The Floral Hustle

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Hello, flower friends! It's Jen, and I am so excited to talk to you about something that has been hitting my inbox, hitting my DMs, questions about productivity. And with everything going on right now I thought you know, I'm giving you all of these tips, Like, I, I've done a couple episodes on productivity tips and I actually did like an episode like I am more productive than the average human.

Which was a really like, heady thing to say, but I do get a lot accomplished. And part of that is making choices for the things that I won't do. So I want to talk to you about six things that are stealing your productivity. And, When you have your productivity stolen from you, when there's all these little productivity thieves running around and taking your time, which is a resource, which is a currency, like time is a currency to me, time away from my children.

is something I can't get back. Time away from my family, my husband, my, I mean, my dogs, like whatever it is, my bunnies, like time away, you can't get it back. So it is a currency. So how can you do more? With the time that you have and this is something that like plagues everybody if this is something you've struggled with you are not alone This is a universal struggle Everybody always feels like they're not doing enough.

You feel like you could be doing more you feel like you're not good enough You're not producing at the level. You should just like a million things and I get that I get All of that. Let's talk about these things that are stealing your productivity that maybe you can make tweaks and changes to help get some of your time back.

I was listening. I listened to the Jay Shetty podcast and I absolutely love him. I think he is so inspirational and he was talking about. Basically, I think right now, especially with the world kind of being in this total state of unrest, people talking about other people takes the, the average person talks about other people or other people's issues, problems, whatever, 52 minutes a day.

So 52 minutes a day, people are talking shit about other people. Think about that. And then when you're like, Oh no, no, that can't be me. Think about your kid's friend that's a total little a hole and that you're upset about. Think about the fight with your mom or dad. Think about the fight with your spouse that you're telling your best friend about.

Think about you're at the gym with your bestie and then somebody is like being ridiculous and doing whatever. We spend so much time Worrying about others, worrying about their actions, worrying about what they're doing talking about it, especially I, I know that I have gone through situations that I'm just like super frustrated with somebody that's working for me or a situation with someone or somebody I've hired or Whatever.

You know, whatever. And all of a sudden I'm like, Oh my god, I have like worried about this so much. And it is so not helpful. Get it out for two seconds and be done and move on. Because talking about it is not going to resolve it. Not in a way that you're just like, oh my god, like this is crushing it.

And, like, I feel like I've just had so much clarity on this situation getting better. Like, that is not gonna fucking happen. Get some of your time back by just talking about others less. And I do think once you start talking about, like, yourself and focusing on you, And what you control, this is the biggest thing that I teach my children.

We can only control how we react to others because we can't control others. We can only, how we feel and how we react is the only thing that we have in our control. So worrying about others is often out of our control. Worrying about what they're doing, what they're thinking, what they're saying. We literally, very rarely, have little impact in changing that situation, but we spend max output thinking we will impact that situation, which is not going to be helpful.

It's just not helpful. How can you stop talking about other people? One thing is get accountability buddies. If you're doing it to your best friend, if you're doing it with your husband, if you're doing it with your partner, if your kids are doing it even, try to guide that behavior into, I want you to keep me accountable.

So that if I do start talking about somebody else in a way that's just not great and not to the standards that you know that I want to live my life by, please say something. Have a code word, orange. Do something that will knock you out of your stupor of engaging in that behavior. Because if you truly do want to be better, stop engaging in that behavior.

Like, that is how you are going to get so much time back. All right, next, worrying about everything, that is such a productivity stealer because if you are worrying, you are not in a peak state of productivity. If you are fretting, you are not usually taking action because you are worrying about taking action.

You are worrying about all of these things. often out of your control. That is taking your mental energy, often your physical energy, because it stops you in your tracks. And if something stops you in your tracks you're halted. Your productivity is halted. So what can you do to stop worrying? My mantra, just like I told you, I teach my children, I often will, I put my hand on my heart and say, I can only control how I feel about something and how I react.

And when I bring that clarity back, I'm like, I can't do anything about what the president is doing and how it's making somebody feel. I physically cannot do something. I can advocate. I can be part of a voice. But like, Me going and just worrying about it is not going to make the situation immediately better.

It's actually making me physically ill, most likely, because I see so many people who are consistent worriers, they're sick often. They're not feeling good. Worrying all the time is like unplugging your battery and just letting it drain out. So like, imagine not charging your phone for three days. Do you think it's running?

Every time you're worrying, you're depleting your battery, and you're not recharging it. That's not the energy exchange that's filling that back up. Alright, the next productivity thief is Perfectionism. I have heard through all the coaching that I've done, so many people, I'm saying so many, have said it wasn't perfect so I didn't post it.

