Turning Good Intentions into Reality in Your Career, Business and Life
Last year, Shane and David shared techniques they use to manage their day, take care of their to-do lists, and achieve their goals.
As we wrap up another year, we wanted to share these techniques with you! [Read more…] about 13 Ways to Better Manage Your Time
Meet Dave Adamson…an Australian sports reporter, online pastor, photographer, YouTuber and podcast host. You might be asking…how can one person be all those things? It’s surprisingly simple: Dave has designed his life and schedule to allow him to say yes to most things. And he does so without sacrificing his sanity or time at home with his family. If you’re a multi-passionate creative or entrepreneur, this podcast is for you. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Welcome to Episode 79 of The Launch Youniversity Podcast.
1. Hack your own schedule.
A trick Dave picked up from Carey Nieuwhof (listen to Carey on our podcast here!) is to work with your natural wiring, not fight against it. For instance, if you’re a morning person…wake up really early. If you’re a night owl…sleep in so you aren’t exhausted every evening. Learn what schedule works best for you and adjust your plans around it.
2. Limit your time in email.
It’s too easy to become slaves to our phones. We hear the notification bell, and we’re checking and replying on autopilot. Dave was spending so much time in email that he decided to treat his inbox like his actual mailbox: checking it once at the end of the day. With this newly-allocated email time in the evenings, he stays more focused and productive during the day.
3. Do you need to add or remove buoys?
Imagine a lap pool with buoys dividing the swim lanes. Their purpose is to keep the swimmers in line so they can focus on swimming their fastest lap. Buoys can be really helpful, narrowing our focus and keeping us on track. But sometimes, like in Dave’s life, it’s okay to remove the buoys and free swim for a bit. Deciding to free swim means Dave can be an online pastor, podcast host, sports reporter, photographer, YouTuber and a list of other things. It’s about deciding what it is you really want and designing your pool to match.
Busy? Probably.
Too busy to pursue your passionate idea? Not necessarily.
Sometimes, all you need to do is refine your approach. Give these four tips some consideration as you work to seize control of your time. [Read more…] about How to Find Time to Work on Your Idea
This episode originally aired on 01/26/2017
This week, Launch Youniversity is honored to be joined by Carey Nieuwhof. Carey is someone who people might look at and think “how does he do it all?“. Carey serves as a Senior Pastor at Connexus Church in Toronto. He has a blog with several million readers. He writes and publishes books. He has a top leadership podcast with millions of downloads. And. last year he launched an online course called The High Impact Leader.
But the thing is, Carey will be the first to tell you that he isn’t Superman. However, has learned to master his energy and schedule. Through all of his experience launching, Carey has more than a few words of wisdom to share with the Launch Youniversity listeners. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did.
Parenting Beyond Your Capacity: Connect Your Family to a Wider Community (The Orange Series) by Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof
Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow by Carey Nieuwhof
Carey’s The High Impact Leader Course
The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast
Carey’s Blog
Carey’s Facebook
Carey’s Twitter
Carey’s Instagram
1. You don’t need a million dollars or 1,000 people to launch.
You’ve heard it before: Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress. When you’re launching something new, getting started is half the battle. We tell ourselves lies and excuses like “I don’t have the right equipment” or “I don’t have an audience yet” when the truth is: The most important thing you can do is start. Carey started his blog from scratch with a clear goal—get 100,000 readers within a year—and a $79 blog template. When he committed to consistency, he was shocked at how his blog grew to just under 1 million readers in a year. Starting (and staying consistent) wins every time.
2. Don’t despise small beginnings.
We’ve said it on the podcast before: If you wait until your product is ready for launch… you’re probably launching too late. It’s okay to take an idea or product and share it before it’s perfect. See how people react, take their feedback into consideration and continue to fine-tune things. This is why The Launch Sequence is cyclical, not linear.
3. Do what you’re best at when you’re at your best.
There’s an equal number of hours per day. but not all hours are equal. Carey found that his optimal time to get his writing done is first thing in the morning. For Carey, he learned that if he writes a blog post at 8am, it will be better content than if he had tried to write it in the afternoon or at night. Consider your strengths and then consider the time of day that you work best. When you combine those two things together, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
Having the right ideas is the fun (and easy!) part. Putting those into action is where the hard work starts. David, Jeff and Kevin are on the podcast today talking about the lessons and best practices that have helped them move their ideas and dreams into plans, and those plans into action.
Welcome to episode 47 of the podcast.
1. You calendar can be more than your list of obligations. Let it be your plan.
Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and thought “I don’t even know what I did today?” Not because you weren’t busy, but because you didn’t have a plan. And because you didn’t have a plan, you went from obligation to obligation without being able to check anything meaningful off of your to-do list.
To solve this problem, every four weeks David does a deep-dive into his calendar. Yes, he blocks out things like vacation time and meetings, but what about the things that often get pushed aside when you get busy? Like working out, cooking dinner, or even spending time with your kids or spouse. When you make a plan for how you’re going to spend your time and schedule it, you have instant accountability to know what you need to be doing and when. It helps you prioritize the things you care about, see any gaps of free time and feel like you’re actually accomplishing what you want to.
2. Still no time? Determine where you’re overcommitting.
Make it mathematical. If you’re trying to base it on projects or causes you care about, you’ll always be overcommitted. Figure out how many hours you want to ideally be spending with family, on work, and in recreation. Then, based on those numbers, figure out how many extra hours of free time you have. If you find that you have 8 hours of free time per month, but are involved in your local chamber of commerce that eats up 25 hours a month… something has to give. Lay everything out on the table, make it mathematical, and then cut back.
3. Strategic Relationships
When we’re busy taking care of action steps, we can forget about the people. Who are the strategic people you need to focus on when you’re planning out our week or month? Spouse, child, co-worker, peer networking? Don’t forget about the people.
Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality by Scott Belsky
