Dec. 3, 2025

The Art of Agile Living: How to Get More Done with Less Stress

The Art of Agile Living: How to Get More Done with Less Stress
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Season 1

Productivity expert Helene Gidley shares how Agile Project Management principles—borrowed from high-performing tech teams—can transform the way you organize your life. She reveals how her signature method, The Art of Agile Living, helps you ditch overwhelm, reclaim your time, & finally gain control of your never-ending to-do list. Whether you're juggling work, family, or retirement transitions, Helene’s simple, powerful system brings focus back to what matters most.

Ask Good Questions is broadcast live Wednesdays at 6PM ET on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Ask Good Questions is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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WEBVTT

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not

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those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We

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make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,

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or products mentioned on air or on our web. No

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liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio

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or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should

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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing

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W FOURCY Radio.

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Welcome to to Ask Good Questions Podcasts, broadcasting live every Wednesday,

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six pm Eastern Time on W four CY Radio at

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W four cy dot com. This week and every week,

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we will reach for a higher purpose in money and life,

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as well as a focus on health and wellness. Now,

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let's join your hosts, Banita bell Anderson, as together we

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start with Asking Good Questions.

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Hey, hello, and welcome to the Ask Good Questions podcast.

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My name is Benita Bell Anderson, and we are here

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today to have a fantastic discussion around being more organized

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at home, being more productive, less stress in life.

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And a lot of other things.

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So with that, I'd like to invite my guest, Helene

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Gidley to the podcast stage.

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Very good, Thank you, hello everyone, Thank you for.

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And so I'd like to just give a little bit

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of an intro for for Helene. We we met online

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and I was actually looking for like someone just like her,

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productivity specialist. She is an entrepreneur. You know, I'm an

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entrepreneur too. We kind of run in those kind of circles.

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And she's what she calls herself an agile coach, and

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she is has been celebrated for her extraordinary ability forgetting

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things done. So she draws on forty years of experience

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and she has something that she calls agile project management

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techniques to get things done and build a better life. Frankly,

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so she is she built her method called the Art

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of Agile Living over the course of ten years, and

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she tried a lot of different things and nothing really

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seemed to work until she kind of came upon some

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of the principles that she used in her IT industry

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career and it was basically taking the best of those practices.

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And so bringing her.

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Up to today, is there anything more that she'd like

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to add to a little background.

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No, that was great, Benita, Thanks and I'll add that

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as part of that project management background for any buddy listening.

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I am a certified project management professional, so I do

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bring some of that very specific project management techniques to

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the agile approaches that I use. And I'm also a

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certified scrum master on the agile side, so you know,

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I'm pulling from tried and true techniques. It's just a

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matter of making them work a little bit better for

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us and helping us in our lives get a hold

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of all of our to ask and to do items

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and to just reduce our stress and live a little

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more happily.

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So I'm just curious want to delve into that just

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a tiny bit more. How did that experience, through it

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and through that career, How did that experience lead you

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to create this?

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So, as I mentioned, I've spent many years in the

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IT industry, and for a good chunk of that time,

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I was operating as a project manager. And project managers

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help teams enable, you know, manage their work, to find

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and manage their work, and you help get obstacles out

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of their way and report up to management and just

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sort of keep things moving forward. And I started to

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notice that, well, I'm doing all this work for my teams,

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and we have a great way of managing the work

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for the teams using these various traditional Agile practices. But

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my work, even as a project manager, was getting very

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difficult to manage. I was managing it. And it's not

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uncommon project managers would manage more than one project at

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a time and the work between the two. All of

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the usual techniques have you working independently. Like project A,

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you have a whole list of things you have to do,

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Project B a whole list of things, Project SEE a

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whole list of things. Well, okay, what am I doing next?

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And I'm having to look all in three different places,

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and then oh my gosh, there's like personal things that

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I have to do with them, for you to call

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the doctor, make sure you get the kids vaccinations, going

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like whatever. And suddenly there was just too many places

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to pull from. And it was in that mode of

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working on multiple projects with another project manager who was

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also trained in Agile, that we came upon a method

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of utilizing some of those techniques and incorporating that for

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our own work. And that's where we just found, oh

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my gosh, this is so much better than any other

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method that we've tried and yes, we have tried everything.

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Of all that.

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Like an aha moment for you.

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It really was, It really was, and it was fun

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that both he and I had been trained in the

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agile practices and the specific methods were very simple. And

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this is one of the beautiful parts of the technique

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is it's blindingly paper. You don't have to load an app,

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you don't have to like get on a computer and

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try to figure something out. And I'll talk more about that.

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It makes some people very happy right now.

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Yes, yeah, So it was blindingly simple. So we put

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up a sheet of paper that was to define our day,

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and we started putting all of our tasks on that

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sheet and we started to know and he would have

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a sheet for his day, I had one from mine,

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and we kind of looked at that and said, Okay,

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I think we've got it. This is going to work great.

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And of course that first day, in the first use

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of it, it didn't work that great, and we realized why,

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you know, we still weren't getting what I mean it

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was it wasn't working well that we weren't getting all

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of our work done right. So there were still still

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things on our to do lists that weren't getting done

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in that time frame that we had allotted. So it

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never happens to me, I know, right, but that's exactly

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what we were trying to solve for. Yeah, and of

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course not have to spend over time hours. Right, The

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whole goal is to be able to do that work

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in the allotted time so you can still have a life, right,

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still get home to be with your family, and do

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things for yourself. So we realized when we looked at

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it closely, what was missing was the hard demands on

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our time, things like meetings, right, meetings that were pre scheduled.

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And once we because going to a meeting, it's literally

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more than just that. Let's say it's an hour meeting,

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so it's more than just that hour. You may have

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to prepare for it. Maybe that just means grabbing a

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few papers, what may might be well look at a

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few things, because you know you're going to be called

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on to participate in the meeting. Walking or transporting yourself

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to that meeting. If you're in corporate America, that could

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be a bit of a walk, depending on where the

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meeting is held. Right, even if it's a zoom, you know,

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it's still kind of getting there and getting everything ready,

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being in the meeting, taking your notes. When the meeting

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is done, then you may have homework, right, more asks

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that get assigned and you have to keep track of that,

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and then it's again getting yourself back to your work location.

