Navigating the Work Week: A Roadmap for Productivity

Struggling to wrangle your work week into something that resembles productivity? I've been there, and I'm thrilled to share my personal blueprint for transforming chaos into a well-oiled machine. In today's episode, we delve into the strategies that keep my business—and sanity—intact. With ClickUp as my project management sidekick, I'll take you through my morning ritual of coffee and communications, illustrating how a harmonious blend of digital tools and the tangible trustworthiness of a physical notebook can revolutionize your week. It's not just about getting things done; it's about setting a tone of efficiency that carries you seamlessly from Monday's planning to Friday's accomplishments.

But it's not all calendars and checklists—there's a human element that's vital to success. That's why we're also talking about the profound impact of community and connection. The journey to becoming a streamlined CEO isn't a solitary one, and in this episode, I highlight the transformative conversations and personal connections that have propelled me forward. Join our community of like-minded leaders, and let's continue the dialogue on Instagram, where your questions and experiences take the spotlight. Whether you're a seasoned CEO or just getting your feet wet in the world of business leadership, there's a nugget of wisdom here for everyone.

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Transcript

Karalee: 0:51

Welcome back and I'm your host, Karal ee, and on today's episode I'm gonna be talking about organizing your week and then specifically your day. And if you're curious about how I organize my year and even my months, like how I break all of that down, you can head to episode 32, where I talk about that planning out the year and your month and I'm gonna be digging really deep with what I do personally and then give a few actionable steps to repel you in the right direction, to getting organized as soon as possible. That is always my goal actionable steps that are bite-sized. So my central hub for all things business is ClickUp, and ClickUp is a project management tool, and 90% of everything in my business is either stored directly in ClickUp or it's linked in there in some shape or form. So I use ClickUp all the time, and if you wanna learn more about ClickUp in mastering task management, you can head to episode 35, where I dig into ClickUp specifically. All right, so just as a little tidbit here, though, ClickUp works as my second brain, keeping me on time for deadlines and projects, all of those things, and it's also really, really great for a team to so that they know what needs done, and it's mostly hands-off, and that's the biggest thing, especially if you wanna bring on like a few team members or even just a virtual assistant. It is super helpful to be able to have it digitally so you're not like like how are you gonna do it, right? But anyway, that's another topic for another time. So let's dig into actually organizing my day. I'm literally gonna walk you through it as if I'm doing it in real time.

Karalee: 2:31

Okay, so when I wake up and I've done a few things, you know those normal things you do in the morning and I get coffee. All right, coffee is definitely a part of my usual day, lots of coffee. But then after I get my coffee, I feel pretty good and I have my admin time. It's blocked on my calendar, my Google calendar. That's what I use for reminders, so that way I just don't completely skip over it, and I actually do this very first thing. And so I check Slack, I check emails, I check ClickUp and I get a feel for anything that has come up from the weekend or the day before after my business hours were over right, cause there's a lot of hours in between there. I know anything that needs taken care of for that day, and then I proceed to put anything else that doesn't really need to be taken care of right away and I put all of that into ClickUp so that way it reminds me at the time that I set and I don't forget things.

Karalee: 3:22

Okay, so on Monday mornings I also plan out the week. I choose Mondays for a reason, but I plan out my week and I look at the overall week and mark down the top priorities in a notebook. So I use one notebook for this, but everything else is actually stored in ClickUp. So as your business grows and there are a lot of to-dos in one spot, it can become super overwhelming, and so I look at my listing ClickUp for the week, I grab my notebook and I sort of buy client and then there's a space for my own business too. So, yes, I still like the paper feeling too. A lot of people come to me and they're like but I still like paper and I'm like we can figure it out. You can use ClickUp or whatever task manager system you want to, and you can also still use paper planner or notebook, whatever feels good to you, because you also need access to everything digitally, especially if you have a team, so you can have both okay, promise it will work out.

Karalee: 4:13

So I list everything that has to be done that week, like maybe a project to keep a deadline for a client, or finishing up those tasks, or I need to write a script or record a podcast for myself, things like that. Those are the things that would be more of like a top priority. So then I also write down the things that I intend to do as well, but they're not highlighted. I highlight those priorities, so the things that aren't necessarily priorities, but they're like if I get to them, that would be fantastic. Those things are also on there as well. So the top priorities, though, the ones that I highlighted, which are normally one or two of them, is what I'm gonna focus on for that week, and when I get those things done, that means success. And if I get more done, then that's just freaking amazing. All right. Then we just get to you know, cheers to all of them, some more and we check some more boxes. But as long as I got those priority things done, then it's success for me, all right. So I don't like it's the top priorities One or two things for each client or each section, however you divide yours up, all right, so that's like five priorities for the week, like one per day.

