9 Tips To Rock Your DAY: How To Be Productive When You Wear Many Hats

Feeling overwhelmed with multiple roles? Learn 9 powerful tips on how to be productive, stay focused, and achieve work-life balance as a busy multi-hatter. Tune in to discover time management strategies and motivation hacks to rock your day!

Episodes mentioned in this episode:
EP 178: QMR #12 Healthy Morning Routine & Habits
EP 152: Can you be friends with an ex?
EP 2: 3M Formula for Morning Routine

Timestamps to help you navigate this episode:
0:00 Intro
0:21 FREE Self Love & Sweat MONTHLY Calendar
4:37 Tips for Time Management Strategies
13:30 Fun Things to do to Remove Work Stress
21:44 Sponsor: Snap Supplements 25% OFF using code LUNDEN25
22:46 Maximizing Daily Productivity With Self-Care

Transcript

Lunden Souza: 0:01

Welcome to Self Love and Sweat THE PODCAST, the place where you'll get inspired to live your life unapologetically, embrace your perfect imperfections, break down barriers and do what sets your soul on fire. I'm your host, Lunden Souza. Hey, have you grabbed your free Self Love and S weat monthly calendar yet? T his calendar is so amazing. It comes right in your inbox every single month to help you have a little nugget of wisdom, a sweaty workout, a mindset activity, just a little something, something to help keep you focused and motivated and keep that momentum towards your goals. So every day, when you get this calendar, you'll see a link that you can click that will lead to a podcast episode or a workout or something that will be very powerful and quick to read. And then you'll also see, on the top left corner of every single day, there's a little checkbox in the calendar and what that is is that's for your one thing. You can choose one thing every month, or it can be the same, something that you want to implement and make this something that you can easily implement, like daily meditation or getting a certain amount of steps or water, for example, and staying hydrated and even taking your supplements. This can be something if you want to get more regular doing a particular habit and routine. You can choose what that checkbox means. So if you want your Self Love and S sweat free monthly calendar delivered right to your inbox every month on the first of the month, go to lifelikelunden. com/ calendar, fill out the form really quickly and you will have your calendar in your inbox within a few short minutes. That's lifelikelunden L-I-F-E-L-I-K-E-L-U-N-D-E-N. Go, get yours for free and enjoy this episode. Nine tips to rock your day with excellence. That's what we're talking about today.

Lunden Souza: 2:13

I was thinking about this a lot because recently I took on a director position and my whole calendar, world, work, life, everything just completely shifted. And I was really thinking over the last weeks, especially because I feel like and maybe you're like this too when you start something new and maybe you start a new job or you start learning something new, whatever, it's just like a lot at first. It's a lot until your brain gets it right. So over the last couple of weeks I've been feeling like, okay, my brain gets it a little bit more. How can I optimize my time even more? How can I just serve with even more excellence, crush all my jobs, all my hats, all my things, and I was thinking about ways that I feel like I do a great job, and then also ways that I feel like I don't do a good job and historically also haven't done a good job, just with, like, yeah, structuring my day and my life and what's important and how I, yeah, operate in the world. I just think I definitely did it in a much more go, go, go, do, do, do way before, in a way where I still like to activate that part of me, but with a lot more, yeah, just growth, maturity and learning when it comes to productivity and nourishing myself. Right, there's a lot of me that pours into what I do, and we have to make sure that there are moments of pause and moments of reflection and just, yeah, I hope these nine tips help you and serve you and write them down, take notes if they speak to you, because some of these might be like, okay, yeah, duh, some of these maybe you've heard before, some of these, not. I was really just thinking over the last days about this episode and what I wanted to share in terms of, yeah, what were the specific tips, the specific needle movers, the specific things that I can't not do, and maybe I've tried to do them in the past that way, but it just didn't work out. Or maybe there's some things on this list that balance other things out right. So when I was thinking about this, I was just like, yeah, I feel like these have really helped me. This is what I've learned and this is what I utilize. You know, even today right Even today, recording this episode, I feel like I've utilized all of these, all of these tips, in one way or another. So take some notes. Let me know what you think.

