Sunny Days, Smarter Ways: Building Sustainable Productivity Habits

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Table of Contents

Podcast Description

Summer’s almost here, and with it comes a change in routine for many of us. Kids are out of school, vacations are planned, and there’s a general shift in how we manage our time. This seasonal transition is a perfect opportunity to reflect on our current productivity habits and make some tweaks.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing my own changing schedule—from what it looks like now to how it’ll adapt over the summer, along with why now is the perfect time to focus on improving your productivity.

Links Referenced in Episode:

▶ Productive Entrepreneurs Club

▶ Weekly Planner in Trello

▶ Episode 40: How To Have More Time: 3 Simple Strategies

Connect with me:

Website | Instagram

Watch on YouTube:

Episode Transcript

(Note: This is a formatted AI-generated transcript to make it easier for you to read through, but is not an optimized blog post. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors and filler words – it’s just how I speak LOL)

Episode Intro

Summer is almost here and with that comes a change in routine for so many of us entrepreneurs. Kids are out of school, vacations are planned and there’s a general shift in how we manage our time. So this seasonal transition is the perfect opportunity to reflect on your current productivity habits and start making some tweaks.

In Today’s episode, I’m sharing how my own schedule is changing from what it looks like now to how it’ll adapt over the summer, along with why now is the perfect time to start focusing on your productivity and I’ll even hint on some quick tips that you can implement this summer to help you build those sustainable productivity habits that you can take with you even long after the summer is over. Are you ready? Let’s dive in.

Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, your host of the cheerful product, the chance podcast, where I’m on a mission to help online entrepreneurs that like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelmed goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online biz and impact lives sooner. It’s your time to shine. So let’s get started.

The Changing Summer Schedule

Hey, Hey, welcome back to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast. I’m really excited about this episode because with the summer quickly approaching that means that for many entrepreneurs like myself, our summers are about to change our schedule. Whether it means that you’re going to have less time to work on your business, or you might be on the other end where you might actually have some more time to work on your business.

But regardless it feels like the majority or at least in my world, it seems like there’s so many people that are going to be shifting their schedule for one reason or another.

Even if you’re one of those who your schedule doesn’t seem to make any drastic changes, the online world, their schedules changed, which could definitely impact what you work on, what your prioritize on and your family members, if you have kids, you know what they want to do over the summer, like there’s so many other factors that are not always present during, you know, the off summer months.

So this episode is going to touch on that and why now is actually a really great time to focus on your productivity, even though it feels like I’m not going to be productive at all. Like, how am I going to be productive during the summer Lucy?

Like now is actually an amazing time for you to really reflect on how your current productivity is and what you can do about it, how you can prepare to set yourself up for success this summer, and then take on those new habits that you build over the summer into the busy fall and winter months.

A Peek Into My Summer Schedule

Okay. So my schedule is also going to be changing slightly and it seems like there has never been a year where my summer schedule has remained exactly the same. And so this summer it’s definitely different than it was last year.

And I already know that no matter what I have planned, no matter how I have organized the childcare for myself, for my kids, it’s not going to be perfect. It’s not going to go as planned. You know, there’s definitely going to be moments where I’m like, okay, well that was definitely not part of the plan or childcare falls through, or someone might end up needing to go to a doctor’s appointment or whatever the case is.

I know ahead of time that it’s just not going to go as planned, but I still have plans. Like I’m still going to try to stick to them. But I already know and have the expectation that I know is not going to be perfect and that’s okay.

So my schedule, the way my schedule is going to be changing is I’m going to have a less childcare. My kids are going to be home more but less. It’s a little tricky situation. So my son, he, I co-parent with his biological dad and he, over the summer goes one week off and on. So one week he’ll come here one week, he’ll go there.

We also have a very flexible relationship where, you know, we have a lot of stuff going on in June. So we already said like, Hey. Even though we’re doing this one week on and one week off, there’s going to be days where even though might not be my, my week, I’m still gonna request to have him because we have birthdays and then same thing for his dad.

And so it’s still like this non-perfect schedule, but it is to the sense where I kind of know like, okay, he’s going to be here one week and he’s not. And that changes how and what I work on for given days. Right. And then there’s my daughter. So my daughter has been going to school this past school year for Monday through Friday.

Um, and now she’s going to just go two days for less time in the day. And my, my mother-in-law is going to watch her like one day a week, at least. But I have to drive her at least 30 to 45 minutes out one way. And so that’s at least two and a half hours, but I’ve done the math and it makes sense for me anyways because at least it gives me even a couple hours of quiet time for me to record if I need to.

