April 22, 2025 • 23 mins
🎧 Ep. 161 Time Poverty: Achieve More by Doing Less with Peggy Sullivan (Part 1) In this powerful episode, TEDx speaker Peggy Sullivan reveals her journey from "busyness addict" to creator of the revolutionary Busy Busting Process. Discover how to escape the hamster wheel of constant activity and reclaim hours of your week through research-backed strategies.
We explore:
- The shocking truth about time poverty and why 94% of professionals feel trapped by busyness
- How the average person wastes one-third of their day on low-value activities
- The first step of the Busy Busting Process: Subtraction
- Why micro-steps create sustainable change when massive overhauls fail
🔑 Key takeaways:
- Busyness triggers addictive dopamine responses, creating harmful cycles
- Using the Busy Barometer tool identifies your specific time-wasting patterns
- Small, consistent changes yield massive results (5-7 hours gained weekly)
- Breaking the busyness addiction starts with subtracting low-value activities
💡 Quotes to remember: "I'm a busyness addict in recovery... This busyness is controlling me, and I'm not controlling it." - Peggy Sullivan
"90% of people who take on this process get an average five to seven hours back per week." - Peggy Sullivan
"94% of the population is over-the-top busy, wants to be less busy, but they are clueless on how to add more meaning and value to their life." - Peggy Sullivan
🌟 Success Stories:
- How an executive slashed daily emails from 800 to 56 through simple process changes
- A VP single mother transformed her productivity with just 20 minutes of strategic self-care daily
Connect with Peggy:
Website: https://www.peggysullivanspeaker.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyasullivan/
TEDx: "Eliminating Time Poverty by Doing Less" (2024)
Book: "Beyond Busyness: How to Achieve More by Doing Less" https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Busyness-Achieve-Doing-Less%EF%BB%BF/dp/B0DGMPZTBG
A rising tide raises all ships, and I invite you along on this journey to Evoke Greatness!
Check out my website: www.evokegreatness.com
Follow me on:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonnie-linebarger-899b9a52/
https://www.instagram.com/evoke.greatness/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Evoke Greatness.
We are officially entering yearthree of this podcast and I am
filled with so much gratitudefor each and every one of you
who've joined me on thisincredible journey of growth and
self-discovery.
I'm Sunny, your host and fellowtraveler on this path of
personal evolution.
This podcast is a sanctuary forthe curious, the ambitious and
(00:28):
the introspective.
It's for those of you who, likeme, are captivated by the
champion mindset and driven byan insatiable hunger for growth
and knowledge.
Whether you're just beginningyour journey or you're well
along your path, you're going tofind stories here that resonate
with your experiences andaspirations.
Over the last two years, we'veshared countless stories of
triumph and challenge, ofresilience and transformation.
(00:51):
We've laughed, we've reflectedand we've grown together.
And as we've evolved, so toohas this podcast.
Remember, no matter whatchapter you're on in your own
story, you belong here.
This community we've builttogether is a place of support,
inspiration and shared growth.
Where intention goes, energyflows, and the energy you bring
(01:13):
to this space elevates us all.
So, whether you're listeningwhile commuting, working out or
enjoying your morning coffee,perhaps from one of those
motivational mugs I'm so fond of, know that you're a part of
something special.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for your curiosity,your openness and your
commitment to personal growth.
As we embark on year three, Iinvite you to lean in, to listen
(01:36):
deeply and to let these storiesresonate with your soul.
I believe that a rising tideraises all ships and I invite
you along in this journey toevoke greatness.
(01:57):
Welcome back to another episodeof Evoke Greatness, where we
dive deep with thought leaderswho are transforming how we
think about work and life.
I'm thrilled to introducetoday's guest, peggy Sullivan, a
renowned expert on combatingwhat she calls time poverty,
through her revolutionary busybusting process.
In October of 2024, peggydelivered a powerful TEDx talk
(02:18):
at Walden Pond titledEliminating Time Poverty by
Doing Less.
Her message strikes at theheart of modern workplace
culture Eat, work, sleep, repeat.
It's a silent addiction keepingboth individuals and
organizations from reachingtheir full potential.
Peggy's groundbreaking researchreveals that a staggering 78% of
people feel trapped on thishamster wheel of busyness.
(02:39):
And, as the author of BeyondBusyness how to Achieve More by
Doing Less she offersdata-driven, actionable
solutions to break free from thebusyness traps and reclaim
balance without sacrificingperformance.
Her insights have been featuredin leading publications,
including Time, forbes,entrepreneur and Bloomberg, and
today we're going to explore herbusy-busting framework
(03:01):
practical strategies thatempower people to achieve peak
performance while maintaininghealth and joy.
