Stop, Start, Continue: Aligning Productivity with Personal Energy and Creative Time Management

Unlock the secret to aligning productivity with your personal energy flow as we celebrate a significant milestone—six months of Effortlessly Productive! Imagine achieving consistent success without the confines of a rigid schedule. Curious how that's possible? This episode introduces you to the powerful "Stop, Start, Continue" reflection exercise, a tool that has reshaped my approach to podcasting and empowered my clients. Along with my incredible collaborator, Curt Felder, we've discovered how to harness personal rhythms for better productivity, and I invite you to explore what fuels your success as well.

Embrace a fresh perspective on time management with creative strategies that prioritize balance and innovation. Discover how unscheduled time can enhance both work and family life, and learn how a simple "no appointments on Sundays" rule revitalizes your energy. We delve into new planning methods that tackle procrastination and encourage the development of exciting new programs. Plus, hear how regular entrepreneurial self-check-ins can keep your goals on track, even during challenging times. Join me on this continuing journey of growth and creativity, fueled by personal insights and actionable strategies.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Effortlessly Productive
• 13:31 Creative Time Management Strategies
• 20:59 Entrepreneurial Self-Check Journaling

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:19

Hey, this is Annie Veblen-McCarty and I'm gonna teach you how to be effortlessly productive. I've been an entrepreneur for over 20 years and I got sick and tired of experts preaching what business and life should look like and what I should be doing as a leader and to turn a profit, only to find myself wasting time, burned out, feeling inauthentic and still not making any money. On this show, we are ditching the shoulds. I'm giving you permission to do business differently. As a certified master coach, I believe that everything you need to have success and build the life and business of your dreams is already living on the inside. I'm going to empower you to lean into what you do best, help you see your path forward clearly and give you the strategy and action steps along the way to become effortlessly productive. Let's dive in.

Speaker 2: 1:18

Hi, welcome to this episode of Effortlessly Productive. If you can't tell in my voice, I am so excited for this episode today, and the reason why is this is six months into my podcast. Effortlessly Productive has been out there in the world for six months now, so we are celebrating today. I have such a special episode planned for you. We're actually going to do a little session that I do with my private one-on-one clients when we get to the end of one of their containers. So they're coaching for three months or six months and if we're doing like a year container, we will do these check-ins every three to six months. So it is something that I call stop, start, continue. And I cannot wait to go through this with you today, and I'm actually going to be. I'm going to be sharing with you the questions that I ask my clients in these sessions. I am also going to be sharing with you my answers to these questions so that you can get a little bit of insight and just add a little personal touch to the episode today. So start, stop, continue.

Speaker 2: 2:37

First question is what are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing or doing over the last six months? And I am going to share with you. I am most proud of sticking with my recording schedule and I do not have a very strict schedule. My human design is a unscheduled schedule. I do best when I kind of have a loose idea, but it's not like strictly dictated, so I do not have a like every single week on this day I record. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't happen. However, I have successfully recorded an episode to be released every single week for the last six months, and why I am so proud of myself for this is that was one of the things that this belief that held me back from launching a podcast. Literally like five plus years I wanted to have a podcast and I was like this is not a true belief, this is not a fact, this is a head voice belief. My belief was I can't have my own podcast because I can't be consistent with recording and providing content for people, and I have proven to myself over the last six months that that's not true. I just had to do it my way Recording, batching, learning. I have the most amazing podcast guy ever Kurt. I'm going to shout him out again. Kurt Felder is absolutely incredible, and when I am out of content, I get a nice little text message from Kurt being like hey, time to record more episodes and then I go record more episodes. So having that support and somebody backing me up has also been absolutely crucial. But I had to give myself permission to do things in a way that worked for me. And again, sometimes I am recording one episode a week and sometimes I am batch recording a whole bunch of episodes for you on days where I am like I am on fire and I have so much energy and so much to say. I also have really tuned in. I am a huge proponent for you women out there who have a cycle. If you are cycling, line the shit up with your cycle, because there's some times of the month that we do not have as much energy as others. There's some times of the month that we want to be more quiet and introspective, and that is okay because there's so many magical things we can do with that. There are other times of the month where we have a ton of energy and we are like, yes, let's go. There are times of the month that we want to be broadcasting what we have to say for the entire world, and so I really leaned into that and harnessed that and gave myself permission that the weeks I was recording one episode, that was okay, and the weeks I was recording four episodes, that was okay too, and I could just kind of flow with the energy that I had and with where my creativity was and all of that. So that is what I am most proud of. What are you most proud of accomplishing or doing over the last six months? Definitely drop all these answers in the comments. I can't wait to hear.

