April 16, 2025 • 45 mins
Feeling overwhelmed, always busy, but still not making real progress in your business? You’re not alone, and you’re not failing. In this episode of The Bold Blueprint, Claire Bartlett is joined by accountability coach Toni Addinall to dig deep into the real reasons why time slips away, to-do lists never seem to end, and procrastination keeps getting in the way of your success.
If you’re ready to finally take back control of your time, beat the overwhelm, and start moving the needle on your big goals - this one’s for you.
💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:✅ How to manage your energy, not just your time, for better productivity ✅ The difference between a brain dump and an effective to-do list ✅ How to use the urgent-important matrix to prioritise with intention ✅ Why accountability is your secret weapon for consistent business growth ✅ Toni’s proven strategies for overcoming procrastination and getting unstuck ✅ The importance of self-awareness in productivity planning ✅ How setting specific deadlines creates motivation and momentum
🔥 Top Takeaways & Action Steps:🧠 Productivity starts with awareness – understand how and when you work best 📝 Use brain dumps to clear mental clutter, then turn it into a focused action list ⏳ Apply the urgent-important matrix to prioritise what truly matters 🎯 Set clear, non-negotiable deadlines to keep yourself on track 💬 Find accountability – whether through a coach, community, or trusted friend 🚀 Progress over perfection – action always wins over waiting for the “right” time
🎧 Why This Episode Is a Must-Listen:So many business owners fall into the trap of being busy but not productive. This conversation with Toni Addinall gives you the tools and mindset shifts you need to manage your time with purpose, ditch the guilt and chaos, and actually feel in control of your business again.
Whether you’re launching your next offer, juggling multiple projects, or simply trying to keep up, this episode is your permission slip to pause, plan, and power up.
📥 Bonus Freebie – Just for You:Want to implement Toni’s tips right away? 🎁 Download Claire’s free Sunday Scaries Guide to help you instantly reclaim the control of your time and get back in charge of your to do list: https://www.claire-bartlett.co.uk/sundayscaries705187
🔗 Resources & Guest Links:
✨ Connect with Toni Addinall → @toniaddinallstrategist
✨ Follow Claire Bartlett → @cs_bartlett ✨ Get Xero's incredible offer here: https://refer.xero.com/femalefounders
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Hi everyone and welcome back to this week's episode of the Bold Blueprint.
Today I am joined by Toni Adnall who is an accountability expert.
She is there to help you make progress and start moving your business forward.
So Toni, thank you so much for joining me today.
Thank you so much for having me Claire, I'm really looking forward to it.
Good.
(00:24):
Do you want to tell everyone a little bit more about what you do and how you help people?
Yes, so I'm an action and accountability coach.
And as you said, I love helping people take action and move forward and basically getstuff done.
There's a lot to do when you're running a business, especially if you're running it onyour own.
(00:46):
And sometimes there's the opportunity to feel a little bit overwhelmed.
And I think when we feel overwhelmed, we tend to put things off.
We tend to
lose focus a little bit, get distracted a little bit and try to do all of the thingsrather than focusing on the key things and the key priorities that are really going to
(01:09):
move us and our business forward and really make a difference.
what I love to do is help people do that.
Focus, prioritise, do the key things that are going to make the difference.
I love that and it is so important.
Like you say, when you're a business owner, especially when it's just you at the moment,you know, and you feel like you have to wear all of the hats and do all of the things, it
(01:30):
can be so overwhelming.
And there's been so many times where I've been sort of analysis paralysis, like where do Ineed to spend my time next?
There's so many things I could be doing.
So having someone like yourself to sort of hold your account and be like, no Claire, thisis where you need to be spending your time is, I think can be so critical, especially in
those early days.
(01:51):
So how did you, what's your sort of story?
How did you get into this space?
I'm going to go back a few years now, Claire.
I'm going to go back to 2000 and it will be 2002.
My first role within the Royal Bank of Scotland was as a team manager and I hadn't been inthat role for long and I managed the statements team.
(02:15):
So this is how long ago this was.
This was when your bank statement still came through the door in the post, but that bankstatement had actually been put into the envelope by somebody sat at a desk.
rather than by a machine.
Yeah, very much so.
So for very different reasons.
So these were customers who, for some reason, had a special statement.
(02:36):
So it was printed.
And the majority of them went out by the machines.
But it was the statements team that I was responsible for.
And again, it was in the world pre-email.
You had an email, but you didn't really check it.
The communications and things used to come around in like an orange folder and you used toread them and then sign that you've read them.
(02:58):
Show me a John.
Anyway, there was a project that they asked us to do.
Ultimately, they wanted to reduce the number of statements that we were sending manuallyand increase the ones that could be sent automatically make sense.
So that came to me.
And as the statements team manager,
(03:21):
and I put a project plan together and I spoke to the manager and understood what thebudget was for overtime, because we'd need overtime to do the actions, worked out all of
the actions that needed to happen to make this project happen within the time scale.
I created a project plan and then I managed it and we had pizza to keep the team motivatedwhen they were in after work.
(03:49):
And each day,
isn't it?
day I'd be ticking off, that's great, we've done that, we're one step closer, we're onestep closer.
And we delivered the project in time and it was actually really good for me being a newmanager of the team and getting to know the team better and there was a real sort of sense
of achievement on the team.
And I very soon realised afterwards that we were about the only team that had finished theproject.
(04:18):
there was some communication and the other teams either hadn't done it or they'd sort ofdone it halfway.
And that really surprised me.
was like, but you've just been given a project with a deadline.
Like why haven't you done it?
No, it blew my mind.
And so I'd recently only just graduated from university.
(04:40):
You've got deadlines for handing in.
assignments and essays and all of that kind of thing.
So it's like, this is a deadline.
It was given you're at work.
Why haven't you done it?
And that was one of the things that just made me think, actually, I love this.
I love this.
You start with an objective.
There's lots of stuff in the middle.
How do you make it?
(05:00):
How do you make it happen?
And within a couple of months, I ended up getting a job on a project management team.
And so I moved into project management, delivered a number of different projects.
That's where I realized my love for connecting and working with people.
Because when you're delivering a project, it's not just you.
(05:21):
You have to rely on other people to do things.
And so again, a plan, being accountable, taking the actions, understanding the challengesand all of the stuff that comes with that.
And so I did that until I left on maternity leave.
And then when I came back from maternity leave, I joined a brand new team.
(05:42):
that was responsible for developing and improving the performance of team managers to helpthem improve the performance of their team.
And that's when I started coaching.
And that was the start of a love for coaching.
And I was then able to combine the two things that I did, because the biggest problem thatthese team managers had when we first sat down with them was
(06:12):
time management and understanding what they needed to do, where was it important for themto spend their time for driving the performance of their team, what were the key things
that they needed to do.
And quite often they'd get in in the morning, log into email, get lost into email, andthen the rest of the day was like a blur.
(06:33):
And then they'd work until...
six, past six then they'd go home and then they'd do it all over again.
So I was able to combine this love of helping people be more focused, have priorities, bea lot more organised with their time with coaching.
And one of my, one of the things that really sticks out is I started working with somebodycalled Roger.
(06:55):
And when I sat down with him in his very first coaching session, we talking about what hewanted to achieve from our time together.
He had a two year old son.
And he said he would just love to be able to get home to put his two year old to bed.
And at the end of the coaching time that we had together and we were reviewing what he'ddone, he came to me with, he'd done a of a journey of his coaching and at the end of it,
(07:23):
he'd put a picture of him pushing his son on a swing in a park because he'd got to thepoint where he was managing his time and managing what he was doing and knowing
the key things that he needed to focus on.
He was leaving at five o'clock and for him that was everything and for me it waseverything too.
(07:43):
amazing.
And it just goes to show how much of a difference it can make.
I think when we talk about time management, because really, that is sort of the catalystto everything, isn't it?
How you manage your time, and how often we will say, Oh, yeah, we're busy, too busy, or wejust don't have the time.
But you will find the time for the things that you prioritize in your life.
(08:05):
And it is all about how you view these tasks, I suppose, and the importance of them, thepriority.
of them.
Oh, I nearly didn't get that word out of them.
And I think we put too much weight on things like emails.
