Feeling stuck? The struggle is real—I get it. The desire for an amazing business, the intention to be productive, but the inertia seems insurmountable. Procrastination, fear, and anxiety tag along like unwelcome companions, and suddenly, December is knocking at the door.
But fear not, my friends! We’re breaking free, together. It’s time to ditch the perfectionism that keeps us paralyzed. Those self-deprecating lies we tell ourselves? No more. “I’ve never done it consistently before, so why bother?”—let’s discard that notion.
If you resonate with this struggle (and I’ve heard from some of you who do), what you need are some wins. You’re tired of those nagging voices holding you back, right? Well, here’s the game plan—however, you choose to execute it.
Mark your calendars for Monday, December 4th. I’m hosting a ‘Habits to Get You Through the Holidays’ special Wisdom Warriors session at 12 pm noon Eastern time, and guess what? It’s free.
We’re diving into holiday survival habits because, let’s face it, the holidays can be overwhelming. I’ve been there. I’ve got my set of habits that work, and I’m eager to share them with you. Afterward, we’ll open the floor for discussion—what’s been working for you?
I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I’ve conquered my fears, ditched the white-knuckling, and embraced proactivity. Believe it or not, I’ve even started saying ‘no’ to things, much to the surprise of my family.
Are you ready for a change? Picture waking up on January 1st with a resounding “YES!” That’s the goal.
So, join me on December 4th at 12 noon Eastern. Share in the discussion—what’s the one thing you wish you could change this month? Let’s bring it in and make December a month of victories.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
STATEMENT: Physical environment piece: “My physical environment supports my thinking, clarity, inspiration, and productivity.” Score 1 is very false and 10 is very true.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
STATEMENT: Procrastination piece: “I have procrastination under control.” Score 1 is very false, 10 is very true
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.
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.
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.
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?
You want to get it done, but you just can’t get started. You beat yourself up.
What’s behind this beating yourself up…again? What’s behind this knowing that you’ve got stuff to do, but just feeling completely overwhelmed and just not doing any of it?
Recently, I was in Arizona, and I watched my son experience this exact thing. He knew he had to open his mail, he knew he had to pay his parking tickets, he knew he had to deal with a lot of rather mundane and boring tasks like figuring out “paid time off” and “dealing with insurance” and “looking at doing another job” etc. Perhaps you’re an entrepreneur and struggles to make the connections., You’ve got to reach out to podcast guests, you’ve got to create your content, and your newslette,….you’ve got to invite clients into your world. But you just feel stuck and you can’t get there.
This article is for you.
Before we dive into the five tips, ask yourself what’s really going on.
Usually it’s actually a self-esteem issue. We feel some version of “not good enough.” We look at the past as evidence of what is to come. We do this rather than instead of accepting the past and deciding that this time, we’re going to take different steps and have a different outcome.
OK. Let’s get to the 5 Ways to get it Done!
Celebrate success. So many of us shy away from this critical practice Come to my free monthly Wisdom Warriors, and let us all celebrate your successes with you. The first thing we do on those calls is to celebrate our successes. In my private groups, and in my private one to one high end coaching, again, the first thing we do is we celebrate.
Usually when people come for coaching, it’s not because everything is going well. It’s just the opposite – everything is not going well. So, when I ask for a celebration, it’s counterintuitive. People have a hard time remembering what went well. You can always celebrate showing up. You can celebrate how pretty the trees are starting to get. You could celebrate anything. Celebrating rewires the brain, and success breeds success. It’s biological; changing the neurons in your mind. Even what may feel to be the tiniest of successes such as getting out of bed in the morning, high fiving yourself in the mirror like Mel Robbins does. That’s something to celebrate.
Remove your “shoulds” or “you’re supposed to’s.” We do it all the time. We think it’s going to work. It doesn’t work at all, actually. Try this instead: rather than feeling glum about having to do the laundry, think about how nice those clothes will smell when they come out of the dryer. If you don’t want to deal with your finances, think about how nice it’ll be to have to have that bill paid. That’s a way to get started; to get out of your own way.
