September 16, 2024 • 27 mins
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Get ready to transform your life with tactical productivity hacks and empowering personal stories in the latest episode of Create Automate and Scale! 🎙️
Join us as we dive into Michelle’s incredible journey — a former educator turned wellness coach, who went from burnout to thriving! 🌿
✨ She’s sharing her secrets to creating lasting growth both personally and professionally by mastering self-care and tapping into the power of community.
You’ll discover:
🔥 How small, purposeful changes can completely shift your life!
🔥 Tactical strategies for optimizing your productivity with ease!
🔥 The powerful four-quadrant system to help you crush your to-do list and prioritize like a pro!
🔥 The Pomodoro technique — the ultimate weapon against procrastination!
🔥 How to unlock your peak focus times and supercharge your daily schedule!
This episode is loaded with game-changing insights to help you thrive — especially if you’re navigating ADHD or simply looking to level up your productivity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sophie Riley (00:04):
Welcome to Create Automate and Scale, where we're
diving into the arts ofmastering productivity.
Hi, I'm your host, sophie, andtoday we're unpacking three
game-changing techniques tosupercharge your day.
No more overwhelm, justconfidence, success and pure
accomplishments.
Success and pureaccomplishments.
Hi and welcome to CreateAutomate and Scale podcast.
(00:27):
Tune in to this inspirational,straight to the point, relatable
content for entrepreneurs tohelp you mastermind the everyday
hassle.
Give you business tips,networking opportunities,
shameless money talks andscaling secrets.
Created to support you, tosupport coaches and course
(00:51):
creators just like you, to helpyou take action.
Stop trading dollars for hoursand explode your business.
It's time to hit that sixfigure and beyond.
Let's go.
It's time to hit that sixfigure and beyond.
Let's go.
Today, we're joined by anincredible guest expert,
(01:11):
michelle, a seasoned educatorturned wellness coach,
specializing in transforminglives through holistic health
and personal empowerment.
Michelle's insights areinvaluable as we explore how to
conquer daily challenges withgrace and achieve peak
productivity.
Get ready to gain confidence,balance and actionable tips to
(01:35):
elevate your game.
Let's dive in.
Welcome, michelle.
Michelle Hibbert (01:39):
Hi everyone, so good to be here.
Thank you so much, Sophie, forallowing me to share some
knowledge with everyone.
Appreciate it.
Sophie Riley (01:48):
I am so excited.
I think we had thatconversation before where you
know I was well after, well inmy 30s and well after a burnout,
until I tuned in to a firstevent.
I tuned in to a first event.
It was a summit.
There was about 25 expertsspeaking on productivity and let
(02:15):
me tell you I learned a lot,but the shock of what I thought
was right but was actually sobad for me, my productivity, my
mental health it was shocking,If I could have one word to
describe the experience.
I was shocked, and tuning in tothose productivity hacks
completely has transformed mylife.
(02:36):
So I'm very, very excited.
I absolutely love talking aboutproductivity, so this is going
to be a good chat for sure.
Now, your journey fromeducation to wellness coaching
is really inspiring.
Could you share with everyonewhat motivated you to make that
shift before we dive into theproductivity piece?
Michelle Hibbert (02:58):
Yeah.
So I want to say kudos to youfor discovering what works,
because you know growing up it'shard, you know going through
school and college and thenadult life and you're just kind
of like I've been doing it wrong.
So kudos to you because I'msure there are people still out
(03:18):
there that are still strugglingand still trying to find what
works for them as an adult.
So, again, the fact that youfound it and hopefully will help
some other people.
So, yes, educator, been ineducation for 18 years as a
physical health and wellnessteacher and decided that the
(03:40):
classroom wasn't fitting mystyle anymore and I kind of
wanted to broaden my horizonsand I kind of stumbled.
I say stumbled because I waslooking for something and I
didn't know what it was going tobe, didn't know what it was
going to look like, and I myself, um, went through a major
(04:01):
change of you know, I retiredfrom, retired from teaching, I
got married, I became a stepmom,I opened up a couple of
businesses, not knowing how torun a business, and that whole
burnout and how do I be a goodwife, how do I be a good mother,
how do I continue to beMichelle Hibbert was very, very
(04:23):
overwhelming for me and I myselfhad to reach out and get help
and get a coach.
And she was a life coach,wellness coach, business coach,
kind of all into one and she wasable to kind of help me focus
on my business, carve out thetime that I needed for myself,
(04:46):
because I wasn't carving outtime for myself and then being
able to be a good wife, step-momand having that self-care and
not burning out because youalready mentioned it, burnout is
not cool.
Um, it's not, it's not.
And so that kind of got methinking, wow, you know, we
(05:08):
connected because, again, shewas a personal trainer and did
boot camps, and so I was like,okay, this is great.
And then I just saw thetransformations that she made
with me and I'm like I want todo that, I want to make these
transformations with thesepeople that I'm working with,
because it was, it was like Idid a 360.
(05:30):
You know, you get into thesehabits and then you just kind of
go down into these dark, deepholes and then you're like
trying to get out, and then youlike, how do I get out?
And then you kind of put it offand procrastinate and it's like
no, I need to get out.
And then something drastic hasto happen always and I kind of
(05:51):
want to prevent that.
Always has to happen beforewe're like, okay, that's it, I'm
done.
And so my job is to help peoplenot get to that drastic stage.
But if they need the help thenwe're here to help, and so
that's kind of like my story andI love what I do.
I love helping people.