Emails is a huge time sucker for everybody.
It's often the very first thing that people do when they come into the office in themorning.
(08:29):
And it was for me for a really long time.
And then actually I realized that the emails can sort of wait.
They don't need urgent responses.
If you go back to like the very beginning of being in business, I was checking my emailsat like 10 o'clock at night, like constantly checking my emails because the pressure I was
putting on myself to always be accessible, I suppose, to my clients.
(08:52):
And I thought that's what you needed to do for good client, client communication.
Actually, it just meant a severe lack of boundaries that I've had to really work hard toreinstate later on.
Now I check my emails twice a day.
one in the morning, but about 10 o'clock.
So once I've already got in and I've done some of the main tasks that need to be done,then I'll look at them.
(09:15):
And once after lunch, nothing dramatic has ever happened.
You know, it hasn't ever upset anybody, but it means there's more structure to my time andmy day.
And I also put a time limit on it.
So I don't, because they can so often take you down an absolute rabbit hole, can't they?
And that's the rest of your day.
So unless there's something absolutely urgent.
(09:37):
you spend half an hour going through your emails, replying to what you can.
Probably the biggest thing that made a difference to me though is turning off my emailnotifications.
So when it pops up in the corner of your screen or so-and-so's emailed you, and you'd belike, wonder what they want, and then you're gone.
So turning that off and just building a little bit of structure to the emails made such adifference.
(10:00):
Are there any other sort of little tips like that that you can say to just help?
during the day, every day today, to help free up a bit more time for the bigger project.
So that's a key one distractions.
And when I was coaching those team managers, that tended to be the main distraction wasthat pop up in the bottom corner in today's world now with our phones and the
(10:28):
notifications that are on there.
So thinking about turning those notifications off everywhere and the do not disturbfunction on a phone is great.
But the...
The distractions are one thing because we allow ourselves to be distracted.
But it's thinking about how we want to use our time in the first place.
(10:49):
Because quite often we just give our time away and we don't necessarily think about howcan we use our time in the most effective way.
So we'll think, OK, tomorrow I need to check my emails.
I need to respond to those clients.
I need to
(11:11):
send out an email, set up a funnel, whatever it is.
And we just have this long list of things in our head.
And the first thing that we can start to do is actually move away from a to-do list.
So I'm quite anti to-do list.
Like they've got their place.
(11:32):
I think they work really well if you've got four or five things that you can focus on andget done in about a 20 to
25 minute period.
And so you just stick on a timer, one, two, three, four, five, done.
It gives you such a boost.
It's like, yes, I've been productive, not just as you say, busy.
I can see that I've achieved something.
(11:54):
That's great.
But if we try to plan our day based on a list of things to do, for a start, when we get tothe end of the day, we've probably added another between five or 10 things to the list.
we may have crossed two or three things off, but if we've added five, we've got two morethings than we had when we started with in the first place.
(12:14):
And so from a mindset and that sort of perspective of what have I achieved today?
And then you think, well, I've been working since eight o'clock, it's six o'clock now,I've ticked three things off of my to-do list.
So being a lot smarter with...
with your time and actually thinking about how much time you've got and managing your timeis absolutely the first thing.
(12:44):
So scrapping your to-do list and creating a plan for your day.
What's your focus for the day?
What are the key things that you want to achieve?
And then scheduling them in.
And there's two things that I talk about there.
We don't often think about how long something's going to take us.
(13:04):
And if we do, we tend to underestimate it.
Always takes longer than you think.
Always.
Yeah.
takes longer.
And quite often that's because the things that we put on our to-do lists can be projectsas well, rather than tasks.
So it can be create a new lead magnet, for example.
OK, there's quite a lot of steps that's involved in creating a new lead magnet.
(13:26):
So if you think you can do that in like an hour and a half, if you can, great, get intouch with me because that'd be cool.
So we've got these big things.
So how long does it need for that task and being realistic about the time?
And then something that I really think benefits to think about is what's the energy that Ineed to bring to that task?
(13:49):
So let's say it is creating a new lead magnet and there's an element of creativity thatyou want to bring there because you want it to be engaging, you want it to be informative,
you want it to be useful to your audience and valuable.
So there's the creative energy that you need to bring.
How creative you might feel at four o'clock in the afternoon versus nine o'clock in themorning, for example, can have a real impact then on the energy that you can bring to it.
(14:19):
I certainly feel a lot brighter in the morning and sort of brain firing a lot more in themorning.
So if there's something creative, then I'd like to do that in the morning.
But as you say, we tend to do the easy things, the checking the email, the habitual thingsfirst, and then
time takes over and then it's like, I need to do this now.
(14:40):
I want to do this today, but my creative energy levels are a lot lower than they were.
So really thinking how much time do you need and what energy do you want to bring to thatand scheduling in at that time and then turn off the distractions.
It might be a change of environment is needed.
(15:01):
Many people, I know this is part of the reason that I
chose to start my business was have that flexibility, that opportunity to do thingsdifferently, not to be tied to a desk from nine to five.
And so if you're going to tie yourself to a desk from nine to five, what are you gettingout of it?
(15:22):
So if going and working in a cafe is going to fill you up and the energy of people in theroom, thinking about how you can best make use of your time and your energy.
to achieve those key things that you want to focus on.
Yeah, I love that.
And I don't think I've ever really considered the energy perspective before.
(15:42):
What I do know, I've learned a lot about myself through being in business.
And some days, you know, I am so fired up and I'm ready to go and I feel like I could takeon the world and other days, I'm just, it's just enough that I've got up and, know, so
I've learned to respect that about myself, I think, and decide on what tasks I can handlethat day and what I can't.
(16:03):
But I've never really thought about sort of
the timings in the day and thinking about specific tasks.
I think that's a really, really great tip.
And there's certain tasks I know.
So for instance, social media, when I'm coming up with the content, I tend to prefer to becurled up on the sofa with my laptop in a much more relaxed environment to do that than
(16:24):
sitting at my desk.
So I suppose it's a bit of a learning, isn't it?
Thinking about you and what is going to work best for you.
Try things out and see what the results are.
really important, hugely important because there are so many tools and techniques that youcan use, particularly for time management, but it's about making them work for you and
(16:45):
quite often I think we're at risk of trying something because somebody said, do this itworks really well and then we try it and it doesn't work for us and then rather than
thinking, okay that technique just isn't for me for whatever reason.
We think, what's wrong with me?
(17:06):
It's worked for them.
Why doesn't it work for me?
So we internalize that rather than going, okay, right, that didn't work.
I need to try something else and acknowledging that we are all unique and we work indifferent ways.
And to your point, there are gonna be days you're gonna wake up, perhaps you have plannedyour day.
(17:30):
I love a plan.
I can tell that about you.
what tomorrow has got in store or what you need to achieve just means you can completelycut off.
And whatever you choose to watch on the television that night, you can completely diveinto that because your brain's not going, oh, hang on a minute, I forgot, I need to do
(17:51):
that, I need to do this, I need to do that.
So I think that that creates some real space in your mind to just relax.
But then if you then wake up the next day, particularly when you're a business owner, it'sbit more difficult when you're employed and you've got stuff that you need to do.
If you're a business owner, you wake up and you look at your plan and you think, I'm notfeeling that today, then change it, mix it up, do what works for you.
(18:18):
Because if you try and force it to happen, again, going back to energy, you're just notgoing to give it your all.
And then that will probably come out in terms of
the whatever the work is at the end.
Yeah, or you won't, you won't do it.
And then again, you'll beat yourself up because you've not because you've not done it.
(18:40):
So a lot of it comes to self awareness and really understanding what works for you.
Yeah, I think a big word there would be procrastination, which is something that we allsuffer with.
You know, I could probably win an award for procrastination, to be fair.
If there's something on one of those days that I know I've got to do that day, but I'mjust really not feeling it, I will find absolutely anything and everything to do in its
(19:05):
place.
think I had, who was it?
think it was Dani Wallace came on the podcast and we were talking about this and she said,my children know.
if there's something really big that I'm putting off because I'll be cleaning.
And she said, I absolutely hate cleaning and I never ever do it.
