Category: Organization

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Achieving Balance: Summer Tips from the Overachiever Society

Practical Solutions to Tame Your Summer To-Do List

Welcome to the Overachiever Society. That’s what we might call our monthly Free Wisdom Warriors/UnscatterMe monthly gathering! This week in Wisdom Warriors, overachievers shared their struggles and aspirations. In this video and article, I want to discuss some of their challenges and the solutions we explored during our monthly session.

Our attendees had varied goals for the summer. They wanted to have fun, get outdoors, move their bodies, and enjoy nature. They also aimed to achieve significant milestones like selling real estate and letting go of clients as their businesses evolved. These business people juggle multiple responsibilities and ambitions. One person owns two businesses and works for someone else. Naturally, their to-do lists were extensive.

We focused on solutions to manage these goals during the busy summer months. Here’s what we discussed:

  1. Dump Out Your To-Do List: Start by writing down everything on your to-do list across all categories. This helps you see the full scope of your tasks.
  2. Ruthlessly Remove 80%: Trim your list down by 80%. You don’t need to discard these items permanently; just move them to a “parking lot” for later consideration.
  3. Prioritize the Remaining 20%: Organize and schedule these prioritized tasks. Importantly, schedule activities you genuinely want to do before your to-dos. Remember what you really want – whether it’s getting out in nature or moving your body.

One participant said, “I need to be stronger than my excuses.” This resonated with us because excuses often hinder our progress. We discussed small, actionable steps, like placing your walking shoes by the door to encourage daily walks.

Moreover, it’s the perfect time to re-evaluate your larger year plan with executable steps and a repeatable process to achieve your 2024 desires. Summer is an excellent time to reassess your progress. With half the year behind us, now is the perfect moment to check in, re-evaluate and adjust your plans. 

To that end, I’d LOVE to push your edges and provoke you to think deeper and more powerfully than you ever have in your life. Why not? Life is FOR you and with me at your side, you are both energized and organized.

But that’s not for everyone. Alas, I have 2 places in June and 2 in July. When these review sessions are gone, they are gone.

Will you be the brave, bold, badass person to hit reply and say HELL YES LET’S HAVE A LOOK TOGETHER? Ready, go!

Summer is short, especially here in New Hampshire. Between the black flies, pollen, and rain, it’s easy to get distracted. So, enjoy your summer, stay focused on your goals, and take advantage of these opportunities.

I believe in you. Action takers, this is your sign to hit reply. Enjoy the summer and make the most of it.

See you soon!

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Goal Setting Organization Planning Productivity productivity in the workplace Time strategies

15 ways to make sure your goal is not lost in chaos

It’s not too late to have more peace than you think in 2023.

Not even two months left in 2023! Lately, this has been hitting me right over the top of my head: “I want to finish 2023 strong so that I’m ready for the new year.” What better time as we welcome fall, and we are being grateful here in this month of gratitude, Thanksgiving, than to really take a look at where we are in our lives. 

As we get ready to turn the page for 2024, what do we really want and why? 

I’m going to take you through the tried, true, and iterative process of my signature system, the Productivity Success Cake, that has helped so many people become more focused, organized, and productive; and to get out of their own way and finally have the peace and prosperity they really want. So here, as a reminder, here’s what it looks like.

That’s the Productivity Success Cake system. Living the life that you really want is better than baking a cake & is calorie free. 

I invite you to take your pencil or pen out and write the answers to these questions, and then send these to me in an email (carol@unscatterme.com) and let me know what your ‘ahas’ were and I can help you create a perfect plan for you.

We’re going to go through each and every piece in the Productivity Success Cake, and I’m going to invite you to rate yourself. We’re going to start at the bottom of the Success Cake, and, before we begin, let’s discover what the  Productivity Success Cake is and why I did it the way I did it. 