Speaker 2: 6:09

Second question what helped you the most on the days and weeks that you took the most action and had the most energy? So those weeks that you were literally on fire. You're like I am busting out all the things for my business and for my personal life and I, by the way little side note, ps I like to do this for business, both personal and business. I am focusing on my business today, but definitely use these questions for your personal goals and personal life as well. What, those days and weeks that you had the most energy and were just getting so much stuff done, what was it that helped you the most? What was it that helped create that action and that energy?

Speaker 2: 6:59

For me, it is taking time, when I sit down to work, to do the things that fuel my energy. Again, I'm somebody who I like schedules to a certain degree, but I don't really thrive when things are very tight and strict. So for me I have realized that I don't do great with like your traditional morning routine. That's not for me. When I work out in the morning at some point in the morning, whatever that looks like around the kids schedule, when I work out in the morning, that gives me so much energy. When I sit down to get work done, when I take a few moments to meditate, to pull an oracle card, to say my affirmations, to do some journaling, to plan out my day, to do a big brain dump, and sometimes it's all of those things, and sometimes it's all of those things and sometimes it's just a couple of those things. But when I take the time for me, it is literally when I am sitting down to get stuff done that that is the most powerful. Sometimes I put music on and sing and dance and just move around.

Speaker 2: 8:17

So giving myself again that permission that it can look how I want and need it to look for that day, but really taking that time for myself to fuel my energy, because I know when my energy is high or as high as it possibly can be for that day, I get the most done. Also, making sure that I am setting not realistic expectations. I want expectations that are going to push myself to a new level of growth. However, again, giving myself that permission that some days work looks like sitting down and getting that one thing knocked down, and maybe it only takes an hour and that's okay. And then I get to go spend time with my kids or do some things that I want to do take care of myself. Other days it looks like a huge to-do list and I'm moving through a lot of stuff and again, it's okay as long as I am intentional about what is getting done and why I am doing it. Intentional about what is getting done and why I am doing it. That is what is more important than the volume of things. So that's my answer to that question. I can't wait to hear yours.

Speaker 2: 9:28

Question number three what tried to get in your way and what did you do to get back on track? I have so many answers to this question. So for me, what tried to get in my way was just kind of schedule disruptions. I thrive in a schedule that is relatively unscheduled. However, on weeks where I have just a lot of stuff going on, especially a lot of appointments, or when the kids were home over the summer and we had so much fun together, we spent so much time together and it was wonderful.

Speaker 2: 10:10

But I start again, these are like beliefs that are not fact, but I start feeling just very frenzied, especially if I have not had a chance to sit down and be focused, and a lot of the time this goes back to my previous answer when I am not taking the time to do those things, to start my workday and get my mindset and my intention right, I then struggle and I tend to spiral out with lots of thoughts about how I'm not doing what I need to be doing. And so it really is like those unpredictable things that you can't plan for. When those are getting thrown in not just one or two, but like you have all had those times in your life where you're like okay life, like what else are you throwing my way today or this week, where it's so much unpredictableness. And what helped to get back on track was again those check-ins. Number one doing that energy work before I sit down to get anything done.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Number two reminding myself that it's a season. It's a season of life. This is not going to be a forever, and especially when it's things with the kids that they're growing up In another 15 years, I'm going to be like, oh, the house is so quiet, I miss the chaos, like where is all the chaos? So allowing myself the ability to enjoy it, even when it was not predictable, right when it was not something that was planned, taking that moment to be like, okay, I'm really frustrated and I don't like that this was thrown in here and that I feel out of control right now, allowing myself to have those feelings and then allowing myself to lean in and do the thing and have it be okay that my to-do list didn't get done that day, because there was another day that I was going to wake up and that stuff was going to get done and it was okay.

Speaker 2: 12:12

Next question what is not working right now, and does it need to be tweaked or does it need to be stopped altogether? So, what is not working right now, and does that thing, does it need to be tweaked or does it need to be completely eliminated? And I will say, for me, what's not working right now is those weeks, now that the kids are back in school, our schedule is a little bit more predictable than the summertime schedule. I have a tendency to overbook appointments for myself, and sometimes it's calls with clients, and I love those and those are super important for my business. I find, though, I have weeks where I have a ton of client appointments. I have a ton of calls I'm speaking on, and then I've also booked myself a ton of appointments that are out of the house, and what happens is I realize that literally every single moment of my entire week is booked, and I know for some people they thrive in that, and that is great If that is you book, book away For me.

Speaker 2: 13:31

I really thrive off of that creative energy. It's really important for me to have a lot of space in, and it doesn't have to be all in one day or time every single day, but I need a good chunk of time in my week where I don't have an agenda, I don't have things scheduled and planned that I can do the things that really fuel my creativity, because when my creativity is fueled, I'm able to spend that creative time. Everything else starts clicking. I get so excited for my work. I'm able to spend that creative time. Everything else starts clicking. I get so excited for my work. I'm getting work done faster, I'm more present with my kids, I'm more present with my husband. That connection is there. So for me it's really making sure that I have at least sometimes in my week that I can spend in those creative pursuits to get that energy flowing for me and I know what works for me.