Peggy, welcome to the show.
Thank you, I am so excited tobe here.
Well, I always like to kick offsharing a little bit about your
story and what paved the pathto where you are today.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, I am a busyness addict in recovery Always been
too much for me to do and toolittle time.
I grew up and my father was animmigrant who had a strong work
ethic, so I grew up with thatand always working hard and
climbing more and raising thebar, and I did that most of my
(03:42):
life.
And in corporate America Iworked for amazing organizations
that had thousands of peoplereporting to me and it was
really great.
But I reached a point where Ihad a post-it note on my table
reminding me what city and whattime zone I was in.
But furthermore, I startedhaving all these wake-up calls
(04:06):
and I think the biggest wake-upcall that I had was when I came
home from work one day and I wastired.
It was another 11 hour day and Igo into the house and I'm
hungry and I hadn't grocery shop.
So I'm trying to find anythingedible to eat and I land on a
bag of stale pistachio nuts andI'm thinking to myself these
(04:27):
nuts are salty, they're chewy,what's going on here?
And then I feel this pulling onmy leg and it's my cat Dazzle
and he's basically like Ihaven't eaten in 10 hours either
.
So I throw some kibbles intohis dish and I fell asleep on
the couch.
And I woke up a couple of hourslater to this, this gagging
(04:49):
noise, and I looked up and itwas my cat Dazzle throwing up
pistachio nuts.
And I looked down and Irealized I had remnants of pet
food in my hand and that I wasin such a burnt out haze that I
ate pet food for dinner anddidn't even realize it.
Wow, and I love my fur baby.
(05:10):
He's like a second son to meand I really put his health in
jeopardy.
But more than that, I just atepet food for dinner and about
six months later my husbandwalked out on me and he was
basically like I don't know youanymore, we spend no time
together, there's just no pointin continuing our marriage.
(05:36):
And then I had a stress-relatedheart attack and I ended up
missing out on a promotion thatI worked really hard on because
I was in rehab, and it just gotme thinking this busyness is
controlling me and I'm notcontrolling it.
And so I got really passionateabout this whole concept of
(05:57):
busyness, and I'm a researchgeek, so I did a tremendous
amount of research to understandbusyness and what I learned was
a lot of data surrounding itwhere we think busy is better.
It's a status symbol, it's asign of success.
The honest facts, reality, thedata, all studies show that
(06:22):
busyness is not good.
It deteriorates yourproductivity, increases the
amount of mistakes you make,your ability to connect humanly.
It destroys your health.
You end up cutting out thingsin your life, you love and
whatever.
And so I started thinking tomyself why am I so busy all the
(06:43):
time?
Why am I doing this?
I'm looking at the data and yetI can't help myself.
It's always like one more thing, check that, check that box.
And so what I learned was thatbusyness is an addiction and
that we get a dopamine shotevery time we get something done
, so we want to do it over andover and over again.
(07:04):
So I was like I'm not living mybest life.
I could be more productive,healthier, happier.
I got to figure this thing outand at first it was just all
about me and how I was going toget to it, and I started doing
some market research and Istarted testing out different
processes and I finally gotsomething that worked really
(07:27):
well for me.
And then organizations andcompanies and individuals would
come to me and say what haschanged in your life?
You look 10 years younger Now.
You're doing great in yourcareer, your relationships are
thriving, you're smiling all thetime, your relationships are
thriving, you're smiling all thetime.
(07:47):
And that's when I decided thatI wanted to share this process,
that I had spent eight yearsspeaking about consulting, about
teaching, that I really wantedto share it with the world
because it worked.
What I find is that 90% of thepeople that take on this process
get an average five to sevenhours bath per week and I don't
(08:10):
know about you, but five toseven hours like wow, that is,
that's a whole nother day.
It's a whole nother day.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, I'm fascinated by the language that you use
around.
When, with your TEDx at WaldenPond, it focused on eliminating
time poverty by doing less.
I would love for you to breakdown what time poverty actually
means.
And then, how does it manifestdifferently from regular time
management challenges?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, I mean time management, more productivity,
more meaning, more purpose, youknow, at work and in home.
You know you just have to makesome decisions and it's really
hard to figure out what to sayyes to, what to say no to and
just how to manage your time.
And so one of the first thingsI noticed is that we all spend,
(09:24):
on average, one third of our dayon low value activities.
They could be something assimple as you spend too much
time on email.
The average person in theworkplace spends one third of
their time in, and only 30% areproductive.
You know multitasking the hopeand the savior for all of us.