Lunden Souza: 4:37

You know, I think it can be really hard to wear a lot of hats. If you wear a lot of hats and run a lot of businesses and do different things, or even like a work hat, a parent hat, or maybe you volunteer in some places on top of having your job right, we do a lot of things and we serve in a lot of ways, and I think it's so helpful to have tools and resources and things and tips to help you rock your day right, to help you crush it and show up and be present and have fun and make progress right and make connections all along the way. And I feel like this topic, when it comes to work and the energy balance of like effort and putting into it and communication. Those have been two areas that I've struggled a ton and that I've worked on a ton, and they're areas, of course, I love to coach on and work on even more in my life and share with you here on the podcast. So here we go Nine tips to rock your day with excellence while wearing multiple hats.

Lunden Souza: 5:32

So the first one is develop your bookends, okay, your morning routine and your evening routines. I'm not going to go super in detail into this because I think I've done two episodes on this before. You can look into previous episodes my 3M morning routine, mindset, movement and me time. So this 3M morning routine I do every single morning in some capacity, even without thinking about it. Right, it's just like the things I do in the morning fulfill these M's mindset, movement and me time. I especially love meditation and exercise during this time in the morning. I love it, it revs me time. I especially love meditation and exercise during this time In the morning. I love it, it revs me up, I sweat, I just love to work out and just work my mind in meditation. So that's a big part of my early bookend.

Lunden Souza: 6:15

And then whatever you do in the evening. So for me that's generally like a shower or a bath. After that I don't really open up my computer to work. It's just like I don't know, unless I maybe exercised in the middle of the day and then I take a shower or a bath, obviously, and then get back to what I was doing. But for the most part, like my nightcap is a hot shower. Yeah, I keep the lights off in the bathroom actually and just turn the light in the hall on, so it's more of like a dimmer vibe. I'm like telling myself it's nighttime, shutting the blinds, all the things. So that for me is what really feels good in terms of developing my bookends and whatever that is for you. Develop your bookends. I highly suggest the 3M morning routine and whatever you feel like is the end of your day that allows you just to like and land. Do more of that. Develop those bookends. Do more of that. Develop those bookends.

Lunden Souza: 7:12

Number two visualize a good-ass day. Visualize a good-ass day. Ask yourself what might mess me up and how would my best self show up to that situation today? Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking throughout your day. Your eyes and imagine yourself walking throughout your day, going throughout things that might be challenging, exciting, a place where you might need to be a little bit more curious or a little bit more problem solving. So just really taking that time, even if it's just like in the morning when you're brushing your teeth and you close your eyes and you just think about the day and breathe into those feelings of yeah, I don't know, sometimes overwhelm, or the day you look at your schedule and it's like holy guacamole, like what's happened, like you know, you look at it and you're just like all right, breathe into the day. I'm going to visualize it, you know, going well.

Lunden Souza: 7:58

And then I also like to especially when I work with clients as well and with myself I like to visualize like 15 minutes ahead of the completion of a successful day and close my eyes and go there and if I'm maybe driving home or, yeah, just chilling on the couch or having a good meal or whatever that might be at the end of my day, just kind of getting there and landing and knowing that everything went super well and I did my best, and just whoa, my computer fell forward on my little, what it's propped up on, yeah, and just visualizing a really good ending to that day and feeling that good feeling ahead of the you know, ahead of the day, right ahead of the experience, getting to that good feeling at the end of an accomplished day, at the beginning of your day. Cause, like, why not, right, feel that good feeling at the end of an accomplished day at the beginning of your day? Cause, like, why not, right, feel that feeling ahead of the experience, visualize a good ass day, um, and, like I said, the full, going through that full day, areas that might trip you up, how would your best self show up? Um, that question specifically you know what areas might trip me up today and how would my best self show up? I got that from my high performance planner. That goes along with the high performance book, high Performance Habits that Brendan Burchard wrote. I did a whole episode on one of the habits. It was recent and so that journal it has that question in there as a reflection for the morning, kind of mindset journal for the day, and that one has always stuck with me. So I've been asking myself that question literally every day for the last six, eight years, just like ever since that book came out. So I can't remember specifically when. I think it was maybe 2017, 2018. So, yeah, six years-ish. I just love that question. What might trip me up today? Like, look at your day, what's going to happen, who are the people involved, right? What might that look like and how would your best self show up? Cool, number three workout. I think I said that in the develop your bookends part.

