Work and Play with Nancy Ray

Jumping in right off the bat with a few really fun announcements! Number one, I have a new website as of today and a new brand, new colors new look. Shout out to Sammy Jo, I love you. Thank you for creating such a beautiful space. Head to nancyray.com to see it. Number two, along with the website, I am launching a Mastermind group (!) for a group of women, only 12 women who are business owners in the Raleigh area. I'm so excited. You can go to my website to learn more and I'll talk a little bit more about it in the podcast today. And third next month, starting next week, we're already almost in May—crazy—we start May is for Mamas! Every May I set aside my episodes and I dedicate them to the Mamas listening. And I have some exciting guests lined up, some great content for you, and I can't believe we're almost already in May. Okay, let's jump in to today's episode. My top eight work hacks or tips or advice, or, I had the hardest time naming this episode, but these are just random things that I have pieced together after my 16 years of experience of being an entrepreneur. Some of them I've created, some of them I have learned from books, some of them are systems, some of them are habits, but they're the things I keep coming back to again and again. Now, you might be surprised at some of them, but here's the deal: I know I struggled the most in my work and in my business when I have a lack of clarity and when I feel really overwhelmed with all that I have to do. So this list of eight things are things that I've brainstormed based on my years of being an entrepreneur. They're the things that have worked when I've worked by myself and they've worked when I've had a team working with me. They helped me not only in my work but in my life and being more present with my family as well, and just being more fulfilled. They helped me stay inspired and passionate about my work and I'm so excited to share them with you today. For the full episode, head to nancyray.com/podcast/191. Resources from this episode: The Work & Play Weekly Checklist (Free Download!) The Work & Play Mastermind! 2 Second Lean, by Paul Akers Traction, by Gino Wickman Episode 026 - My Favorite Business Book of All Time Deep Work, by Cal Newport The 12 Week Year, by Brian Moran The Advantage, by Pat Lencioni Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

Let's talk about family trips. Listen, there is so much planning and work that goes into taking a family trip, but there's also these golden memories of play and adventure that come out of that work. Today, I'm going to share with you how we work hard and we play hard on family trips and I'll share my favorite tips to hopefully make your next family trip a little bit easier! Resources from this episode: The Work & Play Weekly Checklist (Free Download!) The Work & Play Patreon

Today I have some simple encouragement for you, which is just a glimpse into what God has been teaching me lately. I have found that when I complete another Contentment Challenge, it's good for me to take a minute to recap the biggest lessons the Lord has taught me during this fast of sorts, because I find that every time I give up shopping or extra spending for a limited time—which is what the Contentment Challenge is—it frees up space for him to do things in my life and to address some spiritual things going on in my heart, in my mind. So, today I'm just gonna share three simple things that the Lord has been teaching me this year up to this point. Resources from this episode: The Contentment Challenge 170 - Created to Create Just Do Something, by Kevin DeYoung

I currently work one day a week with the occasional help of maybe one to two evenings a month. This episode is all about how I maximize my very limited work hours! Resources from this episode: My Weekly Planning Checklist Download Work & Play Patreon 2 Second Lean, by Paul Akers Deep Work, by Cal Newport Episode 041 - My Plan to Work One Day a Week

Today is a book club episode where I'm gonna be sharing my three biggest takeaways from the book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin. I love the tagline of her book, which is "What I learned about making and breaking habits to sleep more, quit sugar, procrastinate less, and generally build a happier life." Doesn't that sound awesome? For a list of all the books that I'm reading this year, head to nancyray.com/bookclub. Sometimes we just need a good kick in the pants from someone to show us how to start something difficult or how to do something that we've always wanted to do and Better Than Before does exactly that. I'm so excited to share my thoughts with you today. Resources from this episode: Nancy Ray Book Club Better than Before, by Gretchen Rubin Four Tendencies Quiz

There is never a shortage of decisions to be made in regards to your work. What should I be doing for my career? Should I stop working when I have children? Do I go back to work? And if I do, when should I go back to work? How much should I be working? Should I close down my work? Should I start something new? Should I hire someone? Do I need to fire someone? How do I spend my time this year? How do I spend my time today? The decisions go on and on. In today's episode, I'm going to encourage you with some tools that you can use when making a big decision in regards to your work. And I'm just gonna be here to remind you that God's got you and He's got your business from beginning to end. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/186. Resources from this episode: The Work & Play Weekly Checklist (Free Download!) The Work & Play Patreon Episode 004 - Seasons of Business Episode 005 - Calling vs. Assignment C12 5-Point Discernment Tool The Seasons of God, by Richard Blackaby Episode 047 - Book | Seasons of God with Dr. Richard Blackaby The Next Right Thing, by Emily P. Freeman Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

