
In this episode I’m sharing some of the biggest productivity mistakes I made over the course of my business. Not only do I share mistakes I made in the past, but also some that I just realised I’m currently making in my business.
This is the 10th year since I started my business initially as a blog, and I made a lot of productivity mistakes along the way. And looking back, perfectionism was often the cause of these mistakes.
I hope chatting about them with you today will help you see where you could be improving your productivity, particularly if you’re making the same mistakes that I made.
Find the full episode transcript and show notes at samlaurabrown.com/episode394.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- 12 of the biggest productivity mistakes I made in my business
- The surprising way I’ve been misusing my time the most
- How putting pressure on yourself can hinder your productivity
- The importance of the skill of seeing when your work is complete
- Why Power Planning is planning in a way that works for you
Featured In The Episode:
- Episode 336: Getting Your Work Done Early + Easily (Part 1: Content Creation)
- Episode 337: Getting Your Work Done Early + Easily (Part 2: Pre-Launch Period)
- Episode 338: Getting Your Work Done Early + Easily (Part 3: Launch Period)
- Episode 160: How To Be More Productive When Working From Home
- Episode 381: How I Found The Courage To Create A Bigger Vision For My Business
- Episode 393: My Growth Goal Quarterly Review For Q1 2023
- Kristen’s youtube: @KristenCainStyle
- Join the waitlist for Perfectionists Getting Shit Done (PGSD) – samlaurabrown.com/pgsd
- Sign up for daily Perfectionist Power-Ups – samlaurabrown.com/power
- Follow me on Instagram @perfectionismproject
Listen To The Episode
Listen to the episode on the player above, click here to download the episode and take it with you or listen anywhere you normally listen to podcasts – just find Episode 394 of The Perfectionism Project Podcast!
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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Introduction
Hi, and welcome to another episode of The Perfectionism Project, a podcast full of perfectionism advice for entrepreneurs. My name is Sam Laura Brown, I help entrepreneurs release that perfectionism handbrake so they can get out of that way, and build a fulfilling and profitable business. I’m the founder of the Power Planning Course and Perfectionist Getting Shit Done, which is otherwise known as PGSD. And for even more perfectionism advice to help you with your business, you can follow me on Instagram @perfectionismproject.
Sam Laura Brown
I’m so excited to be recording this episode about productivity mistakes. It was not what I had on my calendar at all for this afternoon, but I’ve made some little tweaks to my power planning so that I can record this as I am feeling really inspired and chatty, and want to share some of my productivity mistakes. To paint the picture for you, I am currently sitting on my bed, the twins, Jack and James are here with me, they are two and a half months old. And Steve is out with Lydia at a friend’s place. And I thought they’re just chilling here with me. And rather than putting them in their bassinet, they’re going to be sleeping very shortly.
So putting them back in their bassinet. And continuing on with what I had planned, I’m actually going to hit record and share with you some of the biggest productivity mistakes I’ve made over the course of my business. This is my 10th year since I started my business initially is a blog. And I’ve made a lot of productivity mistakes. Perfectionism has been the cause of many of them. And I just hope that by me chatting about it, it will help you see where maybe you can be improving your productivity.
If you’re making the same mistakes that I have been on I am currently making a few of the ones that I talk about are ones that I’ve only just realized I’m making I’m really working on at the moment. So they’re not all just ones from the past, that there are some current ones in this list as well. But the reason I feel really inspired to chat about this is I just started when I was feeding the boys just before listening to a podcast that Renae, our marketing manager recommended.
So last week when Renae and I were working together. And we’d had an over lunch I just asked her like, what podcasts are you into at the moment, and one she recommended is called Big Business Mistakes. I’m not familiar with the people who host it, I haven’t listened to more than a couple of minutes of it. But at the beginning of the episode I have started listening to. He mentioned being cheap in the wrong places as being a mistake that they have made in their business. And just hearing that I was like, Yes, I have made that mistake.
And I’d love to share some of the other mistakes I made. It just made me think of all these other things I could share with you in the hope it’s helpful. So that is the context for this episode. You might hear the boys cooing in the background. As I mentioned, they will be sleeping shortly. But for now, they are just staring back at me cutely. And yeah, I’m just gonna dive into it. These are in no particular order, kind of jumping all around over the place just in the order that they came to mind.
And I’m just going to chat about them with you and invite you to reflect on your business and your productivity and whether you can relate to any of these. So the first one, as I mentioned, the one that inspired this episode is being cheap in the wrong places. So for me, particularly over the course of my business, and this has looked like trying to figure out everything out, what am I saying, trying to figure everything out by myself because I can, and really feeling like it was the smart thing to do, like the DIY approach and piecing things together was the smart, responsible, intelligent way to approach things.
And I didn’t realize how much time this was costing me. And particularly when I wasn’t making good use of my time, in the sense that I felt like there was all this last time throughout the week that I was procrastinating and all this kind of it’s kind of ironic how this works. But because I wasn’t using my time well, it felt okay to pay with time like I’d rather pay with time, than with money. So it felt like piecing things together doing things myself was a smart thing to do. And almost like if I wasn’t able to piece things together myself through like podcast episodes and books, and social media content that was out there, that it meant that I was admitting I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t smart enough to do it by myself.
So really, especially in the beginning, I was just so scared to invest in anything in programs and coaching in anything like that, because I just wanted to do it myself. I thought that that was a smart thing to do. And that’s not to say that I haven’t done my fair share of procrasti-learning, where I have signed up for things and then I haven’t implemented what I’ve learned. I’ve just wanted that dopamine hit that comes from like signing up for something and feeling the potential like the opportunity of that but then not actioning it and now I’m very diligent with like, I invest in myself and in the business and our team a lot.
But I’m making sure that when I’m doing that, I’m considering what I’m able to execute on. And really the power planning and all of that helps with so much if you aren’t familiar with power planning, that is what we teach inside PGSD, it’s going to help you plan in a way that works for you perfectionist mindset. So when I’m referring to power planning, that’s what I’m referring to. And PGSD is perfectionist getting shit done, which is my group coaching program to help you release your perfectionism handbrake and be more productive in your business, and achieve all the goals that you have. So, yeah, really just been cheap in the wrong places.
It’s come up in other ways as well, in terms of hiring the team that I have now. And also, just especially in the earlier days of the business, not wanting to hire a VA or things like that, because I felt like I had to be making perfect use of my time, before I could actually justify it. So then I was not wanting to spend the money on that, because I didn’t, I felt like I had the time. It’s so ironic. It’s just, it’s crazy. I hope it’s making sense. But when I was misusing my time, well, the times I have been misusing my time the most is when I’ve been the most willing to pay with my time rather than paying with money.
