Going, here we go. Yes, nice lead in there. I haven't been to a hockey game in an age. And those we had the Black Hawks here in Chicago, obviously. But I do used to enjoy going to the wolves games. You know, the you know, the other team. I don't know what they call it, the, I always think of it in my head. It's like, the JV, and it's like, I know that's not right. And then I know they're not JV, but, you know, the second tier team, but it's always a lot of fun, though, to go to those games. Yeah, okay, as people are coming in again. Welcome. Happy Friday. Happy Happy Friday. Like I said, we got some nice warm weather coming our way with a little bit of rain. I can deal with that. Hopefully it's we're supposed to get cold again next week, but not two. I hope anyway. Great. All right, now, question, did you all you got the email that I sent out yesterday and the one that I sent out this morning, and it included the your workflow audit? You know, so I'm really curious to talk about that once we get up and going. But in the meantime, I just want to extend a welcome to everybody for joining us here for this coffee chat today where we are talking about productivity tools and hacks. Yeah, Connie, I know when I was, when I was putting this idea together, I was like, you know, I know where I have a tendency to fall down a rabbit hole, and I need to document those times. And I started doing that a little bit ago. As to when did I find myself clicking on YouTube, and, you know, watching YouTube videos about medieval Europe and what, what time of the day was that? And it turns out for me, it usually ends up around, like, two o'clock in the afternoon. You know, two or three o'clock in the afternoon is when my mind starts going in that direction. I was like, oh, that's kind of an interesting discovery, you know, and so I would one of the things that I'd like to talk about with you all today is, do you have those sorts of discoveries about your own work habits, even though you may not have done the audit yourself, but you probably know yourself a little bit to understand where you fall. And so before we kick off with that question, just want to extend a warm welcome to those of you who this might be your first time, or maybe you haven't been here for a while. If that's the case, then go ahead and please share with us in the chat, your name where you're from, and let us know whether or not this is your first time, or maybe if you haven't been here for a while, so you we can give you the warm welcome that you deserve. Michelle, there was home because I know there. Oh my gosh, that's not what I signed up for. Did not sign up for homework or pre work. First timer, Amanda. Welcome. Welcome. If there was, I didn't do it, it's like, yeah, we are so bad ourselves, right? We don't do the work. Um, Greensboro, North Carolina, Kia, okay, I'm going to be in Charlotte next week. I don't know the geography about where those two are located next to each other, but I'm going to be in North Carolina next week. Canadian. What is that Canada in the house? Because I started to say Canadian, then I realized that was not the word I was looking for, and it all came out wrong. Okay, so we need more coffee before we do this. Okay, it's about an hour and 20 All right, then, Oh, welcome everybody. I love seeing all the the newbies. Let's see Jean from Wisconsin, just not too far from me. That's fabulous. Welcome everybody. Okay, so for those of you who are new, just real quick, the rules are, there are no rules. You know, we that we are a group of learning rebels, so we kind of attack it in that way. You know, I encourage everybody to have their videos on if you can, if you want to, if you don't, because it's a bad hair day or you're still in your pajamas, that's okay, too. We really don't care. We also encourage you to speak out. We don't have to keep all of the comments relegated to the. Chat box. But if you're in a position where talking is not, you know, maybe you're on the quiet car, on the train or something, and chat is works for you, then that's okay. So those are the, you know, rules or guardrails, however you want to put it. Now, Let's get hopping on this. So when we were talking about productivity tools, and when I put that into the schedule for us to have this discussion. And it's funny, because we had this discussion almost exactly at the same time last year as I was looking through my notes. And I think that that's great. I'm happy that we are having these continuous conversations, these annual type of conversations, like we do during this first quarter, when we're talking about our goals, and we're talking about, you know, how we can learn for ourselves, and these sort of productivity tips to really help ourselves get better throughout the year. And that's really what it's all about, right? It's about building the momentum as we move into q2, three and four. And then when I started looking through my notes, I realized that, you know, yes, we're talking about product to productivity tools, but we're also talking about, what's the mindset behind productivity? What how are we thinking? How are we acting? How are we behaving? Because there's no app or tool in the world that's going to help us if our mindset is not in the right space, right so if we are distracted for a variety of reasons, or there's something happening in our lives, or what have you, then we know that that's going to get in the way of efficiencies anyhow, and it's important that we identify that. And I now back to the homework comment earlier. I did not assign homework or pre work, but I did give you guys the the tool in the email that came out this morning, and also the email that was yesterday. It's also on the blog on my website, which is the workflow audit, your personal workflow audit. So you did not need to do that before you joined me today, but it's a handy tool for you to think about. And so that's where I want to open up the question when you think about this, is how I'd like to open up our conversation. So when you think about your workflow habits, and, like I said, somewhere around two ish, three ish, I find myself gravitating Yesterday I watched a video about, you know, the lineage of Queen Elizabeth, some sort of video about that. And it was like, it was really interesting. It sucked up about 15 minutes of my time, and then I was good to go. But you know, so when I stopped and I thought about and I thought, you know, about this time every day is when I start feeling that kind of lag. So what are you noticing about yourselves when it comes to your workflow habits? Anybody want to open up the conversation about that? I Erica.
