Ep. 288: Productivity & Work-Life Balance

In this episode, Stacy and Sarah lead such busy, productive lives! How do they fit all that activity into their days?

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The Paleo View (TPV), Episode 288: Productivity & Work-Life Balance

• Intro (0:00)
• News and Views (0:40)
  • Sarah is excited about Crossfit Open starting this week!
    • She's been debating for the last month whether or not to sign-up.
    • Stacy says if you belong to a Crossfit gym you have to participate in the open!
    • Sarah has been PR-ing and feeling especially strong lately.
    • Working out in the morning is energizing and centering for Sarah.
    • It's great when you can make time for extracurriculars that we love.
  • Stacy and Sarah have a different definition of balance.
    • Goals are always changing and balance will look different at different times in your life.
• Listener Question (6:07)
  • Ann asks, " Hi Ladies, I love listening to you guys every week and love your mix of science and fun. My question is less diet/health and more organizational/productivity. I know both of you are incredibly productive and I am curious as to what your daily routines look like. Do you have a specific morning routine? How do you stay so productive day to day? How do you work on so many projects at once? And Stacy how do you balance a full time job and doing all you do with the podcast and books? I’m very curious as to what your days look like hour to hour as someone who tries to be productive while balancing health. Thank you."
    • Thank you for thinking we have our stuff together, because it doesn't always feel like that to us!
  • Stacy's is very Type A and driven, jumping into things 150%, sometimes without thinking.
    • She's learned to stop and think, asking if it aligns with her goals right now.
      • Does it benefit others, my family, and is it in line with what I want.
      • She has sometimes found herself in the middle of things that aren't productive or don't bring joy.
    • It is a similar mindset to running a business- prioritizing what is most important and a good investment.
    • In order to help others we have to self-preserve and take care of ourselves first.
    • Stress management is huge, which Sarah talks about in her books.
    • Stacy's husband stays home and helps run the household and the businesses.
  • Sarah is ambitious and very self-motivated.
    • She has big ideas and clear vision of what she wants to accomplish.
    • While some might call her a workaholic, she prefers to look at it as having a strong work ethic.
    • She loves the work she does, and the positive affirmation from all of you keeps her going.
    • Sarah makes choices that prioritize work over other things.
      • She's worked on having a better balance, carving out time for hobbies.
      • She's put in place boundaries that help her prioritize sleep, time with family, etc.
    • Sarah doesn't spend much time on social media or watch very much TV.
    • She tries to be as efficient as possible with down time and work time.
      • She has always been able to sit down and get a lot of stuff down in a chunk of time.
      • She is also able to use little pieces of time efficiently and does different types of tasks depending on the amount of time she has available.
      • Efficiency also come from prioritizing sleep and taking care of herself.
  • Stacy's tips for using time wisely and being productive.
    • She uses a very active Google calendar she shares with Matt to help accomplish tasks.
    • Stacy loves TV, movies, games, and social media for her downtime.
      • The family plays board games and watches certain shows together.
        • They discuss their favorite shows, which is great quality time together.
    • Different times of the month bring different priorities and busy periods for Stacy.
      • She tries not to plan a lot of extracurriculars around these times.
      • Putting it all on the calendar before the month begins helps facilitate this.
    • Learning to pull back on activities is one of the hardest things.
  • For Sarah it isn't about saying "no" to other people, but saying "no" to herself.
    • Otherwise she often feels spread too thin.
    • It's a delicate balance between work and carving out time for sleep, family, socializing, outdoor activity.
    • Sarah has done a lot of research on sleep and understands how important it is.
      • Sarah wrote the Go to Bed Program and a hearty chapter on sleep in Paleo Principles.
      • The current way of society is to sleep with whatever amount of time we have left at the end of the day.
      • Sleeping is probably equal to diet on its affects on our long-term health.
      • Sarah needs 8-8.5 hours of sleep every night and can feel it if she doesn't.
        • When she doesn't, her productivity goes down, which is stressful to her.
        • Then if she's feeling stressed she doesn't sleep well.