Just make those small and theycan be small, that have to be
(06:13):
big but those transformationalchanges in their life and and
then you just see them kind offlourish and glow and it's just
like, wow, I was able to helpsomeone, so I'm still in the
helping capacity and I thinkteaching and helping people is
my superpower and I try to pushit away and now I'm I'm bringing
(06:33):
it back in a way that works foryou.
Yes, exactly right which isincredible.
Sophie Riley (06:40):
Now would you say this is my hypothetical, okay.
Would you say that this is myhypothetical, okay.
Would you say that one?
Yes, it's important to findthat community where you feel
understood.
I feel like, if we go on TikTokand Instagram and all of the
social media platform, we havetons of contents on
entrepreneurship, on mothershipand ADHD, right, and we're like,
(07:05):
oh my gosh, that's me, which isincredible.
But I think something and Icould be wrong.
This is just my thought, okay,my thought process here.
Michelle Hibbert (07:14):
Okay.
Sophie Riley (07:15):
In order to make a transformation, you can't just
be surrounded with the peoplethat are telling you I feel like
this, I feel like this, I feellike this, and you're feeling
understood at that moment.
But I think the transformationcomes when you start tuning in,
listening, hanging out with thepeople that were here, but they
(07:37):
found a solution.
So there's that positivity.
I think I'm trying to say thatthe wanting to reach that stage,
the wanting to find thesolution, and the wanting to to
be better because you kind offound that coach right, that was
most likely very positive,solution oriented, if I could
(08:00):
add that.
So what are your thoughts onthat?
Do you feel like that would be?
Michelle Hibbert (08:03):
important I do , and I also feel that your
community can't be toxic either,because and again, this is this
is also part of thetransformational piece.
It's we have to be cognizant ofthe people that we are hanging
(08:24):
out with and the words they'reusing and how that makes you
feel, because we can take it allin and they're like, and they
could say all these words butthey may not be positive, and so
if they're not positive, thenyou're still going to be stuck
in that rut, whereas if you'vegot people saying, you know what
(08:44):
, I've got someone who can helpyou, or you know, this is what I
did and this worked.
Maybe you try this out and seeif this works, but we know that
we're here to support you andnot the oh, that's a silly idea.
Don't go and do that.
No, why would you want to goand do that?
You know you, you don't knowSomething could that?
(09:06):
You know you, you don't knowsomething could happen.
Something could happen,something great could happen,
but if we don't go and try it,then we will never know and
we're just gonna stay stuck.
And yes, that's that's thepiece that people have to be
aware the people that they hangaround with are can influence
them and create those um enemiesin their head.
(09:27):
That don't sabotage is huge thatthey won't go any further than
they believe that they can do.
But they need that, thosepeople to push them further,
because we all need people topush ourselves, like absolutely,
you know, I'm sure you, we bothhave, I'm sure we both have
(09:47):
coaches that are pushing us, todrive us forward to where we
want to be.
And you look at all thesefamous people.
They didn't get famous just by.
I'm Oprah Winfrey or I'm TonyRobbins or I'm Mel Robbins or I
have ADHD.
Sophie Riley (10:01):
I can't do this.
And Mel Robbins is ADHD.
Oh yeah, I'm sure we can findtons of very successful people
with ADHD right For me.
You have ADHD, let me see whatyou can do.
Hold my beer.
I do not like to be told that Ican't do something.
Michelle Hibbert (10:27):
So, again, I think it's about the people that
you are associated with andthat are in your circle, and you
have to be very cognizant ofwho they are and if they are
draining your energy and if orare they uplifting you.
You need the people that areuplifting.
You don't need the people thatare the naysayers, because
they're scared, because theydon't want you to do it, because
they don't want to actuallyallow you to get to where you
(10:48):
want to be.
They want you in right in theircircle, which is not fair.
Sophie Riley (10:53):
Exactly yeah, I agree.
Now I know you have someincredible tips to actually help
with our productivity for ourmy fellow ADHD besties, so let's
dive right in.
Michelle Hibbert (11:06):
Yes, so I've got three, so we'll go one at a
time.
And so the first one, which Ithink is amazing and I kind of
use it myself.
I like to separate my work andI've gotten used to doing it a
couple of ways, but I'm going tokind of tell you one that kind
(11:28):
of is common that people haveused who suffer from ADHD.
So think of a quadrant, so fourkind of sections, and each
section you need to have a titleand the titles are going to be,
and you may want to adjust themhowever whatever feels
necessary.
So the first one is going to beurgent because that needs to be
(11:49):
done, and that's probably theone that you're procrastinating
on.
I'm just going to say it,you're just procrastinating on
and it needs to get done, sothat needs to be put in the
urgent pile.
Okay, and you can use stickynotes.
You can whatever you like,whether you like the visual, the
pieces of paper on the wall, orusing a wall sticky notes.
(12:10):
Some people like to do itonline.
Whatever you know, if they havetheir kind of project
management planning typetechniques.
You decide what works for you.
Some people like paper, somepeople like online.
You should have an idea of whatworks.
So the first quadrant is goingto be urgent and then the second
quadrant is going to be noturgent, so that you know that it
(12:34):
can wait.
And again, if you're doingsticky notes, it can, it can be
moved around so you don't haveto feel that pressure of like
it's going to sit there in thenon-urgent but now it's going to
start to get urgent.
Okay, then you have the nextquadrant, which can be not
important.
I'm not saying it's notimportant, so to speak, but it's
(12:54):
not important at this moment intime or for this particular day
, and then non-urgent it's.
It's, it's something I need toget done, maybe like fold
laundry or something along thoselines.
It's not, it's not urgent,urgent where it might be,
depending on how many kids orpeople that you've got in your,
you know, in your family andstuff like that.
(13:15):
So those four quadrants.