And so that’s kind of how things are going to be changing here, but like I said, I know that it’s not going to be perfect. I also know that on the days, on the weeks are, my son is going to be home and kind of overlaps with my daughter, my house is going to be so loud. When you put them together, it is so loud. Without my son being here, and it’s just me and my daughter, then it’s quieter, but she does like want my attention more.

So I’m sharing this information with you to help you start seeing how I’m kind of thinking of what is happening in my life. And maybe you’ll find that helpful for yours, you know, like how you can start seeing certain patterns in your routine so that way you can start to see like, okay, this is kind of how it’s going to work. This is potentially what I could do, what I could plan, but still know that it’s not going to be perfect and that’s okay. All right.

Why Now is the Time to Focus on Your Productivity

But even though it’s not going to be perfect, it is still super beneficial to focus on your productivity now, especially as you go into the summer.

Maximizes your free time

One reason is because it’s going to maximize the free time that you do have. So while it might feel like you’re not going to have any free time at all, you’ll definitely know once you start thinking those thoughts of like, okay, what is my routine going to be like, what are my kids going to be around? What do I need to do over the summer that is going to require quiet time? Do I need to change my sleep schedule a little bit, so I can work in the mornings or the evenings or whatever the case is.

Let me. There, when this caveat here, I’m not saying that you’re going to need to work more when I say change your sleep schedule. You still want to keep your same amount hours asleep. I’m definitely not a Productivity Coach that’s going to tell you to wake up at 5:00 AM in the morning, especially if you’re a night owl like me and you would rather stay up late and kind of sleep in a little bit.

Or, you know, if your kids wake you up at a certain time, Then you’re going to have to adjust it, right? Like you can’t be staying up super late if you know your kids are going to be waking you up by 6:00 AM. You still need to get sufficient rest. Okay. So just wanted to throw that little caveat there. But it maximizes your free time,

Because wouldn’t, you just want to have free time anyways, to not only work on your business, but to enjoy the summer with your family, to enjoy the outdoors, to go on vacation, to do whatever it is that you do in the summer and enjoy it without having to worry about your business and the backend? Like that is the whole goal.

Right. And so now is super a great time for you to focus on your productivity because it helps you with that. It helps you not worry and stress out about all of those unfinished tasks that you haven’t done.

So if you head back to episode 40, I actually have a full episode on three simple strategies that will give you more time. So if you haven’t listened to that episode yet, I will link to it in the show notes so you can go and check that one out.

Stay ahead of the busy curve

Another reason why right now is a great time for you to focus on your productivity is because it helps you stay ahead of the curve.

So by ramping up your productivity now, by focusing on improving your productivity now you’ll be set. You’ll be good by the time the busy fall and winter season hits. And it’s almost like you’re prepping yourself up for success.

So while you may feel like you’re not going to be at your most productive over the summer, because you have all of these changing factors, you can at least start building those routines, those small habits that by the time the fall comes and things are shifting again. Then, and the online business gets super busy, right?

There’s so many launches and promotions and holidays going on. So by the time that happens, You’re kind of ready for it. So the earlier you can start preparing yourself and building those habits, the better you’re set up for the future of yourself, the future business of that you’re going to be managing right.

Builds sustainable productivity habits

And then lastly, I’ve kind of already touched on this, actually. It helps you create those sustainable habits. So by building that habit now, it means that it’s going to become second nature to you. I wasn’t always productive. Okay.

Even though it may seem that way, I wasn’t always a productive person. It wasn’t until I was 19 where one of my managers kind of really pointed it out to me was like, Hey, you really need to improve on your time management. Like, this is actually part of your job. I was on a supply chain type of role at the time and so time management was literally part of my job. I needed to get things done by a certain timeframe.

And it was really hard for me for a long time. And it wasn’t until she kind of put that in my head. That I was like, oh, okay. You know, I really wanted to do great on my job so I built up that skill and that is how I learned how to be productive. And that is how I’ve been able to carry on those skills with me throughout the rest of my life.

And that is how you can do the same, even if you don’t have that skill now. Even if you don’t feel like you’re naturally a productive person. It’s a skill. It’s a skill that you can learn. It’s a skill that you can improve and refine over time. Okay.

5 Quick Tips to Boost Your Productivity This Summer

So here’s a few quick tips to help you boost your productivity this summer. So we’ve talked about why it is so important for you to start building those productivity habits and why now is actually really good time despite the fact that we’re going into the summer months. But here’s five quick tips to help you boost your productivity that summer.

