FTV: How to be more Productive as a Business Owner with Ashley Alderson

Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts, and strategists that actually make it happen.

I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the.

Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat.

Hey, guys. This week, I'm so excited to talk to you about something that is not just business, but it's personal. You know, there's a big part of me, as I look back on my own journey in business, I think about some of the reasons that we're successful. I would say the majority of the reasons why we are successful go back to how we approach each and every day with our mindset and our habits and how productive we are. Right? We all have access to the Internet. We all have access to courses. We have access to people smarter than we are to tell us what we should be doing to succeed. Right? We have access to those things. But what we don't always have access to or we don't always realize is it doesn't come down to doing the task that makes us successful. It's being in the right frame of mind, right, that allows us to be successful. It's shifting from being an entrepreneur to being a CEO. It's taking control of how you approach your day with intention that allows you to have more time, more flexibility, and the ability just to think bigger than you ever thought possible to grow your business into what it's capable of becoming. And so today, I'm so excited on the podcast to dive a little bit deeper into this process of how do we become more productive and more peace, More at peace every single day in our business? And specifically, again, how do we get in that right frame of mind to be the most productive and to create the best versions of our business possible? And when I think about this, there's a lesson that I learned from a mentor of mine, Brendon Burchard, that I learned several years ago. And this has always stuck with me. And I want to share this gift with you today. And that's what are three questions you can use to start your day each and every day that are going to not only help you be more productive, but also more grounded and feel like you're ending the day at peace with who you are. Because we all get into business wanting a few things, right? We want flexibility. We want no cap on our earning potential. But really, what does that come down to? It comes down to freedom and peace. And if we are so tied to our business that we're working 80 hours a week and we can't seem to get away and things aren't profitable, we've really lost that opportunity in terms of why we started our business in the first place, haven't we? So how do we get back to that feeling of peace? How do we get back to our big why? How do we get our freedom back in a way that is gonna still encourage us to be as profitable as possible without being married to the business 24 7? And these questions really help me drive that process home each and every day. So let's dive into it. The first question that you should ask yourself each and every day, and I do this process whether I'm laying in bed or if I'm in the shower, I do it a number of different way. But the first question to ask yourself each day is number one, what am I excited about today? What am I excited about today? Because we live in this world where it's so easy. And I'm definitely guilty of this, of rolling over in the morning, grabbing my cell phone and it's like those notifications and that dopamine hit, they're always there, right? And so we grab our phone and we wanna know what's new on social this morning, or how many orders came in overnight, or what customer service emails do I have to answer this morning? And immediately we are sucked into the trap I of allowing a device to tell us how we're going to feel, right? Have you ever been there? You roll over and then you're like, oh, dang, I just saw a post from someone I didn't want to see a post from right competitor, someone knocking you off or whatever it is. And then you get that pit in your stomach feeling. And you start your day in this negative frame of mind with this pit in your stomach. Because you let social media determine how you were going to feel about your day before it even got started. And so the challenge I have for you is to put the phone down and not start your day by looking at social media, but instead by asking, what am I excited about today? So that you have a surefire way to know you're going to start your day on the right foot, looking forward to something that makes you feel good. You're finding a dopamine hit in a brand new way and it's coming from within. It's not coming from a device. And I tell you Guys, this because I feel like this is a lesson I first learned in high school. And I've actually shared this story with some of you recently. You're about to hear my guts on the line here. But let me just tell you this. When I was growing up, I came from a very small town, small school. I was a ranch kid. I lived in the country. The popular kids all lived in town. And there's times. For those of you who have ever been a country kid growing up, maybe some of you have no idea what that's like, but I'm going to tell you, you don't always get to be in the cool circles, right? And there was a time in high school where I really felt like I had to struggle to find my place and to fit in. And it was to the point where I would wake up in the morning and I would be so sick to my stomach dreading what was going to happen that day that I wouldn't want to go to school. And