So in the example of hiring a virtual assistant, because I felt like well, I could be more productive. And so I can’t really justify bringing someone on until I’m more productive. Like I it just seemed to make sense, like that line of thinking, even though to be more productive, the best, smartest way to do that would have been to hire someone in the same way that for a lot of things I’ve needed to figure out in the business, the best, smartest way to do that has just been to pay for the answer rather than having to piece it together myself, because that feels like the smart thing to do.
So that is one way that I have really hindered my productivity over the years. And I’m on to myself about that even now, as I’m looking at hiring different team members and expanding the team and that kind of thing that I still feel that belief in that of like, well, I should be able to do it myself. And like if I’m paying for something, it’s admitting that I can’t do it myself. And I’m just having to call myself out on that thinking because it is not productive.
The second mistake is planning for my productivity robot fantasy self. And this has looked like really long to do lists having an over scheduled calendar like that doesn’t take into account the fact that I actually need to eat lunch and I need to sleep and like commuting different places. Like it’s just what I’ve planned, particularly say around 2016-2017 when I really started to begin getting out of my own way, but I really didn’t know how to plan in a way that actually worked for my brain that I would just like jam pack my calendar.
And to the extent that I would only be able to follow it for not even usually one day, maybe three days at best, and then I’d be back to my long to do lists, then that would feel overwhelming then I go back to trying to time block my calendar. And it was just this back and forth between it. Because I was actually not planning for the real me. I was planning for this fantasy version of myself that’s like this little productivity robot that can just do an endless number of things that works evenly across the day. In the sense that the same hour like in the morning I can be as productive as at lunchtime as in the evening as overnights which isn’t actually how it’s not how I work.
Maybe it’s how you work but I have found I am not evenly productive throughout the day. I’m going to talk about that a bit more. Oh, my battery on my laptop is about to die. Okay, pausing this getting my charger and then I’m resuming. Okay, so I have procured my charger out I am back. And also just to share with you something that has happened in the last two minutes since I stopped recording that as I was going to get my charger I was like, do you know what did I even explain that first point that I had properly and maybe I should just rerecord and explain it better and have it be actually making sense.
And that’s just a big as a side note, it wasn’t in my list. Another big productivity mistake I’ve made, which is redoing shit that’s already good enough. And so I just want to mention that in case you can relate to it. My guess is you probably cared since this is a podcast that you listen to and perfectionist are big overthinkers but yeah, just doing stuff that’s already good enough like redoing it. And just doing that to please myself because from your perspective, the end result of the rerecord was probably going to be pretty damn similar.
So anyway, continuing on, we’ve chatted about the second mistake which is planning for my productivity robot fantasy itself. So when it comes to this, and just having this I don’t know this desire to be this little robot And to be able to just be insanely productive and feeling like if I can just be incredibly productive, I can have everything that I want, that has just led me to be so much less productive. And when I have actually face the reality of my constraints as a human being, and my needs and desires, and considering myself as a whole person, that is when I have been the most productive.
And that’s a big part of power planning as well is really actually planning for you in a way that makes sense for your brain in a way that makes sense for your life. Because I know I’m not alone when I say that, I really just want to make plans that this fantasy version of myself can follow through on and I even find, with recently, with being a mum. So now I have three kids under the age of two. And also having really big goals for the business and loving working on the business that I find myself trying to operate my business as if I don’t have kids, and trying to show up in my personal life as if I don’t have a business, ie trying to do things that full time parents would have the time to do that don’t actually make sense for me to do like DIY projects, and different things like that.
And also, when it comes to the business, comparing myself to people that don’t have children, and what their schedules and routines and habits look like and thinking that I should be able to do that. Even though intellectually, neither of these things make any sense. But I find myself just feeling like I should be able to do business. And being a mom, like perfectly so to speak. And both of those things to do them perfectly, I need to kind of pretend that the other thing isn’t there, instead of actually looking at the reality that I want to do both. And I can do both.
This isn’t about like, we’ll pick one or the other or like my business needs to suffer because I have kids, or my relationship with my kids needs to suffer because I have a business, none of that. It’s just this kind of pressure, or this self imposed idea. And I’m sure it comes from wider society, that I should be doing business as if I’m just an entrepreneur, and I should be doing my personal life as if I’m just a mom. So that is something I’m still needing to call myself out on when I’m doing my planning my weekly review and all of that kind of thing, just noticing, like, where am I putting these crazy expectations on myself, and where can I just remove some of that pressure. So I can actually just show up the best I can in both of those because they can work and do work so beautifully to be together. But not when I’m telling myself, I need to ignore who I am as a human.
The third mistake is expecting even productivity across the day, and not taking into account what time I work best. So I have really experimented with this. Over the years, I have tried slow mornings, I have tried getting my work done first thing and for me, my preference is for sure. getting my work done first thing in the morning, even when I was working my full time accounting job, when I would prioritize working on my business. And even if it was just for like 60 minutes in the morning, and I had to wake up at 4am to do it. That works so much better for me.
That was when I was actually able to create momentum, versus trying to get it done at the end of the day when I was already exhausted. And I wanted to hang out with Steve like just knowing how I work best and really honoring that has had such a big impact on my productivity. And it’s really just a reminder to myself this mistake for this season of life that I’m currently in where I am breastfeeding newborns. And I have a toddler. And typically my mornings look like waking up when the boys wake up, feeding them getting breakfasts, all that kind of thing.
And then when I am having a workday, starting my workday around maybe 9am, which is still pretty early. But for me, ideally, my workday would start probably, I’d say in an ideal world, so to speak, at like 6:37am like I do really well my brain is firing in the morning. And so right now I’m sure I could make some tweaks to my power planning for the coming weeks and just have my workday start a bit earlier and then finish my workday early say two or 3pm. So that I’m really capitalizing on what actually makes sense in the sense that in the mornings, that’s the best time for my brain for work. And in the afternoons and evenings that’s the best time of date for my family. I am working three days a week at the moment I could go on a whole side tangent about working and returning to work after having kids and doing it as soon as I am.
It’s funny in the entrepreneurial world, a lot of talk is around like not being able to have any time off whatsoever, or you need to completely just stop your business. And then when it comes to more like the corporate world where you’re an employee, it’s having a year off. Typically, at least in Australia, having a year off, some of that might be unpaid. But at least having six months of of maternity leave, and I love my children, and I love my business. And I’m so glad that I have a business that I didn’t have to be working, it could still be growing without me.