I have been in business since 2009, and when I began my business (I began it as a professional organizer and productivity consultant and trainer), I realized that when people weren’t as organized and productive as they thought they would love to be, there were usually some underlying reasons. To tie the most common reasons together, in early 2020 I created the Productivity Success Cake system. I organized these by layer: the first layer is Health, the second is Environment. Then (and only then), if our Health and our Environment is strong enough we can layer on Productivity.  After that (and  there’s more because there’s always more!) and better sharpening the saw and it should all be wrapped up with your purpose.The Productivity Success Cake is a framework system. Although ‘system’ and ‘recipe’ does have something to do with it, it’s mostly just fun and it’s a beautiful visual way to see where you are and what you want, and it gives you that happiness and joy.

Follow along and rate yourself! 

You can also do this on my website HERE.

FIRST: Health layer. 

  1. STATEMENT: Food piece: The statement is “The food I eat supports my body in a perfect way”. Score 1 is very false and to score 10 is very true. So just pick where you rate yourself against that statement.
  2. STATEMENT:  Exercise piece: The statement is “I exercise to the degree that has me feeling good, energetic and supports my health and fitness needs fully”. Score 1 is very false and 10 is very true. 
  3. STATEMENT: Meditation piece: “I meditate, pray, or spend time alone in silence on a regular basis.” Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true. 
  4. STATEMENT: Sleep piece: “I get at least seven hours of sleep per night. I wake up feeling rested and rejuvenated.”  Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true.
  5. STATEMENT: Medication piece: “I take my prescribed medication and or supplements and vitamins to create an ideal container for my mind and body to soar.” Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true. 

NEXT: Environment Layer. 

  1. STATEMENT: Physical environment piece: “My physical environment supports my thinking, clarity, inspiration, and productivity.” Score 1 is very false and 10 is very true. 
  2. STATEMENT: Goals piece: “The goals I have are one very motivational and meaningful to me, and two, crystal clear and succinct.” 1 is very false and 10 is very true. 
  3. STATEMENT: Circles Of Support piece: “I have a circle of support:  close family, friends, clubs, groups, church, etc.” How do you feel about having a  circle of support? 1 is very false and 10 is very true.
  4. STATEMENT: Light your light piece:  “I light my light. I am clear about my purpose in the world.  Whether it’s work for pay through volunteering in a club or with a solo endeavor, MY environment and activities support me in keeping my candle lit from within.” Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true. 

NEXT: Productivity layer.

  1. STATEMENT: Power Focus piece: “I have a system to limit the scope of my task or project.” (For example, your system could be do / delegate / drop). “I can stay focused and then take breaks. I do not overcommit and then get exhausted on a regular basis.”  Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true. 
  2. STATEMENT: Remembering to remember piece: “I have systems and external support so that I remember to remember most of the time I am not feeling like I am always dropping the ball.  I am following through.”  Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true. 
  3. STATEMENT: Procrastination piece: “I have procrastination under control.” Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true
  4. STATEMENT: Time and tasks: “I have a system from managing my time and energy and priorities that works for me. I get things done as I’d like to do them. I feel very good, really good. What gets done and to the quality which it does. I set appointments, I show up on time and I am fully present. My time management feels clear and peaceful to me and supports my larger goals and purpose”. 1 is very false and 10 is very true.  
  5. STATEMENT: Accountability Layer:  I rely upon trusted partners to keep me accountable externally so that I do not have to rely solely on my internal regulator and staying on track and being accountable to my goals and priorities”. 1 is very false and 10 is very true. 
  6. FROSTING: Calorie free “why” frosting. Think about it and write to me at carol@unscatterme.com or direct message me what your icing is.  What’s your purpose that holds all your layers together? What is your purpose for building and baking your cake? What comments do you have about where you are right now in this process, or any aha’s that came to you during this time of layer of evaluation?

Here’s the thing. We’re looking for “quick and easy” things just like losing weight. With intermittent fasting you may be able to lose 20 pounds in two weeks,  but whatever you do, it takes mindfulness, evaluation, step-by-step, a plan and accountability. Maybe that’s not sexy, but it sure as heck can be fun!  That’s why I created and have people implement the Productivity Success Cake framework. It works because it’s fun, and because it’s visual – and the people that I serve are fun, crazy artists, creators, visual, and they love being a little kooky just like me, and it Just Works. 