What I'd like to share is I'm willing to be vulnerable with this group, because this has been hard as I've continued to re understand myself, and I think that this is an important component about when we consider our productivity and if we do an audit. So I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder in 2017 and it's Hashimoto thyroiditis. It's not one of the more like difficult and challenging ones, because I don't need to be on biologics. But one of the things I've noticed is because my system doesn't function the way that we say that a regulated and correct system functions. Mornings are hard for me. I have more histamine in my body. I have more inflammation in my body. And so mornings are difficult because I have to be able to get up, I have to be able to start moving, I have to be able to take my supplementations, my medication. And so my productivity, it did two things for me. One, it kind of like gave me an answer as to why it seemed like I was never, maybe a really good morning person, because, I think, because I had already been diagnosed with hypothyroidism for like 20 years before that. So it was like, Oh, is this like a through line? Is this something that was part of the reason why this particular part of the day was not fantastic for me, and then it also helps me in understanding, like, I'm trying to figure out how to just be able to lean into that fact and not try to fight that fact, right, right? Because there's, like, all that stuff that's out there, if you start consuming a lot of social media that says, you know, here's the five tips, if you're going to be. This, like, amazing, you know, entrepreneur, leader. Fill in the blank. You must get up at 4am you must run, you know, three miles. You must run a 10k read a whole book. Yeah, right. And again, it's, it's um, and not to go down a rabbit hole, but it's very ableist. And it's saying that the only way that you could be successful is only within this small box, right? So I think what I also like about this too, Shannon, is us being able to understand our energy, our peaks and our valleys, to know what we maybe need to do, if it's a small 15 minute timeout, but can you then go back to what you were doing and not allow it to be a rabbit hole and to do the things that you need to do so that you can feel successful in the way that makes you feel most productive. Absolutely, for letting me share. No, you're
more than welcome and thank you for, you know, opening up everybody, hopefully knows it. You know, we're this is a safe place. I have never met a more, you know, kind group of people and generous with with thought and comment and so that's awesome. And I'm with you. I am so with you. It's, I'm not a morning person to start with. So it's important to understand where your energies are, right? So, Andrew, what would you like to share? It
was helpful for me to discern between distractions and diversions. Distractions are things like my phone chirping at me or something coming in. And a diversion is something I do to myself, right? Oh, that shiny thing that I'm going to go and it didn't hang at me. It was just like, Oh, I'm going to go do the thing that isn't what I'm working on, right? Being able to take you, articulate that discern between the two, because I have to manage both of them in different ways. If it's my phone, I put it in focus mode, right? And if it's, if it's YouTube, then, you know, I put myself on the same filter that my kids are on, and I've turned turned YouTube off. And, you know, I just can't even go there without having to go to my wife and have her turn YouTube back on, because I'm one love that. It's, yeah. I rather do that than be like, oh, there went an hour, right? So, yeah. So it was just the different ways that I respond or that I need to act towards each of those, they both have the same effect. I didn't work right? But at the same time, the way I respond to them, it's differently. Yes,
I excuse me, and I love that idea, you know that you can set your computer for focused work, you know? You can turn off certain websites, you know? So I think that that's a that's a great tip to be able to use to get yourself into, especially when you understand where you have a tendency to veer off during the day, you know. So that's a great support, where you can support yourself, you know. Justine,
I just want to do to back up what Erica was saying, because I know, you know, people say wake up at 5am and blah blah, and I'm just like, I'm a mess at, you know, 11am if I'm waking up at 5am that just doesn't work for me. And then I know, like a lot of people, like the first thing they do is sit down and, you know, read and all that. That's when they do their self development. That doesn't work for me either. I personally need to move, and whether it's stretching or whatever, and so I just think it's, it's so important to recognize what it is that you need. Same with social media. I really struggle with social media, like, I just find all that scrolling, like, actually, just really depresses me. I learned so much from LinkedIn or whatever, but I can only take so much of it, and I'm like, I'm done, and I need to get off screens, you know, just and just need more. Get stimulation from elsewhere, not just from screens online and all that. And then I find I perform better when I am working,
you know, I think that's a great addition that I don't think I put on to the audit, which was, um, I I've asked you to look for patterns, energy, focused task. Oh, so I did include environment. Okay, so you know what, what sort of environment, and that's what you're speaking of. And I, and I love that, because I also struggle with social media. You don't. You used to find me on Twitter when Twitter was Twitter, but I'm not there any longer, and I Instagram is. A great, fun thing, but it's really not for me and my business. And even LinkedIn is starting to fall by the wayside for me a little bit, because it's just seeming like, when I opened up my phone, I don't know when this happened, all of a sudden I saw short videos on my LinkedIn feed, and I'm like, I don't want that. If I wanted that, I'd go to Instagram or I go to YouTube. I don't want, I don't want short videos on my LinkedIn feed, you know. So there's all these things that are now. These boundaries are starting to get softer around the edges, you know. And social media are blending one into the other. So I feel your pain with that, you know. So I feel like I have to regulate myself and understand what sort of environment I respond to. So I think that that's that was. So that was a really important message. Justine, so thank you for sharing that. So I'll turn it over to everybody's got thoughts today. I love it. Victoria, what what you got?