my mom knew it too, right? She knew when I said, I'm sick today, I got to stay home. It was probably more anxiety than it was ever actually me being sick. But that happened a fair amount. And in high school, at some point during this process, I learned that the only way I could get up and actually go through my day and make it to school and back was was I had to start my day with that question what excites me today? Whether that was a basketball game we had that night or I knew I was going to get to do something fun after school, or I knew there was some project that I was going to nail in school that I was really excited about. I mean, big or small, it does not matter what it is. But we have to find some ray of hope that we are going to latch onto every morning that is going to drive excitement. So we are in control about how we're going to feel the rest of the day because it truly does set the tone for the rest of the day. What you think about, you bring about. It's just like the secret. The more you are in the moment of dread and in space of anxiety, you're going to attract more dread and more anxiety. You're going to feel it that much more often versus if you are in a state of gratitude and excitement, you're going to start to see and seek more of those opportunities throughout the entire day. So question number one is critical and that is, what am I excited about today? Question number two is equally as important because we all have goals that we're Striving for each and every day, right? Maybe the goal is to get healthy or to get fit, right? And we're focused on the positive connotation of the goal, not the negative, not the, I'm fat and I need to lose weight and I have a negative self, you know, body talk and body image. But rather than focus on what you need to lose, and again, a state of lack is what that creates, we focus on the positive and what can I gain? So, versus I need to quit eating Oreos, which, if you know me, you know I'm addicted to them. Instead, it's, I'm going to add drinking more water. I'm going to add 30 minutes of exercise to my day, right? I'm going to add this new healthy habit. So when we know what those are and we know we're on track, we've got these goals that we want to achieve throughout the day. Maybe it's, you know, we know that we're struggling with productivity and we know we need to get rid of social media. We need to put our phones down. So. So we think about question number two, which is, what could trip me up today? What could trip me up today? And when we think about that, we go, okay, let's mitigate what might get in our way. So let's say it is I scroll social media and I see a post of a competitor or whatever, someone I don't like, and it puts me in this negative frame of mind. And now I'm playing defense, okay, so maybe it's, I need to, like, snooze that person on social media. Or maybe I need to align myself with an hour of social media at lunch, an hour of social media in the afternoon, But I can't have it open. Like, other than that the phone has to be off and it has to be locked away somewhere or my tabs all need to be closed. And I'm only focused on what I'm working on at this moment. So what is it we're trying to achieve? And then what might trip us up today? And how do we mitigate that? How are we prepared and ready so that we start our day playing offense and not playing defense? Now, question number three, I love this question. Question number three is, who could I surprise today? Who could I surprise today? Who could I show gratitude to today? Because, you know, I've heard people say that you cannot be living in a state of anxiety and fear and in a space of gratitude at the same time. It's physically impossible for our brains and our emotions to go both Places at once. And so yes, we hear about journaling gratitude journals, you know, starting your day in a space of gratitud but taking that one step further and physically, who can I surprise today? Who can I reach out to and touch today? That's a whole new level. You guys have been in the Starbucks drive thru when either the person in front of you buys a drink for you, right. And they pay it forward or you buy a drink for someone behind you, right? The other day I was in a Starbucks drive thru and I have to tell you what happened. This is the craziest thing. There was a police officer behind me and so I went through the drive through and I said I rolled down my window, made my order and as I was done I said, there's an officer behind me, can I please pay for his order? And the woman, the barista smiled at me and she's like, you know, she said, I have to tell you, he already paid for yours. So funniest thing, like I went to buy this gentleman a drink and he had already, when he was making his order say that he was going to buy mine. So the coolest thing happens when you ground yourself in this place of gratitude and physically paying it forward for somebody today. So the third question is who can you surprise today? Who can you show love to today? Because we all know that we get what we give tenfold and when we give to someone from this pure place of gratitude that comes back to us tenfold. So the three questions, what am I excited about today? What might trip me up today? And who can I surprise today? I really wanted to share those three questions with you guys today because a part of what we are doing this year with the 2021 Boutique Boss Planner is we are launching a whole set of tear off sheets that go along with the planner. So things that