And also, I love that I have a business where I can work and have newborn children, three children, which is crazy to say, so yes, that’s a side thing that I feel like we can have so much pressure. And this really impacts productivity, for sure. Pressure around what we should do, should I be returning to work or should I have longer often kind of comparing ourselves to what everyone else is doing. And just being able to honor like, this is what I want. And even if some people in my life might not get it for all different kinds of reasons.
This is what I know works for me, this works for our family. And I’m going to honor that. And I’m also going to experiment with it and update my decisions if needed, as needed. If something better emerges a better way of doing things. But with that said, having that time of day, like knowing when you really do work best. And it might not be like working nine to five, you might work really well in the afternoon. So you might work really well in the evenings. And so if you’re trying to do like the 5am Club, and you’re someone who does your best work in the evenings, it doesn’t really make sense. It could but it might not.
So just being open to your workday, looking different to what is conventional, and to what other people around you are doing. And so for me when I have really done the best is when I take that into account, when I’m planning my day, that I’m doing my highest level thinking in the morning the things that require deep work or a lot of courage. I need to get them done in the morning. And then in the afternoon. That’s more time for admin recording podcast episodes because this is really easy for me being interviewed on other podcasts. And by the way, if you have a podcast and you’d like to have me as a guest, email support@samlaurabrown.com. I am going on other podcasts.
So knowing when you work best is so important. And it’s a mistake to expect even productivity across the day. And also, it’s a mistake to judge yourself for not being evenly productive across the day and kind of imagining that everyone else has the same amount of productivity or focus or concentration, and every hour of the day, they don’t you don’t, let’s just acknowledge that and plan accordingly.
Number four, the fourth mistake, I made productivity wise of many, I won’t even cover all of them in this episode. But the fourth is relying on my environment for productivity. So for me, particularly, I noticed this first as a student, as a university student, I have a law degree and a finance degree of commerce majoring in finance. And throughout university, I was there for a very long time, I heard this story that I need to be the library to be productive, I just can’t get shit done from home.
And I lived about an hour drive away from uni door to door. And so I created this whole hurdle for myself in order to be productive, that I had to be at the library. There was a 24/7 library. But I had to be there. And then of course, I had to go get all the snacks and all the different things to go along with that. And when it came to business, I also then had this mentality of like, I have to be out of the house at a cafe, at a co working space, like I can’t be productive from home.
And when you’re working from home, having that belief doesn’t help you to be productive, and it can feel so it can feel so true. And it might look slightly different for you, for example, you might just have the belief like, I just need to have everything in the house clean before I can focus. So just kind of the same thing, just a different flavor. Like, you know, I just I get I work better, if all the dishes are done, I work better if like the laundry is done, or whatever it is for you. There’s like procrasti-cleaning that comes up, that we can just create these criteria for productivity.
And it’s so interesting that we do that, because we really just want to be productive. But then we create these hurdles we have to overcome in order to be productive. And there’s so many reasons for that, that I won’t go into in this episode. But subconsciously, there are reasons we don’t want to be productive. We are scared of success, of failure, of rejection of the shame that might come with any one of those things. And so we desire productivity, and yet we hold ourselves apart from it.
And relying on our environment for productivity is one of the ways that we do that. And this is something that I really did work on in 2019, perfect timing with COVID, coming around in 2020. And needing to work from home and not having any other option that I sorted out that self image that I had, that I had to be out of the house to be productive. And I really just started telling myself a different story about it, I did do a podcast episode on it, oh siri talking to me, I did do a podcast episode on it. So we’ll link that up in the shownotes.
But just be aware of this, if you have a story, that you need certain things in order to be productive. And of course, there’s going to be certain like, Okay, you need to have a clean desk, for example, without it being piled up with mugs, all these different things. And I think I’m just gonna go on so many (inaudible) if I let myself about becoming the kind of person who keeps your space tidy and organized, I didn’t used to be that kind of person, I used to have like, six mugs of cold tea on my desk. And I don’t do that anymore. And I don’t have to force myself to be organized.
And I just did the self image work that we talk about in PGSD to change that. And to organize myself. So that’s not a problem. But of course, it’s like hygiene and different things like that. But I think a lot of us have this criteria for productivity. That is just a big illusion. So that’s something to be looking at. And it’s something that has really come up for me and at the moment as it relates to this in terms of environment for productivity. What I’m working on is a self image that I can be productive with just small amounts of time to work given that I am feeding the twins pretty much every three hours.
And I don’t mean like I feed them then I have a three hour break. Then I feed them it’s like three hours from the start of the feed to the side of the next feed. So I feed them and then I have like maybe two hours between that and then feed them and now they’re having longer wake windows. So anyway, all of that to say and they’re not robots, they might need to feed be earlier or might go longer. And so when I’m wanting to work as I am and I’m wanting to feed the twins as I am. I am needing to create the self image that I can get deep work done, even if I don’t have really big chunks of time.
So that is something that I’m working on. And even just being aware of my story that like, I need big chunks of time to do deep work or to do my best thinking, or I need to not be interrupted, like if I am, the reality is that I’m choosing to let there be interruptions because I want to be available to feed my children, then I need to just get on board with that, or change that like change my desire, but to not just complain about it to myself. So that’s my thoughts on that one.
What’s number five here? Oh live meetings with my team. So this is a really current one that I have really found to be a productivity mistake, is doing everything in an asynchronous way with my team. So what this looks like, and it’s so important with all these mistakes, and I hope it’s coming through, like I’m not beating myself up for any of these, I am so grateful I learned the lessons or some of these that I’m still working on like to the next level, I got the bass lesson. And now I’m going on to the next evolvement of that, if that makes sense. Like I’m, I’m feeling that, for example, with some of the ones I’ve shared, like, I’ve figured out done things like I know how to work productively from home, but now my self image needs a further up level. And so I’m doing that work.
So it’s not beating yourself up, like I’m making this mistake I’m making that mistake is just like, yeah, like we are humans, and there’s going to be things that come up and what might seem like the best way to do something at the time, like all these things are showing, it seemed like the best way to do it until I learned more. And I had a deeper understanding of myself and how I work and all of that. And so it’s really important when you’re listening to this, as with anything not to beat yourself up and think you should have known better. I’m still making some of these mistakes, many of them, and I know better, quote unquote.
So just be on to yourself about that it’s really not about shaming yourself, or thinking you should be perfectly productive. So with this, as I said, live meetings, this is a current one, and something I’ve really been reflecting on. So it’s been really a necessity in so many ways. At least that’s how it’s felt over the last couple of years to do things in an asynchronous way. By that I mean, instead of doing live meetings with my team, that I am doing loom videos I am we work in Asana as our project management system. So we are, you know, commenting back and forth in Asana or sending slack messages.
