Paula Rizzo shares four productivity habits from grandparents: checking email in batches, waking earlier, using physical lists for shopping, and meal planning with leftovers. She credits her grandmother's napkin lists and her husband's grandmother's email routine as inspiration for ditching phone distraction.
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Hey there, I'm Paula Rizzo. Welcome to Inside Scoop. I have a little confession to make. The Golden Girls is my favorite show. Absolutely favorite show. I just love it so much. I actually have made it part of my routine in the morning where I put on a couple episodes when I first wake up just to put me in sort of a nice good mood. I find it so funny and charming and hysterical. And I actually, I met Betty White one time. I was a producer at Fox News Channel in New York City, and Betty was there promoting her movie The Proposal. And so I, my co-workers and I, we actually heard that she was going to be in the building. We bought some t-shirts. Do you see my t-shirt there? It says Stay Golden. So we were all wearing these these amazing t-shirts, and we stalked her in the green room. And the anchor of the show saw all of us, and she said, you know what, like, you young women, you love Betty White, you need to be a part of this segment. And we were on TV, we were on Fox and Friends with Betty White. It was really, it was such a thrill to be able to, to meet her and hang out with her. And, you know, um, but, you know, senior ladies are having quite a moment right now, uh, you know, between not only great TV and all that, but also with the trending coastal grandma style. Have you heard of this? But there's so much more that your grandma can offer you beyond cool TV and great looks. Also, productivity. Mm-hmm. You didn't know that I was going to take that turn and go there, did you? Yes, productivity. There are things that your grandparents probably have done for years that's actually very productive and we're not doing because we're just constantly on our phones. And so I'm going to share with you today 4 ways that being more like your grandma will help you to be more productive. But first, I have a free resource for you, my list-making starter kit, which you can grab if you go to listproducer.com/list. Uh, you can check that out to be more organized and efficient. And I'm also a LinkedIn Learning instructor, and I have several courses that will help you in all areas of your life, whether you're working in a hybrid environment or remote environment. Uh, and one of those courses is The Power of Lists to Get Stuff Done. There's a QR code right there that you can click on, and, um, it'll take you right there to the course to be able to get even more done than ever before with lists. And I want to hear from you throughout this program. So if you're watching, leave some questions, leave some comments below. I'll be checking for those and tag a friend. If you have a friend who you think could use a little bit of, you know, grandma productivity style, tag them below and we'll go through the 4 top tips that I have to be even more efficient than you ever thought, grandma style. All right. So number 1 is to check your email in Batches. This is super important because email takes over our lives, right? It's the thing that we're constantly looking at and it takes you away from what you're doing. You get pulled into it and then, and then you never get anything else done. However, I will never forget my husband's grandmother. She would not check email for days, which maybe that's not the most productive way to do things, but she only did it at certain times. Like she would do it first thing in the morning and then she would probably do it, you know, then like 2 or 3 days later. Not great. In the afternoon. So for you, think about that. Is there a way for you to not be checking email constantly and instead to do it in batches? Even if you think about, hey, I'm going to do it, you know, in the morning when I first sit down to my desk, 10:00 AM, whatever. Give yourself a little bucket of time, a half hour to scan through and do it, and then maybe look again in the afternoon. I even know someone who actually puts up an out of office that says that she does not check email between X time and Y time. So that you're able to set expectations for those people who have sent you emails that you're not looking at it right now, that you're going to do this in batches and that you will get to it when you get to it. So that's something to think about. There's also something called the Stack Method, which is really great. I actually did an entire— this is not a course, an entire show on how to do that with the guy who invented it. So if you go to thestackmethod.com, stackmethod.com. You can check that out. And it's actually the way that I manage my email now. It makes it much, much easier. But email in batches, it really, really works. It is grandma approved. OK, number 2 is to wake up earlier. Grandmas love to be up. Early bird gets the worm, as they say. I have not adapted to this so much, but my producer who's behind the scenes right now, Allie, and I did a whole show about this. Uh, there she is, because she loves the morning, that girl. She just loves it. She loves to get up. She loves to just do things super, super early and has made herself a morning person, which you can absolutely do. And the reason she did that was because she wanted to get more done. She's a film writer also, and so she wanted to work on some of her films, uh, screen, you know, screenplays and things like that. So she found that if she got up earlier before anyone else, before people started to disturb her that she was able to get those things done and really capture the day. So as an honorary grandma, Allie, I applaud you. You are number 2 of the grandma productivity tips to get up earlier to get things done. Also, before we move on to the next one, there's a wonderful writer. Her name is Kate White and I follow her. She was the editor-in-chief of Cosmo magazine for many, many years and now she is a Um, she, now she's an author. She writes mystery novels, which I really like. And for her too, she would wake up super, super early when she was working at Cosmo and she would work on her novels. And that is how she found that she was able to get things, to get things done. So there you have it. Two very successful people making that work. Uh, hacking your shopping trip. That is number 3 for us. Okay. So how many of you go to, uh, anywhere without a list? I don't love hearing that. You know me, I love a good list. So here's how I handle the shopping list. I have a list, physical paper, I still like, and I have a piece of paper in my kitchen. And the second I know I need something, it goes on the list because I know that if I do not write it on that list, it will be gone from my brain and I will not do it. So you have to have a capture system. It can be, you know, maybe you want to use the Notes app, maybe you want to use some sort of app, whatever it is, but just have that be a thing that you do immediately. So that it's on the list and you know exactly where to find it. It's in the same place every single time. Now, my grandma loved lists for grocery shopping, although hers was on the back of like a napkin or something that then she would shove into her purse. I don't know if that was the best thing, but at least points for writing things down, so that's good. So definitely hack your shopping trip. And the fourth way is more efficient cooking. Now, this is twofold for me. One is how can you figure out what you're eating every day so that you don't get hangry and upset that you have no lunch or dinner plans, right? So that you have actually sit down and thought through what am I eating every day. My husband hates that I do this because it kind of takes the joy out of spontaneity. But you know what? I don't like to be thinking about this. This is, this is a, you know, the meal plan part of my Life is annoying, but it's important to do it because then I know exactly what I'm doing when I don't have to waste brainpower at the end of the day when I've been working all day to think through now, what are we going to eat and what are we going to do? And you know, I don't want to order again and all that. So as much as I can, I try to work out the meal plan. And then the other part of this for me is how can you take something where maybe you're cooking once and making 2 meals out of it? I'm not so good at this, but I've been trying. My grandma was great at this. My mom is fantastic at this where we'll make one meal and then she'll say, "Okay, now we're going to also then turn this into tacos for the next day," or whatever. So being able to have leftovers that are not just leftovers and thinking through, there's so much stuff you can find on Pinterest about this. So if you're curious on how to do it, it really does make your life easier. But the thing is you have to plan for it, right? It's not like you're just going to be Iron Chef America right out of the bat and right out of the gate and know know exactly what you should do with those leftovers to turn them around and make them even more yummy. So those are 4 tips there from Grandma that will definitely make you more productive, definitely make you think things through a little bit differently, and I hope that they help. I hope that my story about Betty White sticks with you and you're able to get more done Grandma style. And before I go, I would just love to offer you up my checklist. There, my list to be, um, a list-making starter kit. If you go to paularizzo.com/list, you will get some templates from me, uh, to-do lists, packing lists, grocery list for now that you're hacking your shopping trip. Those are all there for you. And, uh, thanks so much for watching. I hope you join me next time.