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Well that hour meeting just suddenly turned into maybe an

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hour and a half or more. Well, no wonder, right,

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no wonder. When I started looking at my day and

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I started putting in the hard demands on the time

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and that realistic well, I've got to prepare for the meeting,

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I have time, things to do after the meeting. All

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of that extra time took away from the traditional and

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I'll call it the eight hour day, right, that mythical

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Man month. On that eight hour day, the thirty days,

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you know, Man month took away from that time. And

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that's when I started to realize, oh, this is important.

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And once I started to allocate for those things and

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I call them the hard demands of my time, the

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pre scheduled meetings and events that I'm going to. Once

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I do that, now I can see what time is

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really left for the works. And that was that big

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aha moment of this is a far better way of

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managing my time than anything else that I had tried before.

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What did you have, like a personal struggle with organization

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or focused that pushed you? I mean, were you frustrated.

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I'm kind of sensing that there is a little bit

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of frustration.

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The frustration was certainly on being able to get everything done,

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to understand everything that I needed to get done so

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things didn't fall off the page. And it's one of

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the things that I notice, and I think this is

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for a lot of people what I hear when they

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say they may not be motivated to manage their work better.

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I think it's more losing focus. Right. It's so easy

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for us to say, Okay, I know what I'm doing

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right now, I'm going to work on this one task.

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But then when specially in today's world with the amount

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of technology we are surrounded with, an email might come in,

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You might get a text message, a slack message, something

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pings and dings at you, and you lose your focus

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for a moment, and then you may go over and

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look at it and try to approach it and do

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work on it, and then come back to your task. Well,

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you've just lost time and now you have to come back.

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Well I call it.

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The bright shiny object syndrome exactly. So we get sidetracked

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with the bright shiny syndrome and we can easily then

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lose focus on what was that important thing that I'm

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supposed to be doing. What am I supposed to be

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doing today?

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Right?

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What's today's key goal and you know, key items that

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I need to get done. And that's when having any

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other task list mechanism just had me a bit lost.

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And that's where the method I've come up with. I've

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got what I'm working on today in front of me

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all the time because it's blindingly simple. It's on paper,

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so it just sits on my desk and I see

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what's the I work on a prioritize list like we

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all need to, and it's the top item on the

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left side of the sheet of paper. That's what I'm

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working on right now today.

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Don't you explain a little bit more about how would

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you describe agile living? Because this is really the thing

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the things that I was so interested in this episode

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with you was because this can apply to anything, and

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so what would you say are some of the basic

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principles around this whole agile living approach?

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Yeah, and it's it's really on beginning to take the

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work that you're doing and breaking it down into smaller pieces. Right,

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And now start understanding what work I have, and I

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break it into something smaller. I do that smaller bit. Right.

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This is one of the innciples of agile in itself

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that got its start in the IT industry, and our

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IT teams use this to build great and wonderful software.

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We can use it for our tasks as well. Break

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things into smaller chunks, right, and I can estimate those.

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Now I can estimate it a little bit better I

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make with my estimates, I can go down as small

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as five minutes, no more than two hours. And from

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that I can now start looking at these small bits

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and I can get more done in a day. I

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have more willingness to do. I can fit that in.

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I've got a half an hour between this and the

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next meeting, and that task is only ten minutes. I

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can certainly do that in that timeframe. Right. So it's

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breaking it down, estimating it and to help you with

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that focus of what are you working on next?

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And maybe yeah, I would keep it from being frustrated

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because you put too much on your yes.

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Yes. And that's that's a big thing that I had

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seen and certainly something that I had done right. You know,

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I would say something as simple as like write a

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status report. Project managers write status reports on is a

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regular basis. That is not to say that we like

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writing them. I never did. I still don't, So that

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would often be one It's like a task. Of course,

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I have to write this week or this bi weekly

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status report, but honestly, that could take three four more

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hours to put together. Yeah, I've got a base that

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I used from last week's, but you've got to get

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all the information. You got to put it together, get

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your charts to work just right, and make get coherent sentences.

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And you know, maybe you're putting it together as a

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written report. It may be more of a PowerPoint slide.

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There's a lot that's going in on that that you're

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trying to put together, and it starts to be a

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really big task, an easy one to say, I don't

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have the time to work on that now. I don't

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have the time now, And you keep pushing off the

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item that needs to get done right, you're losing your

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focus on what's important. By breaking it into smaller chunks,

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like start with a draft status report, take last bi

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weekly or last week's status report, and just identify the

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things that are missing that I need to get for

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this week. My next task might be go and get

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some of those items with parts. If it's data, if

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it's talking with people, get the missing data. The third

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task might be to incorporate all of that in update

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some images. Get kind of that that first pass through

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of what might be a final report. That's what I

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mean by breaking things into smaller chunks, to start to

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think of our work in a different way. That enables

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us to actually get to doing the work right. And

257
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it's avoiding that procrastination, which is what we all struggle

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with so much.

259
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Well, what would you say.

260
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Makes this method different from traditional productivity tools like planners

261
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or apps or taskless What would you say?

262
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There's a number of things that make it a little

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different from those, And I think the first one is

264
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having today's work in front of me while not having

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tomorrow's and the next week's work in front of me

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as well. Right, it's the out of sight being out

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of mind being a good thing. I want, I want

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all of that other stuff that's distracting me out of

269
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my viewing vision and my viewing and I want to

270
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be able to have in front of me just what

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I'm working on right now and today, so keeping me

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focused and why right because and this is part of

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the challenge with very traditional methods, that big task list.

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If it's always staring at me, I start to get

275
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a little despondent that I am overwhelmed that oh my gosh,

276
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I'm never going to get all of this done. Oh yes,

277
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I have to work on that. Oh and there's that

278
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report coming up, and oh right, you get easily distracted.