So then you need to startwriting the tasks that you that
you know are urgent, not urgent,not important, um, not
non-urgent, not urgent andnon-urgent, different, different
things.
You can also put in the fourquadrants, do schedule, delegate
(13:38):
and delete.
Again, those are some ideas.
And then again, if you're apaper person, write down all the
things that you need to do andyou could use different kind of
sticky notes for each quadrant.
So then you know, and then ifyou need to move from one
quadrant to another quadrant,you can put it on the different
sticky note.
I know we're maybe wastingpaper here, but again, whatever
(14:01):
works for you and works for yourbrain, if it's color coded,
then use the colors and then, orif you don't want to color code
, you can just move the stickynotes around so you know what's
what, and then you can still add.
And with that, if you have yournon-urgent or your urgent,
let's just focus on the urgent.
You need to pick one, not allof them, just one that you are
(14:27):
going to focus on.
Okay, so here's the nexttechnique, which is the Pomodoro
technique.
So you're going to spend 25minutes on that one task Again,
the one that you're going toprocrastinate on.
That's something that you gotto do, got to do it.
Just 25 minutes, drill in for25 minutes on that one task.
(14:50):
Now, if you know that it'sgoing to take you more than 25
minutes, it's okay, becauseafter that 25 minutes you're
going to take a 10 minute break.
25 minutes, it's okay, becauseafter that 25 minutes you're
going to take a 10 minute breakand it may be the fact in that
10 minute break that you coulddo something that's non-urgent,
that will take like a second,like doing it sending a quick
email, more like email thedoctor or something along those
(15:13):
lines.
That could be done in 10minutes or call the doctor.
Well, maybe it might take alittle bit longer to call the
doctor but adhd people do notlike to call or be on the phone.
Sophie Riley (15:23):
We do not like that.
So calling the doctor it is.
It is what we procrastinate onright, exactly so.
Michelle Hibbert (15:33):
and then if you need to go back to that
urgent task, then do another 25minutes.
So again, you could tap out thenon-urgent and the urgent
together, or you just take the10 minute break.
You decide, you decide.
Sophie Riley (15:50):
I love that.
I love having the timer.
I'm a type A personality withADHD, so it's a competition.
Listen, if I have a 10 minutetimer, how much of my house can
I get clean?
Oh right, oh, yeah, yeah,otherwise I don't do it.
But I absolutely hate cleaning,I hate folding laundry, I hate
the dishes, I hate it all.
(16:10):
Okay, so, so that, okay, sophie, I'm just gonna put put 10
minutes.
You can, you can do 10 minutes,and then it's competition how
much can I get done in 10minutes?
Um, that works really well forme.
Michelle Hibbert (16:26):
Yes, so then again, depending on how
important this task is, I wouldspend no more than one hour with
the breaks.
No more than one hour becausethen breaks, no more than one
hour, because then you're justkind of like, ok, I'm done.
Then I would move on to anothercategory, because maybe it
might be not urgent and you justcomplete one of those things,
and they should not.
(16:47):
It should get you going to do.
And so this is the othertechnique that I'm going to talk
about is the fact that is thefact that you need to think
about your schedule, so yourtime okay, of how long you're
going to spend or how longyou'll need on this actual
activity, and the further downthe day that you go, the less
(17:12):
you do or the less brain timeit's going to take you to do.
So you're non urgent, notimportant.
They should be taking you fiveminutes, two minutes, and you
can get them done.
And then, once you're done,you're done, done.
(17:32):
We like to force ourselves tolike, oh, you know, I just got
to get this done and I'm gonna,you know know, work at eight
o'clock at night and you justcannot focus.
So if you're a person who getsup early, and that's your window
of time because that's whereyou're the most focused.
You need to do the urgent stuffin that time because your brain
(17:54):
is just going to startdeteriorating throughout the day
.
So make sure you do.
Or, if you're a person depending, if you work out in the morning
again, I don't know whatpeople's schedules and routines
I know for ADHD people if theywork out in the mornings and
their brains are just ready togo, ready to go.
(18:15):
So, if you are that type ofperson, do all of your urgent
things in the morning and then,as the day progresses, you're
gonna do the tasks that aregonna take you one to five
minutes.
Hence the reason why you canpick and choose out of which
quadrant and how long it's gonnatake you.
Otherwise, if you're a personwho likes to work out in the end
(18:36):
of the day and that's the timethat you are most focused if
you're a person who likes towork out in the end of the day,
and that's the time that you aremost focused then you're going
to switch the stuff around.
You're going to do your urgentstuff, maybe after you've done
your workout because, again, youare focused.
So you have to decide when youare the most focused in the day.
Sophie Riley (18:55):
I love that I am 100% one of those morning people
.
100%, I can do more work in aproductive morning in two to
four hours than I could anythingafternoon.
I'm an empty coconut.
Anything afternoon, if I didn'twork out, I will not.
(19:15):
Afternoon, I did work out, Iwill not.
Afternoon Like it's, it's mylike.
Noontime, it's like okay, well,I'm just going to go clean up
my Google drive and watch a show, exactly.
Michelle Hibbert (19:27):
So again, I'm done.
Doing.
Your brain is done, it's done,yeah.
And so the less you can do, orthe more, the less tasks are
going to take like two minutes.
Those are the things you needto do at the end of the day,
because they're not going totake you that long and you don't
have to focus, and they'll getdone and you can move on.
And then tomorrow, this is mybig project, this is the urgent.
(19:48):
I am going to do it in themorning, I'm going to spend one
hour, one hour and a half, andthat is it, and then I'm going
to, in my breaks, do some otherlittle tasks.