Lunden Souza: 9:59

But exercise, like I don't care if it's in the morning, I don't care if it's in the middle of your day, um, you need to exercise and we have to move and we have to move our bodies and we have to do some resistance training, whether that's with our own body weight or, um, you know, with weights or bands or whatever. Like, we have to move our body, we have to get our heart rate up, we have to do our, do hard things, and we have to strengthen our muscles and we have to burn. Right, it has to feel hard, and then we have to do it anyway and we have to move through, and then we take a good shower and our body feels good and then we do it again. Right, this is the physical manifestation of doing the hard thing, even when it's hard. Right, we do this at work, we do this with our families, we do this with conversations. We show up for the hard thing. I feel like exercise and working out is like I do hard things on purpose so that when life throws hard things at me, I'm a little bit more prepared right, I'm a little bit more ready because I'm kind of purposely stretching my limits, stretching my capacity right, and working out is such a great way to do that. So, move, walk, exercise, do squats, pushups, sit-ups, like. Go to yoga, join the class, yes, do the spinning class, go to all the things right. Whatever you want to try, that's going to get you to move, that's going to be fun. Do it.

Lunden Souza: 11:09

Number four hone in on your transitions. So, if you wear multiple hats or there's a lot of meetings or a lot of things happening and going on, there's a moment in space and time between that of which is happening and then the next thing. Right, that pivot moment, that transition moment that I'm then the next thing. Right, that pivot moment, that transition moment that I'm doing the next thing. Or I'm maybe going from work hat to mom hat, or maybe for me it's like director hat to then podcasting, coaching, admin hat. Those transitions and those moments can be very powerful because they can be quick or they can be very distracting.

Lunden Souza: 11:44

If we don't know what we're going to next, then we can't get there quickly. If we don't know what we're going to get to next and what that's going to be and what the setup we might need, then we can't get there quickly. If we spend our time figuring out what's next and scroll and not know really what's next, but just have a whole to-do list in our brain, then we can't get there quickly, right? So hone in on those transitions and also not just like, hey, now get to the next thing faster, but like what's something you need to do in between? Do you need to get up and shake it out? Do you need to grab a glass of water and go to the bathroom? Like whatever you need to do, to then be like okay, next thing, like completed that, now on to the next thing and know what's coming next. Right, and these are not in any particular order, by the way. I just wrote them as I was thinking about them.

Lunden Souza: 12:32

Number five do something fun in between before you switch hats, especially so you might not be able to do something fun in between every meeting. I mean, maybe you could laugh and shake it out and do something fun, for sure, but I like to do something fun before I switch from one business or position that I'm doing to another. Today, I like to do something fun before I switch from one business or position that I'm doing to another. Like today, I played basketball with my neighbor and his kids and our other neighbors who are out of town, their kids and I was just like I want to go outside and paddleboard but then I couldn't because it was too windy. So then we were like, let's play basketball, and it was just super fun. We did it for like 45 minutes. It felt good, it was fun. That was all I could think about. Right, it was just like in the moment, just doing something. That was a good pattern change, um, and that helped me like shake it out and be like okay, next I'm going to do my podcast, right, next I'm going to do that next thing. And so actually, when I was, um, looking at my list and going through some of these things, I was like, oh yeah, you know, basketball is fun. Right, it could be a walk, it could be. Yeah, just make it.