We have a cleaner, but if there's something really big that I'm trying to avoid, then Iwill be getting the duster out and the children are always like, are you okay?
(19:29):
And it's funny though, isn't it?
Cause we will do something that we hate, that doesn't even need doing in replacement ofthe big things, the scary things or the things that we just don't have the energy for that
day.
Absolutely.
I remember in my second year at university and I was doing, I think it was occupationalpsychology.
(19:50):
I think the textbook was yellow.
I was sat on my bed in my room and I can't remember if I was revising for an exam orstudying to do an assignment.
Either way, I wasn't feeling it.
I then spent the next hour looking for my passport.
I didn't have a holiday booked, I didn't need my passport for identification, I didn'tneed anything.
(20:14):
And I can remember being in that room searching through the drawers for a passport.
Yeah.
Yeah.
One thing I do have to discuss here with you now, though, you've just said you hate ato-do list.
I don't know how I could function without my to-do list, but I don't call it a to-do list.
(20:38):
It's more of a brain dump for me.
And I think it's similar to what you're saying.
You know, at the end of the day, I can, I will get everything out of my brain, especiallyat the end of the week.
so I can go into the weekend completely clear.
Because my brain is always on the go with a million things that need to do that I need toremember, know, things that I've got to, emails I've got to send or I really must phone so
(21:02):
and so back.
And it's about life admin as well.
It's not just in business.
So the only way I can handle that is doing a complete and utter brain dump.
And that's where it is then a mixture of really very quick and simple things like sendingan email.
to massive projects, so it is a complete jumble.
how do you balance between not having that to-do list or just having those top three tofive things and having this complete and utter brain dump that everything is on business
(21:31):
and personal, like it's a complete clear out?
Yeah.
getting everything out of your head.
Because if it's out of your head, it frees you up to be completely present in the momentwith your family, with your friends on the weekend.
And it's that rest that we absolutely need.
(21:52):
So I'm all for that.
And to-do lists, they've got their place.
It's great to know what you need to do, but managing your day according to your to-dolist.
Okay, yeah.
the most effective way you can use your time because if you wake up on a Tuesday andyou've got a great big long list of things to do and you just think right okay so it's
(22:17):
Tuesday I'm just going to work through my to-do list there's lots of things that that canhappen there first of all you can just get so overwhelmed with the great big brain dump
that you've done that you start cleaning your kitchen when the cleaners come in the nextday because you just don't
because you don't even know where to start because there's so much on there.
Or you will go for all of the easy stuff, pick off all of the easy stuff and then once allof the easy stuff's got done and it's three o'clock in the afternoon, you've got no energy
(22:48):
and you're looking at...
Okay, I'll move that on to tomorrow's list.
So for me, it's around having that brain dump, being really clear on all of the thingsthat you need to do, but then turning it into a plan and being really conscious and
(23:10):
intentional.
Intentional, think, is a key word.
Being really intentional with your time.
How are you going to spend your time?
How are you going to build that in?
Where are the priorities?
What's the focus?
And then that aligns to your goals as well.
Because if we're just ticking easy stuff off of a to-do list and just going down the list,then there may be the things that, yeah, they need to get done possibly.
(23:39):
They may be important.
They may not be.
but they may not be aligned to ultimately our goals.
And then quite quickly, if we do that, we can get to the end of the week, we've beenreally busy and we've ticked a lot of stuff off of our to-do list, but how much further
have we moved towards those goals and towards our strategy of what we want to achieve inour business?
(24:03):
And that's when I think people then have that natural answer of, it's been really busy.
rather than being able to say, I've had a really effective week and I've made progresstowards achieving X goal.
Yeah.
So the way that I handle it is I'll pick out three to five, probably things that I'm like,okay, those are top priority for me now.
(24:27):
Those are the things that I really need to get done.
And that there'll be a whole host of reasons.
It'd be a deadlines coming up.
So that has to be done or something that I know is really important to moving my businessforward to the goals or something that I
just really excited to do and looking forward to.
And I try and have a bit of a blend of everything.
(24:48):
I'm trying to remember it.
I can't remember the model in my head, but there's four squares where it's urgent andimportant.
Yeah, I use that a lot.
Urgent and important, important, not urgent, urgent, not important, or not urgent and notimportant.
And I loved it when I learned this because it's so good.
(25:08):
When I've done this brain dump and I can have like,
a hundred things on this list.
And I can go through and be like, actually, that's not urgent.
And it's not important.
I can just forget it.
Like, let's just clear it down and having a sort of system to it.
And there's so many different ways.
I'm sure there's different ways that you teach depending on the person as well.
But I think being able to have some sort of strategy behind it and then helping you pickout with intention the things that are important and are going to move your business
(25:36):
forward, I think is really key because as business owners,
like you say, there are a million things that we could do every day, but it's which onesare actually going to make a difference to your business.
It's hard, isn't it, to figure out sometimes.
Absolutely.
And I love the urgent important matrix.
(25:59):
it's sometimes called the Eisenhower matrix.
It's got different names.
think there's another name that escapes me right now.
The way that I've used the urgent important matrix in the past is
usually at that stage of exactly how you've used it there with a great big brain dump.
(26:23):
And going back to those team managers that I've coached in the past when they're workingwith their team, there'd normally be about eight team managers that we'd be working with
at one time.
And they are all relatively doing the same thing.
And so we'd bring them all together and we'd get them to think about everything that theyneed to do as a team manager.
(26:50):
And then break that down onto the urgent, important matrix.
And then it's thinking about, OK, exactly like you've said, what stuff can we get rid of?
What do we not need to do anymore?
But then there is always stuff that isn't important or urgent to us, but still needs toget done.
So then there's a question of
(27:10):
Can you delegate that to somebody as a business owner?
Is that something that you can outsource?
So it starts to ask you those questions as well.
Because sometimes it can be important to somebody else, but if it's not important to you,then it quite quickly becomes urgent because you need to deliver it for that other person.
(27:32):
So these things can move around these boxes really quite quickly.
So identify where they go.
Think about delegating.
Think about outsourcing.
what then the key things that you need to do.
And then we would then create from there something which was called a diallo, which is aday in the life of.
And you can extend that to be in a while and a mile, a week in the life of and a month inthe life of.
(27:58):
And so with these team managers, then we could identify all of the actions that they haveto do on a daily basis in terms of reporting that needed to be done, work allocation.
all of those kind of things.
And then we could start to map those into a dialogue or a while around where that needs tobe done.
(28:21):
And then the rest of key thing there, not being back to back, giving some white space.
And that's a key problem that people fall into quite often is going from one meeting tothe next meeting, sort of back to back to back.
How can you build some time in between so that you're protecting your energy?
(28:45):
So you can eat, so you can go to the toilet, so you can drink.
So, no.
I cannot do back to back meetings.
I just can't do it.
And I know that.
So I'm really strict with my diary with that for sure.
And that's what's really important going back to that self-awareness piece.
There's just such a piece around really connecting with how you want to work, especiallyas a business owner.
(29:08):
It's up to you.
How you want to work is your choice.
100 % I have to just make clear here though, I have been in business for 10 years and allof these things that I say, I don't do now I 100 % did in the beginning.
Like, it took me time to put these boundaries in place for sure.
And understand actually the importance of them and the impact it was having on me.
(29:29):
But when you do start becoming aware of them, listen to yourself and make those changes.
Because it's not just a better way of doing that one thing actually it positively impacts
everything in your business and personally as well.
yeah, it's really important.
And I think your point there is nobody teaches us this stuff.
(29:51):
So we go from school where we've got a timetable and where we're told where we need to beand when to work, where actually in most instances when you start, work is probably given
to you by a manager and your time is managed.
(30:12):
And then the moment you move into a manager position, you're like that.
Okay, so for a start, I haven't been told how to manage people.
I don't know how to do that.
I know how to do the job.
So there's always the temptation to do that.
But in terms of managing my time, it's now my responsibility to manage my time and managethe time of my team.
(30:36):
I don't know where to start with that.
it's not at all, we're not given that.
So 10 years experience, you do things and then
As human beings, we tend to stop doing something when it starts to cause us some pain.
So when something starts to become, this is more difficult than it should be, or I haven'tactually spoken to my husband in three days, then we think, I need to do something
(31:04):
differently.