279
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So for me, it's it's that focus again, that hyper

280
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focus of what am I working on now, what I'm

281
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working on today, and then I have a place for

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handling tomorrow's and next week's. So it's that that hyper focus,

283
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the planning for tomorrow and beyond. And this the regular

284
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ceremony component of it, that this is something you do

285
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every day. I write everything down. If I have a

286
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new task that comes out, I write it on my

287
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method of using little sticky notes, and I put them

288
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on the sheet of paper. And I have a place

289
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for handling today's, tomorrow's, next, and something beyond tomorrow for

290
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the next week and beyond. And it's that ceremony of

291
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I do this the same thing every day. I work

292
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walk through my planning list, I work through my tasks,

293
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and it becomes part of how I manage my time.

294
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And that is you know where it starts to differ

295
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from the other techniques. And I'll share one last thing

296
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about the blindingly simple part of paper and you know

297
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why I so focus on it. And there's a lot

298
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of reasons I get into that, but I'm going to

299
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share one right now, and it's called the doorway effect.

300
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I have a little video on it as well that

301
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I have a lot of fun with because I started

302
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walking through doorways, and it's a known effect. When you

303
00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:38.880
walk through a doorway, you drop twenty percent of your

304
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short term memory. And this is exactly why you can

305
00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:46.400
find yourself downstairs in the kitchen and you came from

306
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upstairs in a bedroom and you look at yourself and say,

307
00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:56.559
why am I here? It's not you going crazy. There

308
00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.000
is a known effect called the doorway effect. And if

309
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I'm dropping twenty percent of my short term memory every

310
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time I go through a doorway, will you just start

311
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counting the number of doorways in your home and your office,

312
00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.920
and every time you go through just make a note

313
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of it, and you can see exactly why you lose

314
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track of things. And there's a lot in evolution on

315
00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:20.000
why that is the case. You can certainly see if

316
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:25.440
I've gone from in a secluded area, like a forested area,

317
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into an open prairie, you would definitely want to know

318
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is there something out here after me? Are there any

319
00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:35.960
predators around? Right? So you can see why over evolution,

320
00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.799
your focus is going to change based on where you

321
00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:43.440
physically are. So, okay, that's great for the physical sense,

322
00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:47.160
but gosh, I manage my tasks on this really fancy

323
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app that I have on my phone, and my phone's

324
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with me all the time. Do you think the doorway

325
00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:56.680
effect also impacts you're working with a computer. Yes, it does.

326
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Every time you have a screen that pops up, a

327
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window that opens another window that pops up twenty percent,

328
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twenty percent, twenty percent, which is why you can find yourself.

329
00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:11.759
I've opened my phone and I wanted to go do something,

330
00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:14.920
and five minutes later you look at that phone and go,

331
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what was it I was going to do? I got

332
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so sidetracked I did that this morning.

333
00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.640
I had like ten tabs opening on the computer, opened

334
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a new tab, and I was like, what was I

335
00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:26.200
going to do?

336
00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:31.799
Exactly? It's the doorway effect. So that's another reason why

337
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I stay away from the electronic tools because they are

338
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.720
just insidious with opening up another doorway and another little

339
00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.400
oh and remind you when, oh, don't you want to upgrades? No,

340
00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:46.160
I just wanted to have a new task into my

341
00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:49.880
task sheet. I've totally forgotten what that task is now.

342
00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:53.480
Well, right now might be a good time to bring

343
00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:56.599
up our little visual for those that are watching the video.

344
00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:59.519
Yes, yeah, you could bring up.

345
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One is that?

346
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Which one is that?

347
00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:06.759
Called? Let's bring up the personal conbin so people can

348
00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:09.279
have a better sense of what am I talking about

349
00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:13.480
with these little tasks and breaking things down into smaller chunks.

350
00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:17.079
So I am literally saying, yes, this is all on paper,

351
00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:20.240
and we're using things like little sticky notes, and I

352
00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.799
use these lovely little ones, the one by two inch

353
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.519
ones if that's showing up and you see them on

354
00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:33.240
the image, and it's from the top left corner down.

355
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Is how I work through my list for the day.

356
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:39.480
So notice, for on this example, Monday has a number

357
00:20:39.559 --> 00:20:42.720
of items and I keep track of where they are

358
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:44.920
and when they are done, they move to the right

359
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:46.599
hand side. What is mine?

360
00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:51.400
I think it's like a little victory or a little

361
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.039
celebration for your brain.

362
00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:56.640
Yes, when you move it over, oh oh not only

363
00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:58.799
you know, do you move physically move it, which is

364
00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:04.799
a wonderful reinforcement step, and it's such rewarding. Absolutely, But

365
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:07.519
I put a check mark on it, and the act

366
00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:10.640
of like putting that check mark is like, yes, you're done.

367
00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:13.720
I've accomplished something, and I moved it to the right

368
00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:16.440
hand side. I can still see it, but I don't

369
00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:18.039
have to focus on It's like, yep, I'm done, and

370
00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:20.519
I can worry about the next item and the next item.

371
00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:23.480
And so you see, I've got a sheet for every

372
00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:25.680
day of the week, and yes, I have one for

373
00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:29.680
the weekend. Because regardless of where you are in life,

374
00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.240
there's stuff that you're probably keeping track of and want

375
00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:35.680
to make sure that you do. Like maybe it's if

376
00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:40.359
you're busy at home with young children, your weekends are

377
00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:43.279
probably busy shuttling those kids to all the various events

378
00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:49.000
and play dates and birthday parties and sports activities. If

379
00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:52.279
you're past that or don't have children, depending on where

380
00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:54.240
you are, there are still things you want to get

381
00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:57.160
done on a weekend, and to make sure that you know,

382
00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.640
you don't forget that oh yes, I was supposed to

383
00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:02.839
get something cleaned for the event that's coming up the

384
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:06.880
following week, so that I have that item in preparation.

385
00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:12.200
So I also manage my weekends. And then there's that

386
00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:15.079
that sheet at the far end called backlog. That's how

387
00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:18.759
I do things that are beyond this week. So there's

388
00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.559
my beauty of out of sight being out of mind

389
00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:25.160
and in a good way. What's insight and in mind

390
00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:27.960
is what I'm working on today. And that's really the

391
00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:32.039
nicest way to keep me focused on what needs to

392
00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:35.279
get done. So when that nice, that shiny new item

393
00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:38.759
comes by and wants to distract me, I can come

394
00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:40.839
right back to this and say, no, I really need

395
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:42.119
to get that done today.