just keep you on track each and every morning. And so it was from the space of those three questions, again, thanks Brendon Burchard for giving those to me. It was the space of those three questions that really was the starting point for one of the tear offs that we created this year. And then we took it a step further and added little bit more to the tear off. So we created, if you check it out on BoutiqueBossPlanner.com or the BoutiqueBoss Store.com There's a gratitude daily gratitude tear off and I've got to grab it so I have it in front of me. But on this gratitude tear off it starts by asking these very questions. So the very first space on this tear off is today's date. Obviously it says grateful vibes, so grateful Vibes Taroff. And it says today I am grateful for. And it is, what am I excited about today, right? What's going to happen today? What am I looking forward to today? All those things. And it's got five spaces, although you could probably write a lot more than that. Now, the second space on this tear off sheet is another little strategy I want to give you when it comes to productivity. Because the reason for this strategy, which I'm going to tell you in just a second, is this. So often I don't know if you guys are list makers, like I'm a list maker, but it is so easy to start a list of all the things you need to do today. And it gets really long, right? Or maybe it's the weekly to do list and you just keep listing things and you get to the end of the day and you're like, dang, what did I do today? Like, what did I even accomplish anything on my list? And we start to judge ourselves based on what we did or did not accomplish on the list and it becomes like a never ending trap. We can never get out of the stupid to do list and it just begins to cause more anxiety. To do lists are created to help us achieve something and be productive, right? Which should, you know, should build good feelings, not anxiety. But because we are so used to adding to that stupid to do list and not knowing what we accomplish at the end of the day that it gives us more anxiety and holds us back right from what we could have accomplished in the first place. So a friend of mine gave me this strategy and she said, hey Ashley, why don't you, you know, there's a to do list strategy which I'm going to tell you guys about in a bit. But she said, flip it this way and make a to done list. So. So at the end of the day, before you walk away from your desk, before you go home, before you go to your kids, whatever it is, write down what did you accomplish today? And so the first time I started to do this, I started to write this down and I was like, hot dang, I got a lot done today that I didn't even realize. It was things that came up. The team needed me to do this project or I needed to reach out to somebody or this collaboration popped up, or we got this wild idea and we ran with it. And every day that I did this, at the start, I was always amazed that I accomplished far more than I had ever written on my to do list in the first place. So on this tear off sheet, the second question is this. What are the goals I crushed today so that you can end the day in gratitude, just like you started the day in gratitude and you can physically see what you did accomplish. So you end the day on a high vibe, right? On such a high note, knowing that you had the best day possible. And it's also kind of counteracting that question number two of what could trip me up today, right? It's proving to you that you didn't get tripped up and you actually accomplished a lot today. Now, going back to this, I'm going to come back and I want to tell you in a little bit more about my to do list strategy. It's called a four part to do list. I'll highlight that in just a second. The third space on the Grateful vibes tear off that I want to talk to you about is that question number three, who did I surprise today? And so the space on the tear off says, who did I help People I helped today. So you can physically list out whose lives did you touch? Because you guys, I know you, I know that you are not in this business just to sell products, right? You're not a clothes flipper, you're a brand builder. And you are here for a much bigger why and purpose. We all have an opportunity with the platforms. We are given in this business to be people of influence. And we can influence them for the positive or we can influence them for the negative. So I know every day part of you in selling clothes to women, to men, to children, whoever it is you sell to, it's the fact that you get to touch lives every single day that makes a huge impact on the world around you. And so when I think about people you help today, it could be your team, it could be customer service, it could be someone that is an old friend that you decided to reach out to. But reminding yourself, physically putting that name down and thinking about how could you be a blessing to their life today? Or how were you a blessing to their life today? Makes a huge difference at the end of the day. And finally, the fourth part on the Grateful vibes to do list is the plan for tomorrow. So it's got three dots. What are three things you're planning for tomorrow? So you feel like when you come in tomorrow, you can again check on this quick little tear off sheet and see where you want to start the day of focus tomorrow. So I hope that's helpful for you. Again, this is something you guys could do in your notebook each and every day or you could use this grateful vibes tear