The Evolved Diss Track?

I wrote a few different blogs recently that are more centered around a personal experience of mine. It would make for a comical story to share and also a few WTF moments. Truly spectacular material. While that’s all fine and dandy, sometimes, less is more. One day when I’m ready, I may share those. For now, they’re drafts simmering the full flavor of their message to serve. This just makes me think of the wise words of Destiny’s Child: you know I’m not gon’ diss you on the internet… cause my mama taught me better than that. Period. My mom certainly did. Thanks, Mommy <3 (she reads this).

When I decided not to share, I was trying to think of something that I wanted to hear more about. Someone on my team told me recently I should make a TikTok about how I stay organized in my day-to-day. They were looking at my daily schedule planned in 30-minute increments.  

Organization and productivity are topics I love to continuously learn about. I am so intrigued to see how other people tackle their days. Listening to a CEO’s morning routine on a podcast is one of the most inspiring things to me. Especially when they work in my industry or have built a company I admire. Side note, thank you Marianna Hewitt for being you. Her podcast interviews and episodes are some of my favorites and have given me so much inspiration over the years. But for today, I thought the blog would be a great space to get my thoughts out on the method to my madness. No, I am not a wildly successful CEO. But I feel like a fairly productive and successful human so why not share? Maybe I'll film it as a TikTok, we’ll see. 

For those who don't know me, hi! I'm B, and I have a life that I love and that is very busy. Don't we all? I'm a director of product launches at a cosmetics company, a movement lover, a reader, the founder of Literate Women Book Club, a Pilates instructor in training, a daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend, dog mom, podcaster, blogger, and a mentor. Did you get tired just reading that? Jokes aside, I am so grateful to live the life I do and wouldn't trade it for anyone else’s. Like at all! Me 10 years ago is smiling at this.  

My day job isn't the ordinary 9-5. We are hustling day in and day out and I travel every other month for work. A lot of the time it's international. I also make it a point to move my body at least 1 hour each day, at minimum 6 times a week. I have personal goals like reading 40 books a year, growing LWBC as a brand, event, and product, and becoming a part-time Pilates instructor and so many more that I don’t share with the internet. Then a whole personal life to take care of. Filled with people to love on and water into. So how do I “do it all”? I cringe when people say that because… I don't. I also don’t think it’s possible to actually “do it all”. Not all in one sitting anyway. And not without sacrifice. But you can do a lot.

I've been working in the corporate world for about 10 years and in the past few years I've zeroed in on some methods that have allowed me 1) more mental space and 2) optimal use of my time. These approaches have helped me propel within my career and in my personal endeavors. Such as my fitness and reading goals, passion projects, etc. I'm here to share what's kept me sane while I'm out here doing the most.  I’m not going to say wake up at 4:30 am even though a lot of people think I do this, I don’t!!

I boiled this down to 4 things that keep me moving the needle. These are not fancy by any means, but they are the pillars that provide me the structure to give all the various areas of my life the attention they deserve.

Many AI apps can help plan an optimal day, and I'm trying to test which one is right for me. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open! Please share in the comments below. Right now, we’re old school.

Let's get into it. 

Brain Dump

I listed this one first because when you are busy there can sometimes feel like a swarming amount of things to do. An inbox to tackle, laundry to do, grocery shopping, content to create, courses to take, time to read. My biggest time suck is getting wrapped up in “all the things I have to do” and then doing mediocre tasks because they’re the easiest.  When I'm feeling overwhelmed I brain dump. I throw everything that stressing me out onto a piece of paper. Literally everything. The full bathroom trash that needs to be taken out. The grooming appointment I need to book. The texts I need to respond to. The friend I need to reach out to. The studying I need to finish. The act of writing them all down keeps them from swirling around in my mind and nagging me. I don't spend much time doing this. I'll put a timer in for 15 minutes and just let it all out. I let this guide me for the next steps.