I spent so much time on this proposal because it wasn't perfect. I just it, it just wasn't what I wanted, so I didn't put it out there. Like, all of these excuses of it wasn't perfect enough, so I didn't take action, and I didn't put myself out there. I wasn't vulnerable. Like, often putting yourself out there is vulnerable, so there, you're avoiding being vulnerable by not putting it out there.

So how can you change that? How can you stop worrying about being perfect? I am not perfect. I often will step back and go, like, my life is so busy. It's about to get busier. It, my life is going to completely change in the next 90 days. We, uh, I think I talked about this in another episode, but we made an offer on a farm and it was accepted and we are going to be moving, um, about 45 minutes from Minneapolis and I'm so excited for this.

Like, I think that this is going to be this pivot in my life that this change that my children really need. Um, I've talked about my son being bullied. And I just I'm ready for change, but it also is, like, very scary, because, like, I have this idea of What this farm life is. And then I worry like, are all these things going to live up to that?

And am I going to be like running around with my head cut off trying to get all these things accomplished? Just on and on and on. But that isn't helpful. It isn't helpful. Worrying isn't helpful. Me wanting everything to be perfect isn't helpful. So the next productivity thief is busy work. I have also coached so many florists through them doing a million things that actually aren't moving the needle.

They're the easiest things on their task list, they are the easiest things to accomplish, but they are not the right things that they should be potentially working on to move their needle forward. You're redoing your logo for the 50th time, you're tweaking copy on your website. when you haven't made a social media post in three weeks.

So really step back and look, am I spending my time wisely? Am I spending it where I should? Because if you again are not, that is something that you need to look at. Does busy work make you feel successful? Does being busy, period, As a person who tied so much of my self worth with busyness, that if I was busy, if I was booked, if I had all these weddings, that means that I'm being successful.

And it absolutely does not. So what are you truly So I'm going to talk a little bit about what are you producing? What, what are you, what is your productivity truly look like? Are you checking off your list a bunch of low value tasks that aren't going to move the needle towards your big goals that you have?

Because if you are focusing on low value tasks, like you're going to keep spinning your wheels and that's not going to feel good. Alright, the Fifth productivity stealer is social media. I, I have spent a many of hours going down the social media rabbit hole. Going and looking at a million fucking cute things that do not make any sense for you to be actually looking at other than it's giving you a dopamine hit and making you feel good.

The, all the feels of like, oh, this is so cute and cool or whatever. And believe me, like, I have recently especially gone through that. I've been on this farm. I so want. A baby highland cow. I will have a baby highland cow. I will have a mini highland cow. I just, it's going to happen. And, I literally have been getting baby highland cow videos on Instagram.

And they are so cute. And then, I'm getting, because we're also going to have goats, I'm getting baby goat videos. Because I should be spending time watching baby goat videos, for real people. It's filling my world. And so, if that is you, if you're going down, Oh my god, look at this, look at that, look at this.

And especially on TikTok, these sites are designed to suck you in and brainwash you into saying as long as possible. They are doing everything they can To keep you sucked into the vortex. So think of that. Do things to help moderate that behavior. Apple, I'm an Apple user. You can set settings to just lock you out.

Lock you out! If you locked yourself out after 20 minutes, is the world going to end? No. So, what could you do that literally could you just lock yourself out after 20 minutes? If you absolutely need to spend five more minutes, you can enter your password for your phone and override it for five more minutes.

I think you can actually set the timer and override it for a few minutes. But if not just move on. Move on. It's not worth being sucked in. Alright, so social media. Also another tip. If you get sucked in when you think you're going to post, and then you get sucked in, and then you don't post, use a scheduling tool.

A scheduling tool, for one, is a huge productivity saver because you are batching. Batch your social media content. And when you batch your social media content, You literally are just like in this tunnel vision, hyper focus, kicking ass and taking names kind of energy to help move things forward. It is In this frame or zone of genius moment that you're, like, writing all these, you know, captions, you're picking all your photos, you're doing whatever, but when you batch it you're just getting so much more done because you're in a focused state.

You're not like, whoa, look at this baby cow. Of course, there are a bunch of Instagram experts saying that you should be live posting and going in. But, like, who cares if it's getting done? Even if it was 10 percent more engagement, but you spent an hour sucked into the Instagram vortex not helpful.

Do what is helpful. Do what is going to set you up for success. And if you know you have a hard time mitigating yourself in social media platforms, then just don't do it. Use a scheduling tool. You could also, from a social media standpoint, go, Okay, I am going to use this time. This time is in my bath.