(09:51):
You know, I once coached awoman who sent out an invoice
for $11,000 that was supposed tobe $1,100 because she was
multitasking and it was aproblem because she made the
same mistake with multiplepeople.
And so you know, I always loveto teach people how to subtract
(10:12):
low value activities.
I put together something I callthe busy barometer, which is
just a three, four minute survey, and if you go on my website,
you'll be able to grab it andtake it, but it'll ask you a
bunch of questions about yourwork habits, your health habits,
you know, your communicationhabits and it will tell you what
(10:37):
your lowest value activitiesare and make some suggestions on
how to change them.
And I'm a big believer thatthere's always a find the way.
People always tell me oh, I gotto go to meetings.
And I'm like, actually youdon't, and here's what you can
do to not fill your day withmeetings.
So at five o'clock you're likeokay, time to roll up my sleeves
(10:58):
and do my real work.
You know, there's always a way.
My real work, there's always away.
And so the first step in thebusy busting process is
subtracting low value activities, and that's important.
So you make room for what isimportant and what you value.
And it can be as simple aschanging one or two habits.
(11:21):
I once coached this gentlemanwho managed 7,400 employees and
he had an open door policy andso people were always knocking
on his door and always sendinghim emails and he had no time to
be strategic, no time to managehis managers.
It was just really hard.
(11:43):
And so what I said to him whatwould happen if you had a town
hall meeting you know, a virtualtown hall meeting where people
could ask questions, and youdedicated 30 minutes once a week
to that.
You know, let's try that.
Would that cut down all theemail that you're getting and
all the knocking on your door?
And oh, by the way, tell youremployees.
(12:05):
You know I'd love to hear fromyou.
If it's really important, pickup the phone.
And or, you know, please don'tCC the world just to cover your
butt.
And so he ended up actuallyeliminating.
He used to get on average, 750,800 emails a day and he, he, he
(12:29):
eliminated them and got it downto like 56 emails a day.
And so he was like there's noway I can't do this, I can't cut
down on looking at email andI'm like there's always a way.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, absolutely Well , that resonates in a couple of
different ways, but it deeplyresonates around my line of work
, which is taking care of peopleat the end of their life in
hospice care and, as a ton ofresearch has been done over the
years, when people look back,their deepest regret at the end
of life is not that they didn'tspend more time in the office or
spend time doing those thingsthat were occupying their
(13:05):
schedule with no real purpose.
They feel like they didn'tspend their time doing the
really meaningful things withthe people that mean the most to
them.
So that, like it, deeplyresonates with my heart and my
line of work.
But I think those are questionsthat we should ask ourselves
way earlier in life and not waituntil when we're in our final
chapter to look back on that.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, I mean, I just I do workplace research every
year and the workplace researchthat I just concluded which was
from 2024, basically said that94% of the population is
over-the-top busy, wants to beless busy, but they are clueless
(13:47):
on how and how to add moremeaning and value to their life.
And that's why I've always beenreally, really focused on, you
know, making sure that peopleknow the data and then there's
an actionable process that theycan do Micro steps, not major
steps.
Micro steps.
You know one of my customers,sally.
(14:09):
She always complained she didn'thave time for self-care and she
was a single mother with, youknow, three children all under
12.
She was a vice president of aninternational bank and she had
no time for self-care.
And one day she just had ameltdown.
She was just so tired and soexhausted.
(14:30):
She just chipped over laundrythat had been sitting there for
weeks and laid there and herdaughter called me up kind of
concerned about her mom.
She says mom won't even openher eyes.
So I get over there and shetells me, you know she's really
depressed, no time for self-care.
And I'm like, okay, let's startsmall.
Can you give me five minutestomorrow morning?
(14:50):
Five minutes, that's it, fiveminutes.
She says, yes, I can.
I said you know, your daystarts with your kids waking you
up, jumping on the bed, askingfor breakfast, putting their
clothes out for school.
I said what would happen if yougot up five minutes earlier,
had a cup of coffee?
You live in Florida.
Feel the sun on your face.
She says I can do that.
(15:11):
So she tried that and she feltthat her mornings were a lot
less stressful.
So when she got to work she waslike yeah, it worked until I
got to work, and then work wasjust chaotic and there was too
much going on there.
And so I asked her about breaksand lunch.
And she took no breaks duringthe day and no lunch.
And she had told me she makessandwiches and lunches for her
(15:35):
kids and she doesn't have timeto grab lunch for herself.
And I'm like well, make a PBJfor yourself and go outside,
feel that sun on your face andtake a 10 minute lunch Doesn't
have to be much.