Yeah, so I think, on the heels of of I think the environment is just and I'm I'm not trying to take the conversation in a in a political direction, but just the landscape that we're operating in, that we're all living in right now, and like, I'm working for an organization that is, there's a lot of uncertainty, because we receive a lot of federal funding, and so people are very worried about losing their jobs, and so there's just not a lot of productivity happening, because everyone's mind is, I might is what I'm even doing today going to matter in two weeks or a month or whatever? And so it that's been hard, because you want to be productive and you want to be taking care of business, and emotionally, if you're just you're fatigued, you're worn out, you're frustrated and and that that's challenging as well.
Yeah, and so what? What have you been doing? How have you been helping yourself,
limiting, trying to limit news intake. I mean, obviously staying, staying, staying on top of what's happening, but also putting limits on that, but then also giving myself a little bit of grace that it's like, it's okay if I'm not operating at 100% right now, because we just don't know, because, right? Yeah, yeah. So giving yourself a little bit of grace, I think, having opportunities to connect with other co workers, and having space just to kind of get some of your frustrations out, but it's hard, and I keep thinking, the longer that this goes on, well, I have to be productive, and what am I going to be? How can I overcome this? So trying to do the best I can, but also feeling like because there's so much uncertainty, like, how how long am I going to be in this state? And can I get to a point where I can try to forget about it for eight hours and just go back to what the way things were, and I'm actually taking care of business,
right? Right? And that's such an important statement, and and it has a lot to do with the reality that we are all facing today, but it also has to do with, you know, again, it's knowing yourself, and we know, I think, intuitively, if we don't care about what we're doing, if we don't feel like we have a stake in what we're doing, that it doesn't Have, it doesn't fit within the bigger picture, then productivity is going to go out the door because you're not able to connect it to something that's real, right? So I think that that happens at any given time in any given environment. You know now, it's just particularly stressful, for sure, but I think it's important to realize that, you know, everyone, it's okay to feel that way, like you said, you know, have that grace about yourself. It's okay to have those moments where you feel like I just don't connect, but then you have to take care of that. You have to take care of yourself, right, and figure out all right, how do I get out of this? Because you can't live there, you know, because that's not good for your mental health either, you know. So what can you do to help yourself? So I love that you're thinking about that absolutely. So thank you for sharing that Victoria that was really important. Leslie,
so I took last week's session to heart because I thought there were really good tips that were offered. And I live in a government world, and so there's lots of micro managers, right? And it's so important for me to not overthink things or get emotionally distraught, you know, about whatever's happening. So I thought about that for a while, but the two things that I did to make a difference was I offered the tip about how I plan training and creativity and self learning things, and it's on my calendar, right? Okay, so, yeah, it's on my calendar. And so people know right now, don't message me between nine and 10 on Friday morning. I told my my the team I work with, right? You guys, please give me this time. And then I went back, and if I didn't do a good. Job labeling it. I colored it. I colored categorized everything. So, you know, purple, don't mess with me. That's my time if it's purple, right? So that was the first thing that I took out of last week's session. The second was, whoever offered that tip of the first hour of the day when you're trying to get up and get going and get your brain going? I don't know who was it? Someone on here right now said this is what I do for the first hour of my work day. So I've started to do that so I can have my learning, my creativity, um, you know, that kind of stuff, and I'm doing it and it's working. So that's two things. So in a month, you all, you ask me, if I've kept up, did I make it a habit? Because, you know, that's the thing, right? I gotta change that same year. I don't want to go, I don't, don't want to listen to crap. Sorry about that. I want to be okay, positive world on the first hour of my work day.