396
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:45.240
This is very visual, very is very much works with

397
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.440
your brain. Let me let me, let me bring up

398
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:51.960
what somebody might might have, like a little complaint and say,

399
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.279
I just don't have enough time in my day.

400
00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:58.200
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And that's always the case, right, And

401
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.519
that's that that mythical man month on to go right

402
00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.720
back to that of like this this belief that I've

403
00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:05.640
got lots that I can get things done in a

404
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.920
certain amount of time, but stuff gets in the way,

405
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.920
like those hard demands on my time. So the I

406
00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:14.960
don't have enough time is that I'm probably got too

407
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.720
many things I'm trying to do at once. And by

408
00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:24.920
beginning to not only break your work down into smaller chunks,

409
00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:29.480
but estimate it how much how long will this item

410
00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:33.000
take to do? And if it's hard demand on your time,

411
00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.680
you know there's that hour half hour meeting that you

412
00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:39.359
want to account for. Once you start to see really

413
00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:43.920
what's there, you can start to really plan and allocate

414
00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:46.519
your days far better. This is going to help you

415
00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:51.720
get time back because you're probably getting a little distracted

416
00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:58.000
on what needs to get done, and you probably and

417
00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:00.759
you may this was something that I ran into. I

418
00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.160
would have a task that I'm working on, and my

419
00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:08.240
sense of completion, my sense of done wasn't clearly defined.

420
00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:14.319
So you can just keep going and going and going,

421
00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:20.640
and that's your time sink. And that's where smaller bits defining,

422
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:23.039
Like I have one right now. So I'm a grandmother,

423
00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:26.039
I have I have some grandchildren and while it's Christmas

424
00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:28.119
is coming up, so one of the things is I

425
00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.279
want to look for a present for the one year old,

426
00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:33.079
and I have an idea of what I'm looking for. Okay,

427
00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:35.880
don't tell her, but I'm looking for a little kitchen

428
00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:42.039
set for her. Well, I can spend hours scrolling online

429
00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:46.799
for kitchen sets for toddlers, and I did the other night,

430
00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:50.279
and it was just over It was overwhelming. I have

431
00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:57.079
now turned that into spend twenty minutes researching, right, because

432
00:24:57.119 --> 00:24:59.759
I'm now my definition of done was just like, Oh,

433
00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:03.160
I'm going to find the perfect present to get and

434
00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:05.559
I'm going to order it and it'll be done. Well,

435
00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:09.440
that's a really big that's a tall order, right, that's

436
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:12.279
a very large task. When I started to break it

437
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.799
into Nope, just spend twenty minutes and get a couple,

438
00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.039
get two or three that you think are candidates, and

439
00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:19.799
then put it aside, come back to it another time,

440
00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:22.559
and now review those and look at and see which

441
00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:24.319
one of those would you really want to buy, and

442
00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:24.960
then buy it.

443
00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:25.640
Right.

444
00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:29.079
So I start to break things into smaller chunks and

445
00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:34.000
define done a lot clearer, and I think that helps

446
00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:37.000
a lot with the length of time that you feel

447
00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:38.480
and I don't have time in my day.

448
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:43.160
Yeah, well, I'm thinking, you know, You talk a lot

449
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:48.279
about focus and order and motivation. Which one of those

450
00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.039
do you think people struggle with the most?

451
00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:54.480
Yeah, And I know a lot of people say either

452
00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:57.559
I don't have the time or I have trouble with

453
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:02.039
the motivation. Right, that's the procrastinations, and I get I

454
00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:06.200
think about that a lot, and I think the motivation

455
00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:10.319
is really a byproduct of getting a better handle on

456
00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:14.240
your work. You said it earlier that there's this little

457
00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:19.559
bit of the I call it brain candy, the excitement

458
00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:22.400
of I've completed an item and I get to move

459
00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:25.519
that physically from one column to another, and I put

460
00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:29.799
that check mark on it. And I think that motivation

461
00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:33.599
comes right as part of getting things done. How do

462
00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:37.240
I start getting things done? And that's where I come

463
00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:39.880
back to. I think it's the focus, and it's the

464
00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.640
ease that we have today of losing focus and getting

465
00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:48.440
carried away and for us to just narrow it back

466
00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:54.480
down and to get us thinking about and I don't

467
00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:56.279
want to see we use the word focus yet one

468
00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:00.640
more time, but focusing on what are the most important

469
00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:03.680
things to do today and to get them done. So

470
00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:06.960
for me, I think it's it's the focus more than anything.

471
00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:11.599
Do you think that the whole procrastination idea is just

472
00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:15.880
overwhelm in disguise.

473
00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:21.279
Yes, yeah, yeah, it's. And I'm overwhelmed why because there's

474
00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:23.519
so much that I have to do. I'm looking at

475
00:27:23.559 --> 00:27:26.079
all these tasks and I just don't know where to

476
00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:29.359
get started, you know. And I hear that. I hear

477
00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:31.400
that in project teams, and I hear that with people,

478
00:27:31.480 --> 00:27:34.160
that I just don't know where to get started. And

479
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:38.279
that's where, Okay, well, let's start to break things into

480
00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:42.480
smaller chunks, smaller estimates. So what's most important right now?

481
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.799
Let's look at timelines. It's everything that we've done in

482
00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:49.440
our lives to manage general projects. You bring that all

483
00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.519
in and you just start thinking about, yep, these are

484
00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:55.160
the things that I need to really focus on today

485
00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:58.039
and this week. And that's what I put in front

486
00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:02.119
of me. And I start to deal with that overwhelm,

487
00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:05.960
and it starts to become far easier to see your

488
00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:08.519
days and to see your way through all that work.

489
00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:12.200
If you were gonna, you know, if someone says, well,

490
00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:15.000
I don't know how to get started, would you just say,

491
00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:19.119
just outline the big project first and then start breaking

492
00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:19.480
it down.

493
00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:20.240
Yeah?

494
00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:21.279
How you get started.

