S2E15: Get Addicted To Being Productive

Hey there! Welcome back to the podcast. If you're new here, I'm Taylor Beath, the brand and web designer behind TB Design Loft, a brand and web design studio that is dedicated to helping more women, especially moms, build sustainable businesses that flow with their life instead of control their life. And if you're a returning listener, thank you so much for listening to my ramblings.

Now let's get into it.

So today we are talking about habits and addictions. Because they're essentially one and the same thing from what I've been hearing people talk about. And I will explain in a moment. So I have been hearing for quite a while from literally different creators where they're talking about you have to build these habits, you have to build the muscle to do the thing over and over, become second nature and this, that, and the other. So where you don't really have to think about it, how it's hard at first, things like that. And if you know how hard it is to break a habit, especially a bad habit, then you get what I'm talking about. We have habits that we've developed. If we want to develop new habits, we have to really work at it over and over and over until it's second nature.

Having habits in business, life-changing.

Like knowing that, like that instinctual, not even thinking about it, as soon as you walk into your office and sit down, you know the first thing you're doing is boom, you're checking your emails and your notifications, you're responding for that first 30 minutes to an hour, whatever it is. And then boom, now you're in deep focus work time for however long. All right, break time. Now it's time to eat. Now it's time to review some things and maybe plan some other things. Then maybe we're, depending on how what your schedule looks like, maybe you're back in deep focus time, or maybe you're in wind down time, getting ready to leave for the day, and you're preparing for what needs to be taken care of tomorrow. So, whatever your habits look like, it's instinctual and we keep doing it. Now, everyone keeps telling us that we have to build new habits in order to build a successful business. Everyone keeps saying that. When it was being described, I was hearing it. I think I was listening to uh the Jasmine Star show. And I really like her energy. She seems, she seems really fun, she seems really cool. And when I was listening to her, I was sitting there thinking to myself, that sounds like an addiction. And then it got me thinking to back in 2019 when I started doing DoorDash. I remember when I first started it, it was addicting. Like I would look at how much I had made, and then I would stop for a little bit, or if I had to stop, I'd be like, I'm itching to go back and make some more. You know, I'm itching to go make some more money. Like it was addicting. Maybe it's because of the gamified way that it seemed to be. Maybe it was the fact that I knew I was making money and the fact that it was working, especially after I had just lost my job, and this was my new source of income. I don't know. But I know I just had that itch where it was like, I want to go out and make more. And I had that with every single gig app that I've ever done. I've done Lyft, I've done Uber, I've done DoorDash, I've done Instacart.

I before Uber, I think they bought Postmates. I did Postmates.

Uh, I've done Amazon Flex. Like, I've had that same itch every single time. And it got me thinking that in a way it's like an addiction. Now, in that sense, I would call it a good addiction, but you get what I mean. It gave me that dopamine hit. It gave me that sense of satisfaction that was like this went really well, this was successful, this was great.

I want to do more of this, you know. So I think if we could tap into that and use that to help ourselves build the habits we need to build a successful business.

The habits we need to keep going even when it's difficult. I think if we could tap into that, it would really make a difference for those of us who might struggle a bit. I'll give you an example because I am a person who struggles with this. So I have always struggled with being told what to do. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'm just a rebel at heart, you know, black sheep of the family, whatever. I've always struggled with being told what to do. I did not, I don't like anyone telling me what to do. But at the same time, in that same breath, when it comes to a job, especially if I'm not familiar with what I should be doing, please tell me what to do. Where the heck am I supposed to be going? Where does this go? Like, tell me what I'm supposed to be doing. So, in some instances, I do like to be told what to do. Or I like to be guided, instructed. But once I've got it down, I'm good. I can do it, I can handle it, I'm cool. Now, the struggle I have with entrepreneurship is the fact that I have to be the one to tell myself what to do. When you're an entrepreneur, your days are not just free. Like when you work for yourself, your days are not just like you wake up, you yawn, and you stretch, and you're just like, ha, another perfect day.

And then you just go get to do whatever you want, and you don't have anything to do.