off to just help get your day started on the right foot mentally. Because we all know when we are having a great mental day, when we feel like we're on our game. We can do so much more in business, right? We can touch people in a whole new way. We can accomplish so much more. So much more to be had in business when we get it started that way. Now the second strategy I want to share with you today on the podcast goes back to to do lists. Because I get asked this question a lot and if you've been around the hub for any given period of time, this is a strategy I teach quite often because like I was saying, this to do list can be just like a never ending beast. I've got a million trello boards for this very reason. So I just want to share with you a couple of productivity hacks that I learned along the way. This is a strategy that I created from scratch. They're seem to help me and I hope that it helps you too. And this is called a four part to do list. So each week rather than or each day rather than sitting down and just having this massive to do list that I'm working off of, I break it down like this. I start with list number one. List number one is a list of things that I have to accomplish each and every week. So I know these are things that it's, you know, whether it's me or things I need to work on the team with. So social media scheduling, working with vendors, shipping, receiving, hanging, tagging, merchandising, team meetings, right? Payroll, accounting, knowing our inventory numbers and our financials and our ratios and all the things that are happening. Those things are given and they have to do. We have to do them every week. So we're just taking up precious space on our to do list when we put that garbage on there, right? And if we're just leaving it up to whim, like when am I going to get these things done this week there's a chance we're going to miss something that's going to be really critical to our business. And so this idea, this list number one is moving us into a space of time blocking, which I'll tell you more about in just a little bit. But I take it list number one, it's a given. It has to have a standing date on our calendar that's always there and it's non negotiable. On Mondays we do social media. On Tuesdays it's photo shoot days. On Wednesdays it's vendor days, whatever that looks like for you. And your business is going to be completely different. There's no right or wrong way. You just have to find a space that it works for you. So list number one. List number two is what are my biggest rocks this week? So this week what do I know I can do? Create, be whatever that is actually going to move the needle forward in the business? What are income generating activities? Because when you really start to look at it, I am going to venture to guess when you look at your to do list, there's probably a lot of busy work on there. And not all of those pieces of busy work are actually going to result in you making more money or creating more space and freedom. At the end of the day, it's just things that you've committed to. I learned a lot about this list number two from a book I read called the One Thing by Gary Keller. It's an amazing book. I'll link it up in the show notes for you. But the premise of this book is this. There's this one question that we always have to ask ourselves. And that is, what is the one thing I could do today that is going to make the rest of my list either easier or unnecessary? And he probably says it a lot more eloquently than that, but it's a great book. I highly recommend you read it. And so big rocks really have to answer that question. For me, the big rocks have to be something that is going to move the needle that a year from now I'm going to look back and go yes, it was worth it to do that thing. And then we have to give ourselves grace to know where we can say no. Because saying no is a really big deal. And many of us, for whatever reason have been really conditioned in our upbringing or in society that we don't say no. Right? We're very agreeable. We want to make people happy, don't we? So we say yes and we over commit to all this stuff. So I started to make this game for myself. And this game is each and every week, what is one thing I can say no to? Like what's one thing I can eliminate off of my calendar this week and say no to? Every Sunday, every Monday, I identify what that thing is. And it feels so good because it's like I have this whole new space of time this hour that was gifted back to me that I can now create something beautiful with. All right, so list number three is the later list. And that's the things that keeps you up at night, the ideas that come in the middle of the night that you need to stash somewhere so they're out of your head and they're on paper and you can come back to them. And I love to use Trello for this list and I dump everything on Trello. List number four is what can I outsource? What can I outsource and ask for help on? Right? This list may start off small for you, but the more you move from entrepreneur to CEO, the more this list will grow. Because once you get yourself into CEO mindset, and I'm talking specifically, this isn't just for those of you that are doing multiple millions of dollars, this is for you that are struggling to do $20, you still have to think about yourself becoming a CEO of your business that values time more than money, right? That knows how to leverage time so you can get more time or leverage money so you can get more time. So investing in a