495
00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:23.799
That's how you would get started. That's where the first

496
00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:26.000
thing I always say is to take your work and

497
00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:29.599
start breaking it down into smaller pieces and smaller chunks,

498
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:34.680
and estimate them and estimate how long it would take you,

499
00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:40.640
working on your own uninterrupted to complete that task. Right.

500
00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:44.279
Don't say, oh, well you know I need to build

501
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:49.720
a repair or paint a set of bookshelves. Well, okay,

502
00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:52.279
that could be like I don't know, three four days, right,

503
00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:55.359
depending on how big the shelves are, what state they're in.

504
00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:59.720
So immediately break that into smaller chunks. What you need,

505
00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:02.319
really you need to do? Are you sanding things down?

506
00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.559
Are you do you need to clean? Just clean it?

507
00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:07.400
And maybe it's just do one code of paint, the

508
00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.079
next cote of paint, or some repairs it. Start to

509
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:14.200
think about taking that piece of work and breaking it

510
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:17.559
into what can you get done in what your day

511
00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:21.720
is like that you can work uninterrupted. For some people,

512
00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:23.880
you might be able to work uninterrupted for an hour

513
00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.079
or two. For a lot, oh it's five or ten minutes,

514
00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:28.920
fifteen or.

515
00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:32.640
I've found just getting ready to do a project takes

516
00:29:32.680 --> 00:29:34.880
a lot of time just getting prepped.

517
00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:35.759
Yep.

518
00:29:35.799 --> 00:29:36.559
It's like crazy.

519
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:40.079
So I was the thing that I got so excited

520
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.079
when we first talked about this and met each other.

521
00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:46.240
Was the other thing that the variation on this that

522
00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:48.440
has to do with a holiday dinner.

523
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:51.200
Yes, And so I would love to bring that up.

524
00:29:51.079 --> 00:29:56.359
Because I got all excited about it because when we

525
00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:59.720
I have I also have grandchildren, and like when we're

526
00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:02.000
to get in the summer and we're at a lake

527
00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:04.799
and I'll have like a big poster board and I'll

528
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:08.759
have jobs for everybody, and then there's some argument about

529
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:10.319
who's doing.

530
00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:16.599
What, and so yep, yep, let's bring up another.

531
00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:21.920
One because I was like, this is like completely and

532
00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:25.359
if I know, I've got a couple of grandchildren that

533
00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:28.559
have watched this, So if they watch this episode, they're

534
00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:30.720
gonna they're gonna know what Grandma's talking about.

535
00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:33.240
All right, Yeah, so yes, put up that. I think

536
00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:36.799
we call it the Thanksgiving conbind there it is, yep. So,

537
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:38.880
and this is great because we are just right up

538
00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:42.240
to Thanksgiving, we're coming up on Christmas and some of

539
00:30:42.279 --> 00:30:46.079
the big holidays. And I do this every year. I

540
00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:48.960
do this for big events, and I did this this year.

541
00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:52.359
I take all the tasks that need to get done

542
00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:55.599
to host a Thanksgiving dinner. And as you look at

543
00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:59.079
those who are looking at things like setting the table,

544
00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:05.720
lighting candles, making gravy, doing the meshed potatoes, right, all

545
00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:09.480
those jobs, And let me tell you the little story

546
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:12.319
of why I come up, why I do this? And

547
00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:14.160
I know you've you've started with it, you've got your

548
00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:19.440
list of tasks for your holiday summer vacation. But let

549
00:31:19.480 --> 00:31:22.920
me give you the gist of why did I bother

550
00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:26.559
to do this? And it's exactly the case when you've

551
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:30.000
got people coming over and you're hosting. What's the first

552
00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:32.440
thing most people say to you when they walk in

553
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:35.119
beyond hello, how it's lovely to see you.

554
00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:35.720
How can I help?

555
00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:39.240
Is there anything I can do? And then most people go, no, no,

556
00:31:39.319 --> 00:31:40.000
I've got.

557
00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:42.519
It exactly and do we have it?

558
00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:44.880
No, We're running around.

559
00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:47.559
Crazy thinking, oh my gosh, there's so much yet to do,

560
00:31:47.640 --> 00:31:51.319
and oh, only I can do it because I'm the host. Well,

561
00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:56.880
pushaw with that. I realized that, oh no, there's got

562
00:31:56.880 --> 00:31:59.319
to be a better way, because people, in the end,

563
00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:01.480
they really do want to help. I know, when I

564
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:04.400
go to someone's house, I really feel terrible. If I

565
00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:07.000
go in, I just sit down and suddenly they're waiting

566
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:08.839
on me and they're getting me a drink and oh,

567
00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.480
are you comfortable? Can I get you something else? Here's

568
00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:13.759
some snacks. And then they run back in the kitchen

569
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:15.680
and they're trying to cook and is there anything else

570
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.400
I can get? I mean, I feel terrible. I feel

571
00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:24.079
so much more relaxed and that I'm contributing if I

572
00:32:24.119 --> 00:32:28.920
can physically help with some of the preparation. And based

573
00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:32.680
on that, I started a year doing this. Probably I've

574
00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:34.480
done this four or five years now, but four or

575
00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:37.119
five years ago I tried this with my family. I

576
00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:42.079
put tasks down very much just like exactly like this,

577
00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:45.319
and then they came over and they would ask what

578
00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:48.960
can I do to help? Great, pick something on it,

579
00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:54.319
pick something, and that's the key. You pick it, You

580
00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:57.359
pick it. So they would pick, oh, get the chairs

581
00:32:57.400 --> 00:32:59.119
up from the basement and put them on the table.