And then we'll be, then we'll sort of force ourselves to learn something.
Whereas if we can get some help right at the beginning, some support right at thebeginning.
Not from somebody that sits there and tells you, OK, you need to do it like this, use thistool, do it like this.
Because as I say, when that happens, there's two.
(31:26):
You can either go, well, that tool doesn't work and completely dismiss it.
Or you can think, what's wrong with me?
Like it works for them.
What's wrong with me?
So it's about having somebody that can support you and find ways of working that.
that works for you in line with what it is that you want to achieve.
(31:46):
And that's where I love that combination of what I do around my experience of coachingwith my experience of being able to be planned and organised and focused and prepared.
And I can do that in a way that I know that that may work very well for me, but that maynot work for you.
(32:06):
But what I'm really good at is listening and
understanding and working out, okay, let's give that a try and okay, and now let's dig alittle bit deeper.
What did you like about that?
Why didn't it work?
Okay, let's tweak this so that it becomes easy to do things, not difficult to do things,because it should be fun.
(32:30):
Exactly.
We shouldn't always be battling, you know, when we go into business for ourselves, it'sbecause we're passionate and we enjoy the things that we're doing, but sometimes it's
business can just suck the energy out of it.
So making it as easy for us to take these steps and move the business forward as possibleis so critical.
And one thing I wanted to discuss with you, because you said at the beginning, obviouslyyou're an action and accountability coach.
(32:57):
Why do you think we need so much accountability?
Because we are all passionate, we're wanting the business to move forward, but yet sooften we stop ourselves and we don't take the steps that we know we need to.
What's your thoughts on that?
Why do you think we sometimes hold ourselves back?
That's a really interesting question and I think it can depend on a lot of differentthings and different people, but in the most part, then it may come down to fear.
(33:32):
That's it.
I'm literally hearing with four-letter word in my mind going, wonder if she agrees with methat yeah, it is.
We hold ourselves back.
fear of failure.
It can be fear of success.
can be that element of I have this underlying thing in me that says that everything I dohas to be perfect.
(33:56):
And if I do something and it's not perfect, then the world's going to collapse around me.
Therefore, best not even try because I know that it can't be perfect.
It can be that it's hard.
Some things are just hard.
(34:17):
And with accountability, don't...
And there's lots of sweeping statements here and there's obviously those individualdifferences.
But quite often if we say that we're going to do something and we put that out there tosomebody else, there's that feeling of not letting somebody else down.
(34:37):
It's very easy to go back on promises that you make to yourself.
Like if you say to yourself, I'm not going to have that second cream egg today.
But then you realise that nobody knows you've even had the first cream egg.
So it's OK to have the second one.
feel like we're getting an insight into your day here, Tony.
There's some cream eggs downstairs that I saw at lunch.
(34:58):
One of my favourite things.
But if you say to somebody, I've had a cream egg today and I'm limiting myself to one aday, then when you go to grab the second one, it's like I've got to tell that person
tomorrow that I had two.
Now, if you can lie and lying isn't a problem, then it's probably not going to be too muchof an issue.
(35:22):
But not many people like being able to turn around and say, yeah, I was going to do that,but I didn't.
Because the question that normally will follow from anybody is, why didn't you do it?
and then people don't really want answer that answer that question.
I think we, as business owners, it's so often, so common to keep yourself small and playsmall out of the fear of all of the different reasons, like you say, I mean, it's, there's
(35:53):
literally a million things that contribute to that fear, but it's having somebody likeyourself, for instance, who you can work alongside, who you have to own up whether you've
done things or not.
And you have to face.
the fear, I suppose that's what it's opening up that conversation.
You know, this is what I know I need to do.
(36:13):
You've given me these tasks.
And if I haven't done them by next month, you're going to ask me why and I'm going to haveto say, I haven't got a valid reason, you know, do you often find though that people come
with excuses, and that they genuinely potentially believe that that is a reason, butactually it's, it is excuses due to the fear.
(36:36):
Yeah, which is why I love bringing the coach inside of things in, which is why I thinkthat self-awareness is really important.
And part of that that feeds into that is these big words that we use, busy,procrastination, overwhelm.
breaking those down.
OK, last week you committed to doing X.
(36:57):
Have you done it?
No.
Why?
I was too busy.
OK, let's explore what you were busy doing.
And then just talking about it out loud can start to really open up.
Actually, yeah, it's got nothing to do with that.
It's just I'm worried that if I do do that, then X, Y, Z might or might not, might nothappen.
(37:18):
so often they don't even actually realise it, they will genuinely feel I was too busy tofit that in.
And it is only when you have those conversations and you start breaking it down that youhave those realisations that, God, okay, yeah, it's not that it's because I haven't
prioritised it because of X, Y and Z.
those reasons are really valid because we're just trying to keep ourselves safe andcomfortable.
(37:42):
don't really like uncomfortable, even though that's where the magic happens.
When you're in that uncomfortable space, it's hard, it's difficult.
And that's where going back to your goal and really being really clear on what you'relooking to achieve is really important and your why and your purpose.
(38:05):
Because
you're not going to put yourself in an uncomfortable place to do something that'sdifficult.
You're not going to push the boundaries on what you think you can and can't do if theoutcome that you get at the end isn't something that you really, want.
So being really clear on your goals and why you're doing it is going to give youeverything that you need in order to just push through.
(38:34):
And so that's something really worth exploring as well.
When people say, I want to do this and I want to do this and I want to do this.
And then you follow up, okay, have you done X, Y and Z?
No.
Okay, why not?
Let's explore it.
And actually they're not clear on ultimately what that's going to give them at the end.
Or it's just not quite, or it's somebody else's goal.
(38:55):
That's a really interesting one.
When they think, okay, I'm just gonna push myself for let's say 10K months.
pushing, pushing, pushing, but then they're not actually doing the things that they needto do to get there.
And a 10K month isn't the priority for them.
It's not the goal.
It's not what they need.
(39:17):
So everything's out of alignment.
Yeah, yeah.
So, okay, so there's someone listening who has been putting something off for quite awhile, what would be the three steps that you would suggest for them to take today, or in
the next week to help them start moving forward with that project?
So first of all, ask them why they want it.
(39:39):
Get really clear.
What is it that you want from it?
Why is that important?
What difference is it going to make?
And as much as possible, try to fast forward into the future and imagine what it's goingto feel like to achieve that goal or do that thing.
(40:02):
And if you can't connect to it emotionally,
then just challenge yourself and ask yourself, what is the real goal?
What is it that I really want to achieve?
So that's the first thing.
Be really clear on what you want and why you want it and what it will feel like when youget it.
Then the second thing is to break it down.
(40:23):
So it's quite possible that that will be a fairly big thing.
It's likely to be more of a project than it is a simple to do.
What are the actions that you need to take to achieve?
that goal.
that's number two.
So one, really clear on what you want to do.
Two, really clear on how you need to do it.
(40:43):
And then three, start looking at building a plan around those actions.
If you know that you want to achieve your goal in four weeks time, what are the actionsthat you need to take every day or every week in order to get there?
And then you can hold yourself accountable by saying, okay, I need to
(41:05):
I need to share my freebie three times a week.
I want to grow my email list.
So I need to share my freebie three times a week.
So plan that in when you're going to do it because that's not as easy as just going, hiworld, here's my freebie.
Like what's the message, the content that you're going to use around that.
(41:28):
So schedule that in to your calendar.
And then at the end of each week, checking back and saying, have I done it?
Like, did I share it three times?
And if you didn't, why not?
What stopped you?
Tune into not just, oh, I forgot about it, I got too busy.
(41:49):
Try and really delve in so that you can then think about, yeah, what to do the week after.
So be really clear on what you want to achieve, what are the steps that you need to do sothat you can achieve it, and then planning it in.
and holding yourself accountable to those actions.
Amazing.
Thank you.
One final question before we sign off.
(42:11):
How important is it to put deadlines on things?
depends on how important it is for you to achieve it, I guess.
We could all say that we want to...
There's a new program that we want to launch.
(42:32):
And if we don't give ourselves a deadline, then all of those reasons for us not to havedone the actions that we need to take to get there are going to be a lot easier.
