280: 3 Time Hacks for Busy Seasons

[00:00:00] Tiffany Sauder: This toolkit of what can I stop? What can I cut in half and what can I stack? That little framework really, really helps me get capacity back into my day without letting people down, without feeling like I'm just reacting. I'm Tiffany Sauder, entrepreneur, wife, mom to four girls and a woman figuring it out just like you.

[00:00:20] Tiffany Sauder: If you're tired of living a life of have to and finally ready to build a life of want to, then you're in the right place. Come on, let's go build your Life of And.

[00:00:38] Tiffany Sauder: hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Life of And podcast. I'm your host, Tiffany Sauder, and I think you're not gonna need to listen to this episode at 2x speed if you usually speed me up, because I am like literally human moving into 2X speed right now. And I'm gonna take Brian Kavicky's advice.

[00:00:56] Tiffany Sauder: If you listen to my episode with him. I think it was last week. I was in the middle of my, like, life is eating me and I dunno where to start. And one of the pieces of feedback that he gave me was, let your life, let your journey come forward and be the story. Oh my word. I'm like, my breath is in my chest and not in my stomach.

[00:01:15] Tiffany Sauder: And I'm like, this is just how I am. I'm moving very fast right now. And so my Life of And right now. It is filled with kids, high school kids going into season, which just means lots of evenings of traveling to games, which is wonderful, but it takes capacity. Uh, I've got some big things in my business that I'm working on and pushing forward that's requiring a lot of me.

[00:01:35] Tiffany Sauder: I really need to stay, want to stay, have prioritizing on track with my own health minimums because that keeps me sane and centered, and I have an amazing tribe of people to stay connected to. So. As I'm walking into the season, we just bought a house, which is has renovations, and another big project that I'm leading.

[00:01:56] Tiffany Sauder: I'm going back to one of these core principles that helps me when seasons come like this. It is gonna be, I am predicting an eight to 12 week sprint for me to get through some of the core selections in this renovation project and get through just a really busy fall at work. And so I have. Like kind of one of these mental tools that I go to, that I'm working on right now.

[00:02:21] Tiffany Sauder: And so I'm gonna share it with you. And that is what can I stop? What can I cut in half and what can I stack? What can I stop? What can I cut in half and what can I stack? So examples from my literal day today. What can I stop? I got a text message from our youth group leader. And said, Hey, can you, um, connect me with Aubrey and Ainsley, my two oldest?

[00:02:44] Tiffany Sauder: 'cause we wanna make sure that they know what our, like what's going on this next semester with youth group. And even when in really, really, really busy seasons, we, it can be easy to say no to things that you don't really want to do, but yet letting your yes be yes and your no be no. And so I said, Hey, we are not gonna have capacity for.

[00:03:02] Tiffany Sauder: During the week youth group this week, I can just see it on the calendar. It is not possible. And so instead of sifting through the emails, being on group texts, being asked to like, you know, bring cupcakes to an event that I just know we're not gonna be able to go to, I just called the No today and said, Hey, let us know when you're gearing up after the holidays for second semester.

[00:03:23] Tiffany Sauder: I think it's gonna work for us better. So this is like youth group. This is a really good thing. This is something I want my girls to be involved in. But I can see it is literally not gonna fit. And so taking it out of my life for a season is also removing the friction of just the administration of saying, no.

[00:03:40] Tiffany Sauder: So what can you stop is the first one. The second is, what can you cut in half? This podcast episode is a literal example of that. Most of the time when I'm jumping on and doing solo shows. I'm doing 20 to 35 minutes of content today. I have got to record one. I have a very short period of time to do it, and so I was like, I just need to cut it in half.

[00:04:02] Tiffany Sauder: I don't have the time to put together a really good 30 minute episode. And so instead I'm gonna export just exactly what I'm living right now and give you this tool. And so I'm sure this episode will be closer to 10 to 15 minutes, and so I'm just cutting it in half. So what can you cut in half on your calendar?

[00:04:19] Tiffany Sauder: When I had tons of direct reports and gotten seasons like this, one thing I always did was cut my one-to-ones in half. So either go from an hour to a half hour, or if you meet every week, go to every other week. How do I continue to support that commitment and that requirement of my time? But how do I cut it in half?

[00:04:38] Tiffany Sauder: Is a way to give yourself back time without having to let people down, and you need to renegotiate those agreements so that they know, hey, for a period of time, again, back to the one-to-one analogy or not analogy, example, I would literally say, Hey, from now until November 1st, we are gonna meet every other week.