So all of a sudden she's up to15 minutes a day.
That's 15 minutes, and she'salready starting to feel better.
(15:58):
So then I check in with her acouple of weeks later and I'm
like so what's going on?
She says everything's great,but I'm not sleeping.
I'm like, well, what do you doat night?
And she says, well, I do mythings to do list and I try to
organize it.
And I'm like, well, how big isyour things to do list?
She says, oh, it's usually 10to 15 things done.
(16:19):
And I said, well, how do youfeel when you look at it?
Overwhelmed, stressed, like I'mnever going to get it done.
And you're wondering why you'renot sleeping.
Why don't you change that habit?
And instead, you know, start ajournal, take a hot bath, you
know, be grateful, count yourblessings, do something
different.
And so I love that story,because she ended up carving out
(16:44):
20 minutes a day.
But she became a better mother,her metrics at work improved
greatly, she was healthier, shewas happy, and it's these micro
step things that we do that justmake such a difference.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I love that you share that, because that feel is the
overwhelm.
It just feels so big in likefour minutes and when you can
look at that and say, okay, howcan I distill this into smaller
micro steps so that it feelslike something like I can
actually take some action, evenif they're baby steps, and then
(17:21):
they feel the impact from asmall output of action they
actually get a bigger feeling ofimpact.
And so I love that you breakthat down into start small,
start with the baby steps, themicro steps.
I'm a micro stepper.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I love to do hard things, and the only way I can
do hard things is when I do themin a micro step fashion, and I
think that's really important.
And yeah, and step two in thebusy busting process is dealing
with this busyness as anaddiction, because we're all
addicted to getting stuff done.
(17:56):
And so what can you do to getthat dopamine high?
And I wrote my first book abouthappiness and the neuroscience
of happiness.
Your brain lights upneurotransmitters that send
different cues to your body,basically saying be happier,
(18:17):
have more energy.
You know, be more charismatic.
You know, fight off chronicdisease, you're going to live
longer.
You know, your mood is going toimprove.
I mean all this stuff happens.
And then I'm like, okay, sothat's the neuroscience of
happiness, what makes mostpeople happy.
(18:37):
And what I found was thatpeople view happiness as a thing
or a place or a destination,and I'm like that's all wrong,
because then we can't controlsome of that stuff.
You know, I'm going to be happywhen I get to the weekend, when
I'm on vacation.
I'm going to be happy when Iget the promotion.
(18:58):
I'm going to be happy when Iget a new car so I don't have to
take the bus.
I mean, you know too many ofthose things are just too hard.
So what if we created happinessrituals?
What if we did these three orfour minute rituals during the
day?
And so I started doing that.
My day, like mine, were like 11o'clock and four o'clock and I
(19:22):
also did a happiness ritualfirst thing in the morning,
always a dance party with myfuzzy pink slippers and some
really really great music at 11am, no matter where I am, I eat
dark chocolate, I smell it, Itaste it, I close my eyes and
it's like pushing the resetbutton.
And you know, many times at theend of the day I'll spend it
(19:47):
with my fur baby, just brushinghim and listening to him purr,
and it makes me so happy.
And doing or doing somethingnice for somebody else.
You know, I'll go to thegrocery store and I'll pay for
the person behind me.
Or I'll go to get a coffee andI'll buy the person behind me a
cup just random acts of kindnessthat ignite this like helper's
(20:11):
high.
So that's step two, what I callmojo making and creating
intentional happiness rituals.
And then the third step in thebusy busting process, which is
probably the hardest but themost rewarding, is really
getting to know your values.
(20:32):
Rewarding is really getting toknow your values.
What are your values?
I used to think that values werethis oblique thing and I would
get up and I would talk aboutvalues and I would ask people
and they would always say thatyou know, my values are super,
super important to me, but Ican't, but I just can't really
(20:52):
figure out which ones are.
I mean, and I speak on valuesand people would end up Googling
or looking at their neighbors,like, what are your values?
Well, those are good for me,you know, or Googling them.
And so I thought you know what?
I want to research values, butI want to understand what values
(21:13):
make us feel like our cup isfull, like, at the end of the
day, we just feel fulfilled.
So I researched about 20,000people and asked them.
You know, over a course of sixmonths, you know what values
make you feel like you lived agreat day, and what I learned is
(21:34):
that there were four of them.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Well, that's a wrap for part one of Time Poverty
Achieve More by Doing Less.
With Peggy Sullivan, I hopeyou'll come back next week where
Peggy reveals the remaining twosteps of her busy busting
process.
