Differently: Stop living by default. Start living by design.
Differently is for when you need to get out of your head and back into your life.
Created and hosted by Carla Reeves, creator of The Differently Journal, her work is built on over 20 years of helping people use writing to navigate real life. Not as a habit to keep up with, but as a way to calm your mind, get clear, and move forward.
You are always writing your life, whether it’s in your mind or on paper.
It's time to take the pen back.
Turn overthinking and self doubt into clarity, confidence, creativity and momentum.
What is time mindset? We all have the same 24 hours of time. How is it that some people seem to have far more control and ease when it comes to the way they manage their time?
It begins with a strong time mindset! It's the foundation for how you approach and manage your time. Time management strategies and systems are great, but on top of a strong time mindset can be the rocket fuel you need to create the meaningful life and business you desire.
If you feel like the noise in your head is constantly running and wreaking havoc of "I'm behind, there's not enough time, everything's urgent" then this episode is for you.
Kathy Decocq and I have create a series of conversations on time. Today, is #1 and we chat about the impact your thinking has on your time, indicators that you are out of balance, autopilot and more.
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Thank you for listening!
SPEAKER_00
How much is your time really worth? As a leader in your life andor business, you likely focus on spending your money wisely, but have you truthfully considered how you invest your time? We all have the same 24 hours a day. It's how you manage those hours that counts. If you're constantly battling the clock, you're going to love what's coming. I invited Kathy Dico back, and we've put together a simple series to get to the root on how you can sustainably shift the way you spend your precious time. Together, we bring a holistic approach touching on the mindset, strategy, and action components that are so vital to true change. Tune in over the next four weeks. They're very short episodes, about 15 minutes, because we value your time. And we're going to explore the real barriers to maximizing your time and show you what you can do differently to finally make traction on the things that matter the very most to you. Today we dive into time mindset and how and where your thinking might be wreaking havoc on the way you spend and experience time. Get out of stress, pressure, and overwhelm. Learn where you can grab the reins to create more balance in your life right here and now. Let's roll. I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently, a podcast where we explore the ins and outs of what becomes possible when we're willing to think, do, and show up differently to the moments of our everyday lives. Hello, Kathy. Excited to hang with you. Hello. It's good to be here, Carla. Yeah. So this whole idea of time mindset, let's just kind of start with what is what does that even mean? What is it? What does it mean to you? Um, let's start there. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it means different things to different people, but I think for me, it really comes down to how you approach time, how you value time as it relates to your work and your life. And uh, you know, trying to strike that balance of you know, getting all the stuff done that you need to get done for your business without sacrificing, you know, the other side, you know, the other critical portion of life, which is what you're doing when you're not working. So, you know, hobbies, uh personal enrichment, your family, your friends, kind of keeping that all in perspective and you know, making sure that one doesn't get too out of whack as compared to the others. You get you've got some good balance there.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and I think time mindset is so important. I think you and I talked about um, you know, it really being kind of the the wheel around the all the spokes, you know, of uh of our life. And mindset is going to come up over and over and over again. And for me, it became really important because I noticed working with high achievers that they were always bumping up against time, like this excuse that they couldn't do what really mattered and they couldn't get to what was important. It was always an excuse around time. And I thought, gosh, I need to dive into this a little bit more because this is a barrier for people. And time, just like anything else that I help clients with, you know, I say to people, um, you know, a deep change in the way you live requires a deep change in the way that you think, and a deep change in the way you do time requires a deep change in the way you think about time. And so if we're constantly kind of riddled with thoughts of, I'm too busy, there's not enough time, we never have enough, I'm always behind the to-do list, never ends. Like that creates the landscape of how we do time. Do you see that with your clients?