So, right, right. No, I love that. And somebody said that they thought it was Victoria. So Victoria was that you? Yeah, okay. Victoria is always filled with great insights. I love that you I love that you put that into practice because it does fit within your productivity workflow, doesn't it? So it's you're setting yourself up for success during the first part of your day, especially if that's when you feel positive energy. You know you're feeling that positive Mojo happening, and I've got my coffee and I'm learning, and now I'm revved up, and I've got energy to tackle whatever is next after that moment concludes, you know, and I think that that's wonderful, and I think that's just one of those baby steps that we can take to maybe reprogram ourselves a little bit, you know. So if you are not a morning person, then maybe in the morning is when you find that interesting podcast, you know, or that playlist of music that's going to energize you. So that way. Now, when you do start to get into those emails, or however it is, you start your day, then you feel up, then you feel revved, you know. So, I love that lesson. I love that, you know, we're colored, we're colored purple. Y'all you know we're colored purple, and on Leslie's calendar, I love that we're orange in my calendar, you know. So it's so I love that it's, it's energy, right? And that's fabulous. Let's see. Maureen, the tip that helped me, oh, Eat That Frog. Now, there's a book I haven't thought about in a while that's a blast from the past. Eat That Frog, you know, which was really about tackling the difficult things first, right? If I'm remembering that correctly, Maureen,
yeah, it's it's the most difficult or the most unpleasant, or the thing you least want to do. So if the first thing you do each day is Eat That Frog, then anything else after that seems very easy or it's not unpleasant. So I used to have, like, I kept my kind of running to do list, or for one on ones, like my frog list. And so I had my frogs like, what are those things that like, they have to get done? But I really
frog list. I love
it. You know, back when I had a cubicle,
everybody needs frog post it notes now, yeah, yeah. But I read to Amazon order some frog post it notes, right? Frog stickers,
yep, just, you know, Eat That Frog. But I'm, I feel like I'm the walking embodiment of what not to do some days when it comes to productivity, because, but, yeah,
I think that's okay, right? Well,
you know why? Because I feel like I work a lot of times with people where I'm like, Yeah, of you know, a flurry activity does not mean productivity. Like you may have done all this. Thank you. So what? Like, you know, and so it's using some energy to almost like, like, try to stay in my own bubble.
Yeah. Yes, please, you know, and I think we've all done that, and in the blog, I think I make mention of that is that we get caught up in ticking things off our list. But are we taking the right things, you know? Are we doing the things that matter most, or are we doing something that aligns with what matters most? And then that goes back to our, our first coffee chat this year, which was all about, you know, with, you know, building your goals, chunking out your goals, and making sure that they all aligned with what mattered most, right? It all matters with your B. Hag, yep, so in a way, that conversation back in January was a little bit about habit stacking, you know what? Or goal stacking, if you want to call it that way. So it's like we've got these little things and they shall add up to what matters most, just not that flurry of To Do List, although I'll ask you guys. Mm. How many of you do things during the course of the day then add those things to your to do list, so that way you can check them off.
Who does that? Guilty, guilty. Sometimes, not always,
because it does make you feel good. It's like, Oh, I did do something, you know. So, you know, there, there are those moments too, Erica,
I think that this is a really great component in the conversation. So more. And thank you so much for bringing that up, because I think that that reminds us what is, what is the definition we're using for productivity, is it quality or quantity? Does it matter if you did five things, or does it matter and they were all just random and not really like, making you feel like you got a success on the stuff that's on your on your project list, or did you do one thing but you were able to really spend, like, the effort of the energy, and I'm thinking about, like, my the ID development work that I'm trying to get done right now, you know, and like, really being able to focus on my course and give it love and give it time. And sure, I could say here all the smaller little things that I did in it. But then, like, if somebody's, like, so which projects did you work on? And I was like, Well, I worked on a project because that's what I wanted to focus on, because that was the thing that made me feel the most productive, because that was going to, you know, propel me in the way that I needed to be propelled.
That's, you know, and I think that's great when you think about the definition of productivity. I think we all probably have different definitions of that. And for me, it's simply getting stuff done that matters most, you know. So am I making progress towards what matters most, you know? And that's how I think about productivity. It's about efficiencies, you know, in a good way. You know, where we're being efficient with our time and efficient with our energy. So I'd like to say that too. So it's not about, you know, working from eight to eight. You know, if you work from noon to four and you get, you might get, you might be working those four hours and get more done than I do in eight you know. So it's about really knowing how you're spending your time, which, if I go back to the to the audit, I do ask you to take three days and track your time. What are you really doing? And I think we do things that we don't really realize, you know, so if you work from home, like I do, so maybe I took a break and I let the dogs out, and then I played with the dogs, and then I realized that the bird feeder was empty, so I went out and I filled the bird feeder, and then it's like, oh, wait, there's ice sitting on top of the bird bath. So let me get that off while I'm out here, and let me come back in and, oh, I you know what? Now I need a cup of coffee before I go back upstairs, you know, and get some work done. Next thing I know, this time is gone. But then when you think about your day, at the end of the day, you're like, Okay, well, I got all of this stuff done. It was a good day. But when you looked at your list, you're like, Oh, my God, I spent, you know, an hour and a half filling bird feeders and taking out the dogs and stuff like that. When you put that cumulative time together. And I think that there are things that distract us in a good way, you know, in a good way, but still, nevertheless, it was there, you know. And it's important to realize, Oh, these are the habits that I've built. Do I want to keep that habit? Do I want to keep the bird feeder habit? Yes, I do. I am not changing that. You know, it makes me feel good. It makes me feel good that I'm in these birdies lives. But there might be other things that I feel differently about, right? So I think that's the important part of tracking some of your time. Now, great conversation. So now let's think about how, how can we use the tools that we have? So I am really curious about what tools you're using to help track yourself and I'll or help keep yourself focused. Now, there was one I'll start it off here that learning rebels, friend, uh, Chris cola Donato shared with me. And it's an app called forest, F, O, R, E, S, T, and it's kind of that Pomodoro technique, you know, where you focus on a certain amount of time, and then you take a little bit of a break, and then you do deep work for a certain amount of time. And what it does is it kind of, you guys can see that there, so it sort of tracks, tracks here. And then if you read, if you meet your goals, then you get a little tree, and the tree grows bigger and bigger and bigger. So you kind. To see this result at the end of it. And I like that. I kind of like seeing something at the end of it. That's the, I guess, the gamification part of me. It's like, I want to see that little baby seed grow into something, and then I know that it's accomplished something, and I've accomplished something, and I kind of feel good about that. So now, what sort of tools are you guys using what's your favorite tool for either focus? Now we got Andrew. It looks like Andrew's favorite tool might be his wife. Keeping it, keeping him off of YouTube, or keeping control of the Wi Fi. But in all seriousness, no, what are some of your habits that you use to keep focused or to remain productive? It doesn't have to be a tool. It can be something analog, you know in your life. So Spotify. So what do you how do you use Spotify? Justine?