So those are my two things.
I feel like that's important.
I feel like it's more than thatis a lot, but it's okay.
Sophie Riley (20:04):
It is a lot, but it is also so great.
I have seasons, which soundsmaybe a little bit weird.
I can work longer in the winter.
Oh wow, canada, it's cold.
I don't do the cold.
I'm tiny.
I don't have like this bodythat can just like regulate heat
(20:26):
.
I don't like it and, forwhatever reason, I am more
productive, like naturally moreproductive, but in the summer
summer is my least productiveseason.
It's like I just want to beoutside, I just want to be in
the sun, like it's.
It's everything that I do inthe summer feels forced.
(20:51):
Between 10 and noon is pushingit, right.
But if I get up at five and Iput in like a little work block
yesterday I created an entirewebsite, tiny work block I can
do a lot of work.
But listen, if I tried to belike let me just work all day on
that and I gave myself all dayto work on it, I would still be
(21:11):
working on it a week later.
Right, I'm not a lie.
I'm like OK, this is like fiveo'clock, I'm going to get up,
have a quick breakfast, I'mgoing to shower, you know, work
out and then, from like seven toten, I'm going to get it done
and I did.
I got it done.
So it's pretty exciting, butyeah.
I might have to be careful withthe season.
(21:32):
If I try to push it too much inthe summer, meh my work feels
meh.
Michelle Hibbert (21:40):
But that's understandable.
We all want to be outside thesun's shining, you know we want
to go outside, we want toexplore, we want to be with
nature, we want to go and hangout with friends, we want to go
to barbecues, we want to go togames and concerts and stuff.
That's totally understandable.
Winter, you just want to sitinside and hibernate and not go
out in the cold.
I get it.
Totally get, totally get it.
Sophie Riley (21:58):
Yeah, which is interesting, right.
Every time I tell that tosomeone, they're like you have
seasons.
I'm like, yes, yes, I do.
But sometimes people just maybedon't notice there is season,
right, sometimes we're used tosomething or we're told we need
to do something.
If you come from a corporateside of things, right, you work
(22:22):
seven to three, you work eightto four, um, but I'd love to
know how productive you are.
You know between one to four.
Michelle Hibbert (22:30):
I was about to say every time, every time, I
mean, I had a corporate job andI worked from home.
After two o'clock I'm toast.
You don't, don't ask.
Don't ask me to do anythingthat's major.
After two o'clock I'll sit in ameeting.
I'm just gonna say I might notbe concentrating, but you want
me to be productive, you need tohit me in the in the morning.
(22:52):
And the worst thing is, sophie,I am not a morning person, I'm
a night owl.
I'm a night owl, but that seemsto be changing.
Because I work.
I get up in the morning and Iwork out.
I never used to do that.
I used to work out after work.
But then I'm like no, I need toget up and it gets my brain
going, but then in the afternoonI'm toast.
Sophie Riley (23:14):
I'm absolute toast it could also have to do with
the amount of hours, right?
I really do feel like peopleare just wasting money asking
people to work such long hours,thinking that there's going to
be more things done, so thoughtof the day, right.
Michelle Hibbert (23:37):
And the fact that I work from home.
You know I've got my own office, but imagine working in the
cubicle.
That would be.
That would be terrible for me,because I'm going to get up and
I'm going to start annoyingpeople in the cubicles because I
want to go and talk.
Sophie Riley (23:52):
You know what that's true.
Plus, if you think about it,the amount of distraction, and
especially for the ADHD person,right, something that was big
for me.
So I'm a retired Canadian forcemember and I used to work in
the army in admin, run an entireorder room, admin office, right
(24:15):
.
I used to think that my ADHDwas a superpower in the sense of
that I could multitask like amother.
Ok, answer a question there,answer another question there,
answer this, answer the phone,answer the email and just go, go
(24:38):
, go, go, go go.
It was probably like the numberone reason I hit a burnout.
Yes, but that's huge for ADHD,right, like the distraction, but
we're feeling like like we'reheroes because we're
multitasking when it's the num,like it's one of the worst
things that you can do, which Ilearned after my burnout.
Thank you very much.
And it's, multitasking shortensyour long short term memory or
(25:02):
long term memory.
Michelle Hibbert (25:03):
I will have to go and find the details and put
it in the show notes when Iwhen I find it, but regardless,
how crazy is that I mean, hey,we all thought, and I think we
all think as women, that we canmultitask, but it is the worst
thing because you are notconcentrating and you're
spreading yourself too thin andit's just, it's a devil it's a
(25:26):
devil.
Sophie Riley (25:27):
Absolutely 100 now .
This concludes our deep diveinto mastering the productivity.
Stay tuned for more actionableinsights on our next adventures.
A huge thank you to our guest,michelle, whose wisdom and
expertise have eliminated ourpath to greater productivity and
wellbeing.
(25:47):
I will say that I use thesemethods and these sticky notes
daily.
For me, it is a life-changingproductivity hack.
Now I want you to run to theshow notes and grab Michelle's
workbook that she's created justfor you.
Until next time, keep creating,automating and scaling your way
to greatness.
This is Sophie Riley signingoff, reminding you to stay
(26:09):
inspired, stay innovative andalways dare to dream big.
Thanks for tuning in to theCreate, automate and Scale
podcast.
We hope you found today'sepisode to be inspirational,
informative and straight to thepoint.
Our goal is to provide you withrelatable content that helps
you mastermind the everydayhassle, grow your business and
(26:30):
achieve your goals.
As an entrepreneur, we know howtough it is that it can be to
navigate the world of business,which is why we're here to
support you with valuable tips,networking opportunities,
shameless money talk and scalingsecrets.
