ended up scrolling through this FB group or on this website And what is it you’re actually WANTED to be working on anyway? (1:54/-17:51)
• Here are my top 3 ways to avoid that scenario: (2:26/-17:19)
  1. Getting enough sleep
     • “Many people are surprised to learn that researchers have discovered a single treatment that improves memory, increases people’s ability to concentrate, strengthens the immune system, and decreases people’s risk of being killed in accidents. Sound to be good to be true? It gets even better. The treatment is completely free, even for people who have no health insurance. It also has no side effects. Finally, most people consider the treatment highly enjoyable. Would you try it?

       You probably should. For most people, this treatment would consist of getting an extra 60-90 minutes of sleep each night. Both psychologists and psychiatrists have been arguing for years that one of the most significant and overlooked public health problems in the U.S. is that many American adults are chronically sleep deprived. That is, very few Americans regularly obtain the 8 or more hours of sleep that almost all adults need each night. The consequences of this chronic sleep deprivation can truly be disastrous. Laboratory experiments on the effects of sleep deprivation have shown that failing to get enough sleep dramatically impairs memory and concentration while increasing levels of stress hormones and disrupting the body’s normal metabolism. Research outside the laboratory further suggests that long term sleep deprivation leads to greater susceptibility to motor vehicle accidents and may even lead to premature aging.”
       From http://www.apa.org/research/action/sleep-deprivation.aspx
       

     • So, if you’re having problems focusing or being distracted, maybe you need more sleep
  2. Have a to-do list (6:33/-13:12)
     • Why have a to-do list?
       • As David Allen says “Your brain is for having ideas, not holding them”
         • having a to-do list means you don’t have to remember what needs to be done, you have a list
         • And when you finish one task you don’t have to mentally go through everything to decide what to work on next (trying to remember what your priorities are) – you’ve already done that
         • So, you can easily move on to the next item
       • Your brain can only hold about 7 pieces of information at once. In David Rocks book “Your Brain at Work” he describes our brain as a theater and only so many thoughts can have our attention (or be on stage) at once. So, if you’re trying to remember everything you need to do – you’re bound to forget something – even if it’s waiting in the wings.
     • Pomodoro Technique (9:12/-10:33)
  3. Minimize distractions (10:29/-9:16)
     • What is most likely to distract you during your day?
       • Social Media or email on your computer? Close the tabs and decide what time you’ll look at them and for how long
       • Text messages or alerts (from social media or email) – turn off the sound on your phone OR if you still find yourself looking at your phone at regular intervals to check it – put your phone in another room
       • Something else? Think about what you can do to prevent or manage that distraction
       • Maybe it’s the phone, but you need to be available to answer it? Can you carve 1 hour (or more if needed) where you aren’t available?
  4. And a bonus tip is to take regular breaks (15:30/-4:15)
     • Your mind and body need breaks!
     • Go get (and drink!) a glass of water, go to the bathroom, play with your dog or cat for 5 minutes, take the dog for a quick walk – or just take yourself for a walk around the block (or down the cul-de-sac)
     • Something to give your brain something else to do for a bit and move your body
• So, 4 questions to ask yourself to stay focused (16:55/-2:50)
  1. Am I getting enough sleep?
  2. Do I have a to-do list?
  3. What can I do to minimize my distractions?
  4. What will my breaks look like today?
• Let me know what you do to stay focused and cut out distraction (17:25/-2:20)
• If you liked this topic and you want to provide feedback and suggestions for future topics, then join us over in the Facebook group Productivity for Women Entrepreneurs. 
  I post potential topics for Wednesday LIVE with Evie and let you vote on them there.

In 2008 Michel Phelps made record books with the number of gold medals he left the Olympic Games with.

What can we learn from his visualization process and how can we apply that to our own businesses?

Wednesday LIVE with Evie #50

Since it’s the beginning of a new year, the topic that I’m seeing everywhere is goal setting.