I just put on music to concentrate or focus. Music, yeah, because otherwise I just feel like sometimes I'm jumping up and down all the time thinking all the things I need to do. And yeah, music just really helps me focus. I know it's not for everyone, but works for me.
I like that. I like that. So you got different playlists. So I have a really chill Coffee House type of Playlist. It's mostly instrumental and kind of soothing, you know, when I want to really think about what I'm working on, and then I have, you know, my other favorites where I'm feeling kind of jazzy. Those are usually play in the morning. Yeah. So we need Jason to create another playlist. We do. He is a pro at that. We do. We need, what is it? Is it the productivity playlist that sounds boring? We'll come up with a snazzy name somewhere. He will Jason on it. He'll have it done by the time this call is finished. Jason's so good at that I need
to focus on the me on this, not on
other things. Yes, thank you, perfect. I think one of your channels came close, Jason. But like, for what Justine just said and I put in the chat, I can't listen to music with vocals. So and Shannon, you just mentioned you listen to something instrumental. So if we were to commission Jason's expertise in this area, you know, I think we do need to give them some, not only like a little bit of some, some cheddar for for helping us out, but also some guidelines as to what we would be looking for that we find us. Some
soft, yeah, some coffee house instrumentals and non instrumentals. Let's see. Andrew,
Alright, I gotta have a, I have a visual, okay, I have it's not working. I have a,
oh, oh yes, a kanban can bond whatever. So
I use for a To Do, doing and done and waiting and just with my what I have for the day, just putting whatever, however many I have for the day, how much do I think I can get done? And then, you know, actually physically move them over, because sometimes I need the reminder, um, what am I working on? What am I supposed to be working on? What am I supposed
to be working on, right, right? And I love that. That's awesome, yeah.
So we did that. It at my company for, you know, just learning agile ways of working. And I was like, you know, I could totally do that. It helps me just physically move things from one place to another, and then at the end of the day. Look, I have a little stack of blue post it notes that are like what I got done, or sometimes the days there's like one post it on over there.
Oh, you just spoke to my post. It note heart.
I tried reading multiple colors for different things, and it got a little too unwieldy.
So you know what? You should take a picture of your of that board, and then send it to me, so I can send it out as part of the resources. I'll do that. I'll do that, yeah, because I love the idea, and I certainly have my boards when I use Trello. So I certainly have my boards there. But I I am. I just love to see it, and I love to touch it, you know, I think that's what attracts me to post. I
did the same thing. I tried to use on online tools, and I just forgot to go back out there. Mm, hmm. I have this thing posted to my wall right here, where I use it.
And,
yeah, yeah. Oh, it's such a great idea. And then you take them off. You have your little stack of post its that's your completed to do list for the day, or one project list. It's what I got done. Wow, fabulous. Okay, you guys are always great for the good ideas. Love it. Love it, all right? And then, of course, see Jason, has he found something already? There we go. Um, what else you guys have? When I see stuff in the I see stuff in the chat already. What have we got here? Smart sheet. So Sandra, I don't know if you can open up your microphone and come off mute, but what is smart sheet?