Oh, it's OK.
I don't need to do that this week because I've not got a deadline to work to.
But if you've got the deadline in there, you know what you work to.
First of all, you can work backwards.
(42:54):
Love a plan.
So I love being able to work backwards.
Some people don't like a plan.
Some people work really well under pressure.
And that's where a deadline is really, really helpful as well.
But if you've got no deadline, you've got no motivation, you've got no
You've got no reason, you've got no purpose.
That's kind of like getting in a taxi and saying, just drive.
(43:21):
No destination.
Amazing.
Thank you so much for your time today, Tony.
Where can people find you if they want to come in and find more about you?
I am on all of the platforms.
Instagram is a great place to come and connect and engage.
(43:42):
And I'm Tony Adanall, strategist on Instagram, but you will find me on Facebook, onLinkedIn, and just starting out my TikTok journey as well.
So you can find me on
all of the links in the show notes for everyone.
Tony, thank you so much.
And to everyone listening, go and build a plan, put a deadline on your tasks and take someaction today.
(44:04):
No more playing it safe.
Okay, have a great week, everyone.
Thank you.
Hi everyone and welcome back to this week's episode of the Bold Blueprint.
Today I am joined by Toni Adnall who is an accountability expert.
She is there to help you make progress and start moving your business forward.
So Toni, thank you so much for joining me today.
Thank you so much for having me Claire, I'm really looking forward to it.
Good.
(00:24):
Do you want to tell everyone a little bit more about what you do and how you help people?
Yes, so I'm an action and accountability coach.
And as you said, I love helping people take action and move forward and basically getstuff done.
There's a lot to do when you're running a business, especially if you're running it onyour own.
(00:46):
And sometimes there's the opportunity to feel a little bit overwhelmed.
And I think when we feel overwhelmed, we tend to put things off.
We tend to
lose focus a little bit, get distracted a little bit and try to do all of the thingsrather than focusing on the key things and the key priorities that are really going to
(01:09):
move us and our business forward and really make a difference.
what I love to do is help people do that.
Focus, prioritise, do the key things that are going to make the difference.
I love that and it is so important.
Like you say, when you're a business owner, especially when it's just you at the moment,you know, and you feel like you have to wear all of the hats and do all of the things, it
(01:30):
can be so overwhelming.
And there's been so many times where I've been sort of analysis paralysis, like where do Ineed to spend my time next?
There's so many things I could be doing.
So having someone like yourself to sort of hold your account and be like, no Claire, thisis where you need to be spending your time is, I think can be so critical, especially in
those early days.
(01:51):
So how did you, what's your sort of story?
How did you get into this space?
I'm going to go back a few years now, Claire.
I'm going to go back to 2000 and it will be 2002.
My first role within the Royal Bank of Scotland was as a team manager and I hadn't been inthat role for long and I managed the statements team.
(02:15):
So this is how long ago this was.
This was when your bank statement still came through the door in the post, but that bankstatement had actually been put into the envelope by somebody sat at a desk.
rather than by a machine.
Yeah, very much so.
So for very different reasons.
So these were customers who, for some reason, had a special statement.
(02:36):
So it was printed.
And the majority of them went out by the machines.
But it was the statements team that I was responsible for.
And again, it was in the world pre-email.
You had an email, but you didn't really check it.
The communications and things used to come around in like an orange folder and you used toread them and then sign that you've read them.
(02:58):
Show me a John.
Anyway, there was a project that they asked us to do.
Ultimately, they wanted to reduce the number of statements that we were sending manuallyand increase the ones that could be sent automatically make sense.
So that came to me.
And as the statements team manager,
(03:21):
and I put a project plan together and I spoke to the manager and understood what thebudget was for overtime, because we'd need overtime to do the actions, worked out all of
the actions that needed to happen to make this project happen within the time scale.
I created a project plan and then I managed it and we had pizza to keep the team motivatedwhen they were in after work.
(03:49):
And each day,
isn't it?
day I'd be ticking off, that's great, we've done that, we're one step closer, we're onestep closer.
And we delivered the project in time and it was actually really good for me being a newmanager of the team and getting to know the team better and there was a real sort of sense
of achievement on the team.
And I very soon realised afterwards that we were about the only team that had finished theproject.
(04:18):
there was some communication and the other teams either hadn't done it or they'd sort ofdone it halfway.
And that really surprised me.
was like, but you've just been given a project with a deadline.
Like why haven't you done it?
No, it blew my mind.
And so I'd recently only just graduated from university.
(04:40):
You've got deadlines for handing in.
assignments and essays and all of that kind of thing.
So it's like, this is a deadline.
It was given you're at work.
Why haven't you done it?
And that was one of the things that just made me think, actually, I love this.
I love this.
You start with an objective.
There's lots of stuff in the middle.
How do you make it?
(05:00):
How do you make it happen?
And within a couple of months, I ended up getting a job on a project management team.
And so I moved into project management, delivered a number of different projects.
That's where I realized my love for connecting and working with people.
Because when you're delivering a project, it's not just you.
(05:21):
You have to rely on other people to do things.
And so again, a plan, being accountable, taking the actions, understanding the challengesand all of the stuff that comes with that.
And so I did that until I left on maternity leave.
And then when I came back from maternity leave, I joined a brand new team.
(05:42):
that was responsible for developing and improving the performance of team managers to helpthem improve the performance of their team.
And that's when I started coaching.
And that was the start of a love for coaching.
And I was then able to combine the two things that I did, because the biggest problem thatthese team managers had when we first sat down with them was
(06:12):
time management and understanding what they needed to do, where was it important for themto spend their time for driving the performance of their team, what were the key things
that they needed to do.
And quite often they'd get in in the morning, log into email, get lost into email, andthen the rest of the day was like a blur.
(06:33):
And then they'd work until...
six, past six then they'd go home and then they'd do it all over again.
So I was able to combine this love of helping people be more focused, have priorities, bea lot more organised with their time with coaching.
And one of my, one of the things that really sticks out is I started working with somebodycalled Roger.
(06:55):
And when I sat down with him in his very first coaching session, we talking about what hewanted to achieve from our time together.
He had a two year old son.
And he said he would just love to be able to get home to put his two year old to bed.
And at the end of the coaching time that we had together and we were reviewing what he'ddone, he came to me with, he'd done a of a journey of his coaching and at the end of it,
(07:23):
he'd put a picture of him pushing his son on a swing in a park because he'd got to thepoint where he was managing his time and managing what he was doing and knowing
the key things that he needed to focus on.
He was leaving at five o'clock and for him that was everything and for me it waseverything too.
(07:43):
amazing.
And it just goes to show how much of a difference it can make.
I think when we talk about time management, because really, that is sort of the catalystto everything, isn't it?
How you manage your time, and how often we will say, Oh, yeah, we're busy, too busy, or wejust don't have the time.
But you will find the time for the things that you prioritize in your life.
(08:05):
And it is all about how you view these tasks, I suppose, and the importance of them, thepriority.
of them.
Oh, I nearly didn't get that word out of them.
And I think we put too much weight on things like emails.
Emails is a huge time sucker for everybody.
It's often the very first thing that people do when they come into the office in themorning.
(08:29):
And it was for me for a really long time.
And then actually I realized that the emails can sort of wait.
They don't need urgent responses.
If you go back to like the very beginning of being in business, I was checking my emailsat like 10 o'clock at night, like constantly checking my emails because the pressure I was
putting on myself to always be accessible, I suppose, to my clients.
(08:52):
And I thought that's what you needed to do for good client, client communication.
Actually, it just meant a severe lack of boundaries that I've had to really work hard toreinstate later on.
Now I check my emails twice a day.
one in the morning, but about 10 o'clock.
So once I've already got in and I've done some of the main tasks that need to be done,then I'll look at them.
(09:15):
And once after lunch, nothing dramatic has ever happened.
You know, it hasn't ever upset anybody, but it means there's more structure to my time andmy day.
And I also put a time limit on it.
So I don't, because they can so often take you down an absolute rabbit hole, can't they?
And that's the rest of your day.
So unless there's something absolutely urgent.
(09:37):
you spend half an hour going through your emails, replying to what you can.