I've had three best friends for over 20 years: Jess, Heather, and Sam. And the four of us are called The Minkies, and I invited them to do a special episode of the podcast, just me and my best friends sharing our story, sharing our favorite memories and what it's taken for us to maintain a long lasting friendship for over two decades. So it's a very fun, different episode today. There's a lot of laughing and joking and storytelling, and when it comes to work and play, these ladies, they definitely know how to work hard, but when we're together—it is 100% play. They are my idea of fun and having a good time, and they have been for the better part of my life. What a gift it is that I get to share them with you today! Resources from this episode: The Work & Play Weekly Checklist (Free Download!) The Work & Play Patreon Jess Ray Music Instagram - Jess Ray Samantha Ray Writing Instagram - Samantha Ray Barefoot Dreams Robe Indie Lee: Clean Beauty Skincare Products

Here's a job description that life handed me that I just didn't really see coming. I have to be a cook like every day and I have to be a fairly good one because the tiny humans that I feed around my table are fairly opinionated about food. Actually, they're very opinionated about food. Also, with that job description, it will affect my mood, whatever I make, whatever I cook, it's gonna affect my mood and theirs. Also, if I feed them and myself unhealthy things, it affects our mood and our weight and our overall health, how much we get sick, and it just so happens that the food that they love are the things that are terrible for you. So when I'm having a hard day, all I want to do is feed them goldfish and gummy snacks and ice cream and nothing that has any nutritious value because I'm gonna be honest, it's just a lot easier to give them what they want for that moment of course, because the cycle just continues. Food, our health, our moods on repeat, not to mention it affects the clarity of my own mind. If I eat, when I eat, how much I eat, what I am eating, it affects how I discipline them because I get very cranky and I am quick to anger when I'm hungry. And also I just wanna enjoy life and I want my ice cream and gummy snacks too sometimes. Listen, it's just a lot to balance all of this. And here's the deal: I'm just supposed to be good at it. I'm supposed to be good at it and I'm not. I'm not normally good at this whole cooking thing, but it is a skill that's required of me as I have to feed my family and it's up to me, and this year I put some new habits into place—nothing huge, nothing massive—that have changed everything for me. They're small changes that I've put into place just to help me stay sane, to help me stay on budget and to help me bless my family. So, I'm not a great chef, although I really love to pretend to be one with my kids and they like to call themselves sous chefs, especially because we're watching Ratatouille on repeat lately. But here we go. Here are some habits that I have recently put into place, just the last three months really and I've committed to them and I'm gonna share them with you today. Take them or leave them, but maybe just take one or two because honestly they've all served my family really well and served me in my sanity well, and I feel like at least one is gonna serve your family well, too. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/184. Resources from this episode: The Work & Play Weekly Checklist (Free Download!) The Work & Play Patreon

Alright, it's time for the Nancy Ray Book Club 2023 edition, and in these episodes I'm gonna share my three biggest takeaways from the books that I'm reading. I keep a pace of about a book a month, and it's usually the last episode of the month that you'll find me sharing about that current book on my list. Today I'm gonna be giving an honest review of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mere Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/183. Resources from this episode: The Work & Play Weekly Checklist (Free Download!) The Work & Play Patreon 2023 Book Club Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

Now that two of my four kids are school age, I get asked a lot about their education. Where do they go to school? Do you homeschool? And the answer is that they go to school and they homeschool. They do both. We have chosen the route of a University Model Christian School, which means they attend school two days a week in person, and then I homeschool them three days a week. It's a bit of a different take on education, and there aren't a ton of schools out there with this model, although it is growing a lot more throughout the US. But today I'm just gonna share our philosophy on educating our kids why we chose this route, and a little peak into what a typical day in the life looks like for us on one of those homeschool days. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/182. Resources from this episode: The Work & Play Weekly Checklist (Free Download!) The Work & Play Patreon Classical Education Youtube Video