Every night, I go in and I make a reel. And I go in, I strategically post on other, interacting with other posts. I will potentially go in and, follow some new people who are suggested to me. I go through and answer all of my, any messages, and of course, any comments I'm going in and responding.

Then I'm going into stories and I'm looking for people and I'm commenting on their stories because that goes directly into their inbox and is going to be seen 10 times more. So doing that little like strategic because it's in allotted time also makes me like I'm looking forward to it. And I'm, you know, drawn into you know, like, this is my time to do this.

And so, all of a sudden, I'm not like, oh my god, I need my phone at what o'clock. I need my phone because I need to get on Instagram. Because then you're going like, there's a scarcity around it. Because you're just like, I don't know if I'm going to have this time. And then you're feeling like you need to get in there to get that time.

And it's just this cycle. So, don't do it. Just know, limited amount of time, put a timer, lock the app out, do whatever, go in there, be strategic, strategic interactions that will add value in the big picture, and get out. Alright, then the last thing that I think is a total time thief is spending time With people who drain you and this doesn't just have to be in business.

This is with your life if You are spending time with people who are this constant energy suck like there again There's another version of depleting your battery Your battery is a finite resource, and if you constantly are depleting it, how are you going to be productive? How are you going to be optimal?

I know that when I spend time with people, uh, like, I always like, are they a drain, or are they a battery that they charge me up? When I spend time with people who are a drain, I'm like, Oh my God, I'm, I'm tired. I'm just like mentally not functioning very well and it just doesn't feel very good. So is somebody a drain or are they filling your battery?

Are they like charging you up? And try to spend more time with those people that charge you up because that's what's going to make you more productive. If you're constantly around people who are drains on your energy. You are just going to be like a non optimal human because you're just going to be like scooting by, not happy, not in this state of abundance because you're just dealing with this drain on yourself all the time.

And then, I know that it's sometimes hard to be like, this person is a drain. And What if one of those people are your family and you're just like it doesn't feel good to be like I'm cutting my family out of spending time as someone who has done this? You are completely in your right to spend time with who you want to spend time with.

If somebody is an energy suck, if somebody doesn't make you feel good, just because they're related to you does not mean that you need to invest in that relationship. Just because they are related to you doesn't mean that they get to take from you. Having similar blood does not mean that they get to steal your peace.

That they get to steal your energy and I mean, I have, I went through, my mom was a serious energy drain and there were times in my life that I literally, I didn't speak to her for years and now that she's gone, I look back and go like I, I wish I would have spent more time with her, but I am also very grateful that I protected myself against those because I'm here because I did that, but I've had friends that.

Are so depleting and I have slowly just distanced out of those relationships. I, it is hard for me personally to be around people who are constantly mad at the world, constantly putting their fist up and just being angry about everything around them going on. I'm not saying that somebody doesn't have a right to be angry about some of the things that are happening because they are sad and gross.

But I also think that letting that control you is al also not helpful. So I want to as peaceful as possible. As optimal as possible. And sometimes that just requires you to be like. I'm done with you stealing my energy, with you taking and depleting me, and I love you, but that doesn't mean that I need to spend a lot of time with you.

And if they ever want to revisit, like if, if their behavior is changing, in my experience, it usually doesn't. Often people who are energy drains are often narcissists. You do not need to have a narcissist leech on your body, stealing your power, stealing your energy, and stealing your productivity. So, I hope these little things, these, these six productivity thieves, made you think a little bit and I'd really love for you to step back and go, okay, what is sealing my productivity?

What is getting in my way of being productive? How could I be more productive? What could I do to be more productive? Because those are things that inevitably are going to propel you forward. And If you keep staying here and not changing anything, I don't know how people expect their results to be different, but they often do.

It's your time. Your time for you to kick up the volume, to kick it up a notch, and to be the most the best version of yourself that you're so fucking in love with. And part of that, to me, is b I want to be in love with the process. I want to be in love with how I'm getting there, not just getting there, not the actual act of getting there.

I want the process to be amazing. And that means Ruthlessly editing so many facets of, of your life. I've edited so much in my life that it's kind of crazy, but I know that it is the right thing. I know that the decisions that I've made, the friendships that I've changed, or the relationships that have gone away, I know that that was the best next move.

And if you're looking for the next best move in your life, it's not that far away. You just need one little step at a time. One little productivity thief gone for the day. And when you get there, when you start to be like, I had three bookings this week, it's because you were on top of your bookings, you were getting back to people, you were like, doing all the things.

That's when things can really start coming together. Thank you so much 📍 for listening, flower friends, and you have an amazing flower filled day.