The Most Effective Productivity Hack... That Actually Works!

This productivity hack is the one tool I use daily that has actually changed my life and my view on getting shit done. No bullshit, it just works!

I bet you’ve spent countless nights having trouble falling asleep because you keep jolting up thinking of things that you need to do that you forgot to write down on your to-do list. Or maybe you have trouble focusing on one task at a time (or batch working) because you keep thinking of additional things you need to get done and have a hard time prioritizing. And that obviously has you spinning your wheels and makes you feel stuck! It truly is energy-draining and exhausting, especially when this goes on month after month without any traction.

I've been there!

If you saw my Live Training last Friday, you know that Needle Movers have completely removed the dread of the end of the day (knowing I didn't accomplish everything I wanted and inevitably questioning why I can't be as productive as Taylor Swift dropping 4 albums in a single year).

Ok, so what are needle movers? They are to-do items that will move your life forward towards your goals of some kind. They move the needle lol So I actually use needle movers for 3 areas of my life, my business, of course, my health, and my relationships. So the needle movers are things that I WANT to do that day that will help me reach my health goal, my business goal, and a relationship goal (which is always to build deeper connections in some capacity).

So let’s start with business items. Typically we will sit down in the morning with our hot cup of coffee, maybe after you’ve dropped off your kid at school or done your morning workout, and we’ll list all of the things that we need or want to do that day. But the problem is that this signals to our brain that EVERYTHING is of the utmost importance. And that’s just not true, but it also creates panic mode in our brain before we’ve even started our day because we know that there’s not enough time in the day to do it all. Or if there is, we know it’ll require us to sacrifice time with our family, our health, or our ability to do our hobbies!

The other thing is that we often fill our to-do lists up with things that aren’t actually moving the needles forward! We do things because we think we should, but this exercise is excellent because it also helps you see what you’ve been doing that’s truly a waste of your time.

So if you pick 1-3 (do not do more than 3!! Because then it’ll just turn into a to-do list again and that defeats the purpose.) items that would MOST move the needle forward in your business based on YOUR goals, and focus on accomplishing those things FIRST, you are guaranteeing that you’ll lay your head down on your pillow satisfied by what you were able to do that day, and you’ll actually start to see progress.

For me, my #1 business goal has been to grow my audience. So this usually looks like posting on Pinterest, delivering my free training, or creating a course video. But after doing this for a number of months, I realized that things like updating my website, perfecting my Instagram bio, and taking endless selfies for my grid was not helping me reach my goal. They seemed like good things to do, but they weren’t needle movers at all.

Applying this to health. This includes mental, physical and emotional health for me. So my goal lately has been to support my hormones better and to connect with myself on a daily basis. So my needle movers would be something like making sure I have a lot of protein in my breakfast, doing a visualization, or making sure I’m going outside at some point. That is very different than expecting myself to perfectly workout, eat nothing but veggies, and make a 3-course dinner every night. So while it’s different than what people say I “should” be doing, it’s absolutely helping me reach my goals.

And then finally, relationships. So this one is a bit different because other humans and their intentions are involved, so we need to hold these needle movers loosely, and make sure that we’re focusing on our actions and what we can control. So think of what your relational goals are: is it to have more 1:1 time with your kids, is it to be a better listener to your partner, or maybe stop judging your parents? For me, having more connected time w/ my son has been huge, so needle movers for that goal would be 15 minutes of 1:1 time with him that day, maybe having a dance party, or riding our bikes together. You can see that this list is VERY different than my typical to do list of wash dishes, do laundry, and grocery shop. The time with Finn comes first, and chores take their rightful place in my prioritization AFTER connection.

So that’s the point right? Is to make sure that we aren’t forgetting the actual intention of our to-do list by getting caught up in all the actions. I love having “needle movers” instead of a to-do list because it keeps me focused on the intention behind the actions and is a really easy gauge for if a task is actually important or not… or if I’m procrastinating with useless stuff that actually isn’t serving me. Or comparison from what everyone else is doing!

So how I actually implement this: I have a sticky note on my desktop and every morning I type out each needle mover so that throughout the day I’ll look at my desktop note and can see what I should be focusing on. It’s super easy!

A bonus time management tip I have for you guys is to actually schedule these needle movers into your calendar. Actually put the activities in your calendar as though it were a meeting so you can visually see what you have time for in your day. And don’t look at any to-dos that you don’t have time for that day so as to not overwhelm your brain or make yourself feel like you’re not doing enough.

And my 2nd bonus tip is to write a Pride List every single night before you go to bed. This will allow you to fall in love with yourself more and more, help you to fall asleep easier because you’ll be thinking about all the great things you’ve done instead of what you have yet to do, and over time, your brain will start to clarify what you enjoy and want to prioritize doing going forward.

Ok there you have it, these are my explanation of needle movers and how you can start implementing them today in order to ensure you’re moving your business forward every single day with like no overwhelm. If this resonated with you, I have a Freebie called the Whom to Hire Identifier where you can track your time and all of the things you do in the day, and look at if those items actually are moving your business forward or just taking your time and energy.

Imagine what it would look like for you to walk away knowing EXACTLY who you need to hire for what in your business without decision fatigue, second-guessing yourself, or wondering what you even are going to tell your first hire to do.

Make sure to download this template now so that you can immediately get clarity on what you need help with in your business first so that you can start creating the space and planning for that first person to come on board and support you in a really embracing, flowy, and easeful way. This doesn’t have to be this big overwhelming, stressful process, and the faster you start to think about the growth of your business and scaling, the easier and less pressure it will feel.

>> Get the Whom to Hire Identifier NOW <<

Xoxo,

Emily B.

Categories: : personal stories, productivity hacks, work-life balance