Probably the biggest thing that made a difference to me though is turning off my emailnotifications.
So when it pops up in the corner of your screen or so-and-so's emailed you, and you'd belike, wonder what they want, and then you're gone.
So turning that off and just building a little bit of structure to the emails made such adifference.
(10:00):
Are there any other sort of little tips like that that you can say to just help?
during the day, every day today, to help free up a bit more time for the bigger project.
So that's a key one distractions.
And when I was coaching those team managers, that tended to be the main distraction wasthat pop up in the bottom corner in today's world now with our phones and the
(10:28):
notifications that are on there.
So thinking about turning those notifications off everywhere and the do not disturbfunction on a phone is great.
But the...
The distractions are one thing because we allow ourselves to be distracted.
But it's thinking about how we want to use our time in the first place.
(10:49):
Because quite often we just give our time away and we don't necessarily think about howcan we use our time in the most effective way.
So we'll think, OK, tomorrow I need to check my emails.
I need to respond to those clients.
I need to
(11:11):
send out an email, set up a funnel, whatever it is.
And we just have this long list of things in our head.
And the first thing that we can start to do is actually move away from a to-do list.
So I'm quite anti to-do list.
Like they've got their place.
(11:32):
I think they work really well if you've got four or five things that you can focus on andget done in about a 20 to
25 minute period.
And so you just stick on a timer, one, two, three, four, five, done.
It gives you such a boost.
It's like, yes, I've been productive, not just as you say, busy.
I can see that I've achieved something.
(11:54):
That's great.
But if we try to plan our day based on a list of things to do, for a start, when we get tothe end of the day, we've probably added another between five or 10 things to the list.
we may have crossed two or three things off, but if we've added five, we've got two morethings than we had when we started with in the first place.
(12:14):
And so from a mindset and that sort of perspective of what have I achieved today?
And then you think, well, I've been working since eight o'clock, it's six o'clock now,I've ticked three things off of my to-do list.
So being a lot smarter with...
with your time and actually thinking about how much time you've got and managing your timeis absolutely the first thing.
(12:44):
So scrapping your to-do list and creating a plan for your day.
What's your focus for the day?
What are the key things that you want to achieve?
And then scheduling them in.
And there's two things that I talk about there.
We don't often think about how long something's going to take us.
(13:04):
And if we do, we tend to underestimate it.
Always takes longer than you think.
Always.
Yeah.
takes longer.
And quite often that's because the things that we put on our to-do lists can be projectsas well, rather than tasks.
So it can be create a new lead magnet, for example.
OK, there's quite a lot of steps that's involved in creating a new lead magnet.
(13:26):
So if you think you can do that in like an hour and a half, if you can, great, get intouch with me because that'd be cool.
So we've got these big things.
So how long does it need for that task and being realistic about the time?
And then something that I really think benefits to think about is what's the energy that Ineed to bring to that task?
(13:49):
So let's say it is creating a new lead magnet and there's an element of creativity thatyou want to bring there because you want it to be engaging, you want it to be informative,
you want it to be useful to your audience and valuable.
So there's the creative energy that you need to bring.
How creative you might feel at four o'clock in the afternoon versus nine o'clock in themorning, for example, can have a real impact then on the energy that you can bring to it.
(14:19):
I certainly feel a lot brighter in the morning and sort of brain firing a lot more in themorning.
So if there's something creative, then I'd like to do that in the morning.
But as you say, we tend to do the easy things, the checking the email, the habitual thingsfirst, and then
time takes over and then it's like, I need to do this now.
(14:40):
I want to do this today, but my creative energy levels are a lot lower than they were.
So really thinking how much time do you need and what energy do you want to bring to thatand scheduling in at that time and then turn off the distractions.
It might be a change of environment is needed.
(15:01):
Many people, I know this is part of the reason that I
chose to start my business was have that flexibility, that opportunity to do thingsdifferently, not to be tied to a desk from nine to five.
And so if you're going to tie yourself to a desk from nine to five, what are you gettingout of it?
(15:22):
So if going and working in a cafe is going to fill you up and the energy of people in theroom, thinking about how you can best make use of your time and your energy.
to achieve those key things that you want to focus on.
Yeah, I love that.
And I don't think I've ever really considered the energy perspective before.
(15:42):
What I do know, I've learned a lot about myself through being in business.
And some days, you know, I am so fired up and I'm ready to go and I feel like I could takeon the world and other days, I'm just, it's just enough that I've got up and, know, so
I've learned to respect that about myself, I think, and decide on what tasks I can handlethat day and what I can't.
(16:03):
But I've never really thought about sort of
the timings in the day and thinking about specific tasks.
I think that's a really, really great tip.
And there's certain tasks I know.
So for instance, social media, when I'm coming up with the content, I tend to prefer to becurled up on the sofa with my laptop in a much more relaxed environment to do that than
(16:24):
sitting at my desk.
So I suppose it's a bit of a learning, isn't it?
Thinking about you and what is going to work best for you.
Try things out and see what the results are.
really important, hugely important because there are so many tools and techniques that youcan use, particularly for time management, but it's about making them work for you and
(16:45):
quite often I think we're at risk of trying something because somebody said, do this itworks really well and then we try it and it doesn't work for us and then rather than
thinking, okay that technique just isn't for me for whatever reason.
We think, what's wrong with me?
(17:06):
It's worked for them.
Why doesn't it work for me?
So we internalize that rather than going, okay, right, that didn't work.
I need to try something else and acknowledging that we are all unique and we work indifferent ways.
And to your point, there are gonna be days you're gonna wake up, perhaps you have plannedyour day.
(17:30):
I love a plan.
I can tell that about you.
what tomorrow has got in store or what you need to achieve just means you can completelycut off.
And whatever you choose to watch on the television that night, you can completely diveinto that because your brain's not going, oh, hang on a minute, I forgot, I need to do
(17:51):
that, I need to do this, I need to do that.
So I think that that creates some real space in your mind to just relax.
But then if you then wake up the next day, particularly when you're a business owner, it'sbit more difficult when you're employed and you've got stuff that you need to do.
If you're a business owner, you wake up and you look at your plan and you think, I'm notfeeling that today, then change it, mix it up, do what works for you.
(18:18):
Because if you try and force it to happen, again, going back to energy, you're just notgoing to give it your all.
And then that will probably come out in terms of
the whatever the work is at the end.
Yeah, or you won't, you won't do it.
And then again, you'll beat yourself up because you've not because you've not done it.
(18:40):
So a lot of it comes to self awareness and really understanding what works for you.
Yeah, I think a big word there would be procrastination, which is something that we allsuffer with.
You know, I could probably win an award for procrastination, to be fair.
If there's something on one of those days that I know I've got to do that day, but I'mjust really not feeling it, I will find absolutely anything and everything to do in its
(19:05):
place.
think I had, who was it?
think it was Dani Wallace came on the podcast and we were talking about this and she said,my children know.
if there's something really big that I'm putting off because I'll be cleaning.
And she said, I absolutely hate cleaning and I never ever do it.
We have a cleaner, but if there's something really big that I'm trying to avoid, then Iwill be getting the duster out and the children are always like, are you okay?
(19:29):
And it's funny though, isn't it?
Cause we will do something that we hate, that doesn't even need doing in replacement ofthe big things, the scary things or the things that we just don't have the energy for that
day.
Absolutely.
I remember in my second year at university and I was doing, I think it was occupationalpsychology.
(19:50):
I think the textbook was yellow.
I was sat on my bed in my room and I can't remember if I was revising for an exam orstudying to do an assignment.
Either way, I wasn't feeling it.
I then spent the next hour looking for my passport.
I didn't have a holiday booked, I didn't need my passport for identification, I didn'tneed anything.
(20:14):
And I can remember being in that room searching through the drawers for a passport.
Yeah.
Yeah.
One thing I do have to discuss here with you now, though, you've just said you hate ato-do list.
I don't know how I could function without my to-do list, but I don't call it a to-do list.
(20:38):
It's more of a brain dump for me.
And I think it's similar to what you're saying.
You know, at the end of the day, I can, I will get everything out of my brain, especiallyat the end of the week.
so I can go into the weekend completely clear.