Karalee: 5:20

If you wanna do it by day, all right. There's so many ways you can do this. I do mine by clients. So that's Monday morning. You could even do this over the weekend, or you can plan the next week on Fridays. I choose Monday because that's what works best for me. Friday I'm tired, I just want to get to the weekend sometimes and I don't wanna be focusing on what am I doing next week over the like on the weekend. So I get up on Monday mornings and I just plan out the entire week. Yes, I look at my Google calendar before Monday morning and I kind of know what's going on for the week, but I'm not actually planning it out with, like these priorities and different things like that until Monday morning. Okay, so I also look at my week on Monday mornings right, I do it frequently in my Google calendar, like what meetings, appointments or outings do I have to plan around and this actually shapes my week, all right, so we're taking into account all of those priorities, all those things that can't be moved and all those things that you actually want to do for your own wellbeing or maybe for your kids like those types of things, right.

Karalee: 6:23

And I do time blocking a little differently than a lot of people teach it, and I only block out time on my calendar the night before, so, like for the next day. So if it's Monday I'm blocking out time for on Monday night I'm blocking out time for Tuesday morning or Tuesday in general, right. Again, this is to keep me on track throughout the actual day and there are some days where I completely disregard it and that's 100% okay. I have a full face that things are moving at a pace that they're how they're supposed to, all right. So I only do it the night before because or even the morning of sometimes, because I need to know what energy I have, I need to know what capacity I really have and the time and all those things, and I don't want to go to bed feeling like a million bucks on Monday night, thinking I have all this time and things on Tuesday morning and then I wake up and not feeling good, right. So I only do it either the night before and I'm not mad at myself if I don't follow it or I do it that morning and be able to like map it out, all right.

Karalee: 7:25

So you'll see, actually on my calendar, a 30 minute block for those admin things that I talked about earlier. So those emails, slack messages, click on those things You'll also see a client block and you'll see a TPI biz block. So TPI stands for the Productivity Impact, which is actually my business name. So these two sections are simply to tell me that I get to choose from the bucket on my list, right? So I have a bucket which is those sections that I decided to put apart, like right by client and then my own business, right? So sometimes I'll put a specific task in that time block but, honestly, every time I do that, I end up doing something else, because something else feels more in alignment at that time, and so I don't want to box myself in.

Karalee: 8:06

And so I create these blocks where I have time to be able to work on my business and I make sure that I'm kind of juggling between clients and I'm not neglecting my own work. So that's why my own business, right, when we tend to do that, we like to put it on the back burner, so I like to also look into it and go okay, this is an hour block that I'm gonna be working on my own business. And then there's obviously you have your list of things that you need to do for your own business. Same with clients, like when those clients blocks. You know you could block it by client, but I just block it as clients period, and then whatever client either has a top priority that really needs to be done, whatever thing I really feel like doing, that is what I would focus on. Okay, I kind of leave it open to feeling and capacity and things like that. So what feels most in alignment at that time and that helps me feel really good about things that I'm working on right, and I feel into what my brain, right, Like I just said, I feel into what my brain can actually do during those blocks.

Karalee: 9:05

I have ADHD. Okay, being told what to do is in my cup of tea, and so I assess my list during those blocks and whatever feels good in regards to my capacity is what gets to happen. Okay, this makes me more efficient. Hands down, I have tried it many ways, feeling into what feels good and what capacity I have. That's what makes me efficient and not multitasking. There's also that. But if there's a deadline, the ADHD panic button is usually pressed and I get that thing done super fast, and so that's kind of like leaning into what are those priorities and like how can we get those done really fast? And that is by feeling into what feels really good, and then if it gets down to the wire, like the ADHD, panic buttons aren't even pressed and so we can get it done.

Karalee: 9:51

Like there's one client's work that I like to work on on Friday nights because I love working on her work, and so if I try to push myself to do it any other day, like maybe it wouldn't be as efficient as if I did it on a Friday night. Now, obviously Friday nights are outside of my business hours, but I love to do things that are fun either on in the evenings or on the weekends, right, but I do all the things that I'm like. I mean I love all my clients. I love most of the work I do for them. I'm not saying that, like my clients know how I work in the evenings. I'm a night out on top of it. But I really, like I've just noticed trends in what clients work. I like to work on when and so, like when you see a pattern, you can also start blocking things a little differently if you start seeing patterns, but this is essentially what I do is just client block, okay.

Karalee: 10:34

So here's something that's also very important, though in order to even block time, like in order to do any sort of time blocking, no matter what variation of it that you do you have to actually set working hours, though. Okay, my client blocks and my working on my own business, those blocks are within my business hours, so that doesn't mean if I have a time of inspiration or if I really feeling into doing something outside of those hours, I'm not breaking a boundary, like, it's okay to do that, as long as you're not neglecting those other things that are supposed to be happening outside of your working hours, okay. So if you actually haven't decided on what your working hours are, that is your first action step Decide on what your working hours are. These are times that you're setting aside each day to do something that grows your business okay, or complete something for your client, alright. So if you already have working hours, though, do you still feel good about those or do they need some refinement? Alright, that's action. Step number one is setting working hours, or going back to your working hours that you already have set and seeing if they still feel good or if they need to have some changes. Alright.

