This episode is dedicated to all those that have many unsolved problems, mounting stressors, and the unlimited amount of possible solutions and attempts to address these problems and stressors with uncertainty of what is effective. There are many ways to approach these types of opportunities to tackle your “to-do” list, but tackling them in the same old ways are not the way to address them in the new age of technology, combined with long forgotten, efficient techniques. No matter if they are personal or professional in nature, retooling your opportunities to address them in innovative new ways can be a game changer for yourself and others.

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Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs

Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

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determination all converge into

an amazing, heartfelt experience.

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This is Speaking From The Heart.

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Joshua: Welcome back to episode number

93 of speaking from the heart now.

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I'm going to make the episode today

really, really, really, really short,

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because I have so much I have to get done.

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I'm even wasting time just

saying really, really, really,

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and even saying it even again.

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There's just so many things I have in my

mind, not only things that I have to do,

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problems that I have to solve, ideas that

I want to write down before I forget.

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How am I going to handle all these

different types of things happening

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in my life right now, so that I

can get them even more organized,

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and even get them efficiently done?

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I am drowning over here, listeners!

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But are you also drowning too?

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Today's episode is to help us to not just

get organized and get prepared for the

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unlimited amount of things that we have

on our to do list, but especially in this

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season of spring cleaning that we're going

to be embarking on pretty soon, it might

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be a good opportunity for us to review

how we can be more efficient in the ways

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in which we can organize our days, let

alone our weeks and months that lie ahead.

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I am going to even put a disclaimer on

this episode by saying that it is very

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tough for me, even this person that is

speaking to you today about some of these

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techniques that I'm going to cover, to

be able to be consistent, but that is me

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being able to fulfill my pledge to you,

being part of Speaking From The Heart,

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that we all go through these different

types of struggles in our lives, so don't

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be ashamed or even be pressured to think

that even if you don't have all these

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things that you have going on organized,

it is still a worthwhile exercise for you

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to maybe take some time on today's episode

to listen to some ideas that I might

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have to help you get better organized.

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Even if you have a system in place

already, maybe you can be even more

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efficient with the system that you

are using and be able to utilize

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the maximization of your time,

become better at what you're doing.

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This episode, dealing with all kinds

of problems, stressors, and even

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solutions and attempts to address

those problems and stressors might

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be effective, not effective, or

might fall somewhere in the middle.

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All I ask you to do is try to give

yourself a little bit of grace and

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a little bit of opportunity here

to explore and evolve with this

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conversation that we're about to have.

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Now with all these things said, we

have so many different things that are

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going on in our life that not only help

us to understand and create that best

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opportunity that we can expand upon,

not only to help us be able to explore

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the vast new worlds that we have, but

just being able to understand why we

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can't get ourselves organized, despite

the numerous amount of opportunity

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that exists in this world, we might

be able to organize The way in which

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we're effectively addressing them.

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Technology nowadays, especially with

the advent of artificial intelligence

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in the last few years, has certainly

helped to expand our vocabulary of

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not only understanding how AI can

help us grow, but also help us achieve

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many of the dreams and aspirations

that might have been out of reach

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because we simply didn't have time.

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COVID was a big example of many of

the different types of goals and

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aspirations that we were putting off for

so long, but then were able to reinvent

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ourselves because of that pandemic.

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Even if people are stressed and freaked

out about the COVID pandemic, that

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nasty thing that happened across the

world, changed our lives forever, it

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actually opened up some new doors to

potential possibilities of exploring

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how to be more effective with the

time management that we need to have.

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Technology and even new world techniques

that we are going to talk about can

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be combined to help you stay on task.

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One of the coolest things that maybe

you didn't even hear about in the news

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is the ability now in ChatGPT, the

precursor of Open AI 's technological

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advancement in the AI world is to be

able to create your own scripts, your

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own set of tasks and responsibilities

in your own program that would allow you

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to keep track of a variety of different

things, whether that is writing code.

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Maybe that is writing a to do

list for your grocery shopping.

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Maybe it's even programming it to

remind you of the various deadlines

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and responsibilities that you

have on a particular project.

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Regardless of what it is, ChatGPT has

come a long way from its heydays of

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being able to just simply, respond to

a command prompt that is put in by the

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user, and be able to go into a vast

world of different possibilities, but

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even with all those bugs and all those

enhancements, there are still some

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things as human beings that we can do.