Set clear goals

Tip number one is to set clear goals. you want to know what you’re going to achieve each day, each week. This is why weekly planning is so, so important. I have my entire weekly planning process inside of my Weekly Planner in Trello, so I’ll link to that in the show notes as well, which walks you through exactly what I do every single Sunday in order to plan out my week.

It’s what helps me stay on track. It’s how I know exactly what I need to work on each day, because if I don’t do this, I’m all over the place. And my brain likes to think about all these other things I could be doing that are really not going to move the needle in my business. But if you take even just 30 minutes to plan out your week and set some goals for yourself is really going to help with what you’re going to accomplish and get done during that week.

Prioritize tasks

The second thing is you really want to prioritize tasks. It is so important, especially during busy times for you to prioritize and focus on what’s important. So those tasks that you might be procrastinating, but you know are the ones that are going to move the needle, it’s probably time to work them into your schedule, and work them into your plan so that way you can actually get them done. Okay.

We don’t want to do all of these other tasks that are going to move the needle. Like you really need to zone in on what is going to work for your business and prioritize getting those done.

Use productivity tools

The third thing is you really want to use effective productivity tools to help you stay productive and to help you stay organized.

So especially using project management or automation tools. You know I love Trello. I use Trello for everything. I use it to manage my entire business, but it truly does help you stay on track, stay organized, stay focused, and that is what you need over the summer, especially over any busy moments in your life.

You need something to tell you what you need to work on, when it’s due, where you’re at in the process. You’re going to get distracted. You’re going to get pulled away. Emergencies are going to happen. Life is going to life. And having tools in place is really going to help you stay calm, cool, collected, organized, and productive. Okay.

Embrace short bursts

The fourth thing here is that you also will probably want to embrace short bursts. So with the summer schedules being pretty unpredictable at times, and not just the summer, but right now we’re focusing on summer as we’re going into June into the summer months.

So you really want to try to lean more into those short bite-sized, working sessions in your business. Because you don’t know when you’re going to be pulled away. Unless you have those moments where you’re like, okay, I am going to work when my kids go to bed. I know that once I put them down at let’s say 8:00 PM, I have two hours of uninterrupted work and that is when I can have a longer work session.

But if you’re still trying to get work done during the day where they might be coming in, or maybe you have doctor’s appointments, or maybe you, whatever it is for you, if this is relevant, even if you don’t have kids, whatever the case is for you, if you’re still trying to do stuff during the day where, you know, you might get pulled away, try working in smaller working sessions so that way you can get the most done in those small sprints.

And since you have already planned them in, you’re not really trying to force yourself to get this really big project done because you already planned it ahead of time, which is, you know, going back to tip number one of setting clear goals.

Take breaks and enjoy your summer

And then lastly, Take breaks and enjoy your summer vacation. Like, or your summer not just a vacation. but enjoy your summer. Okay. Take breaks. Rest. Enjoy your family. Enjoy the outdoors. Take walks, like do whatever’s going to fill your cup up, whatever’s going to make you happy.

That is part of being productive. Okay. Enjoy those moments with your kids. Enjoy those moments with your cat or your dog, or, you know, going to the ocean, the beach, like whatever, like enjoy the summer.

Take some time off. Sit back and chill and watch Netflix. That’s honestly what I’m probably going to do because I’m not really an outdoors girl, especially in the Texas heat. So we might be at waterparks or I’m going to be indoors. I’ll probably be watching Netflix. We’ll probably be watching movies and doing, Mario party cart games.

My son will definitely be outdoors and I’m pretty sure he’s gonna have some football summer camps. But besides that, I like to be indoors. But whatever happiness looks like for you over the summer, take some time to enjoy that. Okay. Trust me. That is truly actually being productive because by the time you come back to work on your business, whether it’s an hour later, a day later, a week later, a month later, you’re going to be filled of creativity and energy that’s going to help you get more work done and feel more productive. So don’t forget to rest and recharge this summer. Okay.

Join the Productive Entrepreneurs Club for Extra Support

I am so excited for the summer months. And I’m so excited to hear how you are building those productivity habits over the summer. If you need additional support with this, I have the Productive Entrepreneurs Club. It’s only $7/month and there is going to be a fun surprise coming to the Club soon.

I’m working on it so I can’t share more details about it now, but if you’re a member, keep an eye on out for some information coming to your inbox soon, or in the community soon about this new surprise that I’m going to be implementing at the beginning of June. I am so excited for iT.

And if you want to join us head to cheerstoproductivity.com/club. It’s only $7/month, and this is where you can really get that additional support to help you get productive. I’m so excited to hopefully see you inside the community or hear how your summer productivity plans are going. All right. I’ll talk to you soon.