She's going to unpack hergroundbreaking research on
happiness neuroscience and sharethe four core values that
transformed thousands of lives,plus discover the simple
(21:59):
three-minute happiness ritualthat's more effective than a
week of vacation.
This might be the episode thatfinally breaks your busyness
addiction for good.
Thank you so much for listeningand for being here on this
journey with me.
I hope you'll stick around Ifyou liked this episode.
It would mean the world for meif you would rate and review the
(22:21):
podcast or share it withsomeone you know.
Many need to hear this message.
I love to hear from you all andwant you to know that you can
leave me a voicemail directly.
If you go to my website,evokegreatnesscom, and go to the
contact me tab, you'll just hitthe big old orange button and
record your message.
I love the feedback andcomments that I've been getting,
so please keep them coming.
I'll leave you with the wisewords of author Robin Sharma
(22:45):
Greatness comes by doing a fewsmall and smart things each and
every day.
It comes from taking littlesteps consistently.
It comes from making a fewsmall chips against everything
in your professional andpersonal life that is ordinary,
so that a day eventually arriveswhen all that's left is the
extraordinary.
Welcome to Evoke Greatness.
We are officially entering yearthree of this podcast and I am
filled with so much gratitudefor each and every one of you
who've joined me on thisincredible journey of growth and
self-discovery.
I'm Sunny, your host and fellowtraveler on this path of
personal evolution.
This podcast is a sanctuary forthe curious, the ambitious and
(00:28):
the introspective.
It's for those of you who, likeme, are captivated by the
champion mindset and driven byan insatiable hunger for growth
and knowledge.
Whether you're just beginningyour journey or you're well
along your path, you're going tofind stories here that resonate
with your experiences andaspirations.
Over the last two years, we'veshared countless stories of
triumph and challenge, ofresilience and transformation.
(00:51):
We've laughed, we've reflectedand we've grown together.
And as we've evolved, so toohas this podcast.
Remember, no matter whatchapter you're on in your own
story, you belong here.
This community we've builttogether is a place of support,
inspiration and shared growth.
Where intention goes, energyflows, and the energy you bring
(01:13):
to this space elevates us all.
So, whether you're listeningwhile commuting, working out or
enjoying your morning coffee,perhaps from one of those
motivational mugs I'm so fond of, know that you're a part of
something special.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for your curiosity,your openness and your
commitment to personal growth.
As we embark on year three, Iinvite you to lean in, to listen
(01:36):
deeply and to let these storiesresonate with your soul.
I believe that a rising tideraises all ships and I invite
you along in this journey toevoke greatness.
(01:57):
Welcome back to another episodeof Evoke Greatness, where we
dive deep with thought leaderswho are transforming how we
think about work and life.
I'm thrilled to introducetoday's guest, peggy Sullivan, a
renowned expert on combatingwhat she calls time poverty,
through her revolutionary busybusting process.
In October of 2024, peggydelivered a powerful TEDx talk
(02:18):
at Walden Pond titledEliminating Time Poverty by
Doing Less.
Her message strikes at theheart of modern workplace
culture Eat, work, sleep, repeat.
It's a silent addiction keepingboth individuals and
organizations from reachingtheir full potential.
Peggy's groundbreaking researchreveals that a staggering 78% of
people feel trapped on thishamster wheel of busyness.
(02:39):
And, as the author of BeyondBusyness how to Achieve More by
Doing Less she offersdata-driven, actionable
solutions to break free from thebusyness traps and reclaim
balance without sacrificingperformance.
Her insights have been featuredin leading publications,
including Time, forbes,entrepreneur and Bloomberg, and
today we're going to explore herbusy-busting framework
(03:01):
practical strategies thatempower people to achieve peak
performance while maintaininghealth and joy.
Peggy, welcome to the show.
Thank you, I am so excited tobe here.
Well, I always like to kick offsharing a little bit about your
story and what paved the pathto where you are today.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, I am a busyness addict in recovery Always been
too much for me to do and toolittle time.
I grew up and my father was animmigrant who had a strong work
ethic, so I grew up with thatand always working hard and
climbing more and raising thebar, and I did that most of my
(03:42):
life.
And in corporate America Iworked for amazing organizations
that had thousands of peoplereporting to me and it was
really great.
But I reached a point where Ihad a post-it note on my table
reminding me what city and whattime zone I was in.
But furthermore, I startedhaving all these wake-up calls
(04:06):
and I think the biggest wake-upcall that I had was when I came
home from work one day and I wastired.
It was another 11 hour day and Igo into the house and I'm
hungry and I hadn't grocery shop.
So I'm trying to find anythingedible to eat and I land on a
bag of stale pistachio nuts andI'm thinking to myself these
(04:27):
nuts are salty, they're chewy,what's going on here?