SPEAKER_01
Oh, absolutely. And I see um, you know, quite often, you know, if you think about just kind of the entrepreneurial spirit, the entrepreneurial mindset, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, you know, to constantly be working, to, you know, just take that one more step or do that one more thing on the to-do list uh to move the business forward. And, you know, sometimes that's not the best thing to do, right? Because if you're gassed and you've had a long day and you know, you've just got one more thing to do. Well, I mean, like I'll find myself just staring at my computer for 20 minutes, like trying to write an email. Like it's just not gonna happen, you know, and so it's it's that recognition of just being like, well, I'm not being productive, I'm not being effective, so there's no point in trying to cross that thing off the list, just save it for tomorrow when I'm fresher. So I I encounter that quite a bit, and uh, you know, end up giving my clients kind of that permission to just check in with themselves and say, I don't have the energy or the the um emotional capital for this right now. Like when could I tackle it? Like, it's still important, but it's not gonna be my best work if I do it right now when I'm just spent. So that's I encounter that quite a bit.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and the reason the mindset piece is so important, I think, is that a lot of times our actions, we're trying to um be more productive, get more done, manage the to-do list, be great with our calendar. But if if the noise in our head is constantly running of, you know, wreaking havoc of I'm behind, there's not enough, everything's urgent, we also don't like that impacts the way we feel as we just navigate the workday. And so there's so much opportunity. And and if we if we attack the um or approach the action part of it first on top of a uh unhealthy mindset, the actions will help us get better for a little while. But I don't know if you see this, but I do, is that people fall back if they haven't addressed that mindset of like, I've got to work all the time, it'll just rear its head again and you'll find yourself working all the time again after you've tried to implement habits. And so I think that's why it's so important that if we can build the healthy mindset and then put the actions and new habits and new ways of doing things on top of that, we set up a foundation for greater, longer lasting, sustainable success.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I like that quite a bit because you know it's all just learned behavior over the decades, you know, that we've been on the planet, right? And it's not, we're not gonna reverse that in a couple weeks. Like it's gonna take some time and some effort and some stumbling and you know, kind of figuring it all out as you go along. And, you know, for some people, the action breeds, you know, the mindset and the confidence. For other people, you've got to kind of reverse it, uh, which is where I think you and I are real complementary because you've got that strategic vantage point, you know, like let's get your mindset right. I've got some of the tactics there to just say, hey, try this, you know, and get some some quick wins, which helps fuel, you know, from both sides. So I think that's uh you know a good way to kind of I don't know, set set the audience up, you know, like we're we're here to blend what we do for our clients and share that with folks because you mean you can pick and choose what works best for you and attack it from both ends.
SPEAKER_00
I love that because if we're addressing both sides of it, because you're right. I mean, a lot of times people are waiting for um the right mindset to take action, and that's not always the best approach. The best approach can be to take action, and it actually starts to create a new mindset. So I love that you and I are kind of like the the yin and the yang. Yeah. Yeah, big time. Yeah, so what are some tangible ways that this looks in life? Where have maybe where have you encountered this or overcome this in your world?
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I think if I kind of draw upon my own experience, like what you know, having an out-of-balance or a poor time mindset looks like, is um you're just spending like physically spending a lot of hours on work. Whether you're actually working or not, right? Because you know, sometimes you're out of juice, and so you're just sitting there staring at your computer, but I still count that as work, you know, because I'm like in my office or I'm in that space, and that's my intent, and that's what I'm thinking about, even though I might not be productive. So I spend a lot of time, you know, when I'm out of balance in the work zone. So, you know, there was a time in my career where I was uh working from 7 a.m. to like 11 p.m. every day and barely getting a lunch, barely taking my poor dog for a walk, you know, like it was pretty bad. And when it starts to look like that, I think is when some flag should start to go off. Um, I was single at the time, so I didn't have anybody there, but you know, you know, you would have somebody there saying, Boy, we just don't see you anymore. Like, are you coming to dinner? Like, here's a plate, didn't it get served to you in your office, you know, or whatever. Like, those are the things that it starts to look like where maybe things are out of balance. So to overcome that, I had to swing the pendulum very far in the other direction, which ended up not being sustainable, but it helped me at least climb out of where I was at, um, you know, to only pick up one new action item a day. At the time I had a boss who was just like, here's all the stuff I need you to do. And I'm like, okay, but like I can only get one thing done a day because you know, with work and meetings and all these other things that were happening, like you've you've got to prioritize for me what you want me to do because you asked me for 10 things yesterday, now you want 15 more today. Like I can't, I can't get it all done. So it went super extreme to kind of start to to protect uh you know, kind of the the core hours and my own effort. And then, you know, from there it's kind of gone back into what's more of a steady state where it's not nearly as extreme, but I don't have to be that way because I've I've been protective of my time.