Hey everyone, so this is my first meeting, my so I'm not camera ready, because I sometimes have to just roll out of bed at 430 in the morning to start my 5am meetings. To accommodate. We don't care, but I hear you to accommodate. You know my my global team. But anyway, so Smartsheet, it's, it is a tool that the organization uses, and I've been using it now for the last four years. It's a it's a tool that's similar to excel in some ways, and allows you the ability to create real time data, reports and dashboards and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, we use it for our portfolio management, for my learning and development team, so it's, it's great and but I, I have learned to use it as my own personal tool to track all of my different task items. So it's kind of like my personal project plan, and there's automation and reminders that you can set in there so that it's getting emails sent to my, you know, inbox on due dates as it's approaching. And so it's sometimes very difficult, you know, as as a learning manager, just wearing all the different hats, right? Managing my direct reports, all the different deliverable dates, all the different projects. So like, right? I feel like, I don't know. At one point I was like, Oh my gosh, I need to, I need to tackle this, because it's just out of control, and I have no more space in my brain to just remember all the things. And I used to be able to do that once upon a time, but I was like, I just can't, I can't keep it straight anymore, like, there's just too much happening. And so I kind of, I do some similar things where it's like, eat the frog, but I'm looking at my list of items and trying to prioritize. And I do that daily, and I really try to focus on, you know, one thing at a time, so I'm not overwhelmed with just the number of things that are going on. And it's nice, so a little bit different, but I keep a status column as well. So once those things are done, it's marked and checked and moved to my completed list. And it's nice to see that list grow. I think similar to, you know, what, who was just mentioning that with the Kanban board, but like, you know, maybe it's one item, you know, hey, I get to mark it off the list, great. And other days it's more but I do try to tackle those things, you know, first big thing that I maybe want to avoid, and I just try to tackle it in the morning. And, you know, approach that and it, it has worked. Some days are better than others. There's some like, oh gosh, I'm not. I just can't do it right now,
right? I think we have all been there, yeah, yeah. Well, that's great. And I see that, hi Sherry. Sherry says that she would love some tips and tricks about smart sheets. So Sandra, give us, give us a couple of tips.
Oh, gosh, tips and tricks. And I think that's something that really so on the surface level, it functions like Excel. There's similarities, as I mentioned, but it really does have its own nuances, and if you are using a free version of it, you might be a little more limited. So I do have a license paid version of it. And I would even just suggest, because there are some online videos, some training videos, that smart sheet has, it's a good place to start. There we go. But I think really it's, it's connecting and getting with members of the community, even myself, like I'd be happy, you know, to connect with you, Sherry or anybody else, if you know, you really wanted to kind of dive into it a little bit more, because there is, there is some built in features, like report. Wizards that kind of walk you through it. So it's, it's easy in my mind, but I also feel like I say that because I've been using it right, right? And whenever there's new people joining and they they are getting used to it, they're just like, I don't know how to do this. I don't understand and so I think the smart sheet videos and training that they have online are definitely helpful and a good place to start. And I, as I was going through my learning, I looked to the smart sheet community, and I joined because that's where you can find a lot of other people's questions and their answers. And so I was kind of just digging for all that information on my own and learning as I went along. So it's it depends on whether you're using a free version or a paid version. And so happy to help you know and connect with you personally if there was anything specific you are interested in. And I definitely happy to share any tidbits of knowledge.
Well, there you go. So everybody go and date Sandra's LinkedIn with a smart sheet help. And sounds like she'd be your girl. So yeah, there's the tip, join the smart sheet community for support. So there's the big tip. Now. Stella Miro. Yeah, I use Miro a lot. Stella myself. I'm a big mural user. I use it. I don't know if I use it for productivity purposes, but I do use it to help focus thought, you know, because I'm one of those types of people where I get an idea about something, and then it goes, here, here, here, here, here, here, you know? And I find that if I use Miro, then I can create that mind map that helps keep my ideas in focus. And so maybe that's a productivity tip. It's up to you to decide that, but that's how I use it. How do you use it? Fellas, like Ah, man,
well, currently I'm using it also for the Kanban board. You know, they have so many new templates. They have so many functionalities with artificial intelligence where you can use it. I just wanted to know, I'm just starting to use it more in depth.