But rather than actually just having conversations live, it’s kind of one person will share a message and then maybe six hours later, the other person will reply, and the next day the other person will reply, it made sense to do that in a lot of ways. When I was pregnant, and when I had Lydia and then when I was pregnant again, and then having the newborns like it made sense to do that, when it was feeling really challenging for me to have a regular time to meet. And things were feeling very unpredictable.
In hindsight, I definitely could have made it work. And I didn’t really understand the value of having live meetings. But something that I’m really recognizing is that for, for the vision that I have for the business, and to be able to lead the team there, it really requires there to be more collaboration and involvement on my part. And what I mean to say here is that when it’s come to the team who I love so much I feel like because I really trust them. And they’re doing such a great job, that in some ways I really abdicated responsibility rather than delegated responsibility.
And I almost like didn’t want to look at what was going on or like kind of just distance myself, especially when I was at the end of pregnancy or at the beginning of having a newborn that I just felt like I didn’t have the bandwidth. Like if I saw something wasn’t going well. I didn’t even want to have awareness of it was like the lack of self trust in myself to be able to resolve that and also do the other things I wanted to do.
So I feel like in some ways I turned a blind eye when I didn’t actually but it I feel like I in some ways did that by not having meetings and doing things in the most productive way. And instead just running things in this more asynchronous way. And so really, at the moment, a big thing that I’m working on. I mentioned this in the last episode, the growth goal update, but it’s really only the two roles. I have been the CEO and being a coach and part of bless you. I don’t know if you hear Jack sneezing.
And part of being the CEO is leading and not just kind of saying, Okay, here’s the brief and off you go. But really like if you think about being a coach of a sports team, or that kind of thing, being involved leaning in being engaged. And so for me what that looks like in this season, is bringing back one on one meetings, team meetings, having a lot more updates and conversations. And particularly now, Renae, is in Brisbane with myself, she lives on the coast. But we work together in Brisbane, the next role that I’m hiring operations role will be in Brisbane.
And so having an in person team I think, will definitely help with that. But also, we will still have remote members of the team. And just, I feel like part of it was me not having this self image that I was a leader. And more so feeling like I was just one of the team. And therefore I wasn’t stepping up and actually saying like, here’s what we’re going to do, here’s how we’re going to do it not in a like micromanaging kind of way. But in a leadership way of like, here’s where we’re going, this is how we’re going to get there. And you’re going to be able to figure out the how and you’re empowered to do that.
But this is this is where I’m leading us. And I just didn’t have that self image that like I was worth following or that kind of thing. And I really feel like recently, a switch has flipped in that regard, particularly as I’ve now been focusing on myself as a leader and developing that identity for myself. So part of that has been like, Okay, well now I need to really lean in and like have a really good look at what’s going on in the business, not just from a team perspective, but also in terms of the numbers.
So I am a bit of a numbers nerd. But at the same time, I haven’t really sat down to do the numbers in a way that I really want to do them or that I think the business at this level calls for in earlier stages of the business, I didn’t need to have the kind of awareness around things that I do now. But now that our goal for this year is a million in revenue. And then in 2025, the goal is 5 million. And then beyond that.
So really just be more intimate with the numbers, for example, now that we’re starting to do paid advertising, knowing how much we can spend on having someone sign up for PGSD, like what actually like what is that number, and the cost per acquisition, believe that number is anyway, like actually calculating that, all those different kinds of things, knowing how much we can invest in our marketing.
And so I am really just leaning into all of that and not doing it in like I should have been doing this sooner kind of way. Because there are some things, some elements of this, that I might, it would have been helpful to be doing this sooner. But now is it that like, it’s kind of that whole thing of like the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. And the second best time is today, taking that approach with things. And so when it comes to meetings, and just the way that I communicate with my team, just being onto myself about my identity as a leader and not letting that impact my productivity, I think so much of that comes from that perfectionist mindset of feeling like if I’m not this perfect leader, and I’m experienced in doing that, or whatever, that I’m no good at it at all, just that all or nothing, there’s like, if I’m not perfect, then I know nothing. I know you can relate to it.
But I feel that coming up for myself when it comes to leading. And now I’m just really starting to recognize like I am the leader of the team and I need to act accordingly. And I want to act accordingly. And the team want a leader. And so now I’m making the adjustments in terms of how we run things. So that that is reflected in the business.
So number six, and this is also very current this is like probably the most current though the one I just shared is also super relevant at the moment to me but productivity mistake I have made is de-prioritizing relationship, building networking, business friendships and that kind of thing. And this has really been a reflection of my own perfectionist insecurities around not being good enough to be worth someone else connecting with me.
And I’ve just been hiding behind my computer screen and I do have some great business friends and relationships and that kind of thing. But there have been so many periods in my business. I’ve had this idea of like ah, I know I need to be networking relationship building and not as is like means to an end kind of way. I love having friends like that sounds funny me just finishing that sentence that I love having friends don’t we all but when I was working say in the corporate world, like I love having work, friends, any job I had, have had ever. I’ve always loved having work friends, and then working for myself, especially when it was just me, I felt felt like I was really missing that, and then I have our team.
But there’s also beyond that, getting to have connections with people who are up to similar things. And those work friends, so to speak, and creating that for myself. And also, so many of the best opportunities or referrals in terms of like, you should hire this accountant, or you should work with this lawyer or that kind of thing, have come through my network. And also, side note, Human Design wise, I’m a two, four, I’m a projector, emotional projector, 2-4 which part of that is like your opportunities come through your network. And when I read that I was like, that is like, like, like, Steve, I met through a friend like pretty much everyone in my life, I met through someone like it’s always been through my networks.
And yet, I have not made it a priority to expand or nurture my networks that I have. And it has really like even now as it’s something that I’m actively working on. And having myself do. I like, it’s the last thing I want to do in the week to just reach out as I want to be like, Hey, let’s catch up, like I feel myself wanting to put it off. And it’s just so funny how it’s actually like the quickest thing to do. Because I talk about when it comes to needing more time to build your business, that oftentimes the most courageous way, is the quickest way.
And so we don’t actually need more time, we just need more courage. And that’s so much easier when you’re getting clean rest and all those different things. But when it comes to doing this, I just feel myself wanting to put it off, I literally have to just put it in my calendar, and be super on to myself. We do our little tweaks, and we adjust things and keep it workable. But I have to be really unto myself, if I’m changing any plan that relates to networking or connection with others, because my perfectionist brain wants to put that shit off forever.