Speaker 2: 14:32

I have a system for this. I just sometimes like it's fine, the system works, but like I don't need the system anymore. No, I need the system. So I have a really easy thing that I started doing. When I book an appointment in my week, I then on Sunday because I don't tend to book a lot of appointments on Sundays like I don't do client work on Sundays and doctor's appointments and things like that are not there I literally just put a little note at the beginning of my Sunday in red for the week that's upcoming. That says no more appointments and that way if I am on the phone with the doctor's office for the kids or their PT or somebody is asking if they can get in, if I see on that Sunday that I have said no more appointments, that means no more appointments. I am not allowed to book another appointment. It's a super easy system. I just need to actually lean in and use it.

Speaker 2: 15:33

So I started back up with that once summer was over, I was like, okay, we're feeling a little crazy and a little bit all over the place and so I started doing that again and it's been such a huge help. But I need to really lean into that and I need to stop overbooking, because the out of the house appointments are also one thing. It's another thing when, like so many client things, so also keeping my calendar limited on spots for client stuff and for other calls and speaking opportunities, for me it's not a stopping thing. Obviously, we're never going to stop having appointments, but it's that tweak, right, it's that tweak to be protective of my time and make sure that my schedule is working for me and making sure that my energy is fueled. So next question what is something new that you want to try to help achieve those goals, but in a different way than what you have been doing? So again, what is something you want to try to help you achieve those goals that's different than what you have been doing?

Speaker 2: 16:43

And for me, I am entering a season of creating a lot of new offers, a lot of new programs that I have never launched before, that I've never offered before and I am so, so excited. So I want to try setting aside a chunk of time every single week. Again it lays into this creative time, but it's a little bit different than what I was just talking about. So, setting aside a chunk of time in my week to really be able to pour into what I am creating, to pour into these new ideas and really create these new programs and offers for my clients, and I think I'm going to start honestly doing it just a monthly thing so that I can look at my month upcoming and really have that planning time. I used to have a lot of planning time and I realized that I would actually use it as what we call buffering in life coaching. So I was actually using planning time as kind of my go-to of avoiding doing other things, and so I was very careful to actually eliminate a lot of the planning time because I was spending lots of time planning, because I was avoiding doing all the other work, and so I realized I want to add a little bit more monthly planning time in, but specifically not for planning out my calendar and planning out my schedule and all of that for creating and having these ideas and really that time to be able to take an idea from that idea into reality. So that is something new that I am going to be putting in to help support my goals of bringing these new programs and offers to life for all of you, so really excited about that.

Speaker 2: 18:40

And lastly, last question, again, please share all of your responses in the comments. I cannot wait to hear. So last question is what is working right now that you will continue doing? What is working right now that you will continue doing? What is working is this podcast is having that time where I get to just share freely.

Speaker 2: 19:11

I do not map out my content very strictly. I have a huge list of ideas, of things where anytime an idea pops in my head or somebody asks a question or anything like that, I just jot it down and to me, that keeps it really fun, not having a strict schedule. I get to come on and share what is on my heart, share questions that have been asked, share things that I'm like, oh, this would be so helpful for people and I can't wait to put that out there. Be so helpful for people and I can't wait to put that out there. And so I'm going to continue doing that where I literally just collect and collect and collect all of these ideas and questions and things that people have said and little things clients have mentioned of like, oh this would be super helpful, or I loved when you did that training on that, and I collect them and then I get to use this time to literally just it's so fun, I get to just pour it out into the world and that's been working really well for me, having that outlet Because, again, like I shared on an episode a couple of weeks ago, I don't love social media, but I love this and this can be such an easy way to fuel my social media. I get to do something I love and that actually creates for all of my other venues of sharing out there, right? So that is what I'm going to continue.

Speaker 2: 20:42

Again, I can't wait to hear what your start stop. Continue is Please in the comments. If you are willing. I would love to see and I hope this is helpful Jot these questions down, keep them somewhere safe.

Speaker 2: 21:00

You could even have a journal that is dedicated to these check-ins. I mean, honestly, this is a check-in that you could do every month if you wanted, or maybe even every week if you especially if you're in a season that is feeling maybe a little bit uncharted, a little bit uncertain Maybe this would be something that you can check in more frequently with. But keep these in a journal and journal them every so often. It's really important as entrepreneurs that we're doing these check-ins so that we can be conscious about what's working well, what's not working well, what we've done to overcome those things that are getting in our way, what it is that we want to accomplish and what we're going to keep doing, because it is creating the results that we want. So I hope this episode helps. I can't wait to see your answers. I can't wait to see how powerful this is as you continue to do these check-ins with yourself every so often. Have a beautiful day and I will catch you on the next episode of Effortlessly Productive. Here is to another six months of the podcast, yay.