Lunden Souza: 13:30

I think like active fun, playful, childlike, curious fun is always great, like laughing, playing, moving, right, like a video game might be fun or like a phone a game on your phone might be fun, but I don't know if that's the. You know, do something fun. I would imagine like play music from your phone and then dance. That could be your something fun, right, get up and like move, like get your physical body in a space of just like we're doing something different, like changing it up right Scene change a little bit. Okay, one, two, three, four, five, six, number six Identify the top one to three things that have to get done and freaking rock those.

Lunden Souza: 14:12

I was talking with my friend, kevin, who is, yeah, a wonderful leadership coach and pastor and he wrote a book called Kingdom Leadership and he did a course called Lead. Anyway, as part of our community and him and I we go back and forth and talk a lot and support each other and we were talking about, yeah, just like two to three things a day, right, and on this list I put one to three things because sometimes it's just one. It's like that big thing that you just that big rock that you just need to move right. But some days it's not uncommon for me to send him an audio message and be like, hey, just did my three things. That's all I got today. I'm done. And sometimes we can't just check out after those three things, but it's just nice to know, like, hey, even on those hard days, even when I feel like it's a struggle and it's a lot, those one to three things that I know I need to get done. I know what those are, I can identify them and like rock it, just get to it, just do that thing right, just like write it down and just make it happen right. And we might not always get things done that we want to when we say those are the top three things right.

Lunden Souza: 15:18

So I think it's also important and what the next one is is to block out time for like catch up. So the next tip seven is time blocking. So of course you're going to block out time for like meetings and calendar stuff and things you might do. I totally block out my time for hiking, walking, exercising, transitioning, getting food, you know, going for a walk, doing a walking meditation. I think time blocking is so powerful and, like on Monday, I was like, okay, I'm just going to use this bottom portion of my notebook to write down like all the things I know I need to get done, like all the things that are in my brain that I just feel like are urgently awaiting a list. I'm just going to put that there and I'm going to just try to work through as much of that as I can. Right, it was like a just get shit done time block. It was just like do as much as you can on this list, work through as much of this and like move through it right.

Lunden Souza: 16:04

And then there might be time that we block out for whatever a meeting or to do something different, learn a new skill, wear a different hat, right. It might be like in the morning you're in this position and in the afternoon you're doing this, right. So, being able to block that out strategically, and, like I said that transition time is going to be crucial because you want to know what's coming next, right, even if it is a break, right. Sometimes I'll look at my calendar and realize, okay, after this client call or this meeting, I have like 30 minutes and I wasn't really paying attention and I was kind of like checking emails and opening up tabs and looking at my phone. And then I was like, oh wait, I had 30 minutes. Like that's time to go outside, that's time to grab a snack, to have some water to move my body, to check in with myself, right. So, snack to have some water to move my body, to check in with myself, right. So being able to be aware of your time and in that time block is so powerful to rock your day.

Lunden Souza: 16:55

Number eight be present in your conversations. And if you can't be, then maybe say it like hey, I'm super, I'm a little bit stressed today or there's a lot going on, or I have a lot on my plate. Like, thank you for understanding. And if you feel like I'm not present in this conversation, yeah, I'm just going through something, so I appreciate your understanding. Right, we can communicate that in an effective way without needing to give all the details right Of, like, all the struggles and all the things. But try to be present in those conversations, right, when we're not thinking about what's next, no matter how many meetings we might have. Right, it's like we might have eight or 10 conversations with different people throughout a day, and I often have days like that where it's like being present in conversation is so powerful and so important and even being here in this moment.

Lunden Souza: 17:40

Right for the podcast to be like.