Weekly Goals 

Each week whether it is Sunday or Monday I make a list of goals. I have two different lists. Work goals (my corporate girly job) then personal. Personal is broken down into 4 categories: movement, reading, Pilates, and Literate Women Book Club. This gives me direction for the week. I plan my workouts for the week and schedule them all, and I plan how I’ll structure my content sharing. The goals make me get specific about what I’m doing each day. I could talk about this forever so I will leave this as it and show you a photo below of a recent personal goals list.

it feels so vulnerable to share one of my personal weekly goals for some reason but here we are

Outsource Where It Makes Sense

I have an embarrassing confession. I only go to an actual grocery store once or twice a month, at most. But mostly not at all. It’s usually some quality time with my boyfriend because he loves a good Trader Joe’s run. But I order all our groceries through Amazon Prime (COVID changed me). It’s a $10 delivery fee and takes all the time and energy of driving to the store, picking things out, checking out, coming home and packing them away. God forbid, I forget my bags. In my 15-minute walk with my dog, I order all my groceries. Habit stack! This has me spend less because I’m not impulse buying or getting distracted in the store. I also try to think of my time as a dollar value after listening to the Skinny Confidential a few years ago. This completely changed my mindset. Now I think of each hour as a $250 rate (you can give yourself any number but this is mine). So $10 to have my groceries delivered right to my front door is a steal. As life gets busier these are some of the things that “have to get done” but can be done more efficiently. When I lived in my first apartment that had no laundry in my unit I would pay $30 to get it washed and folded because it was a much better use of my time, and I was so much less stressed doing it that way. These things seem bougie, I know. My grandparents and my mom were like, what do you mean??? To a Hispanic immigrant family, this is completely unfathomable. But these are economical decisions and allow me more mental space and time back to grow in areas that will benefit my quality of life. Long story short, think about the tasks that “need to get done” or cause major stress, and see where you can make it more efficient. These are just a few examples. If you want a few other ideas, dog walker, cleaning service, or paying an hourly rate to a professional organizer to give your home a system.

Time Blocking

This one can be seen as excessive. But I will plan out my entire work day in half-hour and hour blocks. It maximizes my time and allows me to focus. Below is a photo. Some things might not make sense because they are very specific to my career, but take ownership of your time. Give yourself a schedule. It is amazing how much you can get done. This is the one that inspired the post and keeps me more accountable and action-oriented with my time.  

every hour of my day from 9am-9pm planned

(don’t judge me, it works!)

Bonus!

I would be remiss to not recommend one of the most critical things to get the most done… rest. Both physical and mental rest. They allow you to come back to these pillars replenished.

I'm the type of person that needs at least 7 hours of sleep a night. If I could get 9 or 10 every night I'd be the happiest but it's not possible. What I make sure I do is get a minimum of 7-8 nightly and have one “big sleep-in” per week. Usually Saturday or Sunday. When you sleep you wash your brain! At least that's what I read somewhere.

With such a fast-paced world we live in, mental rest is hard to come by. When was the last time you felt bored? Like actually bored. Where you couldn’t escape scrolling various forms of social media or tune into something. This is my point. I’m not saying hike to the top of Mt. Fuji. But I find it helps me to get some time away from my phone. My daily dose of 15-20 minutes of reading on my Kindle does so much for my mental clarity (which is one of the many reasons I started LWBC 😊).

I’ve been so vocal about not bringing my laptop on my trip to Jamaica coming up. I’ve also decided to have a tech-free day. I was a bit worried about how I would get photos because I love documenting. But people were going on vacation for YEARS without cellphones. So, I went on Amazon and ordered a disposable camera. I’ll use it for pics and then get the film developed. Also! I resurrected my digital camera from high school that I’ll use. I shouldn’t take the credit. Thank you, Grandma! AKA the angel who searched her house high and low and found four of my old ones. Not one, FOUR.

There’s a little adapter where you can upload your SD card photos right into your phone these days. I want to enjoy being on that beautiful island while my phone sits in the hotel safe and I make memories with the love of my life. Real, beautiful memories, that aren’t distracted by the constant quake of my phone. I also want to steal a few moments to myself with a hardcover book by the beach and just, be.

I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to it. You can do this on a smaller scale at home. Hello, DND. Sit in your room go on Pinterest, and look up shadow work journal prompts, then try one. Even if it’s five minutes. Garden!!!! I have a serious flower obsession and I am so looking forward to when we get our house so I can start a garden.  I have fallen off the deep end here because I’m so passionate about putting down the damn phone.

I hope this has resonated with you in some way and you don’t think I’m a crazy person. I am by no means perfect each day. At all. At times I fall prey to a TikTok rabbit hole, an Instagram scroll that took too long, or sheer avoidance. However, these tools get me centered, back on track, and keep me accountable for the most part.

XOXO, B.