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One of the biggest things that I

have shared with my clients in recent

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times is the ability to perform

what's called the Pomodoro technique.

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Pomodoro is a task oriented process in

which you're able to work on various

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types of speed dating opportunities that

might exist in your to-do list, but will

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require you to have a short, focused

burst of time to be able to do that.

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This really works a lot with not

only studying for exams, researching

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blog posts, maybe even getting that

grocery list prepared and organized.

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It actually helps us to stay focused

and mentally fresh with a variety

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of different tasks that you might

have to accomplish in a given time.

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The Pomodoro Technique has five different

steps that can help you addressing

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those multiple problems that you have.

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The first step is just to pick one of

those tasks that you have on your list.

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Step two is to set a 25 minute timer,

whether that is on your watch or

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even your cell phone, and step three

is to work on that task within that

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25 minute period until time is up.

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Once you're done with that step,

step four is to give yourself a five

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minute break to be able to stretch,

refocus, and concentrate again, because

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in step five, you will perform the

Pomodoro every four times, taking

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a longer 15 to 30 minute break.

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These consistent opportunities that

present themselves in these five steps

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using the Pomodoro technique can help

you to not only create time management

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techniques to help you focus on certain

ideas, but to help you organize and deep

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dive into a particular problem without

losing focus, without even sacrificing

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the clarity that might be involved.

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It will take some stamina and

time for you to rebuild and regain

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that clarity, to be able to have

that focus and that opportunity

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to write something of that nature.

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It could be as simple as

even doing your gardening.

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Even if you're getting ready to

plant the beds, that will be the

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foundation for your garden for this

season, you can use this technique

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to be able to work on each section.

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It's all about, as I've even said in

previous episodes, when we're talking

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about goal setting, making them small,

actionable, bite sized sections so

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that you're able to create those

opportunities to be able to make progress.

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Now, if you're not one of those people

that likes to do short, focused bursts

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of time, another technique that might

be of use to you is to use the Kanban.

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K A N B A N is how it's spelled, and

it's really another productivity tool

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in which you use post it notes to help

organize your system of not only the

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things that you need to do, but to be

able to visualize your work and be able

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to accomplish what you're trying to

accomplish in a certain amount of time.

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Now, although time is not really a factor

in this type of productivity task, you can

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use the three columns that are vertical

in nature to help start organizing and

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compiling what is really, at the end of

the day, what you're trying to achieve.

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The backlog or to do would be one column,

the doing would be another column,

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and the third column would be done.

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By seeing and organizing some of the

smallest tasks in the to do or doing

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columns, when you move those over to

done, that momentum, that encouragement

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of knowing that you're getting things

done, will help you to realize the

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strength of being able to capitalize

on those opportunities of visualization

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and creating that workspace for yourself

so that you can walk away and come

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back to moving more post it notes from

the to do, or doing, over to the done.

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This prioritization will also allow

you to focus on some of the bigger

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things that might require a little bit

more time once you get some momentum

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of getting the small things done.

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I know for myself and my business, one of

the first things that I always do when I

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come in the morning is check my emails,

organize any accounting or bills that I

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have to pay, and also follow up with any

clients or any other communication that

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I have going on in that particular day.

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Now that normal routine might not

always flow consistently depending on

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what the type of day is, along with the

responsibilities that I have in that given

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day, but this technique has allowed me

to build momentum consistently to be able

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to work on bigger things, such as even

having clients come in to meet with me,

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whether that's in person or virtually, or

even working on the podcast: recording new

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episodes, and even recording the content

to add on to the guests that appear on

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my show in order to have the final edit.

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Having serious expectations of what you

want to accomplish, let alone realistic

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accomplishments, which we often have

talked about in the framework of SMART

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goals can help you With having something

like a Kanban organize your thoughts

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and your processes all together.

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Now with all that said, we've talked about

the things that are already existing.

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You might be asking yourself, "Josh.

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What about all these ideas

that I have in my head?

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How do I get them organized so that I'm

able to address what I need to do first?"

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Think about the fact that ideas

are exactly what they are: ideas.

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There are simply a brainstorming

technique in itself that allows you

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to think about what are some possible

ways that you can minimize or even grow

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the amount of impact that you have on

certain things that you're trying to

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do, whether that is thinking about new

ways that you want to write a book.