Lunden Souza: 17:42

This is my list of things I want to talk about, and I want to talk about that, right? Do I know what's coming next after this? Totally, I'm going to record some lines for, um, I'm going to record some lines. Sorry For those of you listening, you can't see this, but I put it on like a yeah, like my, my computer on a, a little stand here and it just is like sliding down. So, anyways, it's making me laugh because it's dropping down a little bit, but you won't be able to hear that. But if you're watching the video, real life, what's up? So, yeah, being present in your conversations, right, and knowing where you're at and who's there, and being with them and with that and listening, and when your mind wants to drift, bring it back right. That's why meditation is so powerful for community and connection and being able to build those relationships and build presence in your life, whether it's meetings at work or presence in your conversation, because you always have to bring your mind back to the present moment, just like you will when you're in conversation, with your eyes open, thinking about what's next, thinking about your next meeting, thinking about all the things you have to do, right, being really present day to day, in each meeting, in each podcast, in each scenario, just makes for a much smoother, happier, more exciting day, right, my cells just feel better when I'm not rushing around and when I'm present. But, like I said, do I know what's coming next? Yeah, I'm going to record some voiceover lines for my ex Andreas. Right, I did an episode on that too. Him and I are still friends and we work together. We went to Dubai together and we do audio projects together and so he's working on some house music. He's been making house and techno music for like 15 years and so, coming up for this season in Ibiza, they're doing a lot of music and so they're going to use some audio clips of me talking and just saying different things in some of those tracks. So I won't be probably in Ibiza, spain, maybe you never know listening to those tracks, but you might. So that's exciting. So I do, I do things like that and and that's going to be fun and I'm excited for what he creates. You know, he just gives me lines to read and I just record them, like I do on the podcast, and just talk them out in different tones and different tonalities. Record them like I do on the podcast and just talk them out in different tones and different tonalities. But I know that's coming next and I purposely put that together with this podcast and then what I'm doing next. So then my microphone's out, my setup's out, we're good to go. Right Before I did this, I turned my air conditioner off because I didn't want that noise to be interrupting of the podcast or what I was recording. So then I know like, okay, I'm going to do this next recording, you know, and it's hot here, it's summer in Utah, so then I'll turn the air conditioner back on, right, there's like little things that we know when we can plan, kind of that stuff. But, like I said, be present in your conversations, knowing what's coming next, knowing what's happening next, being so present each moment, so that in those moments of what's coming next, you know that and those distractions and all of that can go away and you can be like, okay, I know what's happening next. Okay, do I need to shake it out? Do I want to go outside for a minute and take a few deep breaths? Being present and not rushed just leaves you, at the end of the day, in a much better space than if you rush. Your body just feels better. It's like running a race all day long. When you're rushed, your inner body is on a race and you're not like even you know, and you're rushed. I guess you're moving faster but, like in theory, when you're rushed you're maybe not running or sprinting, but it's like your insides are just like we're running the track. Let's go, we're rushing. You know, it's nice to feel present and with that person and with that conversation and with that connection that will go very far and wide, especially when we're wearing a lot of hats right, and sometimes it's the who, not the how. It's the person that we meet, it's the conversation that we have, it's that moment we're present. And, yeah, when we're like I said, I sometimes have eight to 10 calls a day with different people and sometimes multiple people in those meetings, and so it's important to be present and know where you're at, know what's up and be in that moment, and meditation helps that a lot. 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I put that down here. I didn't say that. But, like, if you can't be present in the moment and there's like no other, like you know, there's some moments where it's like I'll look at myself in the mirror and be like let's go, susa, it's go time, right, let's go, you got to get something done, it's time to crush it, right.

Lunden Souza: 24:07

And then there's those moments where you're like, yeah, I just can't be present in this as a woman around my cycle, if I'm just a little bit more tired and just crampy and I just need a little bit more breathing time, I don't have that oomph like I do in other phases of my cycle, right, we can schedule things at different times when we can, and I pull that card when I need to and I'll tell people hey, I just don't have the capacity. My day's full. It's filling up even more. I feel like we could talk tomorrow. Can we do that instead? Right, I'll be more there for you. I'll be more there in the conversation. I'll be focused, I'll be able to laugh and just be there and not be like give me the facts. I have 10 minutes. Some days are like that and some conversations and meetings need to be like that Short, sweet 10 minutes, straight to the point. But then in those moments where you want to be present in the conversations and maybe have a little bit more time, being flexible to move that around is always so powerful.