So I invite you to let me know what you have taken away from this. 

What were your biggest ‘ahas’ in doing this?

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Growth Organization Planning prioritize procrastination productivity in the workplace Time strategies

What is the secret to getting IMPORTANT tasks done vs. procrastinating?

Let’s look at 2 familiar scenarios and how to harness your brain

Today, this beautiful fall day, our topic is less sexy than the fall colors:  time and tasks. This cake slice lives on the third layer of the Productivity Success Cake -in the productivity layer. It’s  important because there are sometimes false ideas that to do a task, you just write down ‘Jones Project’ and you get ‘Jones Project’ done in your to-do list. NOT TRUE!

I am going to show you two different methods to do this. Pay close attention.

Method One: “Okay, today I want to do the Jones Project. I want to exercise, I want to make client outreach calls, and I want to figure out my health insurance”.  I would say that this isn’t bad because you’re actually doing something to plan your day.

However, a better way to do all this is to dial it down to specifics….see below.

Method Two:

  • 6.00am, get up
  • 6.00am – 6.15am Coffee and stretch
  • 6.15am to 6.45am Shower and dress 
  • 6.45am to 7.00am Breakfast
  • 7.00am to 7.20am Drop off son
  • 7.20am to 7.45am Meditate and set intentions
  • 8.00am Jones Project

Notice I didn’t add, “check my email.”

Pro tips:

Within the Jones Project, start a new list. “Jones Project” is not a task. It’s a project. There are many situations like Jones. Maybe it’s a client proposal, maybe it’s a letter or letters you have to send out – it’s more than just a simple ‘pick up the phone and call somebody’ and you already know who you’re going to call. For each PROJECT, there are multiple steps. Those multiple steps come with their own unknowns and their fears behind the unknowns, and that’s what causes procrastination.

In Method Two, notice that I’m adding the preparation to my day. You may want to add things like affirmations and whatever you want to do to get ready for your day. Once you look at your PROJECT, start with an outline. Scope of work? Timeline? Gather materials? Each one of these is its own little list. 

Ask yourself, “to start the Jones Project, what do I need for that?” Stuck? Many times just gathering the materials will help you get going. I have worked a lot with salespeople who might, for example, want to call four prospects or four clients every single day, but it just never gets done.  What I suggest is to pre-think about that list of people that you are going to be calling, the phone numbers and all the information so that when you get down to doing the task, you’ve already got the list, it’s already set up. You don’t have to wonder “Who am I going to call?”.  Lets face it, nobody wants to pick up the phone anymore. 

To sum up, planning ahead with steps may not feel sexy, but it sure helps to remove procrastination. How about you?

Please let me know, what was your best takeaway? 

What will you move forward on today? 

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Growth More time in my day Organization Planning Positive Thinking prioritize procrastination Productivity Time strategies

How to give your time to the projects that will bring income…and still stay creative

Boredom got you? Here is your solution

One of my community members has reached out to me about managing your time so that you have the best income within the time that you have. 

They write, “I have a problem with giving my time to the projects that will bring me the income now”.  What I’m hearing:  this person knows that they need to change their time management, such that they are being very deliberate about how they spend their time, so that they have the best income for the smallest amount of time. This person is a parent and has a lot of responsibilities outside of their business.

As a reminder, time management falls in the 3rd layer of the Productivity Success Cake, (the Productivity layer), above health and environment. Therefore, before we do anything on our time management, we want to make sure that our health is in a “good enough” place, (doesn’t have to be perfect), and that our environment is in a “good enough” place (doesn’t have to be perfect!). You can complete the Productivity Success Cake quiz here, completely free, and see where you rate (for your own purposes) on that cake. 