Because my brain is always on the go with a million things that need to do that I need toremember, know, things that I've got to, emails I've got to send or I really must phone so
(21:02):
and so back.
And it's about life admin as well.
It's not just in business.
So the only way I can handle that is doing a complete and utter brain dump.
And that's where it is then a mixture of really very quick and simple things like sendingan email.
to massive projects, so it is a complete jumble.
how do you balance between not having that to-do list or just having those top three tofive things and having this complete and utter brain dump that everything is on business
(21:31):
and personal, like it's a complete clear out?
Yeah.
getting everything out of your head.
Because if it's out of your head, it frees you up to be completely present in the momentwith your family, with your friends on the weekend.
And it's that rest that we absolutely need.
(21:52):
So I'm all for that.
And to-do lists, they've got their place.
It's great to know what you need to do, but managing your day according to your to-dolist.
Okay, yeah.
the most effective way you can use your time because if you wake up on a Tuesday andyou've got a great big long list of things to do and you just think right okay so it's
(22:17):
Tuesday I'm just going to work through my to-do list there's lots of things that that canhappen there first of all you can just get so overwhelmed with the great big brain dump
that you've done that you start cleaning your kitchen when the cleaners come in the nextday because you just don't
because you don't even know where to start because there's so much on there.
Or you will go for all of the easy stuff, pick off all of the easy stuff and then once allof the easy stuff's got done and it's three o'clock in the afternoon, you've got no energy
(22:48):
and you're looking at...
Okay, I'll move that on to tomorrow's list.
So for me, it's around having that brain dump, being really clear on all of the thingsthat you need to do, but then turning it into a plan and being really conscious and
(23:10):
intentional.
Intentional, think, is a key word.
Being really intentional with your time.
How are you going to spend your time?
How are you going to build that in?
Where are the priorities?
What's the focus?
And then that aligns to your goals as well.
Because if we're just ticking easy stuff off of a to-do list and just going down the list,then there may be the things that, yeah, they need to get done possibly.
(23:39):
They may be important.
They may not be.
but they may not be aligned to ultimately our goals.
And then quite quickly, if we do that, we can get to the end of the week, we've beenreally busy and we've ticked a lot of stuff off of our to-do list, but how much further
have we moved towards those goals and towards our strategy of what we want to achieve inour business?
(24:03):
And that's when I think people then have that natural answer of, it's been really busy.
rather than being able to say, I've had a really effective week and I've made progresstowards achieving X goal.
Yeah.
So the way that I handle it is I'll pick out three to five, probably things that I'm like,okay, those are top priority for me now.
(24:27):
Those are the things that I really need to get done.
And that there'll be a whole host of reasons.
It'd be a deadlines coming up.
So that has to be done or something that I know is really important to moving my businessforward to the goals or something that I
just really excited to do and looking forward to.
And I try and have a bit of a blend of everything.
(24:48):
I'm trying to remember it.
I can't remember the model in my head, but there's four squares where it's urgent andimportant.
Yeah, I use that a lot.
Urgent and important, important, not urgent, urgent, not important, or not urgent and notimportant.
And I loved it when I learned this because it's so good.
(25:08):
When I've done this brain dump and I can have like,
a hundred things on this list.
And I can go through and be like, actually, that's not urgent.
And it's not important.
I can just forget it.
Like, let's just clear it down and having a sort of system to it.
And there's so many different ways.
I'm sure there's different ways that you teach depending on the person as well.
But I think being able to have some sort of strategy behind it and then helping you pickout with intention the things that are important and are going to move your business
(25:36):
forward, I think is really key because as business owners,
like you say, there are a million things that we could do every day, but it's which onesare actually going to make a difference to your business.
It's hard, isn't it, to figure out sometimes.
Absolutely.
And I love the urgent important matrix.
(25:59):
it's sometimes called the Eisenhower matrix.
It's got different names.
think there's another name that escapes me right now.
The way that I've used the urgent important matrix in the past is
usually at that stage of exactly how you've used it there with a great big brain dump.
(26:23):
And going back to those team managers that I've coached in the past when they're workingwith their team, there'd normally be about eight team managers that we'd be working with
at one time.
And they are all relatively doing the same thing.
And so we'd bring them all together and we'd get them to think about everything that theyneed to do as a team manager.
(26:50):
And then break that down onto the urgent, important matrix.
And then it's thinking about, OK, exactly like you've said, what stuff can we get rid of?
What do we not need to do anymore?
But then there is always stuff that isn't important or urgent to us, but still needs toget done.
So then there's a question of
(27:10):
Can you delegate that to somebody as a business owner?
Is that something that you can outsource?
So it starts to ask you those questions as well.
Because sometimes it can be important to somebody else, but if it's not important to you,then it quite quickly becomes urgent because you need to deliver it for that other person.
(27:32):
So these things can move around these boxes really quite quickly.
So identify where they go.
Think about delegating.
Think about outsourcing.
what then the key things that you need to do.
And then we would then create from there something which was called a diallo, which is aday in the life of.
And you can extend that to be in a while and a mile, a week in the life of and a month inthe life of.
(27:58):
And so with these team managers, then we could identify all of the actions that they haveto do on a daily basis in terms of reporting that needed to be done, work allocation.
all of those kind of things.
And then we could start to map those into a dialogue or a while around where that needs tobe done.
(28:21):
And then the rest of key thing there, not being back to back, giving some white space.
And that's a key problem that people fall into quite often is going from one meeting tothe next meeting, sort of back to back to back.
How can you build some time in between so that you're protecting your energy?
(28:45):
So you can eat, so you can go to the toilet, so you can drink.
So, no.
I cannot do back to back meetings.
I just can't do it.
And I know that.
So I'm really strict with my diary with that for sure.
And that's what's really important going back to that self-awareness piece.
There's just such a piece around really connecting with how you want to work, especiallyas a business owner.
(29:08):
It's up to you.
How you want to work is your choice.
100 % I have to just make clear here though, I have been in business for 10 years and allof these things that I say, I don't do now I 100 % did in the beginning.
Like, it took me time to put these boundaries in place for sure.
And understand actually the importance of them and the impact it was having on me.
(29:29):
But when you do start becoming aware of them, listen to yourself and make those changes.
Because it's not just a better way of doing that one thing actually it positively impacts
everything in your business and personally as well.
yeah, it's really important.
And I think your point there is nobody teaches us this stuff.
(29:51):
So we go from school where we've got a timetable and where we're told where we need to beand when to work, where actually in most instances when you start, work is probably given
to you by a manager and your time is managed.
(30:12):
And then the moment you move into a manager position, you're like that.
Okay, so for a start, I haven't been told how to manage people.
I don't know how to do that.
I know how to do the job.
So there's always the temptation to do that.
But in terms of managing my time, it's now my responsibility to manage my time and managethe time of my team.
(30:36):
I don't know where to start with that.
it's not at all, we're not given that.
So 10 years experience, you do things and then
As human beings, we tend to stop doing something when it starts to cause us some pain.
So when something starts to become, this is more difficult than it should be, or I haven'tactually spoken to my husband in three days, then we think, I need to do something
(31:04):
differently.
And then we'll be, then we'll sort of force ourselves to learn something.
Whereas if we can get some help right at the beginning, some support right at thebeginning.
Not from somebody that sits there and tells you, OK, you need to do it like this, use thistool, do it like this.
Because as I say, when that happens, there's two.
(31:26):
You can either go, well, that tool doesn't work and completely dismiss it.
Or you can think, what's wrong with me?
Like it works for them.
What's wrong with me?
So it's about having somebody that can support you and find ways of working that.
that works for you in line with what it is that you want to achieve.
(31:46):
And that's where I love that combination of what I do around my experience of coachingwith my experience of being able to be planned and organised and focused and prepared.
And I can do that in a way that I know that that may work very well for me, but that maynot work for you.
(32:06):
But what I'm really good at is listening and
understanding and working out, okay, let's give that a try and okay, and now let's dig alittle bit deeper.
What did you like about that?
Why didn't it work?
Okay, let's tweak this so that it becomes easy to do things, not difficult to do things,because it should be fun.
(32:30):
Exactly.
