As we step into a new year, conversations about goal-setting and time management are everywhere. But what if I told you that the key to unlocking your productivity isn’t working harder—or even working more? In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain and sharing my secret weapon for staying creative, energized, and ahead in my work. Spoiler alert: It’s probably not what you think!

This episode will challenge the way you think about work, rest, and goal-setting.

Key Takeaways:

• Why traditional “output-focused” productivity is holding you back.
• The brain science behind creativity and problem-solving.
• How working less can lead to bigger breakthroughs.
• Practical tips to incorporate restorative time into your routine.

Listen to the episode here!

Or watch the episode here!

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FULL TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] intro: I'm going to share with you something that I shared recently on an interview. That's kind of my secret weapon to how I am able to stay on the forefront of thought leadership in my space and continue to show up and produce content. And I promise you, it's not what you are expecting, especially from a time management and productivity expert. 

[00:00:19] intro: the timing of this is critical as we step through the pandemic. foot into, we're about to set foot into the new year. So if you are ready to hear, what one of my secret weapons is, let's go ahead and jump in 

[00:00:32] Hey friends, welcome back to the work life harmony podcast. At the time that this episode is dropping, we are getting ready to wrap up 2024 and heading into a new year, which means there is a ton of content conversations, et cetera, out there right now around, you know, setting our goals for the new year. 

[00:00:53] What we want to get out of the new year had a lot of people reach out to me personally, sharing that one of their biggest goals and areas of focus for 2025 is going to be learning how to better plan and manage their time. And so I thought today would be a great opportunity to share an incredibly important reminder with you all about one of the core things I want you thinking about if learning how to master time management and planning is important to you. 

[00:01:24] And I'm also going to be sharing with you kind of my secret weapon into how I am continually able. To show up, teach, train, deliver, et cetera. And it's not going to be what you think. let's really set the stage here by saying this, learning how to master time management and planning and yes, even goal setting is actually Not just about getting more done. 

[00:01:54] this is very counterintuitive. Most people reach out to me saying, I want to do more. I want to get more done. I want to figure out how to squeeze, you know, three extra hours of stuff into my day every day. How do we do that? Right. And this is especially true if you are someone who maybe is running your own business or works in any kind of a creative field. 

[00:02:17] And the first thing I need you to understand is the real premise behind the way I teach time management planning, all of that, this isn't just output focused. Mastering and controlling our calendar does not mean getting more done, does not always mean producing more. Goal setting isn't just about and shouldn't be just about doing more. 

[00:02:42] You should have things built in for yourself. At the end of the day, when you learn how to master time management for yourself, for your unique life, what it means is that you're going to be able to enjoy. Your life, enjoy your time, not just get more done, I don't think any of us want to be at a stage of life where we're 90 years old or 90 years old looking back and going, yes, I won the race of getting more done than anyone else, man. 

[00:03:17] That is a life fulfilled, right? We all should have and deserve to have things that are fulfilling outside of traditional output focused productivity. Now, I was interviewed recently and the conversation got to a point where the person interviewing me was asking me, like, do I have any kind of a secret weapon or a particular skill or process that I use as a business owner, as a content creator and a thought leader? 

[00:03:46] Do I have a process or tool that I use to That allows me to continually show up providing training, creating new content, doing new workshops writing new materials. And I know what they were looking for was, you know, their, their hope was that I was going to lay out this step by step process that I go through. 

[00:04:08] To help me stay creative and stay kind of in that thought leadership space. And my answer was not what the interviewer was expecting. My answer very much surprised her. And I said, yes, I do kind of have a secret weapon for how I am continually able to have fresh ideas have time for research, et cetera. 

[00:04:32] And it is this, it is because. I don't work very much probably has you wondering, like, isn't that kind of counterintuitive Megan? Right? The more we work, then the more we can produce. I want to explain this a little bit to you because I think it's important for all of you. I want to challenge you as you're stepping into 2025 to figure out how you are going to create the spaces that I have that allow me to do this. 

[00:04:59] So, let me ask you, when was the last time you had a really great idea or thought that you got excited about or something you wanted to like rush home and write down so you didn't forget? Like, think about it. Where were you? What were you doing? Chances are it wasn't scheduled time on your calendar to sit down and brainstorm, right? 

[00:05:21] Chances are it didn't happen while you were in, you know, traditional productivity output mode, right? Chances are it happened while you were maybe taking a shower out on a walk, driving your car, right? You weren't, your brain was not solving problems or in a getting stuff done mode. And there's actual brain science behind this on why we typically, now there's always exceptions to the rule, right? 

[00:05:51] You might be in problem solving mode and you solve a great problem. But For the vast majority of us and the way our brains are wired and the way they work is if we are in output mode, meaning we're working on something on our plan, maybe you're crossing things off your, you know, daily task list or however it is you are operating from your life. 

[00:06:11] If you are in that output mode, it is very hard for your brain and for your subconscious to start thinking creatively because it's focused on the task at hand. Now, for me, I get most of my ideas thoughts for something, you know, an article I may be writing, even sometimes for an upcoming podcast episode. 