And then I feel this pulling onmy leg and it's my cat Dazzle
and he's basically like Ihaven't eaten in 10 hours either
.
So I throw some kibbles intohis dish and I fell asleep on
the couch.
And I woke up a couple of hourslater to this, this gagging
(04:49):
noise, and I looked up and itwas my cat Dazzle throwing up
pistachio nuts.
And I looked down and Irealized I had remnants of pet
food in my hand and that I wasin such a burnt out haze that I
ate pet food for dinner anddidn't even realize it.
Wow, and I love my fur baby.
(05:10):
He's like a second son to meand I really put his health in
jeopardy.
But more than that, I just atepet food for dinner and about
six months later my husbandwalked out on me and he was
basically like I don't know youanymore, we spend no time
together, there's just no pointin continuing our marriage.
(05:36):
And then I had a stress-relatedheart attack and I ended up
missing out on a promotion thatI worked really hard on because
I was in rehab, and it just gotme thinking this busyness is
controlling me and I'm notcontrolling it.
And so I got really passionateabout this whole concept of
(05:57):
busyness, and I'm a researchgeek, so I did a tremendous
amount of research to understandbusyness and what I learned was
a lot of data surrounding itwhere we think busy is better.
It's a status symbol, it's asign of success.
The honest facts, reality, thedata, all studies show that
(06:22):
busyness is not good.
It deteriorates yourproductivity, increases the
amount of mistakes you make,your ability to connect humanly.
It destroys your health.
You end up cutting out thingsin your life, you love and
whatever.
And so I started thinking tomyself why am I so busy all the
(06:43):
time?
Why am I doing this?
I'm looking at the data and yetI can't help myself.
It's always like one more thing, check that, check that box.
And so what I learned was thatbusyness is an addiction and
that we get a dopamine shotevery time we get something done
, so we want to do it over andover and over again.
(07:04):
So I was like I'm not living mybest life.
I could be more productive,healthier, happier.
I got to figure this thing outand at first it was just all
about me and how I was going toget to it, and I started doing
some market research and Istarted testing out different
processes and I finally gotsomething that worked really
(07:27):
well for me.
And then organizations andcompanies and individuals would
come to me and say what haschanged in your life?
You look 10 years younger Now.
You're doing great in yourcareer, your relationships are
thriving, you're smiling all thetime, your relationships are
thriving, you're smiling all thetime.
(07:47):
And that's when I decided thatI wanted to share this process,
that I had spent eight yearsspeaking about consulting, about
teaching, that I really wantedto share it with the world
because it worked.
What I find is that 90% of thepeople that take on this process
get an average five to sevenhours bath per week and I don't
(08:10):
know about you, but five toseven hours like wow, that is,
that's a whole nother day.
It's a whole nother day.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, I'm fascinated by the language that you use
around.
When, with your TEDx at WaldenPond, it focused on eliminating
time poverty by doing less.
I would love for you to breakdown what time poverty actually
means.
And then, how does it manifestdifferently from regular time
management challenges?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, I mean time management, more productivity,
more meaning, more purpose, youknow, at work and in home.
You know you just have to makesome decisions and it's really
hard to figure out what to sayyes to, what to say no to and
just how to manage your time.
And so one of the first thingsI noticed is that we all spend,
(09:24):
on average, one third of our dayon low value activities.
They could be something assimple as you spend too much
time on email.
The average person in theworkplace spends one third of
their time in, and only 30% areproductive.
You know multitasking the hopeand the savior for all of us.
(09:51):
You know, I once coached awoman who sent out an invoice
for $11,000 that was supposed tobe $1,100 because she was
multitasking and it was aproblem because she made the
same mistake with multiplepeople.
And so you know, I always loveto teach people how to subtract
(10:12):
low value activities.
I put together something I callthe busy barometer, which is
just a three, four minute survey, and if you go on my website,
you'll be able to grab it andtake it, but it'll ask you a
bunch of questions about yourwork habits, your health habits,
you know, your communicationhabits and it will tell you what
(10:37):
your lowest value activitiesare and make some suggestions on
how to change them.
And I'm a big believer thatthere's always a find the way.
People always tell me oh, I gotto go to meetings.
And I'm like, actually youdon't, and here's what you can
do to not fill your day withmeetings.
So at five o'clock you're likeokay, time to roll up my sleeves
(10:58):
and do my real work.
You know, there's always a way.
My real work, there's always away.
And so the first step in thebusy busting process is
subtracting low value activities, and that's important.
So you make room for what isimportant and what you value.