That's rich people who don't have to work anymore. Not saying that rich people don't have to work, but you get what I mean. You have to do something when you work for yourself, and you have to do something every single day. As of right now, since I'm still kind of teeter-tottering between doing lift and Instacart full-time while building my business, when I now I also have small kids, so I have to factor that in as well. So my bare minimum instinctual routine get up, get the kids up, get them ready for school, get them off to school, get kids on bus, drop off kids at school, all that. And then I usually immediately go into working, unless if I have some errands to run. But usually I start working, and then I come home at some point in time to take over with the itty bitty baby and get ready for kids to start coming home from school and then going to pick up my son from school, all those things. That's my typical chaotic routine. It's not always the exact same. There are times when it's chaotic, but for the most part, it it has a steady rhythm. Now, if there are days where there's no school or the days when I'm staying home, I struggle to stay on task. I keep, you know, moving around, I'll pitter patter around the house, I'll come in my office and I'll end up doom scrolling for like 30 minutes, trying to figure out what the heck I should I be doing? What should I be doing? What am I doing? What am I supposed to be doing? Because I'm still struggling to build that habit of what should I be doing and when. Because I I have a very limited amount of time where I don't have, where I don't have to be hands-on with my kids. So trying to navigate what tasks I should be doing and what is what my time is best spent on is a bit of a struggle for me. I am also in the season where everything has to be done. Like everything has to be done. Like, oh my gosh. I'm not my website, is just as of right now, it's just a one-page. Hey, this is who I am, this is what I do. Boom, podcast, boom, contact me here type thing. I made it very basic with my new branding, my new colors, and a couple of pictures. That was it. Because I did not have the current brain power at the time to sit and really focus on it, on designing it, on developing it. I just was like, okay, I just know I need something that represents my current branding. And that's what I did. And it's been like that for a couple of months now. Because I have other things that I need to focus on. Another thing that has to be done is my hair has to be done. Why does my hair have to be done? Because I'm tired of wearing a hood on my videos. I'm always wearing a hoodie. If you've seen my content, any of my reels, you've probably seen me wearing a hoodie. Why? Because my hair isn't done. And I'm not getting on camera with the bonnet on. Not not willingly. Just not doing it. So my hair needs to be done so that way I can make content that I even b-roll, mind you, that I feel good about. So my hair has to be done. And I need new photos so that way my website can be updated. So that way my content and my stuff can look a lot better. My portfolio needs to be updated and added to, which I'm proud of myself. Woohoo. I'm actually working on a project. The creative juices are really flowing. It's a bakery. I'll tell you guys more about it later, but not right now. But, you know, my portfolio needs to be added to and updated. You know, I really gotta market and content and just all these things that I gotta do. You know, website, content, hair, still gotta deal with kids, still gotta go out and work and make money. Like, oh my lord, don't even get me started on still needing to eat and sleep. Like, it's a lot. There's it's all I'm there's all these things that I still need to do, and I don't currently have the resources to outsource and hire out. I can't afford to pay someone to do my hair for me. So I one of these days I'm gonna have to just figure it out and finally do my hair. I tried the other day, but it was looking so horrible every time I tried braiding it, and then I tried to do twists on just my natural hair, and I was like, why does it look like that? I was like, no, I'm not doing that to myself, no. So I I tried again with the braiding hair, was really struggling with that. So I just said, you know what? Forget it. We're gonna do this another day. So my hair is still in a bonnet, still, still needing to be done. One of these days I'll get to it. I don't know when that's gonna be. Website. I haven't touched that thing. Oh, I'm sorry. I I forgot to add to the list. My CRM needs to be completely set up and put together. Yeah, it's only like the bare bones right now. And you know what? I'm not gonna stress myself out about it right now. I will worry about it later.

Again, there's all the things that need to be done. But I just when you're as you probably know, when you're first starting out trying to figure out what needs your attention when, when you've got urgency in multiple different areas, it's like trying to have a 360 view while facing one direction.

So that's that's what it feels like, depending on what kind of person you are. I think what is it? Type A is where you're like super organized and you list things out and you have a plan and all that, and then type B is more of go with the flow. I've I've been hearing type A, type B, I've been seeing the content everywhere, and for the longest time, I've just been like, I have no idea what that is. And I recently had someone tell me, so I was like, okay, that kind of makes sense. And I'm like, I feel like I fit into both categories in some instances, it just depends. But if you're let's just say you're type A, if you thrive on making a plan and listing it out, making a timeline and all that, do that. Figure out, okay, what are my goals? If your goal is to make money right away, then you need to be marketing. If your goal is to build your business steadily and get it set up, then you need to start with like your process, your or your products, your process, your systems, and you can grow that gradually if money is not an urgency, things of that nature. If you're like me and you're all over the place, then I would say the way that I kind of do it is I kind of go based on my energy and how I'm feeling, but I also go based on what needs to be done. Like right now, I'm focusing on my I was about to say podcast, I'm focusing on my portfolio. At least I'm trying to trying to focus on my building my portfolio and I'm trying to record b-roll and more content, fill more angles that are like of my hands working, of me typing, that aren't like my face and my head, just because again, my hair's not done, so that's not possible right now. And then when all of that stuff is recorded and in the in the bank and all that, then I can use it later when my hair is done and I get to you know be styling and profiling just a little bit, then once that's done, then I can batch record some stuff. Then I can also try and get some photos done so that way, again, while it's fresh and pretty, then I can get a lot of more a lot more visuals done so that way I can go back to look looking like a gremlin every day, like I normally do.

I'm just kidding. I don't look like a gremlin, I don't think, but yeah, anyway. So we gotta build I've rambled for quite a while about all the things, but building the habits.

I think bare minimum, no matter whether you're a go-with-the-flow type person or if you're an organized and strategic step-by-step person, if you make a list of all the things that you need to do, or all the things you want to get done, I think that's a good starting point. And then you can either choose off that list what you're gonna tackle first, or you can take it step by step, write down the list. And then if you have a physical list in front of you somewhere that you can check off, then speaking of, I actually have to check off a couple of things for my list here subconsciously. I think that does something for our brains, it makes us feel like we're getting things done, it makes us feel like hey, we can do this. So I would highly recommend if you can have like a whiteboard. I have like a big whiteboard in my office space slash laundry room where I write the stuff that I want to remember that I want to do.

And that can help.

If you have a list that you look at literally every time you walk into your office and you sit down, that can help you remember, and then that can help you stay on task.

That's why I've been doing it.

But just to wrap up the the basic topic is get addicted to being efficiently productive. Yeah, there we go. Get addicted to being productive. Yes, I know you can do it. I'm trying to do it, and don't forget to give yourself rest as well. Because why you deserve it, regardless of whether you're productive or not.

Because you're already out here doing all the things. So get addicted to being productive, and I will see you in the next one. Bye.