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I know for me, I am thinking about

writing a book myself, although I'm

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not quite there yet in terms of really

the brainstorming process and just

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figuring out what's really involved

and what would be a great book to

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write, especially for listeners like

you that would be able to purchase, but

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another thing that I often think about

with idea organization is crossing out

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what ideas are really off the table.

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Ideas in themselves are great to work on.

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Whether we have all these multiple

ideas or problems that we need to

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solve, we have to focus on what

the immediate nature of them are.

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That means that we have to look at, in

the bigger scheme of things, how they

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fit into the bigger jigsaw puzzle of life

and what they are able to provide, not

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just for our own benefit, but also in the

ways in which we're able to contribute

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to the people that we need to serve,

whether they are, in my case, clients,

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other work responsibilities, or just

having personal attention to the things

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that I really want to personally enjoy

for that self-care, work/life balance.

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Finding ways, whether they are personal

or professional in nature, allows

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you to retool those opportunities,

especially with ideas that you're

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crossing out, to focus on the things

that you know that you have more time

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for, and be able to understand that

even if you don't have that time right

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now, you will have that time down the

road when it becomes more appropriate.

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Now all these things, Kanbans, using

the Pomodoro, trying to figure out

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what sort of stressors exist in your

life, those can be all overwhelming.

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For many of us, sometimes with those that

have a brain style that are not able to

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think in an executive level, to organize

administratively, the different things

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that we have to do on a daily basis,

requires the input of someone else.

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Requires us to lean on others that

might be able to help assist us

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on the bigger scheme, the bigger

ideas that often flow in our lives.

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I often think about this in even public

speaking for that matter, which for many

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of you, you know that public speaking

is an important tool in my toolbox to

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help not only communicating our message,

but also leading from a position that

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we're able to effectively make change.

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Storytelling in itself has that nature

of the Pomodoro and Kanban built into it,

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because you're putting together jigsaw

pieces that will allow your audience

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to resonate with you being a speaker.

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Tasks become ideas or details that

frame into the work of not only

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the general purpose of your speech,

but even the specific purpose.

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Do you understand what I'm trying

to say here, ladies and gentlemen?

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Everything is interconnected.

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It's really not just simple, but at

its basic level, all interconnected

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for us to become better human beings

and being more efficient with the

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time that we have in a given day.

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We all have finite amount of time

on this earth, and we all know

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that we have 24 hours in a day

and we have 7 days in a week.

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The number of days per year

change depending on whether

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we have a leap year involved.

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But the same principle applies with

the standard number of days that

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we all have to be able to work on

the things that we need to address.

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The priority that we give attention

to, or the things that we're willing to

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work on, don't necessarily come from not

only the motivation that we have inside

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of ourselves, but also the extrinsic

and intrinsic influences combined.

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What do I mean by that?

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Simple.

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The things that we really love doing,

we will do first, and the things that we

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absolutely hate, we will do last, but what

if we do the things that we hate first,

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and the things that we love last instead?

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Essentially, making it go in reverse.

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Retooling your opportunities to address

some of the things that even I have

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mentioned today, whether you use AI,

whether you use some sort of other

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programming tool that's available

for purchase online, which there are

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plenty of productivity tools that

will help you organize if you look

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closely, but even using just a simple

calendar method can help you to

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start moving in the right direction.

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If you don't know what to do first, you

can always look for someone's input and

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advice, especially if you're looking

at what they can potentially provide,

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which is why I always say to you, look

for a coach that fits your mold, fits

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the needs that you're trying to achieve,

because that might help you address not

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only the problems that you have, not only

organize the ideas that you have, but

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allows you to understand what you should

do first not only to resolve all those

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things, but to tackle the things in a new

way, not only to become more efficient,

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but even more considerate of what you

have left to give in a certain day.

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I want to see you do not just the best

things for yourself, but also to help

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yourself become much better in not only

the things that you want to achieve, but

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the things that you are already doing

that are so awesome in its own nature.

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Get yourself organized, not

only with the problems and the

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ideas, and trust me, oh trust me.

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You won't be running around feeling

like you are just all over the place and

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you'll be able to focus on things that you

really, truly, deeply care about instead.

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Thanks for listening to episode

number 93 of Speaking From the

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Heart and I look forward to

hearing from your heart very soon.

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Outro: Thanks for listening.

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For more information about our podcast

and future shows, search for Speaking From

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The Heart to subscribe and be notified

wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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Visit us at www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

for more information about potential

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services that can help you create

the best version of yourself.

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See you next time.