Episode #24: The Productivity Lies You’ve Been Sold (And What Actually Works)

The salient focus of this podcast episode is the pervasive misconception surrounding productivity, specifically the erroneous belief that busyness equates to efficacy. I illuminate how this fallacy can lead to exhaustion without tangible results, and share personal insights from my transformative journey towards a more intentional approach to work. By adopting a structured methodology, including strategic time blocking and the prioritization of essential tasks, I have cultivated a work schedule that not only enhances my focus but also preserves my energy. Throughout the discussion, I emphasize the importance of creating space for rest and recovery, which is fundamental to achieving genuine productivity. Ultimately, this episode serves as an invitation to rethink our relationship with work, encouraging a shift from relentless hustle to a balanced rhythm that fosters sustainable success.

A meticulous examination of the prevalent misconceptions surrounding productivity forms the crux of the discourse. My reflections on the misleading narrative that success is a direct result of incessant labor expose the inherent flaws in such reasoning. The episode invites listeners to reconsider their definitions of productivity, positing that meaningful achievement is not merely a byproduct of relentless busyness but rather a consequence of strategic focus and intentionality. I recount my own struggles with the myth of busyness and the transformative realizations that have reshaped my approach to work and life.

The concept of time blocking emerges as a pivotal strategy that I advocate for, illustrating how this method has facilitated a more structured and effective workweek. By allocating specific themes to each day, I have cultivated a framework that promotes clarity and purposeful engagement with my responsibilities. This systematic approach not only preserves my mental acuity but also aligns my daily tasks with my broader objectives, ultimately leading to greater satisfaction in my professional endeavors. Furthermore, I emphasize the significance of acknowledging and embracing 'blah days', which are critical for sustaining long-term productivity and preventing burnout.

The episode concludes with a poignant invitation to listeners to embark on their own journeys of transformation. I challenge them to identify one detrimental habit to abandon and one constructive practice to adopt, fostering a culture of self-compassion and intentional productivity. By rejecting the notion that we must constantly hustle to achieve our goals, we can cultivate a more harmonious relationship with our work, leading to a balanced and fulfilling life.

Takeaways:

• The false dichotomy between busyness and productivity has led many high achievers astray, resulting in burnout and dissatisfaction.

• Establishing a structured weekly schedule allows for focused work and fosters clarity, creativity, and personal well-being.

• Embracing periods of rest and acknowledging one's limitations enhance overall productivity and prevent the detrimental effects of constant hustle.

• Implementing intentionality in our tasks and creating space for reflection leads to more meaningful progress and fulfillment in both work and life.

Links referenced in this episode

https://cart.kreativedigitalmediainc.com/ai-work-week-slayer/

I'm Kara, and this is Design your Dream Life, the podcast for high achieving women who are ready to grow with intention, lead with clarity, and create success that feels as good on the inside as it looks from the outside. Here we build freedom first. Businesses designed around your values, your vision, and your actual life.

Each week I'll bring you practical strategies, mindset shifts, and creative tools that will help you simplify, systemize, and scale in a way that feels aligned and sustainable. We do purpose, we do clarity, and we do strategy that supports your life, not consume it.

Your dream life isn't just a possibility, it's a framework, and you get to build it. Are you ready? Hello, my friends, and welcome back to the Design your Dream Life podcast.

The podcast where we talk about building a business in and a life that actually feels good to live in. My name is Kara.

I am your host, and if you have ever looked at your calendar and thought, wow, I have been working nonstop, but what have I actually gotten done? Well, today's episode is for you, my friend. We are talking about the productivity myths that keep us spinning.

Why you're working hard, but you're not always getting results, and what I've changed in my own schedule that gave me back my energy, my focus, and honestly, my sanity. So let's dive in. Let me tell you something that I wished someone would have told me way earlier on. Being busy is not the same as being productive.

But you probably have already heard that or you already know that, right? But still, we all fall into the trap. The trap of endless to do lists. The trap of thinking. If I can just get through this one week, every single week.

The trap of confusing activity with progress. The trap of this is just a season. Listen, I used to wake up to a full list and a full heart. Like, today's the day I'm finally catching up.

And then by like, four, I was exhausted. Actually, probably around three. That's when, like, my brain would just shut off.

My brain felt like soup and none of the important things had actually moved forward. So if that sounds familiar, it is because we've been sold this lie that success is on the other side of doing more.

More lists, more hustle, more hours. But more isn't the answer. Better is better direction, better boundaries, better tools that support our energy, not drain it.

So let me walk you through what changed everything for me. CEO, time blocking.

And so this is how I went from consistently juggling 20 things to knowing exactly what I'm focusing on each day and actually finishing things. I don't try and do everything every day. I give each day one job, one theme, one core intention.

And if I have extra time over then I can dive into other things. Monday is strategy plus planning. I slow down, I get clear, I review goals, I realign with my big picture plan with intention, not just panic.