And I’m seeing a lot of contradicting advice.

Some people say you should set BIG goals and you’re wasting your time if you don’t.

But other people say setting BIG goals paves the way to failure and you should set small, easily achievable goals instead.

So, what are you supposed to do?

That’s what the topic of this week’s Wednesday Live with Evie was.

In the video below I share:

Specifically, I share:

• Why they say to set BIG goals
• Why they say to NOT set big goals, but smaller more achievable ones instead
• What you should actually do

Wednesday LIVE with Evie #49

Here’s what I share:

• Why they say to set BIG goals (3:00)
  • Big goals can motivate and excite you
  • They can give you space to dream
  • They can force you to try new and different things, to stretch yourself
  • When you set a big goal you might be more willing to change behavior or start a new habit
  • With small goals, you might lose interest or dismiss your accomplishments
• Why they say to NOT set big goals, but smaller achievable ones instead (4:00)
  • When you hit a bump in the road with BIG goals you might lose momentum and motivation
  • Because BIG goals can be beyond our reach, if someone fails at reaching that goal, they might feel like they failed and give up and their motivation and productivity may decline
  • From Psychology Today in April 2017 (4:40)
    • “People who disengage from seemingly impossible goals are mentally healthier than those who stay entrapped .”
      In other words, it’s unhealthy to stay committed to a BIG goal that is impossible
    • “…decisions made on the basis of false predicted happiness are likely to turn out to fail to maximize eventual experienced happiness.”
      In other words, don’t create BIG goals based on being happier, you’ll be disappointed.
  • Smaller achievable goals are easier to accomplish and can give us the satisfaction of seeing progress made and keep us motivated
  • Obstacles feel less impossible to work through
• ​​​​​​​What you should actually do (8:00)
  • First, know that we’re all wired differently
  • Know what works for you, what motivates you?
    • Are you motivated by big hairy audacious goals?
    • Or do those intimidate you? And do you prefer to focus on the things you can accomplish in the shorter term
  • How do you work? What’s been motivating to you in the past?
    • Having big goals?
    • Or do you focus on the smaller accomplishments?
  • What I do (10:30)
    • I tend to set smaller attainable goals while keeping a bigger goal in mind
    • So, I have the big goal that I want to accomplish, and I’ve broken it down into smaller steps that I focus on.
  • If you’re a bigger goal type of person (11:15)
    • Your BIG goal is probably more well defined and has more details
    • I still recommend breaking it down into smaller pieces
    • But it will be more motivating to you to keep the bigger goal in mind as you do the smaller pieces
• Take Your Productivity to a New Level (14:00)

Welcome to December!

What is December made up of for you?

Is it a fun time of family, food, and joy?

Is it a time to slow down, review, and take a break?

Or, as I hear from so many people, is it a super busy time of business and family?

I hear many people talk about how they’re trying to get their business wrapped up for the year, their free time is consumed with holiday decorating and gift buying and trips away to see family (which is fun and sometimes stressful).

(And check out this video on self-care – it includes things that you might not think about like drinking water and grabbing some alone time if you’re an introvert networking and things that you might think about like massages)

And I know in the past, this is the time of the year where I might avoid goal setting because it means I’ll look at what didn’t go well, where I failed, and I’ll think about just how far I’ve yet to go.

So, for this week’s Wednesday LIVE with Evie we talk about How far you’ve come (vs How far you have to go). 

Wednesday LIVE with Evie #46

Thursday is Thanksgiving!

But you already knew that 🙂

This week I thought about talking about self-care (and I probably will in December), but instead I’ve been thinking about how to be more productive and get more things done.

Especially since this is a short week and I plan to take the week of Christmas off (and there’s a lot I want to do between now and January).

I thought perhaps you’re feeling a bit of the same.

So, I talked about that for this week’s Wednesday LIVE with Evie.

Wednesday LIVE with Evie #44