582
00:32:59.319 --> 00:33:01.960
They know where that is. They lived here, these are

583
00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:04.799
my children, so fine, go get the chairs. For anybody

584
00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:07.119
who didn't know where they were, I might have to

585
00:33:07.160 --> 00:33:10.440
tell them, oh, that's in the hutch on you know,

586
00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:13.839
on the second shelf, go and get those. So with

587
00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:17.039
a little bit of direction, but leaving them alone. They

588
00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:19.400
would go off and go ahead and do things. And

589
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:23.720
the first thing that I found was, oh my gosh,

590
00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:27.920
it was so much relaxing, more relaxing for me. Everybody

591
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.359
jumped in and participated and they were happy because they

592
00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:36.880
were doing something, they were helping. And I had one

593
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:39.559
one final thing that came out of this and this

594
00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:42.200
was and this was for a Christmas event where I

595
00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:44.720
had one of the tasks was to put napkins on

596
00:33:44.759 --> 00:33:47.880
the table along with some napkin rings. Well, my daughter

597
00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:50.079
in law picked that one up. This was a number

598
00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:53.000
of years ago, and she's very creative and these were

599
00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:58.160
green napkins because it was Christmas, and the napkin rings

600
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:00.319
I had were like a little beaded circle that you

601
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:03.000
would just put around them. Well, next thing I know,

602
00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:05.759
I walk over to the table and she has made

603
00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:10.239
little Christmas trees out of the napkin with the little

604
00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:17.159
the napkin ring right on top of it, like ornaments

605
00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:20.960
and lights on the tree. And I was blown away, like, oh,

606
00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:24.760
this is beautiful. I would never have done that, right,

607
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:27.599
But you see, if you let go of some of

608
00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:31.280
these tasks, let others do them, and give them the

609
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:36.159
freedom to do what they want, you may be equally

610
00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:39.280
pleasantly surprised that you get something far better than you

611
00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:43.119
could ever have done. So that was a great story

612
00:34:42.760 --> 00:34:46.360
of how I came to use this, and I do

613
00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:49.360
this now every year for every big holiday event. And

614
00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:51.679
we just we had Thanksgiving at our house just last

615
00:34:51.719 --> 00:34:55.800
week and we had a new person come along on.

616
00:34:55.960 --> 00:34:58.920
My son has a girlfriend, and she came along and

617
00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:03.480
with very little instruction, I just pretty much said, feel

618
00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:04.960
free to pick anything off the sheet.

619
00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:06.159
Yeah, whatever you want to do.

620
00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:09.559
And you see there's a to do item to the

621
00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:12.840
to do column, the doing column and the done column,

622
00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:17.119
and its self explanatory. She picked something up, she was

623
00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:19.960
off putting silver around the table and plates out and

624
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.440
doing various things, and by the end everything was ready

625
00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:28.000
to go. We all had fun participating and this it

626
00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:29.719
was far far less stress.

627
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:32.920
So like for the person who might be getting chairs

628
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:36.679
out of the basement, they could put that note in

629
00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:40.840
the doing column in case somebody came behind them one

630
00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:46.000
minute later and yeah, so ye then and then we

631
00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:50.519
talked very early on about how there's a little celibratory

632
00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:52.440
thing that goes on in your brain and so then

633
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:54.960
that person gets to when it's done, they get to.

634
00:35:54.920 --> 00:35:59.079
Put it in the done Yes, they do, and people

635
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:02.480
actually liked doing that. I was observing it again this

636
00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:05.880
year and they were enjoying the like, yes, this is done,

637
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:07.840
I get to move it over to the done column.

638
00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:11.519
And you know that there was that celebratory aspect of it.

639
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:15.039
And I have to share this, this example. So, yes,

640
00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:16.960
this was mine and I'm, you know, the queen of

641
00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:19.559
getting things done, and these are my kids. Sure they're

642
00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:21.960
all going to play along, but does this really work

643
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:25.719
for other people? So the daughter in law who made

644
00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:30.239
the Lovely Christmas napkins had a birthday party for her

645
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:33.079
one year old. This a month ago and she was

646
00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:36.079
in There were about twenty people coming. She's a big family.

647
00:36:36.199 --> 00:36:38.599
She has lots of friends that she wanted to invite over.

648
00:36:40.519 --> 00:36:43.800
I go, We go to her house and up on

649
00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:46.960
her board she has a door wall in her kitchen.

650
00:36:47.079 --> 00:36:50.519
Guess what she had. She must have had forty tasks

651
00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:56.079
up there. Oh, a huge number of tasks, everything from

652
00:36:56.199 --> 00:37:01.079
cleaning things, I you know, wiping down the kitchen counters

653
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:09.159
and wiping down outlets and doors and windows and vacuum

654
00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:14.000
me and then of some food prep. She had a

655
00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:16.840
large number of tasks now, and it was just more

656
00:37:16.840 --> 00:37:19.840
than my husband and myself. Her mother came over, her

657
00:37:19.880 --> 00:37:23.199
sisters came over, and they all just part. They all

658
00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:26.880
just grabbed a task and did it. And it was again,

659
00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:30.079
it was almost self evident. And here it had spread

660
00:37:30.159 --> 00:37:34.440
to just beyond, you know, my immediate family. Now suddenly

661
00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:37.800
her family are doing this, and it was all and

662
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:40.920
everything got done. Although I looked at that task and

663
00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:43.039
I just I cannot imagine we're going to get all

664
00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:46.119
of this done. But lo and behold, we did. And

665
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:50.000
it was that beauty of that visibility of everything just

666
00:37:50.159 --> 00:37:53.960
right out there. So it's focus, right, it's visible, it's focused,

667
00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:57.880
We know what we needed to do. It's blindingly simple. Right.

668
00:37:57.960 --> 00:38:00.360
It's either in the to do column, the doing or

669
00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:03.760
the done column, and they're small enough, and it's it's

670
00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:07.000
clear what done means, right, So I don't spend there,

671
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:09.960
spend hours and hours trying to figure out am I done?

672
00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:15.039
Yet it was pretty clear why I'm starting a movement.

673
00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:18.519
I was so thrilled to see her do that, and

674
00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:22.239
that gets that sense of that this can work. It

675
00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:27.039
works across a various number of people to help you

676
00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:30.559
get on top of and get a better management of

677
00:38:30.599 --> 00:38:32.599
the work that you've got to get got done.

678
00:38:33.079 --> 00:38:35.199
Well. When you first showed this to me, I just left,

679
00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:39.239
because you know, everything has gone to online tools and

680
00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:43.559
online apps and everything and getting rid of the sticky notes.