And it can be as simple aschanging one or two habits.
(11:21):
I once coached this gentlemanwho managed 7,400 employees and
he had an open door policy andso people were always knocking
on his door and always sendinghim emails and he had no time to
be strategic, no time to managehis managers.
It was just really hard.
(11:43):
And so what I said to him whatwould happen if you had a town
hall meeting you know, a virtualtown hall meeting where people
could ask questions, and youdedicated 30 minutes once a week
to that.
You know, let's try that.
Would that cut down all theemail that you're getting and
all the knocking on your door?
And oh, by the way, tell youremployees.
(12:05):
You know I'd love to hear fromyou.
If it's really important, pickup the phone.
And or, you know, please don'tCC the world just to cover your
butt.
And so he ended up actuallyeliminating.
He used to get on average, 750,800 emails a day and he, he, he
(12:29):
eliminated them and got it downto like 56 emails a day.
And so he was like there's noway I can't do this, I can't cut
down on looking at email andI'm like there's always a way.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, absolutely Well , that resonates in a couple of
different ways, but it deeplyresonates around my line of work
, which is taking care of peopleat the end of their life in
hospice care and, as a ton ofresearch has been done over the
years, when people look back,their deepest regret at the end
of life is not that they didn'tspend more time in the office or
spend time doing those thingsthat were occupying their
(13:05):
schedule with no real purpose.
They feel like they didn'tspend their time doing the
really meaningful things withthe people that mean the most to
them.
So that, like it, deeplyresonates with my heart and my
line of work.
But I think those are questionsthat we should ask ourselves
way earlier in life and not waituntil when we're in our final
chapter to look back on that.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, I mean, I just I do workplace research every
year and the workplace researchthat I just concluded which was
from 2024, basically said that94% of the population is
over-the-top busy, wants to beless busy, but they are clueless
(13:47):
on how and how to add moremeaning and value to their life.
And that's why I've always beenreally, really focused on, you
know, making sure that peopleknow the data and then there's
an actionable process that theycan do Micro steps, not major
steps.
Micro steps.
You know one of my customers,sally.
(14:09):
She always complained she didn'thave time for self-care and she
was a single mother with, youknow, three children all under
12.
She was a vice president of aninternational bank and she had
no time for self-care.
And one day she just had ameltdown.
She was just so tired and soexhausted.
(14:30):
She just chipped over laundrythat had been sitting there for
weeks and laid there and herdaughter called me up kind of
concerned about her mom.
She says mom won't even openher eyes.
So I get over there and shetells me, you know she's really
depressed, no time for self-care.
And I'm like, okay, let's startsmall.
Can you give me five minutestomorrow morning?
(14:50):
Five minutes, that's it, fiveminutes.
She says, yes, I can.
I said you know, your daystarts with your kids waking you
up, jumping on the bed, askingfor breakfast, putting their
clothes out for school.
I said what would happen if yougot up five minutes earlier,
had a cup of coffee?
You live in Florida.
Feel the sun on your face.
She says I can do that.
(15:11):
So she tried that and she feltthat her mornings were a lot
less stressful.
So when she got to work she waslike yeah, it worked until I
got to work, and then work wasjust chaotic and there was too
much going on there.
And so I asked her about breaksand lunch.
And she took no breaks duringthe day and no lunch.
And she had told me she makessandwiches and lunches for her
(15:35):
kids and she doesn't have timeto grab lunch for herself.
And I'm like well, make a PBJfor yourself and go outside,
feel that sun on your face andtake a 10 minute lunch Doesn't
have to be much.
So all of a sudden she's up to15 minutes a day.
That's 15 minutes, and she'salready starting to feel better.
(15:58):
So then I check in with her acouple of weeks later and I'm
like so what's going on?
She says everything's great,but I'm not sleeping.
I'm like, well, what do you doat night?
And she says, well, I do mythings to do list and I try to
organize it.
And I'm like, well, how big isyour things to do list?
She says, oh, it's usually 10to 15 things done.
(16:19):
And I said, well, how do youfeel when you look at it?
Overwhelmed, stressed, like I'mnever going to get it done.
And you're wondering why you'renot sleeping.
Why don't you change that habit?
And instead, you know, start ajournal, take a hot bath, you
know, be grateful, count yourblessings, do something
different.
And so I love that story,because she ended up carving out
(16:44):
20 minutes a day.
But she became a better mother,her metrics at work improved
greatly, she was healthier, shewas happy, and it's these micro
step things that we do that justmake such a difference.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I love that you share that, because that feel is the
overwhelm.