You're right. They do have a lot of templates. I need to go back on there and take a look at it and see what they've come up with, as far as different boards. And I know that they have different activities and all sorts of things in there. They've really expanded their product a lot over the last couple of years. So I do need to get back on there and take and take a look at it. What else are you guys using? As I scroll through the Oh, I did open up. Let's see Jessica. Jessica shared this amazon link in the chat about a multi function, computer monitor, memo board. That's a long title for something, but what it looks like is it's kind of you got two things that attach to your monitor that can help you keep track of what you're doing. And for some of you, that might be a distraction to have extra things added to your monitor, but for those of you you know who like the idea of I'm going to put sticky notes, and take those sticky notes down. Once things get completed, then I can see where that would work for you, too. So, Jessica, you want to share? Well, also you got the stream deck. I'm really curious as to how you're using the stream deck. Yeah,
that one I just got probably a month ago, and so I'm still learning all of the ways, but it is really cool. If you guys haven't played with it, I didn't even know what it was, and my boss was using it, and he said, Who wants one? And I was like, Maybe let's go. So I Yeah, it's awesome. So one of the ways that really helps, there's a few things I do on it. So if you don't know what it is. It's like a physical, almost mini computer box, yeah, that has buttons on it, and you press the buttons and something happens. It automates things that you do often on your computer for you, and so you can program it to do lots of things. One it can do like multi step things on your computer with the push of one button and so on mine, and I have, like, a folder for each of the subject matter experts that I work with. And so when I push that one button, it opens up like 11 different things that I use to work with that one subject matter expert, and it's just open all of a sudden. And so when I'm ready to work with them. I push my one button. It has their little picture of them on it that you can create, like custom buttons, logos and stuff. So I push their little picture, and now I'm ready to work with that person. And I have, I mean, that's just one example of things you can do. You can push a button of things you use a lot. I have a button that's a folder, so you can create folders, and inside that folder I have all my stuff that I use with Microsoft Teams. So I have a button that I can do a background blur very quickly. I can turn my camera on and off very quickly. I can mute, I can leave. I can get to reactions or sound effects. It's all at the push of one button. Or, like other things I use a lot is, like hex codes to make sure we're getting our branding right. And so the button that is just, if I'm in it, I just push the button for the blue that we need, and it puts in the hex code of that blue. So I'm not looking at it all the time
a million years. I would know many of you stream deck like that. Yeah, it's awesome. I'm putting it into the chat for you guys, if somebody already hasn't beat me to it, but there you go. Yeah, in a million years I've that would never have occurred to me to use. I think
it was originally built for gamers, is the thing. And then there's a different stream deck that has some, like, audio buttons on it. So our multimedia guy has that one where it's like a little more for the multimedia side of it, but the one I have has 15 buttons. But then think about it, every button can have a folder of more buttons in it. So you really get like, kind of unlimited buttons, and the 15 ones is really, good. Do you know how portable the monitor memo board is? Oh, the one that I have, the monitor memo board, it sticks to the I put it on, like my second monitor, and so it's, it's not portable. It sticks on the, not the stream deck. Someone asked a question about the monitor board, logistics semi it's at work. I don't have one at home. I'm thinking about getting one because someone said the Frog post its and now I want a frog post it notes. Now I have new stuff I want to buy. So
no, well, I tell you that I know what I'm going to be doing the next hour after we get off this call. I'm going to be like, I've got a stream deck somewhere. And when I moved, I packed it up, and I never unpacked it. So now I gotta go find it, because now I want to play around with Yeah, that way,
yeah, and text replies, like, if you text the same thing often, you can just put a folder of all the like text replies that you use. I'm trying to think I'm
looking at it right now. That's awesome. Yeah, that's, you know, that's a that's fabulous. That's fabulous, Jessica, I think you you win the day. I was kind of giving to Andrew man with his with his kit board. But, you know, that's a fresh, new I never thought of that. I love things that, you know, just blow my mind. So awesome.
I wonder how it would work
with a VPN, though, you would probably have to hook up to the VPN and then use the stream deck, I imagine. So probably right, yeah, so you're gonna hook it up to, yeah, it is cool. It's very cool. And, you know, gamers used to use it. YouTubers use it, you know, where you can flip back and forth between programs, or when you're videoing yourself and that sort of thing, but, but, yeah, great idea. Let's see. Where are we at in time? We've got a few more minutes. So what else? What other ideas? I love these analog ideas, because these are things that we can actually do now. You know, you don't have to download it. I don't have to use learn a new software, except for those of you who are going to join the smart sheet community, you know. So I don't need to learn something new. But also, I think that there are tools out there, like like Stella was mentioning. So there are tools out there that might be part of your tech stack already, like Miro, that's already part of my tech stack, but I really didn't think about using it for productivity purposes. Now I'm going to go back and check it out, because yes, right. So so there might be opportunities for you to think about what you currently use and how you might reimagine how that fits within your workflow. So smart sheets, for example, so let's, let's translate that to Excel. So most of us are probably in excel at one point in time during the course of the day. So while you're there, maybe there are some things that we can take from smart sheet and apply those to Excel that might help you, you know, so what other sort of ideas is popping? Are popping in your head? As far as these are tools I currently have, and this is how I now can reimagine them, or maybe you're already doing something fun. From a productivity perspective, I
now everybody's thinking about it, I don't know.
