Episode 86: Productivity 101

00:51 Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity. I'm Louise Miller and each week i share bite-sized insights to help you step away from the hustle stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world Before we dive into today's episode, if you enjoy what I'm sharing here on Unfrazzle and you'd like to support the podcast. You can buy me a cuppa by going to BuyMeACoffee.com slash Louise Miller and making a one-off donation. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes Okay grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started

01:30 Way back when I started this podcast, I shared my definition of productivity with you and it's been a while so i'm going to share it with you again today. So most people when they think of productivity will think about that meaning doing as much as you can in as little time as possible To me, that way of looking at it feels really panic-inducing and restrictive and constraining because it feels like we're trying to squeeze as much doing as we possibly can into every second of every day. And like we're locked in this battle with time which we can never win

02:06 And as you'll know if you've followed me for a while, that way of looking at productivity actually made me ill back in the day. So before I could start really fully leaning into the work that i do now, I needed to redefine productivity for myself and my clients. These days, for me, productivity is about doing what's important as efficiently as you can to create space for things that you love And today I want to focus on the first part of that definition. Productivity is about doing what's important, it's not about doing all of the things and that kind of begs the question how do you know what's important? How can you distinguish between...you know..what's truly important and what actually might be a waste of time or busy work or might be you chasing after a shiny object well the easiest way i think to know what's important

03:01 So having a really clear and strong and aligned vision around the business in the life that you're creating for yourself. Let me just give you an example, I was working with a client a few years ago now she was a LinkedIn trainer and she was doing really well And at one point during our time working together, she got caught up in the idea that she should set up an agency model in her business. She was seriously considering that as an option but because we looked at her vision together every single month, she quickly realised that actually that kind of agency model would take her further away from the vision she had for what her life was going to look like

03:51 Yes, it would create opportunities for her but it would also create complexities that actually weren't part of her vision. And if we hadn't spotted that she could have spent months appearing to be very productive setting up that model for her business But if that productivity was actually being used with something she didn't want Then that's not really being productive is it? Actually, it's a bit of wasted time and energy because it's taking her further away from her vision. So can you see that right true productivity is not just about getting stuff done It's about doing the things are going to get you where you want to go And that is why anyone working with me will know that we always always always start with your vision We spend a bit of time really digging in and getting clarity around how your life on your business

04:41 We'll feel how things are going to look. Even if you don't know the specific detail of what your business might look like, how do you want it to feel? Right we spend a lot of time on that and then once you have that vision clear Don't just shove it in a drawer For this to really help with your productivity You need to engage with it often Your vision should be a living and breathing thing That's part of your planning process Your vision should help you decide whether to say yes or no To opportunities that cross your path It should help you decide what to commit to and what to let go of. Whenever you're feeling overwhelmed, your vision can really help you hone in on what's actually important so that you can step away from everything else and sometimes what's actually important is rest or fun and so your vision might remind you to step away completely from your work from time to time so that you can give yourself that gift

05:34 And this is where so many people go wrong, right? They either haven't thought about their vision enough or if they have they perhaps did it once maybe at the start of the year when everyone's in that kind of mood. They create their vision and they never look at it again and that is not what I want for you! I want for you to be excited and motivated by the life that you're creating for yourself I want for you to see yourself moving closer to that vision, perhaps even living parts of it right now and to celebrate every step you take that's bringing you closer to that. So right now i'm designing a new thing that's going to really help you with that It'll help you get clear on your vision and start taking action to move you closer to it. It will help you see how you can use that vision to really help you get stuff done. Its an opportunity to work with me completely

06:21 And if not, get yourself on my mailing list right now if you're not already and look out for that new thing that is coming your way soon. I think you're going to love it! So as always, I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing you again soon Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating and review as that will help more people discover this podcast! If you would like to hear more from me to help stop faffing and take back control of your time, you'll find the link to join my mailing list in the show notes and I would really love for you to join us. So thanks so much for your support and I look forward to seeing you next time