And it just doesn’t serve me it’s very unproductive. And I’ve just wanted to hide behind my computer, which has worked to some degree, like it’s kind of, it’s been rewarded. And so just really recognizing in terms of business growth, but in terms of my personal growth and the relationships that I want to have in my life, this is my work in so many ways. And it feels really hard. It feels really vulnerable. And like that, yeah, I’ve been self coaching on and getting coaching on that, like all those different things that it just feels like this the insecurities like no, like, why would anyone want to know me? I know that sounds really probably weird, but maybe you can relate to that is just like, Would I actually add value?
Like, do I even know what I’m talking about? Or am I worth being friends with? And intellectually I don’t think those things but I can feel I have those beliefs, because of the way that I’m showing up. And because of the way like if I look at my power planning for last year, in which I did this when I came back from having some time off, and having the twins and all of that. And I came back and I was like, Hey, I’m the CEO, I’m the coach. That’s what I’m focused on. Let’s have a look at how I spent last year to learn from that. I just refreshed myself like there was really barely any networking or relationship building within that. And that is for good reason. Because my brain doesn’t want to do it. So it has been a productivity mistake to deprioritize that and this really is my work at the moment.
So if it is something you can relate to, then I invite you to have a look at adding this to your calendar. And also for me, what has really helped is knowing like having reflected on my past and knowing there are times when like, Oh, I like, I’m going to reach out to people and like, start making connections about it. And I do and it goes great. And then I can just feel myself like, retreating back from that. It’s the same when I’m like, I’m going to like create my a wardrobe that I really love. And then for like two weeks, I’m excited about it.
And then I just go back to just wearing the same things and whatever like, and I’m working on that at the moment, shout out to Kristen Cain, who’s one of our PGSDers. I’ve been watching her YouTube channel, she talks about all the mindset stuff as it relates to style and getting dressed and all of that. And there are so many things she shares that have just been huge breakthroughs for me regarding that. So I can just see this perfectionist mindset happening with that as well. But just knowing that, I love the idea of it.
And then when it comes to following through with it, that I might have a little bit of excitement. And then my brain is like, no, no, no, we’re not going to actually do this. And so when I’m doing my Power Planning, I am really having a look at okay, what are my needle movers that I need to jog my memory at the beginning of that by having a look at like my growth goal, my quarterly milestones and also my mini goals for that quarter like to remind myself, I have a goal around networking.
Because if I don’t remind myself of that, it’s not going to come up as a like to do item that might eventually make it onto my calendar as a needle mover, my brain just tries to pretend that’s not something we actually want, and won’t even suggest it as an option. So when you are doing your power planning, and planning out your week, to just have a think about like, what things are missing from my To Do lists that should really be there.
Because often when it comes to prioritizing and all of that kind of thing we look at like, Okay, what do I need to do, and I prioritize that according to my goals and values and that kind of thing. But also like what’s not there that actually should be there, in terms of my goals in terms of who I want to be. And so it’s been really helpful for me. And then also I added, I’m updating my weekly review at the moment. So in PGSD, I’m talking about on the podcast as well, at times, like what is involved in the weekly review when you’re reflecting on things.
And I’ve just been playing around with like getting a little bit more serious with my weekly review more intense with it. Of course, any updates about that will be included in PGSD once I have spent more time with it, I’m not just going to like, you know, do a weekly review a certain way for one week, and then be like, here’s what to do. I’m going to experiment with it, test it, and do all of that. But having a few more questions in there. And one of those questions, particularly relating to where I’m at with this at the moment is like, Okay, what did I do this week to build relationships or like nurture them, or I can’t remember exactly how I worded it.
And when I did my weekly review for last week, I was like nothing, I literally did nothing towards that. And not in this all nothing way. Like I didn’t have any contact with anyone who’s not on my team in terms of the business. And now I say that all and I think we maybe I did but reception of it. And so I know like this week, I know that questions coming up in my weekly review. And also when I was doing my power planning, I knew that one of the goals I have is around building my network.
And so I put things in my calendar relating to that in terms of reaching out to certain people, in terms of like brainstorming, there are so many people I know like I have loose connections with that I think would be fantastic to talk to about business, and hear more from them and all of that and just like asking my brain like Who are those people? And what can I do to reach out to them or connect with them and all of that kind of thing.
So yeah, that’s where I’m at with that. I’m so currently like making this mistake. And really just recognizing that networking and relationship building is part of marketing. I think there’s been such a huge conversation around social media marketing, that my brain has kind of taken on that like that’s the only way to market and guess is also paid advertising and all that but my brain just kind of forgotten like actually having friendships, strategic relationships, all those different things that is marketing.
And that saying like, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, which I know a lot of us are like, we don’t want to believe that’s true, and that we can just get where we want to go despite like working hard and all that but I don’t want to do it alone. Like I want to have a network and I need to actually work at having a network and I need to get out of my own way about it because my perfectionist brain doesn’t want to do that. Just wants me to do it all alone by myself behind a computer. So that’s what I’m working on. That is a mistake that you know quote unquote, mistake. All of these are just lessons. But I know we like to think of things as mistakes when we’re perfectionist.
So another mistake number seven is not actually having a clear goal, and not being all in on my goal. And so first of all, speak to the clear goal thing. If you’re a regular listener of this podcast or your in PGSD, you will know that I’m not a believer in like the realistic kind of goals that we are often told to set like goals that your current self can already achieve, because you don’t have to grow in order to achieve them.
And so while it might help you avoid putting pressure on yourself to have realistic goals, while it might feel like you have the best chance at success, when you have realistic goals, if we zoom out and actually look at the big picture of what we want, as humans, it is growth, it is to be challenged, being challenged. And rising to that occasion is what creates fulfilment. And so when we have these little realistic goals, they just, they don’t cut it in terms of if you actually have somewhere big that you want to go.
And there are other ways to not put pressure on yourself, you can actually just have a big goal and learn how to treat yourself well on the way to that goal versus having to have a small goal, because that’s your only strategy to avoid pressure. So I didn’t have a clear goal, especially in the beginning, my goals were kind of like, I want to be full time in my business, I want to have a 10k month, which is just like, I am so compassionate with myself for having those goals, because those were the goals that were given to me by the things that I was listening to, but also I just more. So I just didn’t have the self belief or the confidence to actually set a bigger goal than that.
Just having this goal around like a certain month, even if all the other months were zero, it was just like this, I just want to have a 10k month because then I’ll have made it and then it was 100k here, and then I’ll have made it or being full time in the business. And it was just these kind of vague goals. And I’ve shared on the podcast before about how I had those vague goals. And then when I actually set a deadline around and got really clear about what it meant, I really sped up how quickly I was able to achieve those goals.