It just feels so big in likefour minutes and when you can
look at that and say, okay, howcan I distill this into smaller
micro steps so that it feelslike something like I can
actually take some action, evenif they're baby steps, and then
(17:21):
they feel the impact from asmall output of action they
actually get a bigger feeling ofimpact.
And so I love that you breakthat down into start small,
start with the baby steps, themicro steps.
I'm a micro stepper.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I love to do hard things, and the only way I can
do hard things is when I do themin a micro step fashion, and I
think that's really important.
And yeah, and step two in thebusy busting process is dealing
with this busyness as anaddiction, because we're all
addicted to getting stuff done.
(17:56):
And so what can you do to getthat dopamine high?
And I wrote my first book abouthappiness and the neuroscience
of happiness.
Your brain lights upneurotransmitters that send
different cues to your body,basically saying be happier,
(18:17):
have more energy.
You know, be more charismatic.
You know, fight off chronicdisease, you're going to live
longer.
You know, your mood is going toimprove.
I mean all this stuff happens.
And then I'm like, okay, sothat's the neuroscience of
happiness, what makes mostpeople happy.
(18:37):
And what I found was thatpeople view happiness as a thing
or a place or a destination,and I'm like that's all wrong,
because then we can't controlsome of that stuff.
You know, I'm going to be happywhen I get to the weekend, when
I'm on vacation.
I'm going to be happy when Iget the promotion.
(18:58):
I'm going to be happy when Iget a new car so I don't have to
take the bus.
I mean, you know too many ofthose things are just too hard.
So what if we created happinessrituals?
What if we did these three orfour minute rituals during the
day?
And so I started doing that.
My day, like mine, were like 11o'clock and four o'clock and I
(19:22):
also did a happiness ritualfirst thing in the morning,
always a dance party with myfuzzy pink slippers and some
really really great music at 11am, no matter where I am, I eat
dark chocolate, I smell it, Itaste it, I close my eyes and
it's like pushing the resetbutton.
And you know, many times at theend of the day I'll spend it
(19:47):
with my fur baby, just brushinghim and listening to him purr,
and it makes me so happy.
And doing or doing somethingnice for somebody else.
You know, I'll go to thegrocery store and I'll pay for
the person behind me.
Or I'll go to get a coffee andI'll buy the person behind me a
cup just random acts of kindnessthat ignite this like helper's
(20:11):
high.
So that's step two, what I callmojo making and creating
intentional happiness rituals.
And then the third step in thebusy busting process, which is
probably the hardest but themost rewarding, is really
getting to know your values.
(20:32):
Rewarding is really getting toknow your values.
What are your values?
I used to think that values werethis oblique thing and I would
get up and I would talk aboutvalues and I would ask people
and they would always say thatyou know, my values are super,
super important to me, but Ican't, but I just can't really
(20:52):
figure out which ones are.
I mean, and I speak on valuesand people would end up Googling
or looking at their neighbors,like, what are your values?
Well, those are good for me,you know, or Googling them.
And so I thought you know what?
I want to research values, butI want to understand what values
(21:13):
make us feel like our cup isfull, like, at the end of the
day, we just feel fulfilled.
So I researched about 20,000people and asked them.
You know, over a course of sixmonths, you know what values
make you feel like you lived agreat day, and what I learned is
(21:34):
that there were four of them.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Well, that's a wrap for part one of Time Poverty
Achieve More by Doing Less.
With Peggy Sullivan, I hopeyou'll come back next week where
Peggy reveals the remaining twosteps of her busy busting
process.
She's going to unpack hergroundbreaking research on
happiness neuroscience and sharethe four core values that
transformed thousands of lives,plus discover the simple
(21:59):
three-minute happiness ritualthat's more effective than a
week of vacation.
This might be the episode thatfinally breaks your busyness
addiction for good.
Thank you so much for listeningand for being here on this
journey with me.
I hope you'll stick around Ifyou liked this episode.
It would mean the world for meif you would rate and review the
(22:21):
podcast or share it withsomeone you know.
Many need to hear this message.
I love to hear from you all andwant you to know that you can
leave me a voicemail directly.
If you go to my website,evokegreatnesscom, and go to the
contact me tab, you'll just hitthe big old orange button and
record your message.
I love the feedback andcomments that I've been getting,
so please keep them coming.
I'll leave you with the wisewords of author Robin Sharma
(22:45):
Greatness comes by doing a fewsmall and smart things each and
every day.
It comes from taking littlesteps consistently.
It comes from making a fewsmall chips against everything
in your professional andpersonal life that is ordinary,
so that a day eventually arriveswhen all that's left is the
extraordinary.
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