Now, when we dug a little deeper and the writer went into more detail about this issue, they said that they had tried different things, but that they believed what was getting in the way was:

believing that ‘everything is valuable’

The person writing in with this issue knows that time needs to get slotted to a certain kind of work (where money comes), and yet this belief ‘everything is valuable’ is preventing it. And if this is valuable, then it all has to get done. What I know about having everything needing to be done at the same time, is this is a recipe for overwhelm. When we’re in overwhelm we don’t do anything. We become stuck; we become stagnant.  In flight or freeze, that’s freeze – what we don’t want to do. So going back to the beginning, we don’t want to believe that everything is important. When we believe that everything is important and therefore needs to get done, we don’t do anything. 

Here’s where prioritization becomes really important. 

Then there are some other things that this person wrote to me.  This person found that what they know to make money (albeit inconsistent), it felt boring, repetitive, & unfulfilling. This person was thinking, ‘building my business requires many things working together in a set routine, but I can’t make myself do the same thing every day. I get bored and gravitate towards tasks that feed my creativity’.  What it takes to create that momentum and build on that momentum is known, and yet there’s this yearning, this boredom, this lack of dopamine, this lack of creativity.

Behind this, there might be a belief that it’s all or nothing. Here is what it may sound like: “either I do these boring things and I make money, or I have fun and I’m creative and I don’t make the kind of money I want to”. So do you see how these beliefs start to really impact what’s going on? 

Now let’s address ‘inconsistent income’. Money was coming in, but it felt inconsistent. When the inconsistent money came in, this person realized, “hang on, I need to do some automation to get more consistency.”  That automation was probably pretty boring. So now we’re back to the real problem: “It’s boring to make money. I really want to be creative”. 

Well, I have some really beautiful news for you. It does not HAVE to be that way.

The way I teach things and the way I run my own world, my own life and my own business is that fun, joy, and creativity are not mutually exclusive to earning an amazing living. Not just a good living, but an amazing living. These things can and will and do (and actually I believe must) coexist. Joy and income are not opposite sides of the spectrum. 

I recommend that your first step to get to a joyous place and really dial in to be able to earn the income you deserve is to download your Unscatter My Life guide. What you’ll find is that there’s a roadmap.

The Roadmap: Decide, Discern, Discover, Practice, and Celebrate. The person who wrote in with their conundrum is in the “Decide” step, because the decision must be made. “Do I really want this? Why do I really want this? What do I have to gain? What do I have to lose?” Lack of decision slowly kills us and will completely put a cap on greatness. We can only operate in that kind of a situation for so long. 

So- say this person decides “You know what? I’m done with this crap. I’m going to go ahead and do these steps”. The step after Decide is Discern and that’s where we really dig in to what we love, what we’re good at, what the world needs, and what we can get paid for. 

Before we ever get to that Productivity Success Cake (which is Discover), we really dial in on the Discern step. When we’re so deeply discerning, then that serves as our north star. The problem is not being able to focus on the things that make us money, as that’s the presenting problem. The real issue is some beliefs that are behind here, and therefore actions that then support those beliefs (i.e.  when I make money, it has to be boring. It has to be the same thing all the time, and it has to be unfun). guarantee you that you’ll stay in that loop until you die. So we don’t want that. We want you to turn that around, make a big decision, a big bold decision. 

Download the guide, do the exercises and make your decision, and from there you can go into the discernment. 

That was a lot. I can’t wait to support you. Once you download that guide, there’s a place where you can have a free call with me so that you get your own roadmap and should you decide to take that step now, you’ll be on the road to deeply discerning and therefore acting in your own best interest. And that’s why I exist in the world. So I will hopefully see you on that call. It will blow your mind and change things for the better. What do you have to lose?

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Accountability Goal Setting Mastermind Groups Organization Planning Positive Thinking Time strategies

What are you committed to?

We are in love with our roadblocks, even when we say we are not.

The truth about commitment:

We love to talk about how we want to lose weight. We love to talk about ‘someday’. “I would like to get around to it, but not right now” or “I’m really busy doing …..” 