SPEAKER_00
That's such a great story. And I think you have told that story, I think, on the podcast before. And if I remember correctly, the impact of that got pretty great. And that's what caused you to kind of put a new stake in the ground to say, this has got to change, something's gotta be different. I think that's the starting point for all of us, right? For me, too. It certainly was a um, you know, I just had this little monster on my shoulder all the time of, you know, you gotta be working, you gotta be working, you gotta be working, and that's how I got my value, and that's how I, you know, got my worth in life. And it just drove me and drove me until I realized, like, wait a minute, there's no quality of life here. Where am I, where am I achieving myself to? Because it's not, it's not getting to where I thought I was gonna get to, and something's gotta change, something's got to be different.
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Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
And I I do find it interesting that you said, because I had a very common um feeling of deriving my own personal value and worth from how many hours I was clocking, even though I was a salaried employee, right? It was a bit of a badge to be like, hey, I'm working from 7 to 11 every day, and everybody would, you know, would have the customary, like, oh my gosh, reaction, you know, and so then that it was odd in that that started to define me. And then it felt super weird to pull it all back because then, you know, what's your badge? What do you have? You know, like you're actually working in balance and you're not uh, you know, burning the candle at both ends. It was difficult to then find that almost identity after you know trying to reel it all back in. So maybe that's something we talk about in another episode because I think it's huge. Um, and it had such an impact once I realized that's what was happening. Then I'm like, and I'm an adult. I can derive my value and worth from anywhere. Like, why did it have to be from there? It was a real epiphany for me.
SPEAKER_00
I love that. I just made note that we will definitely talk about that because I think that's a section of its own. And for me too, it was finding, you know, really turning it all inside out instead of seeking external validation, was really flipping it inside out and going, wait a minute, where is my I get to choose where that validation comes from? And that was a game changer. So let's let's wrap up by talking about, you know, I I love that we're bringing both sides to the conversation. And let's give listeners just some tangible ways that they can begin to uh raise awareness to even having a mindset around time and what we can start to do just today to make a difference there. So um yeah, you can go first or I can start.
SPEAKER_01
Well, I think you said one for one big one for me uh is awareness. So you know, sitting back and maybe you know, if you if you think about it from an actionable standpoint, right, my tactical approach would be to look at your week last week and see where you spent your time. And it can be real simple, it can be work or not work, like we don't have to get into the the granular buckets, but if you have you know more than 40 hours, and I I mean people again, it's another topic, I'm sure, like a 40-hour work week. Like, is that good, is that bad, whatever. But you know, if you've got more than 40 hours or more than you know 25% of your week devoted to work, or your brain power devoted to work, then that might be an indicator that there's some opportunity there. And I, you know, for some folks listening, I'm sure it's gonna be much higher than 25%. And I just pulled that because 40-hour work week, 168 hours in a week, so it's 25%.
SPEAKER_00
Gotcha. Thanks for making that connection.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I'm like, quick man, here's how my tactical brain works.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, so we're looking at your time. So simply restate what you what the action actionable takeaway is.
SPEAKER_01
Like look at the last week, right? And just see where you spent your time. And if if you spent more of it on work than you thought you did, then it's probably an opportunity. And I just said 25% only because it's 40 hours. Yeah, so it's just a quick inventory of work, not work time.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and I will layer on that around the mindset piece of just um kind of taking an inventory of what's running in your mind all day long when it comes to your time and your productivity, and just start to write those thoughts down because that's gonna create a real picture for you of what your current relationship to time is, and you're gonna see an opportunity there too. So, Kathy and I are going to be back weekly for several weeks and talk about some more areas of time and productivity that are so important to all of us, um, and so that we can live the lives that we want to live and do the good work that we want to do, and we will be back. Sounds good. It's been awesome, Carla. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Differently. I hope it stirred your thinking, and I invite you to take one inspired action. If you want to get back in the driver's seat of your time, your inspired action this week might be to sign up for Time Camp. Camp starts soon. There are limited spots available. We've put a link in the show notes where you can find all the details. We're packing our bag and getting all of our gear ready for you.
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