Tap into your creativity. If you don’t like to do “something” and you consider yourself to be a creative person, try tapping into your creativity. Last week I was trying to help my son to do a lot of “boring” tasks. He’s 21 and there’s a lot of “life tasks” that he just can’t get himself to do. I served as a body double. He said, “Mom, it’s amazing. When you’re just sitting here, I can just go ahead and do it”. His other strategy was to put on his headphones. This was his creative solution. He’s a highly sensitive person, quite distracted by other people’s conversations and his own thoughts. Maybe you, too, share this characteristic. Having somebody present really works, and you can do this on zoom as well.
Give yourself permission to delegate. One person’s passion can be another person’s “non passion!” Get creative. If you have someone close to you who is really good with numbers (and you are not), but you are really good at organizing and getting things done (and that other is not) then work together to get stuff done. Turn boring tasks into games. For example, grocery shopping. Turn it into a game. See if you can get in and out in 30 minutes. If you do it in less, reward yourself with a latte!
Try even if you believe you will fail. Perhaps you create a schedule at times, then don’t follow the schedule, before you even have a chance to try the schedule. Why? Maybe you believe you’re not good at schedules and don’t want to fail. Because you don’t want to fail, you try to save yourself and not even try.
Let’s not do that. Let’s make the task smaller, and smaller, and smaller…
Tell me, which is your favorite tip? What small steps are you going to take? Hit reply and let me know!
Remember: the first Monday of the month is Wisdom Warriors, which is my free group, so please come along. It’s at 12pm Eastern. It’s just all love…not some salesy webinar.. So, bring your friends and have some fun with it. Free, powerful coaching and community. A gem!
Too shy for zoom? Come to your own private Facebook group and share the love that way. Be in community!
Want to work with me privately? Let’s have a conversation! I hate to see you stuck. Stuck sucks. We don’t want that.
Here’s to getting it done, de-stuckifying, and being with like minded others.
Today, the topic is how to refocus after a crisis.
Small or large, life will always get in the way of your big plans; it’s just the way it is.
In the last workshop that I did (Time management for the distracted entrepreneur), we talked about four things that will distract us. Those were: extreme weather, cash crunch, too much to do, but belt tightening, or some combination of these things.
Recently, I’ve had one of my community members cite that they had major damage to their home (this is the extreme weather which we are all experiencing right now!) As a result, this can have a lot of impact on our homes. This entrepreneur had to leave their home, which had an impact on their business – and I do not want your business to go down the toilet because of extreme weather! So let’s discuss steps that you can takewhennot if life gets in the way.
Completely accept what is happening. Be in agreement with what’s going on. Too often, we’re in disagreement with what is happening. When we ONLY wish it weren’t happening, we’re not in agreement with it. We’re then unable to take the next step as we’re so busy being in denial.
Get quiet. Go inward and really ask yourself what you deeply want. This is, of course, after the “fire has been put out” (so to speak, or the flood or whatever is going on!) You need to deal with the crisis as it presents itself, and it doesn’t have to last forever. When you do that, think about three months out, six months out, what do you want your life, your business, your situation to be like?
Work backwards. Watch out for this pitfall, though: don’t believe that you must have the whole plan mapped out before you start.
Start. Begin with one step. For example, this community member that I was working with was asking “How do I focus 9because of what’s happened)?” I asked “well, what has helped you focus in the past?” This person said “Well, usually sitting down and getting a daily plan together.” I agreed!
Dear reader, I think you might want to try it, too. Try this! After you do your morning routine (you wake up, stretch, shower, have your coffee, etc), ask yourself:
What are my priorities today?
What might get in the way?
What is my one priority out of everything?
And how does that relate to that thing that I said I wanted in three or six months?
That’s just to get you started. With those four steps, I believe that you can emerge from whatever your crisis is.
For more information and next best steps:
Download the free guide to help you get through all the steps: decide, discern, discover, practice, and celebrate.
Come to my next free gathering on Zoom (the Wisdom Warriors). That’s going to be at 12pm EST on Monday October 2nd.
Join my UnscatterMe community on Facebook and we can have conversations about this.
Set up a complimentary phone call with me to find out what your personal challenges are and what roadmap you might be able to go on.
None of these things will cost you any money.
You can certainly ask me about how I could help you in a more accelerated way for faster results that are tailored exactly to you. Just hit replay, and I’ll be happy to talk to you about that. In the meantime, please use these free resources to get yourself unstuck from the crises that inevitably will happen because they do.
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?
