Episode 2: Productivity is bad

00:00 Before we get going, I have an invitation for you. If you're ready to find out how much easier it becomes to get things done when you have Make It Happen Club in your life? The doors are open to new members right now and i would love for you to join us! So Make It Happen club is a calm quiet sanctuary where you get the clarity focus and motivation you need Hello and welcome to Unfrazzle with me Louise Miller. If you're a solo business owner and you have a big exciting vision and loads of ideas that you want to get out in the world but without drowning in a sea of overwhelm, then this is the podcast for you. Each week I'll be sharing bite-sized insights to help you stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world It's time to step away from the hustle and find a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity So grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started

01:30 Do you like the word productivity? So, you may not have given it very much thought but in my line of work I certainly have and i want to talk to you about that a little bit today because here's the thing. The word productivity makes me think of cogs in machines, makes me think of manufacturing an industry of faceless people in grey suits pointing at graphs in boardrooms And you know the other thing is so many people evaluate and judge themselves based on their productivity. You know we have expectations about our output, and we measure ourselves accordingly which usually means beating ourselves up and berating ourselves for not achieving more

02:09 Simply because so many humans are underestimating how long it takes to get things done. So I don't like the word productivity and that used to bother me daily, which is a bit of a problem given that it's the thing that I write about talk about support people with you know? I was calling myself a productivity mentor And still hating the word productivity for a very long time, which is obviously a bit of a problem when you're trying to grow a business. But a big breakthrough happened for me when I realised one day that when I talk about productivity actually I mean something very different When I talk about productivity I don't mean pushing to do more in less time. I mean connecting in with your vision figuring out what's important and getting those important things done

03:00 As efficiently as you can, with as much ease as you can so that you can create space for what you love. And when you come at productivity from that angle things suddenly feel less pressured You know? You can relax knowing that you're making progress towards the life you want to create for yourself because it all started with your vision And another, you know key part of the way I think about productivity and my definition of productivity is that your worth as a human being has absolutely nothing to do with how much you achieve or don't achieve. So in the old definition of productivity it's all about keeping your head down keeping your nose to the grindstone keeping doing things the way you've always done them in the hope that you'll reach some magical destination at some point in the future

03:49 My way when I'm talking about productivity and helping people get things done, it's about raising your head so that you can see where you're going. It's about stopping to smell the roses. It is all about getting curious and finding a flow that feels really good to you so that you can enjoy the journey now not when you get to the end of your To Do list So if you've been in my world for a while now, you've probably heard of my new definition of productivity because I share it quite often. I will always share it at the beginning of guest expert sessions quite often If I'm on a podcast with somebody else, I'll talk about this as well because it's really important to me that I am super clear about what I mean when I'm talking about productivity and just to kind of condense all of this down into one statement that I hope you can carry with you My definition of productivity is all

04:41 Getting the important things done as efficiently as you can, with as much ease as you can so that you can create space for what you love. So how do you feel about productivity? If like me you find the idea of cramming more and more doing into less time if you find that idea overwhelming and stress-inducing I hope that you'll find my new definition of productivity helpful And I hope you have a really wonderful week and i'm looking forward to being in your ears again soon. All right, lots of love! Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. Sharing is caring so if you loved this episode please share it on your socials or head over to Spotify iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and leave me a review not only will I be hugely grateful your ratings and reviews will help others to find this podcast so that even more people can make their ideas happen thanks so much and see you next time