Finally, you may say, “That’s it. I’m going to do this thing. I really want my next one hundred days/the end of the year to look different. I really do. I cannot stand tolerating this negative cash flow. I cannot stand tolerating the organizational state of my office. I cannot stand tolerating negative people in my life that I just can’t seem to stop being with, and I can’t figure it out.  I go into those negative spirals. Something must be done!” 

If that’s you, you may be saying “Okay, I know Carol’s offering a program that can really whip me into shape. I know it’d be SO good for me. I’d get the result I say I want. I know it’s starting soon. I think I want to do it. Then you ask yourself, “WAIT, what happens if I say yes? Oh my gosh. Well, first of all, I’ll have to commit to it. Well, I can’t commit too much. What if something comes up? Then I’ll fail, like all those other times. I’m about an 8 out of 10, and that’s pretty committed.  I don’t give 10’s. That’s safe.” 

That’s where you’re wrong. Until you commit 100%, you are, my friend, doomed.

Here’s what happens:

  • In that 8 out of 10 commitment – that -2 will not allow you to succeed.
  • In a  9 out of 10 commitment, that -1 will not allow you to succeed.
  • Even in a 9.5 out of 10 commitment, that 0.5 will go in sneakily and *pull you down in ways that you’re not even conscious of*!

We are RULED by our subconscious. Our subconscious wants to keep us SAFE and that means not Doing Something New. Even if it’s Proven.

So- to say ‘yes’ to something new, maybe that’s Discover Your Greatness, which starts Tuesday Sept 12th, you need to TRICK your subconscious while she is not looking.  To do this, 

  1. take a deep breath
  2. imagine yourself Dec 31 with a clean office and financial abundance
  3. imagine lots of good people around you; no more negative nellies. A fun atmosphere and getting things done effortlessly with loads of support.

Then, RUN. 

You can join this cohort until midnight Eastern on Sunday (that’s assuming there are seats left!). 

Anyway, let’s go into “Okay, that’s it. I’m going to do it. I’m going to plunk my money down and I’m going to say yes to ME!”. 

Watch out for this pitfall: Don’t make the mistake of wanting something NEW- yet wanting NOTHING to change. 

It’s kind of like when you go on a healthy eating plan and you think “Well, wait a minute, I get to just have my candy bars every day. Oh wait, I don’t get to have my candy bars every day. I don’t want that healthy eating plan. I just want to lose the weight”. 

It’s the same thing with this opportunity. Yes, you’re going to have to do things differently, and I promise it will be fun and it works. 

A sneak peek of what is in store for those lucky enough to get in on time:

One of the key tenets of Discover Your Greatness…..is the proprietary DESIRE TEMPLATE forms.  – You set yourself up at the beginning of your workday for a Day of Success. You can also do it the night before. You can do it digitally, or print it.   

The first question is: ‘What is your purpose?’ It’s really important to know what your purpose is because if you don’t know why you’re doing it, guess what y’all, you won’t do it. The procrastination starts before you even begin the list! So we eliminate that problem right away.

The next item on the template is … ‘One thing I must do today, no matter what’.  Now -notice I didn’t say “What are the 25 things you want to do today?” You want to dial it down. Does this mean you won’t get any more than one thing done? No. You will get more than one thing done, I promise you. 

However, you will get that one thing done plus a lot more -because this is what gets you started and keeps you focused, which are two of the biggest problems. Procrastination is one of the biggest issues. Then of course, I know you’re going to have a little carry over from yesterday as that’s usually how it goes. 

The final questions on the template…

Identify your most important things: two of them. 

We then ask: what might get in the way? Hint:  get really specific. 

Finally, what will you do to fireproof it? In other words, put measures in place to be sure you don’t fall short of your intention/plan. 

Once you fill it out, you can print it, and save/send to me. I comment on this and watch your progress and help you along, both live and through my private client portal. 

And that’s just the beginning. It’s just *one* of the game changing resources you will use in the group.

There’s also an end of day form,, which is also very important where we debrief what we went on. You learn TONS with this form. 