babysitter, investing in someone to clean your house, investing in, you know, one part time girl to work two hours a week. I'm going to even say 15 bucks an hour, that's 30 bucks. Invest 30 bucks. When you get those two hours back, what is something you can do for two hours that's income generating that you can double your money on? Right? I invest 30 bucks for someone to do this XYZ thing. That takes it off my plate. I now have two hours of my time that I'm going to add an extra live sale into my business. How much money can I make with an extra live sell this week? And it might not just be live selling, it might be, you name it, it could be anything. But how can I leverage money to make more money and to create more time? That is really what a CEO is after at the end of the day. And that's what list number four is going to get you as you continue to use it over time, list number four will always be there. No matter what the size of your business is, there's always more ways to outsource and to ask for help. So that's the four part to do list. And again, that's something that we also created a tear off sheet so that each and every week you can come into your business and say, how can I be more productive this week? And you have the four part to do list ready to go. You can fill it out, tear it off and then start to time block with it. Which time blocking is a whole other topic. But the premise of time blocking is this, it's taking that list number one and overlaying it in your calendar so you know you have specific blocks of time throughout the entire week dedicated to these key tasks. I always like to say that you should start your time blocking with what's most important to you. And to me, that's family. So anything that has to do with like kids, basketball games or practices or going to the park or family night, date night, whatever it is, taking the kids, if I'm on pickup or drop off duty, which my husband and I share, that stuff goes on the calendar first and everything else works around it. And then I know I have the time where I'm most productive. Amy Porterfield used to call this tiger time. I've got to give her credit. I think it's brilliant and I love it. So it's now my tiger time. I know I'm most productive and creative from 8 to 10 in the morning. So I never take meetings from those hours of the day. Very rare that I would have a meeting before 10 because that's when I'm working on my list number two where I'm most productive. So that tiger time goes on my list next. Then with the gaps then I can fill in what are my actual blocks of time from list number one that have to be done every week? My non negotiables. Social media happens on Mondays and financial reviews happen on Fridays and team things happen on Tuesdays. All these things fall into place on my calendar. And then I always try to schedule flexible time throughout the day where it becomes kind of my placeholder for catching up on messages and social media because that is a whole nother animal that eats our time. Someone once told me that an email inbox is a holding place for other people's agendas. And I was like, man, there has never been a truer statement made. And it's so easy to start our day off with answering emails because it feels like that dopamine hit of we're accomplishing something, right? So really answering emails shouldn't happen until noon. Answering social media messages shouldn't happen until after 10 when you've gotten your to do list done, because that's a black hole that can suck us in. And we do it for two hours and then we go, what did I really accomplish today, right? I answered a crap ton of social media messages. So put those things in your calendar, give yourself space for answering messages whether it's at noon or in the afternoon to end your day, whatever it is, but don't start your day with those things. That can be such a drain on your time. All right, guys, the last thought I want to leave you with today is this. It's so common today to hear the word busy, right? Everybody's busy. Doesn't matter. If you're a stay at home mom, you're busy. If you are working two jobs, you're busy. If you're a business owner, everybody's busy. The question is for your particular situation and the goals you have set for yourself. Are you busy doing the right things? Everything comes down to that. You know, I have a love hate relationship with the quote that you have the same 24 hours as Beyonce. Because yeah, you do. You've got 24 hours. But Beyonce's got some resources to use to leverage those 24 hours with, right? So how are you going to be smart and leverage your 24 hours? Are you going to be busy with the right things or are you going to leave each day up to how you're feeling that day and what you're hoping you accomplish? Or are you actually going to make a plan and time, block it and set it out and set the intention for it and create that positive habit from the very beginning of the week on. All I'm asking you to do, I guess when you listen to this is, is set a personal boundary for yourself of what are you willing to commit to, what are you not willing to commit to, and where do you think you can have the most growth in your productivity just by setting some boundaries and some healthy habits around your time. So, guys, I hope these tips were helpful to you. If you had a particular tip or strategy that you thought was great, shoot me a message over on Instagram ajalderson and I would love to hear more about it.

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