Let's. Talk to do lists. So now I think that's one of the biggest places that we can all start in regards to enhancing our productivity, is with our to do list and merging that with your calendar. I I've, I use, I use Google stuff for the business. So with Google calendars, you can do a whole lot of merging of tasks and calendar functions and reminders, you know, and color coding and labels. You know that where you can think about, what are the things that I need to do today? What are the things that I need to do this week? What are the things I need to do this month? Because a lot of times, from a productivity perspective, we throw a lot of things on a to do list. Everything gets thrown on the to do list. But we don't really give a whole lot of thought as to how that to do list is being structured, you know. So for example, if I, if I looked at, if I looked at my old to do list, it would have said something like, you know, generate the newsletter, write the blog, create an ebook, work with this client, or develop that project plan. And when you think about it like that, that might be six to do list items, but really, when you break it apart, it's like 50 to do list items, right? Because it's not just generating a newsletter, it's generating the stuff that goes in the newsletter, right? So there's the, what's the idea this week? What's the tool that I'm going to create and share? You know, how? How am I going to organize it? What's the research behind it? Where are the links? So there's all these other things. And so what I got into the habit of doing with my to do list is creating that by project. So I've got a to do list for the newsletter, a to do list for the blog, a to do list for whatever guidebook or ebook that I might be writing at that moment, and also whatever client work that I'm doing, you know? So it's different to do lists that are focused on different things that I need to get accomplished, you know. So this way it's not that overwhelming. So it's not I've got all of these big, giant things to do. And so instead of doing that, now, I'm going to go run to YouTube, and I'm going to go watch some YouTube videos, because I just don't want to deal with this list. But now I could pull out, you know, which which areas need to be worked on today, and which areas of that list. So on Monday, I usually try to spend with idea generation. So what am I going to do? And then I can plug those into the week and say, this is when I'm going to work on this particular idea. So sometimes it's about, you know, trying to keep track of that. And what do I do with those to do? How do I do that? Deb, how I do that is, I have one of these sorts of notebooks, right? The ones that have, like the this here, so I, so I sticky note it, so it's, you know, different colors get assigned different tasks. And so this way I know this is all my blog stuff. This is all my newsletter stuff, and so it gets organized like that. Now, am I 100% with it? No, because I also have this book that somehow I always end up with notes in. So Am I perfect? Absolutely not, but it does help me keep structure around what I need to do. Let's see what else. Andrew 135, method, the one thing that absolutely has to happen today, the three things I'm working on today, and those five or more little things that can happen at any time. Love that idea. And then Leslie outlook for to do list. Uh huh, yeah, you know, an outlook can do a lot. I'll be honest with you, it's been a minute since I've been in Outlook, and I'm rediscovering it now, because I have a client that works in Outlook. Outlook in teams. They work in that so I've had to reacquaint myself with that environment, and I've noticed that there's they. It does a lot more things than it used to do when I was using Outlook, you know, 10 years ago. It's like, Oh, this looks and feels really different, you know. So it is about discovering that. And I'm sure if we go back to YouTube, we can find all of those hints. Yeah. What else? Let's see. We are almost at the top of the hour. So I guess while you guys are putting any last thoughts into the chat, I'll remind you that our next Coffee Chat, as we wrap up the first quarter of focusing on ourselves, the next chat is all about, how are we going to build. Build our network. How are we going to nurture our network? Build it. Find those people, those smart sheet people. How are we going to find them? You know, how do we keep them, you know? How do we reach out to others? Because, you know, the the way we network now has really changed since, you know, pre COVID, right? And so the way that we take those techniques and the way we nurture people is really different. And so I'd love to be able to dig deeper into how we are working and networking with others and finding people, finding our people. How are we finding our people? That I think is a fun topic for us to discuss, and that would almost wrap up our quarter of focusing on you, and then you can look for the next week of the next quarters Coffee Chat. So I say that because if you have a coffee chat idea, send it to me, put it in LinkedIn. You guys have my email address, share those thoughts and ideas with me, so that way, if you have something special you want to tackle, we can put it onto the schedule, because that's what this is all about. It's a supporting group, people, helping people. That's what we are here for. So on that note, let's see what have we got? Any last thoughts here? Highlighters. Yes, yes. I was mad yesterday because I went to use my highlighter and it was actually empty. It's like, how did I do that? I don't think the are they supposed to be empty. They usually dry out before they get empty. But this one was empty. So now it's like, I've got to go hunt for a new pink highlighter, because that's my favorite color and highlighter. All right, awesome. Well, thank you so much, everybody. Do you have hopefully you have some plans this weekend. We'll get you out of the house now that it's starting to get a little bit warmer, at least for us in the Midwest, those of you who are on the West Coast or in Florida, then we got nothing for you. We're just mad at you all winter, and that's that. So do you? So anyone doing anything special? No, just hanging out. That's good.
Shock. I'm going to a trivia night tomorrow. Oh yes.
Is that every is that every weekend? Well,
it's kind of trivia night season, when it's, you know, when it's like indoor, you know, like in the late fall, in the winter. So this is a fundraiser for the scouts. My son is an Eagle Scout, so for the local district. So, yeah, yeah. I mean, they're generally fundraisers. So like, like, the host puts the fun in fundraiser.
Maureen, our trivia queen, yes and again. Thank you, everyone for joining us, for joining us today. It was a really great conversation. So many good ideas. I am so tackling that stream deck, and I am so putting I've got a little whiteboard too, and I found it in some other boxes that I haven't packed up yet. And that's going up because I'm looking for that picture from you, Andrew, and I'm going to set it up just like you have. It's going to help me. Yeah, send it through. We'll put it into resources. Thank you. Justine, all right. Thank you everybody. Fun conversations, yes, what big carnival? Oh, really. Oh, Stella, I'm so jealous. You. All right, all right, bye. All bye. Thank you, Andrew, thank you. Let's stop this.
