Below are the show notes/summary for this episode. Please listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for the full show! Xo, Alex

 

Today’s episode is all about productivity. People ask me all the time, Alex, how do you stay productive? I’m going to give you a little quick episode on all of my favorite productivity hacks. Hopefully, you can take one or all of these things, use them in your business, in your life to create and more productivity. 

Tip #1: Put everything into your calendar.

We use apple calendar because it’s just easy. They sync everywhere. Put everything in your calendar, like meetings when you’re driving in the car when you’re eating lunch, when you’re taking a nap, when you have like reservations, everything. Then what I do is I share it with my whole team. My whole team knows exactly what I’m doing all the time, and that keeps me accountable. If I say, I’m going to record podcasts on Wednesday night at whatever time, and I don’t, I feel silly because then I come the next day, and Becca is like, did you like record those podcasts? And I’m like, no. I’m also a people pleaser. I’m very much so about having other people hold me accountable.

Tip #2: Work on things in groups 

I know some of you guys don’t have teams yet. I’m just speaking from my experience here. I need somebody to hold me accountable for stuff. If somebody depends on you to complete part of a project, you’re more likely to complete part of the project because they move on to part B until you’re done with part A. 

 It’s like little things like that to keep you accountable and keep you productive. I’m way more productive when I know I have to do this for somebody else because I’m a people pleaser. And I’m using my own fault against me in a positive way. Human design is a huge part of this. If you’ve listened to any of my podcasts before, you know that I love human design. You need to figure out what works for you. Working in groups works well for me. 

Tip #3: Understand that the only way out is through

 If you are standing where you are and have whatever you need to complete, whether it’s a project or your own website, imagine it at the other end of a field. And then the field has quicksand. From where you are right now to get your tasks completed, you can either run there, you can walk there, or you can get caught in the quicksand for months. 

 Are you going to do it now? Or are you going to do it later? Are you willing? That’s another thing to ask yourself. Are you willing to walk through the quicksand? If the answer is no, stop there, don’t do it. Move on to the next thing. If you’re not willing to go through the quicksand to get to the end, to that task being completed, then why are you even trying? The only way out is through. Just repeat that to yourself. 

I have days where I’m out for the day, and I can’t do anything. I need a mental health day. That’s fine. Nobody’s perfect. We’re all going to have those days. I’m talking more about the days when I’m like, I don’t want to do anything today. I repeat that to myself. I say, Alex, the only way out is through. I cannot get out of this until I get through it. 

Tip #4: Remember your “why”

I want to be a brand builder. I want to be this powerhouse entrepreneur. Some people believe I’m there already. I don’t. I want to be an example for other people. I want to create all these businesses. But guess what? I cannot create all these businesses if I’m not moving the needle along every single day.

If I were to push a little bit harder today and do one more task, whatever over time, I will see those compounding. Those little tasks that I added each day, the extra step that I took every day, will compound into this empire. So why not do it?

My “why” is important to me. It’s not only for me because my why isn’t really about me. I want to become this powerhouse woman to show other women that they can do the same thing. That’s my “why.”

Tip #5: Atomic habits

I just started reading this book, and I literally am only a chapter in, but it’s already changed my life. It’s called atomic habits. It talks about the compounding I was talking about. Every single little thing that you do adds up slowly. You don’t realize all of this stuff that you were doing every day, all the little tasks, all the ways you were pushing your business along, and those things were adding up even though you couldn’t see them.

Atomic habits, little decisions you make every single day that lead up to this big boom. That’s an atomic habit. It’s hard because when you’re in it, people give up, they give up in the quicksand, and they lay there, and they let the quicksand take them because they can’t see the progress yet. They can’t see it at least enough. So that’s when they quit.

Don’t quit because the only way out is through the through, just beyond that bit of quicksand. People usually quit right at the very edge of that success, at the very edge of that atomic boom. So never forget that every single little choice that you make every single day is adding up, even if you can’t see it. I always have that in my mind. 

Tip #6:  Celebrate your wins. 

I find myself as a humble person, and I never want to come off as arrogant or conceited. And when I want to celebrate my wins, I flinched sometimes. But in reality, if somebody gets annoyed by it, that’s their own projection. Celebrate your wins when you hit a milestone. When you get to the edge of the quicksand, that was a lot of work. You just went through hell to get where you’re at. You just worked your ass off, and you’re there, and you need to celebrate it.

Then you need to start going through the next batch of quicksand. But celebrate; don’t just wash over it because if you don’t celebrate it, what’s the point of getting through the quicksand? You’re going to kill yourself by going on to the next thing for your whole life. And of course, you know, progress is amazing.

We love progress. Humans love progress. But you also need to stop and be like, wow, I’m so proud of myself for getting here. Buy that nice bottle of wine, go to that nice dinner, buy yourself some flowers, whatever you want to do. Do it because you deserve it. That’s going to push you when you start going through the next quicksand. You’re going to say, guess what? When I get to the end, I’m going to celebrate. I’m going to work my ass off now. But once I get there, it’s going to be amazing. And that will, that will help you stay productive.

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