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- Good morning, good life.
Welcome back to Amy TV, where we come together
to help you go after the life you want.
In my experience, becoming a boss lady
has come with a lot of challenges
and certainly one of them is holding yourself accountable.
When you don't have someone telling you
you have to do something and you're that person,
you've gotta follow through,
especially when it comes to using your time
more wisely for your life.
We wanna work smarter, not harder.
We wanna spend more time with friends and family
and have experiences, not just be stuck
in business mode all the time.
So today, I'm gonna share some of my secrets
when it comes to being super productive,
so that we can take the overwhelm
out of being an overachiever.
To be super productive means staying connected.
That's why I'm so excited I'm partnering with my friends
over at Acer to tell you more about the Acer Swift 5 laptop.
(upbeat music)
If you're like me and you're a mobile professional,
working whenever, wherever,
this is something you're going to want in your arsenal.
Not only is it going to be perfect on the go
and totally on its game for multi-tasking
that inevitably takes place for us boss ladies,
it is among the most budget friendly options
when it comes to beautifully designed technology.
Here is what you need to know
about this essential boss lady tool.
The performance and responsiveness is top notch.
The only multi-tasking we love is when our devices
can handle how quickly we need to get work done.
The multi-tasking on the Acer Swift 5 is super fast
when switching between apps and windows,
so no need to worry about lag when you need to check
your time blocks while in the middle of a task.
It also has WiFi 6, which means uploading files to the cloud
is insanely fast, and streaming your favorite 4K show
will be no problem.
And battery life is insane.
With 17+ hours of video playback,
you won't be rushing to find an outlet nearby.
Charging time is always a huge factor for me too
and it's super fast.
You can easily gain 40% of your battery back
with just 30 minutes on a charger.
It's always important to me that your device look
as premium as your work, and this one does.
There's a super narrow bezel
to get the maximum screen possible,
and because we're on the move,
its thin and light mobility is easy to tote and go.
The anti-microbial solution of the Acer Swift 5
covers your laptop from everyday germs.
Whether animal, kid, food
or anything comes around your device, you're covered.
What we use to stay connected and get work done with
is so critical to our day to day,
which is why the Acer Swift 5 is one amazing option
I suggest you add to your secrets to productivity success.
Check out the link in the description below
to find out if the Acer Swift 5 is the right option for you,
and thanks again to them for sponsoring
this episode of Amy TV.
My first secret is a big one.
This is for anyone who struggles like me
in having the conversation about boundaries
with our friends, especially when our friends
are blowing us up on our phone.
The lovely thing about the smartphone
is that people can get a hold of you at any time
if they want to.
The horrible thing about that is it could also be
during work hours, or worse, if you are trying
to focus on a project, like a lot of us do,
especially if we own our own business
and we're the one in charge,
and we're the only one that can deliver.
Do not disturb, I tell everyone about.
It's no secret, just turn on do not disturb
when you're working on something you know
you need to focus on.
But the other thing that I do
is I actually have weekday settings.
I know, it's ridiculous, but it works so well for me.
I will go into my notifications,
I will turn off text messages.
No sounds, and nothing, I don't want anything popping up
on my phone, because I do still use it
to hold myself accountable for time blocking.
So I do need some notifications,
but not text messages that are not a priority.
I'll turn those off, I'll turn those notifications off
and I will also move the app away from my home screen.
I will tuck it away somewhere
so that I do not accidentally look at it throughout the day.
That's the biggest thing.
Sometimes I'll turn on the notifications again
at the end of the day, sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I don't turn them on again until the weekend.
But the biggest thing is just at least
during that core space of time
that I've gotta get work done,
I am getting that app moved,
because the easiest way to have the conversation
about boundaries is to just ignore your texts.
(laughs)
If you just don't reply,
it's a pretty good indication that you're busy.
My next secret is less of a secret,
we talk about this a lot, but it is totally worth mentioning
and that is calendar blocking and my time cubes.
The more you can plan out your week,
the better it's gonna go for you.
Things are not going to go according to plan,
and that is okay.
If plans change, if an appointment can't happen
or a project can't be worked on
because of moving pieces and parts and people, that is okay.
But the point is that you make the plan
so you try to do the best you can.
My biggest thing is I love to calendar block everything,
but I also need to be held accountable with a timer,
which is why I love my time cubes.
If I have 30 minutes to get something done,
I will set my timer for it
and this little buddy is gonna start counting down.