Karalee: 11:46

So just as a little inside, look my working hours. On my contracts they say that my working hours are 9 am to 5 pm, but realistically my working hours are 10 am to 12 and then I usually take a break from 10 to 2. So or not 10 to do, I can't talk today. So 10 to 12 is when I do that admin stuff. Normally 9, 30, really 9, 30 to 12 admin and you know, assess all the things, make sure everything is good and start working on some stuff right, and then from 12 to 2 is a break. I have lunch, I do some responsibilities around my house, I connect with my husband I have different things like that and then at 2 o'clock my husband actually goes to work and so that's when, from 2 to 6 o'clock, those are the set working hours I have, so and I'm able to work on my own business things and I'm able to work on client's work. Now sometimes those go past. I have an alarm that goes off. It says end of work day at 6 pm. So that way at least tells me, and I normally finish up whatever I'm working on. So that way I can actually be done for the day and spend time with my kids and anything else that I need to do, like make dinner and different things like that. So that is a little bit of an insight. Those are the things that I like to do, and sometimes in the evenings or late at night, if I'm not doing anything and I'm feeling inspired, I'll sit down and do a little bit more work, but it's because I want to, not because I have to, and that is the biggest difference. I only do work outside of my working hours if it feels super freaking good and in alignment. That is like the same with the weekends, because I don't have working hours on the weekends, but I make exceptions every once in a while, but it has to feel good to me.

Karalee: 13:32

So action step number two that I also want you to think about is think through what you have now as far as your planning and organizing your day. What do you have a routine now? Do you have a system that you already do? I want you to think about it. What feels good and what doesn't? As you can tell, I'm all into the feelings. I'm all into what feels in alignment and what feels good to you to do at this time, like what feels good and what doesn't, and did anything that I said. Feel good as an addition to organizing your day. I gave you a lot. This is just walking you through what I do and can you make any modifications to planning or organizing your day or your week, for example? So really think about what feels good, what doesn't, what are some things that you can do that will make it feel even more in alignment? Alright, that is the biggest thing I want you to do with action.

Karalee: 14:25

Step number two is evaluate what you already have, what you're doing. What feels good about it Like what can you add to it? So you get to run your business how you want to? This is like how I'm going to leave this episode. Is you get to run your business how you want to? That's not what I thought in the beginning, when I first started my business. I am over four years in and actually running my business how I want to is how I'm efficient and how I have clients and how I make. Have you know, revenue coming in is when it feels super good and in alignment. Okay, and that also means that you get to shape your day how you want to, for the most part, of course. So obviously there are other things that play a role, but we get to work with our strengths, we get to work with what we have right and we get to refine it to see if we can make it better. But we all have to start at a starting point, and that is what do we have now, what don't we like, and now how can we modify it? So it feels good to do so.

Karalee: 15:21

I also want to open up the dialogue to this, because I get this question a lot how do you keep track of everything? How do you not lose your mind? And like how do you like all this tech stuff is so foreign to me. I get that question a lot, like how do I set up, click up, how do you like use your Google calendar? Like, how do you time block, like all these questions. And so I'm going to open up this dialogue to you because I want you to have be a streamlined CEO that feels freaking amazing.

Karalee: 15:48

All right, and in case you don't know what streamlined means, because I'm one of those people that gets a word and I'm like. I feel like in order to understand this, I really need to know the definition of it, and so I'm just going to share that with you. Streamlined means made a simpler or more efficient Okay. So that's what streamlined is. Do you want to be streamlined CEO? Or things are simple and you're efficient right.

Karalee: 16:12

So I want you to head on over to Instagram and we can connect in the DMs and I want to know what do you need to feel like to be a streamlined CEO? Right? What do you need to feel like that you're a streamlined CEO? All right, that's what I want you to head over to Instagram and send me a DM and tell me what do you need to feel like a streamlined CEO? Right, where things are simple and efficient, right. And if that's a task management system, if that's like a Google calendar that's organized, if that's like, I just need to talk this through and create this like with you carefully, like whatever it is that you need, let's have a conversation about it, because when you have a conversation, we like and we have a deep conversations, that's when we unlock so many things and we get so many solutions.

Karalee: 16:59

And if you didn't listen to last week's episode, I totally talked about deep conversations and some of the issues I've been having and how some amazing women helped me figure this out. I also talked about this in my blog and on my email list. So if there's so many ways that you can really dig into this community and be able to get a feel for how you can be more streamlined as a CEO of your own business, okay. So if you're not following this podcast, absolutely follow it. And if you want to head over to IG, I also show so many behind the scenes things as well as I do here and we can totally really get you feeling like a streamlined CEO where things are simpler and efficient. All right, so I can't wait to hear from you. Bye for now.