        • Things can spiral out of control if she doesn't plan well and manage her to-do list.
  • Practical application for managing work life balance.
    • Stacy uses google integrated products and instant message service for communicating with her various teams.
      • This enables one conversation with multiple people instead of many separate conversations.
    • The Voxxer App is a free app that is like a walkie-talkie text message service.
      • You send voice messages that the other person can listen to when they have time.
    • Be upfront with people about your expectations and time-commitment.
    • Stacy and Sarah are introverts, needing down time and time to themselves to recharge.
      • This helps allow them to keep up their energy and continue the things they love.
  • A work day in the life of Stacy:
    • Sleep in until 7:25am
      • Our oldest son has to get up at 6am for school and Matt gets up with him.
        • He is quiet and respectful and it is wonderful.
    • Out of bed by 7:45am
      • Sometimes she stares at the ceiling, goes back to bed, or checks email and texts until this time.
    • Out of the house by 8:20am
      • Drives one of the kids to school in a different district.
      • This helps her stay on time and keep the schedule every morning.
    • Goes to her day job and works until lunch time.
      • 30-40 minute break at lunch to catch up on personal and side-hustle stuff.
    • Finishes her work day and goes home.
      • Dinner as a family every night at 6:30pm.
      • The boys clean up after dinner, which is a great time saver.
      • We hang out as a family and reconnect.
    • When the boys go to bed (between 8:30-9:30pm) she starts working again.
      • Answering emails, writing blog posts, etc.
      • Matt and her often work together in the evenings.
    • Stacy goes to bed after 11:00.
      • Her rule is to be ready for sleep at midnight.
        • Then she knows at the least she will get 7 hours of sleep.
        • She strives for 8 hours of sleep every night though.
  • A work day in the life of Sarah:
    • Alarm goes off at 6:15am
      • She does hit the snooze button one time most days.
      • Dresses into workout clothes, has a cup of coffee.
      • Helps her husband get the girls ready for school.
      • Piano practice with her youngest daughter in the morning.
        • We are both much more focuses at this time of the day.
    • Leave the house 7:15am
      • Drop the kids off to school and heads straight to the gym.
      • Workout with a personal trainer from 7:30-9am.
    • Back home shortly after 9am
      • Start work, usually in sweaty gym clothes.
      • Sarah will work until she is hungry.
        • Grabs something to eat and then showers.
        • Sarah spends as little time primping as possible!
        • She spends time with her Joovv, often working through email and social media on her phone.
      • Back to work again, usually until the kids get home from school.
        • She'll have a quick lunch or grab and go food at her desk during the middle of the day.
    • Pick up the kids from the bus stop at 2:30pm
      • If no after school activities, she'll take the afternoon off.
        • This is when she often cooks more elaborate meals or breakfast for the following morning.
        • Hang out with the girls while they do their homework during this time.
      • If after school activities, she drops them off, comes home and uses that time to work.
    • Dinner as a family at the dinner table.
      • After dinner is when the girls get ready for bed.
        • Youngest is in bed by 7:30pm and oldest by 8pm
        • Sarah typically works another 1-2 hours after this.
        • Sometimes she takes the night off to watch a movie with her husband.
        • A couple evenings a week, Sarah leaves the house to laugh on a stage somewhere.
    • She winds down for bed around 9-9:30pm, sometimes later if a deadline.
      • Reading, bath, more time spent with husband.
      • Lights out at 10:30pm.
  • Stacy feels incredibly luck to have Matt, who wakes her up and makes her lunch.
    • A plug for marriage and partnership in general!
      • Learning how to balance off each other is a great way to increase productivity.
    • Sarah cooks and her husband does the cleaning up afterwards.
      • This allows her to get more focused time with the girls.
    • Sarah always works at least a few hours on the weekends.
      • Her husband helps facilitate this, taking care of household things and the girls.
  • To be too busy and to be overwhelmed is not the goal.
    • We each focus on things that reduce stress and create balance.
    • This looks different for each of us, and will look different for you.
  • If you've enjoyed the show, please recommend it to someone who might enjoy it.
    • We love when you share and when you leave reviews for us! Thanks for listening!
      • Real Everything
      • The Paleo Mom

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