And for some of those goals, I had years where they were vague, and I didn’t really make much progress. And then I actually got clear on it. And I was able to achieve it pretty damn quickly after that. So in PGSD, we set a growth goal, which is 12 month revenue goal set above what your current self can do, we have your quarterly milestones. You are like 90 Day goals increase over each quarter. So for example, if your goal is 100k a year, it’d be 10k in the first quarter, as you are learning power planning and all that kind of thing. And then the next quarter is 20k, then dedicate them 40k.
So we have our goals, step up like that over the quarters, so that you can step up so that you are invited to grow with your goals and not just have to automatically be at that level that you’re going to be at the end of the year. And also, so you don’t just have these goals that like will help you avoid putting pressure on yourself, but don’t actually help you get where you want to go. So really, when I started to figure out what goal setting look like for my perfectionist brain, and also avoiding the temptation to just have like, so many goals, or to just kind of be winging it and like I want to be full time or whatever, which isn’t like it was just so vague, I didn’t really even know like I was like, I just want to replace my income.
But actually, that didn’t make sense when I actually thought it through. Because if I wanted to get paid what I was making at my job, then I need to be making more than that because I need to be invested in my business taxes a thing like this, all those other considerations profit like all of that. So getting really clear on it, but also not buying into this whole realistic thing really helped and just learning other ways to not put pressure on myself, which is what we teach in PGSD. And that has made such a big difference.
And I know it sounds so simple, like goal setting but we perfectionist love to set like so many goals, so that we can always say like, oh, I would be doing better with my fitness if I wasn’t so busy with my business and my business would be better if I wasn’t so busy working on, I don’t know, a home project and that like I can still see myself wanting to do this in my personal life like having all these different goals and things that I’ve really had to be on to myself about it. And what I’ve done recently when it comes to this because there’s so many little like home projects and things I want to work on is making myself have so I have a list in Asana. This is how I keep track of it.
And I have projects and I need to complete I kind of ordered them in priority and I need to complete a project for example, the most recent one I worked on was in our living room like updating Lydia’s kind of play area who got one of those toddler IKEA kitchen things. And a bookshelf that we could do like the Montessori style toy stuff where then a table she could do cardio in and different things like that, like, I wanted to get that complete and also like style, that little area, before I could then go on to the next one.
And I can feel myself, like wanting to do all of these projects at once there are literally about 15 of them that I want to do. And for example, right now, as I said, I’m in the bedroom. And we don’t have any, like things on the wall, we don’t have any artwork, any photos that just bear and we renovated our house, we moved back in the end of 2021. So we’ve been in here like, well over a year, and it hasn’t been done, and I want it to be done. And I need to also tell myself, it doesn’t have to be done right this second.
And by just having a little a system for myself, where I can have a placeholder and be like, Okay, I know I want to do that. And I also know that I’m not doing it right now. So I didn’t have to constantly be thinking about and having that mental load that mental drama. So that has really helped when it comes to having so many different goals. And I also do this with the business and power planning really helps with this, like, literally, yesterday, I mapped out my power planning for the rest of this quarter.
So if like the next few months, I do not recommend doing this, if you’re new to power planning, I do not recommend doing this, you need to for the first three months, you make the three month commitment. And you need to just plan one week at a time while you are developing this skill of planning properly in a way that works for your perfectionist brain. Because you need to really learn how to keep plans workable so that you are able to plan out longer periods of time and you have that workability skill set so that when your plans drastically change and they will, it’s not a problem, you’re not thrown by it and you’re able to keep your plans workable, rather than like sitting down and being optimistic and planning out, you know what you’re going to do over the quarter.
And then you get a weekend and you just stop looking at your calendar because you’re so far off track. And now it’s completely useless. Okay, talk about the little tweaks and workability piece, as if like, you know, if you’re driving along, and there’s a detour or like there’s a car crash or something comes up and you can’t go the way that you had planned that Google Maps isn’t going to try and say like, no, just go on that road because you can’t, it’s gonna say okay, if you turn right, for example, it’s going to take a lead and say, Okay, you need to get now go left and now go right, and you’ll end up eventually getting to the same place just in a different way.
We need to do that with our calendars. And you need to have the skill of doing that anyone can learn it. But it is a skill that you need to develop rather than just being oll or nothing and ditching your calendar, the equivalent of just throwing your phone out the window and being like, well, I’ve completely, you know, I’m driving somewhere I’ve never been before. And I don’t know where I’m going. But the best way to do it is now to just wing it.
That’s what we tend to do with our plans, I’ll just go back to the to do list. Because now this calendar is useless. Because I’m so far behind. Like, we don’t want to do that we want to just update it. Anyway, I was doing my power planning, like mapping out when I am going to be able to work over the next couple of months, including like buffer time for when I’m going to be feeding the boys and sleeping. And also I work three days a week. So having four days off a week and all that kind of thing.
Actually, I’m pretty much working like three and a half days. Anyway, we’ll see how that goes. But I mapped that all out and just seeing the constraint of like literally how much time I have in my calendar is so at this point, liberating to me, because I really have to be so ruthless with my priorities. And so when it comes to the business, all this to say that I have so many ideas for different things that I would like to do, or even within the things that we’re already doing so many ideas for different ways to do it.
And because I’m aware of how much time I have, and then I’m not actually a robot that I really am able to better prioritize and really be ruthless about what I focus my time on. And at the moment I’m really working on the system for my life admin like personal life side of things as well I’ve really moss it and a lot of ways when it comes to the business, but in my personal life. I’m still learning how to do all the things I want to do but not be overwhelmed by them and I’ve started creating a system.
So anyway, once that is actually proven out. I will be sharing that in PGSD. Because I know that a lot of our PGSDers and probably yourself as well if you’re relating to this feel like if that life admin area is overwhelming it kind of encroaches into your business. And it’s like taking up so much of your energy and contributing to this behind feeling. So I’m really working on that at the moment. But I’ve just created for myself like, Okay, I need to have some goals. Like I need to actually be clear about that. Because I realized, when I was writing down, like all the life admin, I hadn’t put it into my system, I was like, this is all great.
Like, if I get this all done, but none of it’s actually moving me towards things that I really want in my personal life, they just kind of maintenance things like getting forms back to this certain person or that kind of stuff. And like, what about the other projects that I have the other things that I want to be working on, for example, Steve and I want to buy a coast, what am I saying? Buy… I’m very sleep deprived. Buy a coastal home.