[00:06:38] These tend to happen for me when I am oftentimes out walking my dogs. I spent a lot of time outside with them. It might come when I'm in the shower. Sometimes it's when I'm just driving or running errands. Now sometimes I am actually listening to like, I listened to a lot of audio books and I listened to a lot of podcasts. 

[00:06:57] I might hear something that triggers an idea for me. Right? So what is the one thing in common here? When I talk about all the times and spaces where I tend to do my best creative work, where I get, you know, ideas, things I want to go research, something that comes to mind. Notice what's common here is it's not when I am sitting down with a set chunk of time where I am quote working. 

[00:07:23] It's when I'm not working that I am actually able to have these ideas to actually solve problems. 

[00:07:33] Now I am confident. That the amount of time every single day that I have, where I am not in output mode, where I am not quote working, my work hours are very small, but the reason why, when it comes to other business owners or other content creators, the reason why I am able to continually produce and show up and in some cases do even two or three times more than other people is because I work less. 

[00:08:03] Less than them. My subconscious, my brain, my creative space is always fully energized and it's a game changer. Now, here's the tricky part in this because what I see people do is they'll say, oh, okay, great. What I need to do then is schedule time to be creative. So like, all right, I'm going to put 30 minutes in my calendar every day when I'm creating my plan and this is my creative time. 

[00:08:27] Well, you're, you're trying to force it, right? Like, oh, it's nine. I said from nine to nine 30, I'm going to be creative. Okay. Let me sit here now and be creative, right? That is not the type of productive creativity that I'm talking about. I like to call it restorative productivity, meaning I'm not, Technically, you know, when I leave to go out on a walk with the dogs or something, I'm not walking out the door going, okay, here's my creative time. 

[00:08:52] Let me come up with great ideas because now I'm already feeling like anxious and stressed or whatever. What I'm going to do instead is I'm just going to go enjoy a walk. And then whatever comes to my mind comes to my mind. Does, do I come up with great ideas every time I'm, I'm out on a walk? No, of course not. 

[00:09:09] But here's one of the really cool things that happens with our subconscious. If you are constantly asking yourself questions. So for instance, for me, I am always telling myself every day, like, I want to come up with a new and creative way of teaching my weekly planning process. Or I want to come up with new examples to help folks with executive functioning skills, better master planning, right? 

[00:09:33] I'm always seeding these thoughts and ideas into my subconscious. Which means when I am out doing something that I call restorative productivity, such as walking my dogs or going for a drive or taking a shower, my subconscious knows these are problems we're trying to solve because I'm arresting my brain. 

[00:09:55] I'm not an output mode. It gets to work automatically for me. I'm sure you've all had that where, you know, you might be trying to solve a problem and you can't, and all of a sudden a couple of days later, maybe you're just in the kitchen doing the dishes that all of a sudden it hits you. You're like, Oh my gosh, I know what, I know how to solve that. 

[00:10:11] Right. And it seems like it comes out of nowhere. Well, it isn't as out of nowhere as you think. You've seeded that in your brain and then you've literally stopped thinking about it, but your subconscious hasn't forgotten it. It's been busy working back there and then boom, the idea comes to you. if you feel like you just constantly are working harder and harder and harder, but what the output looks like is not what you're desiring, probably because you're working too much. 

[00:10:42] And you aren't giving your brain that space and time that it needs to actually be creative. And the more you do this, the more space you give yourself. Oh my goodness. It's going to be astounding to you. The, the ideas that you will have, the problems that you will be able to solve. And friends, this creates the space for you to live a life that you enjoy. 

[00:11:07] And this is why at the very beginning I said mastering time management and planning isn't about output. It isn't just about getting more done, right? It's about enjoying the time that you have. So you might be in output mode. Sometimes you might be in, you know, nothing mode or creative mode. Other times you might just be having a vacation, restorative rest, right? 

[00:11:31] So I want to encourage you if you are setting goals for yourself for 2025, if you are laying out a plan for yourself for the year, make sure that your plan includes a lot of time where you are not in output mode. Because if you stay fixated on planning for output, you will stay in a state of exhaustion. 

[00:11:58] Now I'm often asked, like, how much do I actually work? So as you want to, when I put on my CEO hat here at the Pink Bee I work, Kind of a school year calendar. Cause I, you know, I, I am a mom still in the trenches of all the driving, all, all that kind of stuff. So Monday through Friday during the school year, I work about four and a half hours a day where I'm in true scheduled output mode. 

[00:12:22] That's not a lot of time. I typically don't work on the weekends. I don't work in the evenings either. And over the summer, I work even less. My schedule gets very different, but I've never missed a podcast episode in over five years. I've never missed a week of producing content. Of teaching of training of delivering now, sometimes I'm batching it and working ahead, right? 

[00:12:48] That's part of the planning process, but it isn't every year me going, how do I work more It's how do I use the time that I have to work to my best capacity and then enjoy the time that I'm off. I'm telling you, 99 percent of the ideas that I have for teaching, training, the business, et cetera, are coming to me when I'm not in typical work mode. 

[00:13:13] this is my challenge to you is to make sure that you are not planning output every minute of 2025.