We're dedicated to helpingcoaches and course creators take
action, stop trading dollarsfor hours and explode their
(26:53):
business to hit that six figureand beyond.
Make sure you subscribe to ourpodcast to stay up to date with
the latest episode, and feelfree to leave a review or reach
out to us with any feedback orquestions that you may have.
Thanks for listening and we'llcatch you in the next episode of
Create, automate and Scale.
Welcome to Create Automate and Scale, where we're
diving into the arts ofmastering productivity.
Hi, I'm your host, sophie, andtoday we're unpacking three
game-changing techniques tosupercharge your day.
No more overwhelm, justconfidence, success and pure
accomplishments.
Success and pureaccomplishments.
Hi and welcome to CreateAutomate and Scale podcast.
(00:27):
Tune in to this inspirational,straight to the point, relatable
content for entrepreneurs tohelp you mastermind the everyday
hassle.
Give you business tips,networking opportunities,
shameless money talks andscaling secrets.
Created to support you, tosupport coaches and course
(00:51):
creators just like you, to helpyou take action.
Stop trading dollars for hoursand explode your business.
It's time to hit that sixfigure and beyond.
Let's go.
It's time to hit that sixfigure and beyond.
Let's go.
Today, we're joined by anincredible guest expert,
(01:11):
michelle, a seasoned educatorturned wellness coach,
specializing in transforminglives through holistic health
and personal empowerment.
Michelle's insights areinvaluable as we explore how to
conquer daily challenges withgrace and achieve peak
productivity.
Get ready to gain confidence,balance and actionable tips to
(01:35):
elevate your game.
Let's dive in.
Welcome, michelle.
Michelle Hibbert (01:39):
Hi everyone, so good to be here.
Thank you so much, Sophie, forallowing me to share some
knowledge with everyone.
Appreciate it.
Sophie Riley (01:48):
I am so excited.
I think we had thatconversation before where you
know I was well after, well inmy 30s and well after a burnout,
until I tuned in to a firstevent.
I tuned in to a first event.
It was a summit.
There was about 25 expertsspeaking on productivity and let
(02:15):
me tell you I learned a lot,but the shock of what I thought
was right but was actually sobad for me, my productivity, my
mental health it was shocking,If I could have one word to
describe the experience.
I was shocked, and tuning in tothose productivity hacks
completely has transformed mylife.
(02:36):
So I'm very, very excited.
I absolutely love talking aboutproductivity, so this is going
to be a good chat for sure.
Now, your journey fromeducation to wellness coaching
is really inspiring.
Could you share with everyonewhat motivated you to make that
shift before we dive into theproductivity piece?
Michelle Hibbert (02:58):
Yeah.
So I want to say kudos to youfor discovering what works,
because you know growing up it'shard, you know going through
school and college and thenadult life and you're just kind
of like I've been doing it wrong.
So kudos to you because I'msure there are people still out
(03:18):
there that are still strugglingand still trying to find what
works for them as an adult.
So, again, the fact that youfound it and hopefully will help
some other people.
So, yes, educator, been ineducation for 18 years as a
physical health and wellnessteacher and decided that the
(03:40):
classroom wasn't fitting mystyle anymore and I kind of
wanted to broaden my horizonsand I kind of stumbled.
I say stumbled because I waslooking for something and I
didn't know what it was going tobe, didn't know what it was
going to look like, and I myself, um, went through a major
(04:01):
change of you know, I retiredfrom, retired from teaching, I
got married, I became a stepmom,I opened up a couple of
businesses, not knowing how torun a business, and that whole
burnout and how do I be a goodwife, how do I be a good mother,
how do I continue to beMichelle Hibbert was very, very
(04:23):
overwhelming for me and I myselfhad to reach out and get help
and get a coach.
And she was a life coach,wellness coach, business coach,
kind of all into one and she wasable to kind of help me focus
on my business, carve out thetime that I needed for myself,
(04:46):
because I wasn't carving outtime for myself and then being
able to be a good wife, step-momand having that self-care and
not burning out because youalready mentioned it, burnout is
not cool.
Um, it's not, it's not.
And so that kind of got methinking, wow, you know, we
(05:08):
connected because, again, shewas a personal trainer and did
boot camps, and so I was like,okay, this is great.
And then I just saw thetransformations that she made
with me and I'm like I want todo that, I want to make these
transformations with thesepeople that I'm working with,
because it was, it was like Idid a 360.
(05:30):
You know, you get into thesehabits and then you just kind of
go down into these dark, deepholes and then you're like
trying to get out, and then youlike, how do I get out?
And then you kind of put it offand procrastinate and it's like
no, I need to get out.
And then something drastic hasto happen always and I kind of
(05:51):
want to prevent that.
Always has to happen beforewe're like, okay, that's it, I'm
done.
And so my job is to help peoplenot get to that drastic stage.
But if they need the help thenwe're here to help, and so
that's kind of like my story andI love what I do.
I love helping people.
Just make those small and theycan be small, that have to be
(06:13):
big but those transformationalchanges in their life and and
then you just see them kind offlourish and glow and it's just
like, wow, I was able to helpsomeone, so I'm still in the
helping capacity and I thinkteaching and helping people is
my superpower and I try to pushit away and now I'm I'm bringing
(06:33):
it back in a way that works foryou.
Yes, exactly right which isincredible.
Sophie Riley (06:40):
Now would you say this is my hypothetical, okay.
Would you say that this is myhypothetical, okay.
Would you say that one?
Yes, it's important to findthat community where you feel
understood.