And actually working towards that, and really being more intentional that I’m, we always talk about, and we have for so long, but really just be like, Okay, well, like, let’s just actually start really working towards that, and finding out more about it and looking at properties and that kind of thing. So, yeah, all that to say I’m still working on having clear goals, personal life wise. And I’ve already just by me, just having that awareness around it has made so much progress. And just knowing my brain wants to have like 50 goals, and have them be super vague. But just being clear about like, actually, these are the goals, I haven’t actually this is how much time I have. So let’s prioritize them.
It’s okay to have some things parked on the shelf. And I’ve just found it really helpful, particularly with little home projects and things like that, which my brain loves to think I can do 50 of at once, to actually be like, Okay, this is the order, I’m going to do them. And I need to complete one before I can move on to the next one. Or at least get it to how complete it can be. It doesn’t need to be perfect. But I need to actually finish it because I find that I don’t know if you can relate. But I love like my brain just wants to jump from thing to thing because that last 20% of finishing feels the most vulnerable to complete, because that’s when like the it feels like the good enoughness is determined.
But if I just start on it, then I can and I don’t finish it and get it like 80% of the way there. Then I can tell myself like well, if I’d actually completed it, say for example, the living room space like if I actually completed it, then it would be great. But you know, I didn’t because I was so busy planning Lydia’s birthday party, whatever it is to just be like, No, I’m just doing this thing. I’m going to call it complete then I’m moving on. And in business. I’ve really developed a skill set around being able to call things complete and moving on even when they don’t feel perfect. So now I’m translating that over to my personal life.
So yeah, that’s another thing. But being all in on my goal, my growth goal. I feel like I literally haven’t been all in until two weeks ago. And that sounds dramatic, but I feel like a switch has flipped. And I’m just thinking of myself differently and backing myself in a way that I haven’t backed myself before. And I will talk about this in upcoming episodes, you can bet. But I really feel like I haven’t been all in. I’ve kind of been in this mindset. And you can probably hear it, if you listen back to the podcasts and things like that have been like, well, you know, we want to have and this is still true.
We want to have our goals and approach them in a way where even if we don’t get all the way there, we can really feel proud of ourselves. And it’s still worthwhile. But when I was doing that, it was from this approach of like, well, I’m probably not going to get all the way there because I’m not really committed fully. So I’m going to make sure I’m still getting side benefits from it. But I’m kind of going into it feeling like it’s probably not going to happen.
And of course, when we approach things with that mentality, he doesn’t happen. Or if it does, we don’t actually acknowledge that it has happened. And it was interesting. Renae, and I were chatting about this, and she was like, You need to stop saying you haven’t achieved your goals because you have and like my all or nothing perfectionist brain wants to be like, Well, I didn’t achieve it in the exact timeframe or whatever criteria. And so I haven’t achieved my goals when I have.
And also, with all this said, like, I’ve still, while not being all in on my goal, like last year, we made $600,000. And that was while I was working three days a week pregnant with twins, like all of that, that you can still really create a lot of success and a business that you really like, we’ve not been all in on your goals. But just in the last couple of weeks, when I just literally feel like a different version of myself, it really feels like and there are times over my business journey where I’ve had this feeling too. I’m like, I just feel like the door has opened into that next iteration of myself, so to speak.
And so I feel like that now, and I just am committed in a way that I really haven’t been before. And it’s in a really kind way, it’s I don’t know, like at my own expense kind of way. It’s like, oh, no, we’re getting there. And I’m going to be resourceful and courageous enough to figure out how to do that in a way that really makes sense for my other goals that I have my personal life, my family and all those different kinds of things.
So not being all in is a productivity mistake. But yeah, you can still get somewhere without being all in, but you’re not gonna get all the way there if you’re not all in, so I’m really excited to be all in. But it’s not even, like exciting. It’s this like grounded, committed feeling and this compulsion, but again, it doesn’t feel like this, like I’m in this big rush, or that kind of thing. It just feels very grounded and committed the same way. Like I’m committed to feeding my boys and making sure they get fed. And even if I was there to feed them, like making sure that they are getting fed, like it’s this kind of just, it just feels like I don’t even know how to describe it, think of something you’re really committed to that. It just feels like a given as kind of how it feels now.
It just feels like a given like, of course, I’m committed to that. And I think this is really fluid on from me at the end of last year, setting a bigger vision for the business. And I did a podcast episode on that. But setting the bigger vision and then making decisions flowing from that, that this step up this like up level has just been a necessary flowing effect and having that bigger vision and bigger goals.
And seeing myself in a different way has just invited me to actually be fully committed, and to back myself and now I find myself telling people my goals that previously I’d be like, I’m not going to tell these people I have such big goals, especially when it comes to like accountants or different people like that are like oh, no, I’m not going to tell them like my made up goals. But I actually am now I’m like that, like I had a meeting with my accountant. I was like, in 2025 or sooner, were making $5 million. And I need to prepare the business for that. And we need to set things up so what I need to do? Like just having conversations like that the previous year I’d be like, well, we’ll see. And I don’t want to tell a professional, that this is what we’re doing because they all just laugh or whatever. And now I just find myself actually acting in different ways.
Moving on. Thinking of my business like it’s a cute hobby. It’s a productivity mistake. This relates to what I was just talking about. But I recently had the realization, okay, I actually made myself write down the criteria that I have for myself to have a real business because that criteria has changed over time. Initially, it was a 10k month, then it was 100k in a year, then it was having 100k month that once I ticked all those off, and then it’s like, now it’s a million dollar a year, and this and that.
But I actually force myself to write down the other criteria that was kind of subconsciously going on, which meant for me, having an in person team, which is something they genuinely want to have, like I mentioned, I’ve I at all all my jobs have loved having work friends in that kind of work environment and banter and that kind of thing. So having that it was interesting when I was writing down, like having a brick and mortar business, like a real business, like a very tangible business, it’s like selling a tangible product.
Even though like other people with online businesses who do what I do, I’m not looking at them, like they don’t have a real business. But when I really got clear on this, I realized that part of my criteria for having a real business was being a man. And just seeing it like that. Like, I never want to admit that part of my criteria for someone having a real business is that they are men, especially as I’m a woman, and that, like precludes me from having a real business. But just seeing that my brain, like having awareness finally brought to my brain was literally like, if you’re Elon Musk, if you’re Mark Zuckerberg, like, or if you have the same business as me, and you’re a man, then you have a legitimate business.
