PP 719: Protecting Our Productivity
“Don’t let anything interrupt you. You need to protect your productivity. We all need to be more aware of protecting our productivity, but it starts with you.” -Kim Sutton
Tough times, social media, a whole load of tasks, notifications, the kids, your pets, a knock on the door– you name it! There are a lot that could potentially affect our focus and productivity. Of course, that is if we allow it. Listen in as Kim shares 3 simple yet effective strategies to help you protect your productivity!
Highlights:
00:48 How Tough Times Affect Productivity
02:48 Tip#1: Journal
03:55 Tip#2: Music
03:53 Tip#3: Timers
07:34 Where it Starts
Resources
Inspirational Quotes:
07:10 “We don’t need to respond as soon as they message us. We don’t need to pick up every phone call. And heck, we don’t need to answer the door when somebody knocks.” -Kim Sutton
07:34 “Don’t let anything interrupt you. You need to protect your productivity. We all need to be more aware of protecting our productivity, but it starts with you.” -Kim Sutton
Meet Your Host!
Kim Sutton is a Business and Marketing Automation Mentor, Speaker, and Author. She is the host of the Positive Productivity Podcast. Having been through so much including depression, domestic violence, and lack of self-care, Kim’s mission is to help her clients be positively productive by empowering them to achieve success without the burnout. She believes that positive productivity stems from system+support+self-care. Positive productivity is not about perfection, it’s about having Prioritized Purposeful Actions. Today, Kim is out to help fellow entrepreneurs reclaim their lives and make their business work.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:
Kim Sutton: This month on the Positive Productivity Podcast, we are talking about focus and productivity. This is the second episode in this series, and if you haven’t yet listened to it, I want to encourage you to go check out Episode 718, 718 with Will Henshall, the founder of Focus@Will.
Today, I want to talk to you though about protecting our productivity over the next couple months. Perhaps even over the past few months, you may have heard me talk about struggles that are happening in my house. In full disclosure, my husband and I have been going through some tough times. And while today, and yesterday, and the day before are really good days, and the days that are not getting along, my productivity goes down the tubes. I love to be in a good mood, I love to be in high spirits and have a positive mindset. And when my mindset gets shifted, when something doesn’t go my way, when somebody finds fault with me unnecessarily, when something breaks that I really thought was gonna work, I get distracted, my spirits fall and my productivity goes from 120 miles per hour down to a screeching halt. I have been working to learn how to protect my productivity, and I want to share a few tips that I have come up with so far. In full disclosure, this is a never ending improvement process. That’s the best way I can say it. Like Kaizen never ending series of activities, tasks and projects that will improve us. And that’s what this is. I have yet to find one method that constantly works, always works to protect my productivity. But again, here’s a few that I have come up with so far.
Number one, journaling. When I get super frustrated, and I’m just going to pick on my husband today, when I get super frustrated, rather than vent to him via text message or in person, I go to my journal, I write down exactly what’s on my mind and I let it go. I can’t tell you how many hours of arguing this has saved me so far. Because when I let my lips be loose, when I tell him exactly what I’m thinking about him, which in many points I really shouldn’t, I’m just angry and I need to keep my thoughts to myself. But when I do open my mouth and vent, often a one to three hour argument ensues. I don’t know about you, but that’s not going to increase productivity in my day, and I would have to think it won’t increase productivity in your day either. So lesson number one again is journal. Rather than opening up your mouth and venting to the person who you think needs to hear your words, take it to your journal and keep moving forward.
Number two, the second method that I use to protect my productivity is finding music that suits my mood. I wish I could say that I always want to listen to my favorite Christian music songs. I wish I could say that when I don’t want to listen to God, because yes, it does happen that I always wanted to listen to upbeat stuff. By the way, I found some great channels on Apple Music, but I don’t always want to listen to upbeat music. Yes, this is a Positive Productivity Podcast, but when I am in a state, when I am not as happy as I want to be, and when I am not as productive as I want to be as a result of my displeasure, don’t play me happy songs. Give me music that suits my mood. Some days, this can be going to focus at will and listening to their nature beats. That’s not the right name of the channel, but it’s a mix of electronica and nature sounds, all mixed together and it suits me great. I’ve also found similar channels on Apple Music. There’s melancholy, classical, which isn’t really all that melancholy. But when I don’t feel compelled to sing along, just hearing the strings and the piano keeps me focused. In any case, I find music that suits my mood, and I put myself in the music.
And that goes along with method number three, I use timers, and I set those timers for 30 minutes. During those 30 minutes, I can only do the tasks that I tell myself I’m going to do during that time. I used to have a consequence if I deviated during those 30 minutes, as a result of sharing this with you, I might bring that consequence back. You might laugh at what that consequence was, but it was actually to exercise. Every time I got distracted during the 30 minute period, and got sidetracked from what I really wanted to focus on. I would make myself do push ups or setups. Trust me when I say that my arms and belly could really use that, but I’m really working on not using exercise as a consequence because I want to enjoy it. And lately, I have been. I’m still considering it though I’ll let you know. Anyway, I set a timer for 30 minutes and I will only focus on what I told myself I was gonna focus on during that time. Some days, this is an extreme challenge. Some days, I get phone calls from clients or text messages from clients, I’ll get phone calls and text messages from my kids or from friends and I really just want to respond to them. I feel like I need to respond to them. But dear friend, we don’t need to respond as soon as they message us. We don’t need to pick up every phone call. And heck, we don’t need to answer the door when somebody knocks. Yes, you might be expecting a package to be delivered that you do you need to sign for. So in those circumstances, yes, maybe it would be a good idea to answer the door. But I hope you get what I’m saying. Set a timer for 30 minutes and don’t let anything interrupt you. You need to protect your productivity. We all need to be more aware of protecting our productivity but it starts with you. How are you going to handle the distractions that want to get in your way? How are you going to handle the life events that just throw you curveballs?
I want you to think about it and remember the three tips that I gave to you today. Number one, journal. Don’t vent to people spill your words into a notebook and let it go. Number two is find some music that will keep you focused. Number three, use timers. Set that timer for 30 minutes and focus on what you tell yourself you’re going to focus to. Focus on what you tell yourself you’re going to focus on during that 30 minutes and nothing else. I would love to hear how you protect your productivity so be sure to head on over to thekimsutton.com/pp719 and leave a comment in the show notes. Until the next episode, go forth and make it a positive and productive day.
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