Over time, by doing this, miracles happen – because the tiniest little change, little by little, bit by bit, piece by piece, layer by layer in the Productivity Success Cake, immense change happens. 

In Discover Your Greatness, we’ve got 14 weeks together. The nice part about that is it’s not like six months, it’s not like 12 months. It’s not like $20,000, it’s like $2,000. It’s not that much money and what you can get in the end, it’s crazy-good.

Game changing goodness. For example, 

people have:

  • Double or tripled their income 
  • Finally started the business that they’ve been trying to start for 14 years
  • One person had a backlog for a year of work, and finally they are not adding to the backlog anymore, and they are showing up differently with their team. This person is showing up as a bigger and better and more confident leader. 

And that’s what happens. The confidence happens, and the hidden fears that hold us back melt away. 

I’m so excited because I’ve got five people already registered and ready to go, and I’ve got three more openings at the time of writing this. On Tuesday September 12, we’re going to be getting started, and I can’t wait to see if you’re going to be one of those people to march forward together in unison toward Dec 31.

Oh, one more thing!

Did I tell you about the prizes? I also have prizes and giveaways because as we do this work together, we have fun. When you have fun, you get it done. Do you want to have some fun and get it done and finally do the darn thing that you said you were going to be doing for years that you just refuse to do? Well, don’t let this be the thing that scares you to death, so that you keep defining yourself as somebody who does it all themselves all the time. Because you know what? That doesn’t work. If it worked, you would’ve done it by now. You know that.I cannot wait to see who fills those final three seats and says yes to discovering their greatness.

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Get Organized More time in my day Organization Planning Productivity Time strategies

What to do when time blocking does not work

Quick solutions to daunting issues

Today I am going to talk about time blocking, but not in the way that you might think I will be talking about it. Instead, I’m talking about it in terms of when you time block a task and yet time after time it doesn’t get done, and what to do instead. 

There are many possible reasons for this. However, today we are zeroing in on the Environment Layer of the Productivity Success Cake. Here is the link for you to download the Productivity Success Cake ebook – the brand new and improved version! 

FIRST: We need to move away from “right and wrong” when it comes to managing our time, managing our tasks, and getting things done. When we move away from “right and wrong”, we stop the guilt, the shame, & the self-deprecation. Rather than going into a negative spiral, we can flip our mind around and say to ourselves, “Okay, this works for me”,  with zero judgment, that’s a game changer. 

Read on or watch the video

I invite you to do one of the strategies that I spoke about on Lori Kennedy’s podcast: to focus on the the circle of support piece of cake on the Environment Layer.

As a quick Cake Review,  we THINK we need to deal with JUST the productivity layer, as that is where the time and tasks piece lives. In fact, that layer is held up by ‘health’, and ‘environment’ too. By addressing the bottom 2 layers first, the productivity strategies work well. 

So, let’s focus on ‘circle of support.’  Say that there is a task that you may put in your calendar and you may time block it, but yet you find yourself not doing it.  I invite you to consider a beautiful strategy called body doubling. Lori Kennedy explains this one in her podcast – she said that if she has a task that she knows she’s really not going to do, she will make an appointment with somebody on Zoom in order to actually get the task done. Let’s say it’s something rather mundane and boring like receipts. Doing such a task does not elicit a lot of dopamine. It’s not that fun! Yet, it has to get done. That’s a really great way to get things done and to allow your time blocking to work for you!

I’d love for you to let me know what works for YOU to make your time blocking WORK. Remember: there is no right and there is no wrong. Hit reply and let me know!

And, REGISTRATION IS OPEN for the  ‘Time Management for the Distracted Entrepreneur’ workshop.  Spaces are limited, so get a front seat! We will be rolling up our sleeves and getting stuff done during this two hour workshop.

Please email me with questions about any of this, or want to chat about the workshop: carol@unscatterme.com.  You’re the reason that I do this after all, and eat cake with no calories. 

See you soon!

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