Otherwise, you’re kind of just doing this cute kind of thing. And I again, like I don’t think of other women who have businesses in this way. But I maybe I do to some degree, subconsciously, because I had this belief of, I need to be a man and just seen it like that. I was like, Well, I’m never gonna meet that criteria. So I’m just gonna change my criteria. But when that belief was just underneath the surface, I was kind of powerless to be able to define myself as having a real business. And then I just kept thinking, No, it’s like the revenue or it’s whatever, when it’s like, actually, there’s this one final criteria that I just haven’t been able to meet. And I can just remove that criteria.
So if you have been in this mindset of not feeling like you have a real business, then just, Oh, my goodness, Siri, just keep talking to me when I raise my hand from my Apple watch. But if you’ve been feeling like you don’t have a real business, I want to invite you to just write down what your criteria like who has a real business, if you can’t even identify like your criteria, like names of people who have a real business and describe them. Or just write out like I did, like, what does it mean for me to have a real business.
And that was just so enlightening for me. So it is a productivity mistake to not identify as having a real business, especially like, if you’re making money, you have a real business. But so many decisions, all of our decisions will flow on from the view that we have of ourselves. And if you believe that you don’t have a real business, you’re not going to act accordingly. You’re not going to invest accordingly. You’re not going to prioritize your time accordingly.
Tou’re more likely to like when a friend midweek wants to hang out with you, or your mom wants to have a coffee or whatever. And you’re like yeah, I can because my only plans are with my fake little business. So I should actually reorganize everything I’m doing to accommodate you. Like, I used to do that when I didn’t like I’ve been through iterations of this where I really thought it was just a hobby, and then more recently than you were as a real business, and then like in the last couple of weeks been like, okay, no, actually, I have an actual business. But when I just saw it as a cute hobby, I tweeted my time in a completely different way to what I do now. So it’s really important to have a look at this and see if it’s something that’s going on for you.
Okay, so I’m going to move on to the next one very quickly, because you can probably hear in the background, that the twins are ready to eat and started to make some noise, I’m gonna give them the love and attention that they need and deserve. But I’m just going to quickly mention the other ones that I had on my list. So first of all, it is a mistake that I’ve made to only ever work from week to week. So I mentioned about planning out multiple weeks at a time.
But please don’t do that. Until you have, first of all, learn how to plan your week out and follow through with those plans, at least 80% of the time. Because if you don’t have the skill set to do that on a weekly basis, it’s going to be very hard to do it over a longer period of time. But at the same time when I was only planning on a weekly basis, it meant there were some bigger tasks and projects and things that I needed to work on that were very hard practically speaking to plan out when I was only planning week to week and so I really started I think the first time I really started to do longer term planning, in my calendar with my power planning was in 2021, with one of our PGSD launches, but having launch tasks planned out in advance and being able to follow through on them, I did a whole series on getting your work done early and easily.
That came out in 2022, where I talk more about developing that skill set and what that looked like. But having those plans there, and really just being able to plan out a longer period of time and knowing, okay, if I need to record a certain number of podcast episodes, or write emails, or do these different things, here’s when they’re gonna get done. And it might not be until three weeks from now, but I know when it’s getting done, and I have the self trust to follow through on those plans, because I’ve developed the self trust through my power planning to do that.
And so the overwhelming and mental drama just leaves when you even if you’ve got lots you’re getting up to. And for example, at the moment when I’m planning out this quarter, like there’s a lot I want to accomplish this quarter. But I know that if I plan it out and put it in my calendar, I account for the fact that I’m feeding twins, every few hours that I’m having days off and all of that, then I can get it done. I trust myself to reprioritize accordingly as new information comes up. But initially, I was only really ever thinking about week to week.
And even before that I was only just writing long to do lists, and kind of hoping that I would somehow end up prioritizing the most important things, I definitely have had a habit, particularly early on of prioritizing the easy over the important and wanting that dopamine hit of getting things done. And I’m really having to unlearn that at the moment, just knowing that a lot of the things I need to do now, don’t give me that dopamine hit, that they’re not like quick little 10 minute tasks that feel busy. I’m needing to do work that doesn’t feel busy.
And unlearning that desire to feel busy is a whole other thing. But yeah, really being able to move from a To Do lists into actually being able to plan weekly and follow through with those plans to them being able to plan a couple of months at a time and follow through those plans. Of course those plans get adjusted. But being able to do that is it has dramatically changed what I’ve been able to accomplish and is why I’m able to work a few days a week and have my business growing and growing and growing.
The next one was doing to do items without being clear about what overall goal they’re contributing to. So I’ll just touch on this really quickly, because I’ve already been talking to it. But when I have been doing my power planning and getting everything out of my mind onto the page, before putting that in my calendar, I’ve really been thinking about okay, what does this actually contribute to what goal within my overall year goal for the… Umm what am I saying? My overall goal for the year and my quarterly goal what little mini goal is this contributing to? Is that actually something I want to be working towards? Is there something on my list that isn’t there that should be?
And so that is something that has really been really been top of mind for me recently, is just instead of having all these different to dues that some of them might be small, little tasks, some of them might be big projects, kind of just zooming out. And looking at okay, what are the bigger projects? is a contributing to? And is this the most important thing I can do to contribute to that project or to contribute to that goal? And if not, what is and putting that on my calendar instead.
So the last two, I’ll just, again, I’ll try and be super quick. First of all, is pretending to myself that I haven’t made a decision when I have ie letting myself feel confused and not calling myself out on it. I’m just gonna leave that one there. And number 12 is forcing myself to do things the right way versus making the way I do things, right. So for sure, I have found myself comparing myself to others and what they’re doing and say, for example, even with the podcast, having a look at how are other people doing podcast episodes?
And could it really be the case that I can just pull out my microphone and chat. And that can be a good episode. And just my brain so wants to be like, No, we need to be more prepared. We need to be more planned out. We need to do all these different things. And to just be like, well, maybe actually the way I want to do it is actually going to be the best way for me and to trust that and I have big plans for the podcast and really leaning into the style of podcast episode that I believe I’m best at so stay tuned.
But yeah, those are the biggest productivity mistakes that I have made over the years. And also, oh, there’s someone at the door. Okay, I can’t remember where I left it. I just had an Amazon delivery. There’s lots going on today, but what was I gonna say? Oh, yeah, PGSD. So, perfection is getting to done my group coaching program we are opening again on June 12. Enrollment is going to be open for one week only.
So if you want to find out more about how to be more productive in your business, how to stop let it perfectionism make you get in your own way. All of that kind of thing, then go to samlaurabrown.com/pgsd. That’s where you can sign up for the waitlist you’ll be the first to know when the doors are opening and get all the information you need to decide whether or not to join us. So I hope you’re having a good day. I hope this episode has been helpful and I will talk to you next time.
Outro
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