Lunden Souza: 25:01

Number nine my last tip for rocking your day with excellence is I schedule lizard breaks. I was going to say I schedule lizard breaks, lizard breaks, and for me that's going outside and sitting in the sun like a lizard on a rock. I'll just go sit outside like on a rock or on a step, or just stand out there and just be still and close my eyes and just have a lizard moment in the sunshine. I know not everybody loves sunshine as much as I do, but we definitely need a little bit of it. So find whatever your lizard moment is right, whatever feels like oh, that just feels so good, like sunshine on my skin in any moment, just feels fantastic, but especially, um, you know, periodically throughout the day, right, those micro moments of oh, I have 30 minutes, okay, let me have my food and let me eat presently for 15. And then let me go sit outside for 10. And then let me take five to like go to the bathroom, you know, get a girl, get a glass of water and like prepare for what's, whatever's next, right, that transition time, that non-distracted transition time, but still making time for myself, right?

Lunden Souza: 26:05

I guess I didn't put that in my tips specifically of making time for yourself, but I think all of that is really making time for you. Making time for you to be present, making time for you to be physically active and ready and revved up for your day. Making time to visualize and prep and prepare and beved up for your day. Making time to visualize and prep and prepare and be like who am I going to come in contact with today? What might be hard? How can I show up great? Who do I want to connect with? And how can I be even more present and kind and understanding, even when my day's hard? How can I just not pour that onto other people. How can I feel into that a little bit before the day starts and all the things start coming right, because it's really, you know, easy to look at a calendar that's happening and like you have it all scheduled and then you go into the day and it's a lot right. We want to practice, you know, being of integrity and showing up kind and understanding and compassionate and you know, crushing it all at the same time. So, yeah, taking care of yourself is kind of present in all of these.

Lunden Souza: 27:03

So those are the nine tips to rock your day. I'll say them very quickly. Number one develop your bookends, that morning and evening routine. Number two visualize a good ass day. Number three work out. Number four hone in on your transitions. Number five do something fun in between, especially before you switch hats, like if you have a different role or not always in between meetings can we do that right, but the big hat switches. It's just nice to shake it out, dance it out. Like I said, I played some basketball. One, two, three, four, five. Number six identify the top one to three things that have to get done and freaking rock those. Identify the top one to three things that have to get done and freaking, rock those. Number seven time blocking, planning out that time, blocking out what are you going to do? Meetings, is it catch up time? Number eight be present in your conversations. And number nine, those lizard breaks or whatever those might mean to you. So I hope those tips help you rock your day even more. Remember, just showing up is so incredible and on those days when you feel like you can crush it, go after it. And on those days where things just need to be maneuvered in a high-performing way, I feel like those tips are so helpful. So I hope that you enjoyed this episode.

Lunden Souza: 28:17

Send over any aha moments that you have to me. You can send them over to me. Actually, there's like this new feature check it out and there's a way you can text us. So if you go to the description of the episode and this might not be relevant if you're listening to this much later, but if you're listening to this when it first comes out there's this new feature that I activated that you can text like feedback on the episodes. Now I don't think I can reply, but you can send me what your aha moments are and then you can also DM me on Instagram. I'm at @lifelikelunden L-U-N-D-E-N and be like hey, I listened to your episode on nine tips to rock your day and this one really resonated. Or I didn't like this one, or I like this one better, or whatever. Give me your feedback, give me your input. Let me know how this stuff works for you. Like I said, this is really good information and really powerful tips, especially when implemented. So reach out and share how I can support you.

Lunden Souza: 29:14

And thanks for listening to this episode. We'll see you at the next one. Bye. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Self Love and Sweat, THE PODCAST. Hey, do me a favor Wherever you're listening to this podcast, give us a review. This really helps a lot and share this with a friend. I'm only one person and with your help, we can really spread the message of self love and sweat and change more lives all around the world. Self-love and sweat and change more lives all around the world. I'm Lunden Souza, reminding you that you deserve a life full of passion, presence and purpose, fueled by self-love and sweat. This podcast is a Hitspot. Austria production