681
00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:44.840
And here you are.

682
00:38:46.639 --> 00:38:51.079
Bringing back the simplicity of the sticky notes and your

683
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:56.360
columns and just making it simple and straightforward.

684
00:38:57.360 --> 00:39:01.360
Yes, exactly, And it's I'm brace singing the sticky notes

685
00:39:01.400 --> 00:39:06.280
for sure, and it is. And for me, it's rather

686
00:39:06.280 --> 00:39:08.800
than drowning in sticky notes because I've seen all of

687
00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:10.840
the little memes and all the cute little cartoons of

688
00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:14.000
people like you know, covered in sticky notes.

689
00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:14.679
Right.

690
00:39:14.920 --> 00:39:18.360
So here's where my method differs than many others. I

691
00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:24.559
provide a method, a pattern, a practice for managing those

692
00:39:24.599 --> 00:39:28.679
sticky notes so you are not overwhelmed with sticky notes

693
00:39:28.719 --> 00:39:30.599
all over the house and again you don't know where

694
00:39:30.599 --> 00:39:34.760
to get started. They are intended to. I have a

695
00:39:34.800 --> 00:39:37.920
place for today's for their whole we plan a whole

696
00:39:37.960 --> 00:39:40.599
week out, and I have a place for things beyond

697
00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:46.320
that week, and it's controlled management of all of those

698
00:39:46.360 --> 00:39:47.760
little sticky notes.

699
00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:51.159
Right, control of the sticky notes.

700
00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:54.280
Yes, yes, that's the key. You should control them. They

701
00:39:54.280 --> 00:39:58.039
should never control you. You should never feel like there's

702
00:39:58.119 --> 00:40:00.480
just too much of the sticky notes out there.

703
00:40:00.920 --> 00:40:03.199
Well, let's talk just for a minute about behavior. Why

704
00:40:03.199 --> 00:40:08.239
do you think people feel such guilt or pressure around

705
00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:09.400
unfinished tasks?

706
00:40:09.719 --> 00:40:13.719
Don't we? All right? I mean, I'm sure the psychologists

707
00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:15.880
would love to get into that, and I'm certainly not

708
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:19.519
a psychologist, but I know I've certainly experienced that myself.

709
00:40:19.719 --> 00:40:24.119
That you it's so easy to be yourself able to yep,

710
00:40:24.199 --> 00:40:26.039
I should have been able to get all this done.

711
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:28.559
I didn't get it all done today. Oh I'm bad

712
00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:34.440
or something I did something wrong. And the big key

713
00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:37.320
for me is at the end of every day when

714
00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:42.440
I look at my planning sheets and if I if

715
00:40:42.480 --> 00:40:46.320
not everything got done. Instead of beating myself up, I

716
00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:48.599
really look at it and start to have a little

717
00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:52.519
bit of what we call a retrospective in the in

718
00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:57.280
the agile world, we use that term where I'm asking myself, well,

719
00:40:57.320 --> 00:41:00.440
what went well today? What didn't go so well? You know?

720
00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:03.519
Why why didn't I get things done? Is it because

721
00:41:03.559 --> 00:41:07.920
I underestimated them? Did something else come in that sort

722
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:12.360
of trumped today's activities, something that was a true emergency

723
00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:16.400
that I needed to shuffle things around? You know what?

724
00:41:16.679 --> 00:41:20.159
What was it that did I forget that I had

725
00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:23.639
other demands on my time that I didn't account for.

726
00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:28.280
So I ask a few questions and what could I

727
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:32.239
what could have done differently for everything to have gotten

728
00:41:32.280 --> 00:41:36.719
done today? And I ask myself in an inquisitive and

729
00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:42.039
a non accusatory, non judgmental method, And I don't beat

730
00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:45.719
myself up over that these things didn't get done. Fine, okay,

731
00:41:45.880 --> 00:41:49.719
let's learn from it and move on. Move on. Sometimes

732
00:41:49.840 --> 00:41:52.719
that learning from it could be Gee, did that task

733
00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:55.079
really need to get done? Doesn't need to get done

734
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:59.039
this week, today, tomorrow? Do I need to do it?

735
00:41:59.719 --> 00:41:59.920
Yeah?

736
00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:04.079
Maybe could somebody else do it? Right? Is this really

737
00:42:04.079 --> 00:42:08.079
critical for me? Is this task is a task too big?

738
00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:11.119
Did I not get to it because I felt overwhelmed

739
00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:12.840
that it just was too big? I felt I could

740
00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:16.440
never get to So should I break it down into

741
00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:17.199
something smaller?

742
00:42:18.480 --> 00:42:21.360
And I think that's the other one. More time before

743
00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:23.000
we were running at a time.

744
00:42:23.320 --> 00:42:26.000
My gosh, we all let's.

745
00:42:25.800 --> 00:42:29.039
Take the Thanksgiving conbin down and put the personal one

746
00:42:29.119 --> 00:42:30.920
back up, just as a reminder.

747
00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:33.480
Yeah, okayco so.

748
00:42:35.960 --> 00:42:40.559
We talked about Yeah, I don't you know, people, it's

749
00:42:40.599 --> 00:42:43.519
more like it's more than it's more than just managing

750
00:42:43.559 --> 00:42:47.000
your time. It's like it can also be managing your

751
00:42:47.079 --> 00:42:48.760
expectations right.

752
00:42:49.480 --> 00:42:51.360
Very much. So you I think you've got that right

753
00:42:51.400 --> 00:42:54.440
on the head. Yeah, I have a better expectation of

754
00:42:54.480 --> 00:42:57.599
what today is going to look like, you know, based

755
00:42:57.639 --> 00:43:01.559
on how I've planned out my time. And yes, you're right,

756
00:43:01.639 --> 00:43:06.239
it's better managing those expectations right, and something that's more

757
00:43:06.280 --> 00:43:09.519
realistic for you and what you can truly get done

758
00:43:09.599 --> 00:43:10.079
in the day.

759
00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:15.119
As I said, we are running this, this is just

760
00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:16.360
sped by.

761
00:43:17.239 --> 00:43:19.159
But well, well maybe you.