I feel like, if we go on TikTokand Instagram and all of the
social media platform, we havetons of contents on
entrepreneurship, on mothershipand ADHD, right, and we're like,
(07:05):
oh my gosh, that's me, which isincredible.
But I think something and Icould be wrong.
This is just my thought, okay,my thought process here.
Michelle Hibbert (07:14):
Okay.
Sophie Riley (07:15):
In order to make a transformation, you can't just
be surrounded with the peoplethat are telling you I feel like
this, I feel like this, I feellike this, and you're feeling
understood at that moment.
But I think the transformationcomes when you start tuning in,
listening, hanging out with thepeople that were here, but they
(07:37):
found a solution.
So there's that positivity.
I think I'm trying to say thatthe wanting to reach that stage,
the wanting to find thesolution, and the wanting to to
be better because you kind offound that coach right, that was
most likely very positive,solution oriented, if I could
(08:00):
add that.
So what are your thoughts onthat?
Do you feel like that would be?
Michelle Hibbert (08:03):
important I do , and I also feel that your
community can't be toxic either,because and again, this is this
is also part of thetransformational piece.
It's we have to be cognizant ofthe people that we are hanging
(08:24):
out with and the words they'reusing and how that makes you
feel, because we can take it allin and they're like, and they
could say all these words butthey may not be positive, and so
if they're not positive, thenyou're still going to be stuck
in that rut, whereas if you'vegot people saying, you know what
(08:44):
, I've got someone who can helpyou, or you know, this is what I
did and this worked.
Maybe you try this out and seeif this works, but we know that
we're here to support you andnot the oh, that's a silly idea.
Don't go and do that.
No, why would you want to goand do that?
You know you, you don't knowSomething could that?
(09:06):
You know you, you don't knowsomething could happen.
Something could happen,something great could happen,
but if we don't go and try it,then we will never know and
we're just gonna stay stuck.
And yes, that's that's thepiece that people have to be
aware the people that they hangaround with are can influence
them and create those um enemiesin their head.
(09:27):
That don't sabotage is huge thatthey won't go any further than
they believe that they can do.
But they need that, thosepeople to push them further,
because we all need people topush ourselves, like absolutely,
you know, I'm sure you, we bothhave, I'm sure we both have
(09:47):
coaches that are pushing us, todrive us forward to where we
want to be.
And you look at all thesefamous people.
They didn't get famous just by.
I'm Oprah Winfrey or I'm TonyRobbins or I'm Mel Robbins or I
have ADHD.
Sophie Riley (10:01):
I can't do this.
And Mel Robbins is ADHD.
Oh yeah, I'm sure we can findtons of very successful people
with ADHD right For me.
You have ADHD, let me see whatyou can do.
Hold my beer.
I do not like to be told that Ican't do something.
Michelle Hibbert (10:27):
So, again, I think it's about the people that
you are associated with andthat are in your circle, and you
have to be very cognizant ofwho they are and if they are
draining your energy and if orare they uplifting you.
You need the people that areuplifting.
You don't need the people thatare the naysayers, because
they're scared, because theydon't want you to do it, because
they don't want to actuallyallow you to get to where you
(10:48):
want to be.
They want you in right in theircircle, which is not fair.
Sophie Riley (10:53):
Exactly yeah, I agree.
Now I know you have someincredible tips to actually help
with our productivity for ourmy fellow ADHD besties, so let's
dive right in.
Michelle Hibbert (11:06):
Yes, so I've got three, so we'll go one at a
time.
And so the first one, which Ithink is amazing and I kind of
use it myself.
I like to separate my work andI've gotten used to doing it a
couple of ways, but I'm going tokind of tell you one that kind
(11:28):
of is common that people haveused who suffer from ADHD.
So think of a quadrant, so fourkind of sections, and each
section you need to have a titleand the titles are going to be,
and you may want to adjust themhowever whatever feels
necessary.
So the first one is going to beurgent because that needs to be
(11:49):
done, and that's probably theone that you're procrastinating
on.
I'm just going to say it,you're just procrastinating on
and it needs to get done, sothat needs to be put in the
urgent pile.
Okay, and you can use stickynotes.
You can whatever you like,whether you like the visual, the
pieces of paper on the wall, orusing a wall sticky notes.
(12:10):
Some people like to do itonline.
Whatever you know, if they havetheir kind of project
management planning typetechniques.
You decide what works for you.
Some people like paper, somepeople like online.
You should have an idea of whatworks.
So the first quadrant is goingto be urgent and then the second
quadrant is going to be noturgent, so that you know that it
(12:34):
can wait.
And again, if you're doingsticky notes, it can, it can be
moved around so you don't haveto feel that pressure of like
it's going to sit there in thenon-urgent but now it's going to
start to get urgent.
Okay, then you have the nextquadrant, which can be not
important.
I'm not saying it's notimportant, so to speak, but it's
(12:54):
not important at this moment intime or for this particular day
, and then non-urgent it's.
It's, it's something I need toget done, maybe like fold
laundry or something along thoselines.
It's not, it's not urgent,urgent where it might be,
depending on how many kids orpeople that you've got in your,
you know, in your family andstuff like that.
(13:15):
So those four quadrants.
So then you need to startwriting the tasks that you that
you know are urgent, not urgent,not important, um, not
non-urgent, not urgent andnon-urgent, different, different
things.
You can also put in the fourquadrants, do schedule, delegate
(13:38):
and delete.
Again, those are some ideas.
And then again, if you're apaper person, write down all the
things that you need to do andyou could use different kind of
sticky notes for each quadrant.
So then you know, and then ifyou need to move from one
quadrant to another quadrant,you can put it on the different
sticky note.