And I start the week grounded, not reacted. I have no meetings on a Monday and I don't generally work on Fridays.

So Monday is that day where I just my quiet guide into the week where I'm creating and planning what is coming. And if I feel inspired I might then do other things. Tuesday is content creation. So this is where I channel all of my creative energy into content.

Emails, captions, long form, podcast videos, whatever. Like whatever needs my voice. I am in creation mode and it feels focused instead of scattered. Now Wednesday is an admin and automation day.

So I clean up messes, I check on systems, I automate, I delegate. This is like protect my energy for future me day. And then again, because that doesn't necessarily take so much time, I can dive in deeper.

I could expand on more content creation. Or if there are more things that need my attention, I can use Wednesday to do that as well.

Thursday is my business optimization day, so my favorite day. I dive into my backend systems, my funnels, my offers. Is there anything that needs refining? Is there any small tweaks that create big results?

And honestly, this is the day where growth happens. And then Friday, like I said, I don't generally work on Fridays, but I do review and I reset.

So I reflect, I check on numbers, I might journal or I ask myself what actually moved the needle this week and then I let go of anything that didn't with zero guilt, my friends, with zero guilt.

And again, if I have to, maybe if I got out of control on a content day or something and there's something new or I feel inspired, I might use Friday to create. It just depends how I feel. Now here is something else that I have learned and this is so powerful.

So I really want to slow down, lean in if you're doing something else, if you're working out, multitasking, come back to me. Pay attention. This is so important. I give myself blah days on purpose.

I've stopped expecting to be on all the time because when I am clear, rested and in flow, I get more done in three hours than I used to get done in a whole day of stressy multitasking. So if I feel tired, unfocused or just off, I give myself grace and I rest. That, my friend, is real productivity.

Power, like that is a power move that you can do for yourself. And I want you to embrace this and don't feel guilty about this. There have been seasons in my life where I'm like, oh my gosh, another blah day.

But you know what? I gave it to myself. I let myself recover. And I honestly do not feel burnout anymore because I give in.

It's not like I'm gonna work and I work and I work and I work and I work and I work and I crash, right? It's like I work and then when my body is like, dude, I'm exhausted, give me a day or give me two, you know what I mean?

I'll do the bare minimum that I need, and I give the blah, I give into it. And I think that that rest and recovery allows you to show up to be the best version of.

Listen, I have a lot of friends who are all very high achieving ladies, and we've had this discussion and we've really encouraged one another to lean into the blah, to lean into those days. And we are all feeling so much better because we decided to do that. But I want to share with you what I had to stop doing that made room for growth.

So I also had really, honestly, a lot to unlearn. So here's what I stopped doing. I stopped starting my day in reactive mode. So, hello, inbox, Instagram, dms, all the things.

No, that's not how I start a day. I stopped saying yes to every little request because I felt guilty or that I needed to, or there was some kind of pressure to do it.

And I stopped scheduling my day like I was a robot with no capacity limits. So what I do now instead is I build space into my week for deep work, for reflection, for quietness.

Because when we're constantly writing, rushing, we lose the clarity we need to lead. Productivity isn't about cramming more into your calendar and time blocking it. It's about creating space for what actually matters.

And when I made that shift, everything started working better. With less effort, with less resistance, and with more ease. So if you were thinking, man, this sounds amazing, but how do I actually do this?

Like, how do I sit down on Monday and I know what to focus on? Well, this is exact why I created the AI Work Weeks layer. It is a simple tool, but Honestly, it is powerful.

35 proven prompts that help you plan, create, automate, and optimize your entire week. It is built for entrepreneurs who are done being in survival mode and ready to work.

From clarity and strategy, you can Use it with whatever AI tool you like, whether that's chat, GPT or Claude or whatever it is short, simple and designed to save you time and energy every single week. So I will drop the link in the show notes and I'm gonna tell you, you guys, it's an absolute no brainer. I priced it at 9.99.

Like I don't even know nowadays what you can buy for 9.99 because literally I feel like even the hot and ready pizzas from Little Caesars are more than that. I'm in Canada so maybe in the US it's cheaper, but there's not a whole lot you can get for 9.99.

So this is seriously the best $9.99 so we can say $10 the best $10 you could ever spend on yourself. Honestly. Here is my invitation to you this week my friend. I want you to pick one thing that you're going to stop doing.

I want you to pick one thing to start doing with intention and give yourself permission to rest without guilt. Please try this on my friend. Try it on and tell me how much you love it.

You do not need more hustle, you need better rhythm and more than anything you need a system works for you, not one that turns you into a burnt out robot so you are allowed to work less and still be wildly successful. Listen, thanks for hanging out with me today on Design your Dream Life.

If this episode gave you a spark or an insight of relief or anything, send it to a friend who is in deep in the productivity spiral and let's get out of it together. I'll catch you on the next episode.