I like seeing this little red flashing light
and this number going down,
because it'll help me stay focused.
I'm less likely to go to another tab.
I'm less likely to check my phone.
I'm less likely to take a phone call.
Any of those things,
because I know that I just have 30 minutes to do this.
The point being that even if whatever I scheduled
takes longer than 30 minutes, at least I spent that time
as focused as possible to figure out if that's the case.
It's a totally different situation if you're like,
"Oh man, that took more than 30 minutes
"because I was distracted the whole time"
or, "I didn't give myself an environment
"to be able to focus and get things done."
So my Google calendar is going to be fully calendar blocked
and my time cubes are when I know
I need a great deal of help focusing.
And my next secret is that I actually can't stand the quiet.
If I'm focusing on something, if I'm trying to be productive
in a very short period of time,
I don't listen to anyone talking, I don't have the TV on,
I have to use a focus playlist.
Spotify has so many options.
Really any genre of music that you like,
you can probably find a great focus playlist there,
and the other thing is that you don't have to sit there
and create it yourself.
That, I love.
I don't wanna have to then try to figure out what I like
and curate a list, I want it to already be made.
I also recently just found one in the Headspace app,
which is really cool.
They have focus playlists in there now too,
not just meditation.
There is a Hans Zimmer playlist in the Headspace app
right now for focus that just helped me
absolutely crush a project the other day.
Highly recommended.
Another one of my secrets kind of goes in the same box
as calendar blocking and I've talked about this
in a recent video, I highly recommend you check it out.
It's time batching.
For me, this takes calendar blocking to the next level.
I don't wanna just schedule out my week and do things,
I need to do like things at the same time
so that I can stay in that mode, not get distracted,
not be all over the place, spread myself too thin.
If I'm making a video right now,
I wanna make another video after that
and another video after that.
I don't wanna take a phone call,
I don't wanna record a podcast,
I don't wanna go have to go out and have a meeting.
I've gotta keep my like tasks together,
so that you stay in the most productive mode possible
when you can.
You probably do this when you run errands, right?
"Oh, I'm gonna have to go run and pick a few things up.
"I've gotta pick a few things up at the grocery,
"I've gotta pick a few things up at the pharmacy,
"I've gotta pick a few things up at the dry cleaner."
You're in picking up mode, so you go and pick things up.
You put those like tasks together,
you're already in the car driving around, you knock it out.
It's the same idea, but for boss lady work, okay?
Are you doing a bunch of blogging?
Are you doing a bunch of audio?
Are you doing a bunch of sales stuff?
Are you doing a bunch of anything in your business
that needs a lot of focus?
Batch it together and you'll be much more likely
to get ahead, as well as stay productive.
And of course, my least best kept secret,
a solid morning routine.
When you work for yourself, or when you are the boss
and you are holding yourself accountable,
it can still be very easy to let the rest of the world
decide how your day is gonna go.
Starting the day with a social scroll,
starting the day with checking your email,
starting the day with the demands of the outside world
is a great way to throw it all to the wind.
But if you want to prove to yourself
that not only could you sit down
and productively get something done with a time cube,
you can start the day on your terms,
you need to have a morning routine.
It can be 15 minutes, it can be three hours.
I don't know what your life is like.
Do what makes sense for you, and if you need a planner,
I got one that'll help you
have the best morning routine ever.
Regardless, it needs to consist of three things:
movement, mindfulness and mastery.
When you fill those three buckets
in the way that are best for you,
you start the day on your terms,
you are productive from the start,
you feel better, you feel more confident
throughout the rest of the day
getting what you need to get done, done.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on these tips
in the comments down below.
Are they gonna help you become more productive
at being a boss lady?
Which one are you going to do first that you haven't tried?
I'd love to hear from you.
Thank you so much to the Acer Swift 5
for sponsoring this episode of Amy TV.
There will be links down in the description
so you can find out if it is the right laptop for you.
That's all for today, thank you so much for tuning in.
I appreciate it as always.
Remember, subscribe for good vibes, kiss the ones you love,
and go after the life you want.
Cheers.
So today I wanna share some of my (stumbles over words).
Let's give it a try at least,
'cause I never smile when I'm talking.
So my Google calendar is going to be full-ity.
And my next secret, sorry.
That part, I'm really good at.
Anyone who knows me well knows
that multi-tasking is a bad word, unless it's (chuckles).
Ain't nobody go time for that.
I think that was it.
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