I know we're maybe wastingpaper here, but again, whatever
(14:01):
works for you and works for yourbrain, if it's color coded,
then use the colors and then, orif you don't want to color code
, you can just move the stickynotes around so you know what's
what, and then you can still add.
And with that, if you have yournon-urgent or your urgent,
let's just focus on the urgent.
You need to pick one, not allof them, just one that you are
(14:27):
going to focus on.
Okay, so here's the nexttechnique, which is the Pomodoro
technique.
So you're going to spend 25minutes on that one task Again,
the one that you're going toprocrastinate on.
That's something that you gotto do, got to do it.
Just 25 minutes, drill in for25 minutes on that one task.
(14:50):
Now, if you know that it'sgoing to take you more than 25
minutes, it's okay, becauseafter that 25 minutes you're
going to take a 10 minute break.
25 minutes, it's okay, becauseafter that 25 minutes you're
going to take a 10 minute breakand it may be the fact in that
10 minute break that you coulddo something that's non-urgent,
that will take like a second,like doing it sending a quick
email, more like email thedoctor or something along those
(15:13):
lines.
That could be done in 10minutes or call the doctor.
Well, maybe it might take alittle bit longer to call the
doctor but adhd people do notlike to call or be on the phone.
Sophie Riley (15:23):
We do not like that.
So calling the doctor it is.
It is what we procrastinate onright, exactly so.
Michelle Hibbert (15:33):
and then if you need to go back to that
urgent task, then do another 25minutes.
So again, you could tap out thenon-urgent and the urgent
together, or you just take the10 minute break.
You decide, you decide.
Sophie Riley (15:50):
I love that.
I love having the timer.
I'm a type A personality withADHD, so it's a competition.
Listen, if I have a 10 minutetimer, how much of my house can
I get clean?
Oh right, oh, yeah, yeah,otherwise I don't do it.
But I absolutely hate cleaning,I hate folding laundry, I hate
the dishes, I hate it all.
(16:10):
Okay, so, so that, okay, sophie, I'm just gonna put put 10
minutes.
You can, you can do 10 minutes,and then it's competition how
much can I get done in 10minutes?
Um, that works really well forme.
Michelle Hibbert (16:26):
Yes, so then again, depending on how
important this task is, I wouldspend no more than one hour with
the breaks.
No more than one hour becausethen breaks, no more than one
hour, because then you're justkind of like, ok, I'm done.
Then I would move on to anothercategory, because maybe it
might be not urgent and you justcomplete one of those things,
and they should not.
(16:47):
It should get you going to do.
And so this is the othertechnique that I'm going to talk
about is the fact that is thefact that you need to think
about your schedule, so yourtime okay, of how long you're
going to spend or how longyou'll need on this actual
activity, and the further downthe day that you go, the less
(17:12):
you do or the less brain timeit's going to take you to do.
So you're non urgent, notimportant.
They should be taking you fiveminutes, two minutes, and you
can get them done.
And then, once you're done,you're done, done.
(17:32):
We like to force ourselves tolike, oh, you know, I just got
to get this done and I'm gonna,you know know, work at eight
o'clock at night and you justcannot focus.
So if you're a person who getsup early, and that's your window
of time because that's whereyou're the most focused.
You need to do the urgent stuffin that time because your brain
(17:54):
is just going to startdeteriorating throughout the day
.
So make sure you do.
Or, if you're a person depending, if you work out in the morning
again, I don't know whatpeople's schedules and routines
I know for ADHD people if theywork out in the mornings and
their brains are just ready togo, ready to go.
(18:15):
So, if you are that type ofperson, do all of your urgent
things in the morning and then,as the day progresses, you're
gonna do the tasks that aregonna take you one to five
minutes.
Hence the reason why you canpick and choose out of which
quadrant and how long it's gonnatake you.
Otherwise, if you're a personwho likes to work out in the end
(18:36):
of the day and that's the timethat you are most focused if
you're a person who likes towork out in the end of the day,
and that's the time that you aremost focused then you're going
to switch the stuff around.
You're going to do your urgentstuff, maybe after you've done
your workout because, again, youare focused.
So you have to decide when youare the most focused in the day.
Sophie Riley (18:55):
I love that I am 100% one of those morning people
.
100%, I can do more work in aproductive morning in two to
four hours than I could anythingafternoon.
I'm an empty coconut.
Anything afternoon, if I didn'twork out, I will not.
(19:15):
Afternoon, I did work out, Iwill not.
Afternoon Like it's, it's mylike.
Noontime, it's like okay, well,I'm just going to go clean up
my Google drive and watch a show, exactly.
Michelle Hibbert (19:27):
So again, I'm done.
Doing.
Your brain is done, it's done,yeah.
And so the less you can do, orthe more, the less tasks are
going to take like two minutes.
Those are the things you needto do at the end of the day,
because they're not going totake you that long and you don't
have to focus, and they'll getdone and you can move on.
And then tomorrow, this is mybig project, this is the urgent.
(19:48):
I am going to do it in themorning, I'm going to spend one
hour, one hour and a half, andthat is it, and then I'm going
to, in my breaks, do some otherlittle tasks.
So those are my two things.
I feel like that's important.
I feel like it's more than thatis a lot, but it's okay.
Sophie Riley (20:04):
It is a lot, but it is also so great.
I have seasons, which soundsmaybe a little bit weird.
I can work longer in the winter.
Oh wow, canada, it's cold.
I don't do the cold.
I'm tiny.
I don't have like this bodythat can just like regulate heat
(20:26):
.