We shouldn't always be battling, you know, when we go into business for ourselves, it'sbecause we're passionate and we enjoy the things that we're doing, but sometimes it's
business can just suck the energy out of it.
So making it as easy for us to take these steps and move the business forward as possibleis so critical.
And one thing I wanted to discuss with you, because you said at the beginning, obviouslyyou're an action and accountability coach.
(32:57):
Why do you think we need so much accountability?
Because we are all passionate, we're wanting the business to move forward, but yet sooften we stop ourselves and we don't take the steps that we know we need to.
What's your thoughts on that?
Why do you think we sometimes hold ourselves back?
That's a really interesting question and I think it can depend on a lot of differentthings and different people, but in the most part, then it may come down to fear.
(33:32):
That's it.
I'm literally hearing with four-letter word in my mind going, wonder if she agrees with methat yeah, it is.
We hold ourselves back.
fear of failure.
It can be fear of success.
can be that element of I have this underlying thing in me that says that everything I dohas to be perfect.
(33:56):
And if I do something and it's not perfect, then the world's going to collapse around me.
Therefore, best not even try because I know that it can't be perfect.
It can be that it's hard.
Some things are just hard.
(34:17):
And with accountability, don't...
And there's lots of sweeping statements here and there's obviously those individualdifferences.
But quite often if we say that we're going to do something and we put that out there tosomebody else, there's that feeling of not letting somebody else down.
(34:37):
It's very easy to go back on promises that you make to yourself.
Like if you say to yourself, I'm not going to have that second cream egg today.
But then you realise that nobody knows you've even had the first cream egg.
So it's OK to have the second one.
feel like we're getting an insight into your day here, Tony.
There's some cream eggs downstairs that I saw at lunch.
(34:58):
One of my favourite things.
But if you say to somebody, I've had a cream egg today and I'm limiting myself to one aday, then when you go to grab the second one, it's like I've got to tell that person
tomorrow that I had two.
Now, if you can lie and lying isn't a problem, then it's probably not going to be too muchof an issue.
(35:22):
But not many people like being able to turn around and say, yeah, I was going to do that,but I didn't.
Because the question that normally will follow from anybody is, why didn't you do it?
and then people don't really want answer that answer that question.
I think we, as business owners, it's so often, so common to keep yourself small and playsmall out of the fear of all of the different reasons, like you say, I mean, it's, there's
(35:53):
literally a million things that contribute to that fear, but it's having somebody likeyourself, for instance, who you can work alongside, who you have to own up whether you've
done things or not.
And you have to face.
the fear, I suppose that's what it's opening up that conversation.
You know, this is what I know I need to do.
(36:13):
You've given me these tasks.
And if I haven't done them by next month, you're going to ask me why and I'm going to haveto say, I haven't got a valid reason, you know, do you often find though that people come
with excuses, and that they genuinely potentially believe that that is a reason, butactually it's, it is excuses due to the fear.
(36:36):
Yeah, which is why I love bringing the coach inside of things in, which is why I thinkthat self-awareness is really important.
And part of that that feeds into that is these big words that we use, busy,procrastination, overwhelm.
breaking those down.
OK, last week you committed to doing X.
(36:57):
Have you done it?
No.
Why?
I was too busy.
OK, let's explore what you were busy doing.
And then just talking about it out loud can start to really open up.
Actually, yeah, it's got nothing to do with that.
It's just I'm worried that if I do do that, then X, Y, Z might or might not, might nothappen.
(37:18):
so often they don't even actually realise it, they will genuinely feel I was too busy tofit that in.
And it is only when you have those conversations and you start breaking it down that youhave those realisations that, God, okay, yeah, it's not that it's because I haven't
prioritised it because of X, Y and Z.
those reasons are really valid because we're just trying to keep ourselves safe andcomfortable.
(37:42):
don't really like uncomfortable, even though that's where the magic happens.
When you're in that uncomfortable space, it's hard, it's difficult.
And that's where going back to your goal and really being really clear on what you'relooking to achieve is really important and your why and your purpose.
(38:05):
Because
you're not going to put yourself in an uncomfortable place to do something that'sdifficult.
You're not going to push the boundaries on what you think you can and can't do if theoutcome that you get at the end isn't something that you really, want.
So being really clear on your goals and why you're doing it is going to give youeverything that you need in order to just push through.
(38:34):
And so that's something really worth exploring as well.
When people say, I want to do this and I want to do this and I want to do this.
And then you follow up, okay, have you done X, Y and Z?
No.
Okay, why not?
Let's explore it.
And actually they're not clear on ultimately what that's going to give them at the end.
Or it's just not quite, or it's somebody else's goal.
(38:55):
That's a really interesting one.
When they think, okay, I'm just gonna push myself for let's say 10K months.
pushing, pushing, pushing, but then they're not actually doing the things that they needto do to get there.
And a 10K month isn't the priority for them.
It's not the goal.
It's not what they need.
(39:17):
So everything's out of alignment.
Yeah, yeah.
So, okay, so there's someone listening who has been putting something off for quite awhile, what would be the three steps that you would suggest for them to take today, or in
the next week to help them start moving forward with that project?
So first of all, ask them why they want it.
(39:39):
Get really clear.
What is it that you want from it?
Why is that important?
What difference is it going to make?
And as much as possible, try to fast forward into the future and imagine what it's goingto feel like to achieve that goal or do that thing.
(40:02):
And if you can't connect to it emotionally,
then just challenge yourself and ask yourself, what is the real goal?
What is it that I really want to achieve?
So that's the first thing.
Be really clear on what you want and why you want it and what it will feel like when youget it.
Then the second thing is to break it down.
(40:23):
So it's quite possible that that will be a fairly big thing.
It's likely to be more of a project than it is a simple to do.
What are the actions that you need to take to achieve?
that goal.
that's number two.
So one, really clear on what you want to do.
Two, really clear on how you need to do it.
(40:43):
And then three, start looking at building a plan around those actions.
If you know that you want to achieve your goal in four weeks time, what are the actionsthat you need to take every day or every week in order to get there?
And then you can hold yourself accountable by saying, okay, I need to
(41:05):
I need to share my freebie three times a week.
I want to grow my email list.
So I need to share my freebie three times a week.
So plan that in when you're going to do it because that's not as easy as just going, hiworld, here's my freebie.
Like what's the message, the content that you're going to use around that.
(41:28):
So schedule that in to your calendar.
And then at the end of each week, checking back and saying, have I done it?
Like, did I share it three times?
And if you didn't, why not?
What stopped you?
Tune into not just, oh, I forgot about it, I got too busy.
(41:49):
Try and really delve in so that you can then think about, yeah, what to do the week after.
So be really clear on what you want to achieve, what are the steps that you need to do sothat you can achieve it, and then planning it in.
and holding yourself accountable to those actions.
Amazing.
Thank you.
One final question before we sign off.
(42:11):
How important is it to put deadlines on things?
depends on how important it is for you to achieve it, I guess.
We could all say that we want to...
There's a new program that we want to launch.
(42:32):
And if we don't give ourselves a deadline, then all of those reasons for us not to havedone the actions that we need to take to get there are going to be a lot easier.
Oh, it's OK.
I don't need to do that this week because I've not got a deadline to work to.
But if you've got the deadline in there, you know what you work to.
First of all, you can work backwards.
(42:54):
Love a plan.
So I love being able to work backwards.
Some people don't like a plan.
Some people work really well under pressure.
And that's where a deadline is really, really helpful as well.
But if you've got no deadline, you've got no motivation, you've got no
You've got no reason, you've got no purpose.
That's kind of like getting in a taxi and saying, just drive.
(43:21):
No destination.
Amazing.
Thank you so much for your time today, Tony.
Where can people find you if they want to come in and find more about you?
I am on all of the platforms.
Instagram is a great place to come and connect and engage.
(43:42):
And I'm Tony Adanall, strategist on Instagram, but you will find me on Facebook, onLinkedIn, and just starting out my TikTok journey as well.
So you can find me on
all of the links in the show notes for everyone.
Tony, thank you so much.
And to everyone listening, go and build a plan, put a deadline on your tasks and take someaction today.
(44:04):
No more playing it safe.
Okay, have a great week, everyone.
Thank you.
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