762
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:21.639
Have to do this again one of these days, maybe

763
00:43:21.800 --> 00:43:24.079
halfway through the year, and see how we're all doing.

764
00:43:25.239 --> 00:43:31.719
But if someone listening could implement just one simple agile

765
00:43:31.800 --> 00:43:36.639
practice today, which one would make the biggest difference.

766
00:43:38.119 --> 00:43:40.880
And I always go back to break your work into

767
00:43:40.880 --> 00:43:46.320
smaller chunks and estimate them. So even if you're not

768
00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:49.639
using my sheets, and if you're not using the conbind boards,

769
00:43:49.760 --> 00:43:52.679
just start to take your work, even whatever you're using

770
00:43:52.719 --> 00:43:55.480
for your to do lists, and start to break it

771
00:43:55.559 --> 00:44:01.239
into smaller pieces and estimate it. That'll be twofold, right,

772
00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:07.440
it'll get something that is smaller to do, more more

773
00:44:07.480 --> 00:44:10.199
appealing to you to schedule within a busy day in

774
00:44:10.199 --> 00:44:14.559
a busy life. And by estimating it, you're now also

775
00:44:14.679 --> 00:44:20.000
defining what done will be. Yes, right, because if I say, oh, this.

776
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:23.360
Should take twenty minutes, let's take the.

777
00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:29.440
Let's take our slider or yeah yeah.

778
00:44:29.719 --> 00:44:32.639
So by by estimating it, I'm now getting that sense

779
00:44:32.719 --> 00:44:37.360
of how how how much I really want to accomplish

780
00:44:37.639 --> 00:44:39.679
in that. Right. So if I say, well, I'm only

781
00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:42.039
going to spend twenty minutes on whatever that task is,

782
00:44:42.079 --> 00:44:46.760
like looking for that present for my granddaughter, I've now

783
00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:52.519
defined done right rather than the present for a granddaughter, right,

784
00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:57.960
which think of that? Oh that could feel big. So

785
00:44:58.239 --> 00:45:01.199
that's my first thing, WAK. Regardless of the method you're

786
00:45:01.280 --> 00:45:05.880
using today, start to break your work into smaller chunks

787
00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:08.000
and estimate it and I think that'll get you your

788
00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:12.159
biggest advantages just to start with. And then of course

789
00:45:12.199 --> 00:45:15.480
I encourage you to use the art of agile living.

790
00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:19.360
And if I may show you know, get my book.

791
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:21.960
There's a book, Sticky Notes.

792
00:45:22.079 --> 00:45:25.400
There's a bunch of sticky notes written with my business partner,

793
00:45:25.480 --> 00:45:28.159
Thomas Malash. We have the book out here for you

794
00:45:28.280 --> 00:45:32.559
available widely on Amazon, just in time for the holidays.

795
00:45:32.920 --> 00:45:34.760
So even if you want to use my method and

796
00:45:34.800 --> 00:45:38.400
give that a try, well, we get into these details

797
00:45:38.440 --> 00:45:42.280
that we just touched on today in this little whirlwind

798
00:45:42.280 --> 00:45:46.159
of our podcast, but we get into the mythical Man month,

799
00:45:46.280 --> 00:45:49.760
we get into the doorway effect a little deeper and

800
00:45:50.079 --> 00:45:53.920
understanding why the simplicity of paper works for us as

801
00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:56.880
humans far better than the computer techniques.

802
00:45:57.320 --> 00:45:58.760
This is so brilliant.

803
00:45:59.199 --> 00:46:04.039
And even if it's not the holidays that maybe it's uh,

804
00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:06.679
maybe it's getting close to fourth of July when you're

805
00:46:06.719 --> 00:46:07.440
listening to this.

806
00:46:07.480 --> 00:46:09.920
Or or maybe you have a wedding.

807
00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:11.880
I know somebody I have a family I'm going to

808
00:46:11.920 --> 00:46:13.960
share this with who has a wedding coming up, and

809
00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:17.880
they're like, so I can I can't imagine with all

810
00:46:17.920 --> 00:46:22.800
the tasks. Yeah, so anyway, and so well, yeah, and

811
00:46:22.840 --> 00:46:26.280
I will mention too that on my website on Benita

812
00:46:26.320 --> 00:46:29.840
bell Anderson dot com there's a bonus downloads you'll be

813
00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:33.400
able to find Helene there with all of her contact information,

814
00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:38.880
and I will encourage those of you who really want

815
00:46:38.920 --> 00:46:43.360
to turn your productivity around to go and learn from Helene.

816
00:46:44.119 --> 00:46:47.199
So yeah, absolutely, and feel free to reach out to me.

817
00:46:48.079 --> 00:46:50.360
As you said, you will provide the contact info. I'm

818
00:46:50.400 --> 00:46:53.360
here to answer questions and to help make you as

819
00:46:53.400 --> 00:46:56.519
successful as you can be and de stress your life.

820
00:46:58.199 --> 00:47:01.840
And with that we have got to wrap this up today.

821
00:47:02.360 --> 00:47:05.840
Thank you so much, Helene for being here with us

822
00:47:05.880 --> 00:47:11.840
today and sharing this valuable take on this whole subject

823
00:47:11.840 --> 00:47:13.960
of being productive well and.

824
00:47:13.840 --> 00:47:16.320
Thank you welcome, thank you for having me appreciate it.

825
00:47:17.559 --> 00:47:19.760
And thank you so much for joining us on the

826
00:47:19.920 --> 00:47:23.280
Ask Good Questions podcast. We will see you next time.

827
00:47:26.719 --> 00:47:30.320
Today's episode is over. But we did ask Good Questions again,

828
00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:34.639
didn't We don't miss out as we broadcast live every Wednesday,

829
00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:38.440
six pm Eastern Time on W four CY Radio at

830
00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:42.719
w fourcy dot com. Joined Vanina Bellan. We'reson next week

831
00:47:42.760 --> 00:47:48.679
for more conversations with experts on finances, retirement, behavioral finance issues,

832
00:47:48.760 --> 00:47:53.400
health and wellness and more. Until then, remember to ask

833
00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:54.880
good questions.