I don't like it and, forwhatever reason, I am more
productive, like naturally moreproductive, but in the summer
summer is my least productiveseason.
It's like I just want to beoutside, I just want to be in
the sun, like it's.
It's everything that I do inthe summer feels forced.
(20:51):
Between 10 and noon is pushingit, right.
But if I get up at five and Iput in like a little work block
yesterday I created an entirewebsite, tiny work block I can
do a lot of work.
But listen, if I tried to belike let me just work all day on
that and I gave myself all dayto work on it, I would still be
(21:11):
working on it a week later.
Right, I'm not a lie.
I'm like OK, this is like fiveo'clock, I'm going to get up,
have a quick breakfast, I'mgoing to shower, you know, work
out and then, from like seven toten, I'm going to get it done
and I did.
I got it done.
So it's pretty exciting, butyeah.
I might have to be careful withthe season.
(21:32):
If I try to push it too much inthe summer, meh my work feels
meh.
Michelle Hibbert (21:40):
But that's understandable.
We all want to be outside thesun's shining, you know we want
to go outside, we want toexplore, we want to be with
nature, we want to go and hangout with friends, we want to go
to barbecues, we want to go togames and concerts and stuff.
That's totally understandable.
Winter, you just want to sitinside and hibernate and not go
out in the cold.
I get it.
Totally get, totally get it.
Sophie Riley (21:58):
Yeah, which is interesting, right.
Every time I tell that tosomeone, they're like you have
seasons.
I'm like, yes, yes, I do.
But sometimes people just maybedon't notice there is season,
right, sometimes we're used tosomething or we're told we need
to do something.
If you come from a corporateside of things, right, you work
(22:22):
seven to three, you work eightto four, um, but I'd love to
know how productive you are.
You know between one to four.
Michelle Hibbert (22:30):
I was about to say every time, every time, I
mean, I had a corporate job andI worked from home.
After two o'clock I'm toast.
You don't, don't ask.
Don't ask me to do anythingthat's major.
After two o'clock I'll sit in ameeting.
I'm just gonna say I might notbe concentrating, but you want
me to be productive, you need tohit me in the in the morning.
(22:52):
And the worst thing is, sophie,I am not a morning person, I'm
a night owl.
I'm a night owl, but that seemsto be changing.
Because I work.
I get up in the morning and Iwork out.
I never used to do that.
I used to work out after work.
But then I'm like no, I need toget up and it gets my brain
going, but then in the afternoonI'm toast.
Sophie Riley (23:14):
I'm absolute toast it could also have to do with
the amount of hours, right?
I really do feel like peopleare just wasting money asking
people to work such long hours,thinking that there's going to
be more things done, so thoughtof the day, right.
Michelle Hibbert (23:37):
And the fact that I work from home.
You know I've got my own office, but imagine working in the
cubicle.
That would be.
That would be terrible for me,because I'm going to get up and
I'm going to start annoyingpeople in the cubicles because I
want to go and talk.
Sophie Riley (23:52):
You know what that's true.
Plus, if you think about it,the amount of distraction, and
especially for the ADHD person,right, something that was big
for me.
So I'm a retired Canadian forcemember and I used to work in
the army in admin, run an entireorder room, admin office, right
(24:15):
.
I used to think that my ADHDwas a superpower in the sense of
that I could multitask like amother.
Ok, answer a question there,answer another question there,
answer this, answer the phone,answer the email and just go, go
(24:38):
, go, go, go go.
It was probably like the numberone reason I hit a burnout.
Yes, but that's huge for ADHD,right, like the distraction, but
we're feeling like like we'reheroes because we're
multitasking when it's the num,like it's one of the worst
things that you can do, which Ilearned after my burnout.
Thank you very much.
And it's, multitasking shortensyour long short term memory or
(25:02):
long term memory.
Michelle Hibbert (25:03):
I will have to go and find the details and put
it in the show notes when Iwhen I find it, but regardless,
how crazy is that I mean, hey,we all thought, and I think we
all think as women, that we canmultitask, but it is the worst
thing because you are notconcentrating and you're
spreading yourself too thin andit's just, it's a devil it's a
(25:26):
devil.
Sophie Riley (25:27):
Absolutely 100 now .
This concludes our deep diveinto mastering the productivity.
Stay tuned for more actionableinsights on our next adventures.
A huge thank you to our guest,michelle, whose wisdom and
expertise have eliminated ourpath to greater productivity and
wellbeing.
(25:47):
I will say that I use thesemethods and these sticky notes
daily.
For me, it is a life-changingproductivity hack.
Now I want you to run to theshow notes and grab Michelle's
workbook that she's created justfor you.
Until next time, keep creating,automating and scaling your way
to greatness.
This is Sophie Riley signingoff, reminding you to stay
(26:09):
inspired, stay innovative andalways dare to dream big.
Thanks for tuning in to theCreate, automate and Scale
podcast.
We hope you found today'sepisode to be inspirational,
informative and straight to thepoint.
Our goal is to provide you withrelatable content that helps
you mastermind the everydayhassle, grow your business and
(26:30):
achieve your goals.
As an entrepreneur, we know howtough it is that it can be to
navigate the world of business,which is why we're here to
support you with valuable tips,networking opportunities,
shameless money talk and scalingsecrets.
We're dedicated to helpingcoaches and course creators take
action, stop trading dollarsfor hours and explode their
(26:53):
business to hit that six figureand beyond.
Make sure you subscribe to ourpodcast to stay up to date with
the latest episode, and feelfree to leave a review or reach
out to us with any feedback orquestions that you may have.
Thanks for listening and we'llcatch you in the next episode of
Create, automate and Scale.
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