01:31 The woman sitting beside me in a group of business owners starts chuckling as the realisation hits. That thing that she's been doing in an effort to get organised when her head is spinning and there's just too much to do, it's not actually helping! So yes, it might leave her feeling great for a few hours but is she any closer to actually getting stuff done? No not really... And the others smile and nod as the penny drops because they've been doing it too. I've done it myself so I totally understand So half an hour earlier I'd asked the women in the room to write down where they would need to look, to get a full picture of everything going on in their lives. I asked them to look at where they're keeping their to-dos, their business tasks, their commitments outside of their business life admin family stuff all of that good stuff and I invited you to do that exercise as well in last week's episode of The Podcast
02:19 And the response I got from that group of women was exactly as i would expect from a group of creative business owners who are juggling so many things. Their tasks were kept in notebooks and emails and scribbled on lists and post-its, typed into apps on phones there were appointments noted in paper diaries electronic calendars family calendars stuck to the fridge...and then of course all that stuff they're keeping in their heads So we explore all that together for a few minutes and then I continue with my session to help them find their productivity flow. And when we reach the end, the woman sitting next to me starts to giggle and she says to me, I've just realised where i'm going wrong! I have lists all over the place and whenever that starts to feel overwhelming and stressful, I write another list. When I've done that, I feel really great because I think I've achieved something but actually all I've really done is move things around
03:10 And I smiled in recognition and the other women in the room who could hear this conversation, they smiled too. And I'm sure you've done it as well haven't you? Right we all have! It's a bit like washing the dishes right when they're all over the kitchen in a complete mess is really stressful so stacking them up by the side of the sink might make things feel tidier but you still haven't actually washed the dishes and that job still needs to be done When it comes to your to-dos, it feels great to round them all up and put them on a lovely new list. And of course there's absolutely nothing wrong with that but if that is your only strategy every time you feel overwhelmed think of how much extra time you're spending getting organised Time which could be better spent actually doing some of the things on your list