[00:04:56] Tiffany Sauder: My preference is to meet weekly, but in this season, I can't support that well, so I can support being prepared, showing up on time and being present. In an every other week capacity, and when we get to November, we'll revisit because I do wanna get back to weekly. They understand that agreement was renegotiated.

[00:05:13] Tiffany Sauder: I can still uphold my commitment to be prepared, to be present and to be ready for them, but I knew I could not do that at the current cadence and capacity because I just didn't have the time. Other things are happening in that season, so what can you cut in half? The other is what can you stack? Habit snacking is not a new concept, but I will say in seasons like this, I have to do more of it than I maybe would otherwise.

[00:05:39] Tiffany Sauder: So I have a goal daily of getting 8,000 steps in. It's actually very hard because it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get 8,000 steps in, and I don't have a low key an hour and 15 minutes. I have to get some done in the morning or I can't make it work. So I like to be able to go walk in the morning.

[00:05:58] Tiffany Sauder: Have no technology, just hear the world wake up. That is my preference. But in this season, I'm stacking and I'm either listening to a podcast that is about a topic I'm learning about. It is listening to a sermon series to help me make sure that I get my spiritual sort of food in that day, or it's literally walking and banging out emails and text messages of things that I need to do that day.

[00:06:24] Tiffany Sauder: So it is not ideal. My best version of that is just being able to take in nature and let myself rest, but that's not the season I'm in, so I'm stacking. The last thing I'll add is just this word of keep it easy. I say that self or keep it simple. Keep it easy, keep it simple. Keep it easy. I say that to myself all the time when I'm in seasons like this, because I naturally love complexity.

[00:06:47] Tiffany Sauder: I love creating. I love new things. I love new adventures. I love new places. I love all kinds of new things. And I tell myself in seasons like this, just keep it easy. So like things like wear an outfit I've already worn before, my brain can just add ridiculous amounts of stupid complexity. And it's like, I don't know, I'll start with like a pair of pants I haven't worn in four years.

[00:07:12] Tiffany Sauder: And I'm like, maybe I'll wear these. Like, nope, keep it easy, Tiffany. Wear the outfit you wore yesterday if you have to. But keep it easy. Don't make getting dressed. Be hard. Things like what we eat for dinner. I love to cook and be creative with food. This is a season where we will still eat at home because that is important to me for lots of reasons that I don't need to go through right now.

[00:07:32] Tiffany Sauder: Eating at home is important to me. Cooking is important to me. But Tiffany, keep it easy. And so I'm gonna make a lot of things that I've already made before. I'm gonna make a lot of things that I know my family's going to eat. I'm gonna make a lot of things that are a little bit more simple in their makeup and not like start going through a new cookbook of the like Julia Child, like French, you know, blah, blah, blah.

[00:07:52] Tiffany Sauder: Which is something that sounds insane, but my brain is like, oh, I probably have capacity for that. No, you do not. There's like two people that live inside of me, so keep it simple. I wanna take a quick moment to thank my partners at Share Your Genius. For the past four years, they have been an incredible part of my journey behind the microphone.

[00:08:12] Tiffany Sauder: Share Your Genius is a content and podcast production agency that helps leaders and brands bring their message to life. So whether you're trying to find your voice, develop a content strategy, or get your leader behind a microphone, they're gonna help you make it simple, strategic and impactful. Another example, keeping It Simple, this podcast, this one, I am literally in a phone booth at my office at Element Three with no like.

[00:08:37] Tiffany Sauder: External microphone. I'm just letting my computer record the audio. It is not ideal. The ideal way to do it would be to get my external microphone, get the adapter, set it up, reserve the studio so that the lighting is better and all this stuff. But I do not have time for that today. I can just do what I can do, keep it simple, Tiffany, and I would rather record my thoughts in as raw and honest way as I can have the audio be.

[00:09:06] Tiffany Sauder: I don't know, probably an imperceptible level of quality, like, you know, reduction that you can't even really tell versus having it be in my head all week long I didn't record and I need to, and I let my team down and the production team doesn't want have what they need in time and it starts to become this thing that grows and grows and grows and grows in your head.

[00:09:26] Tiffany Sauder: So this is a critical thing. I think principle inside of a Life of And if you are gonna say yes to a great, big, full, amazing life with a lot of people in it that you love and a lot of things that you wanna say yes to, there are times where the seasons of those things are not something that you can change.

[00:09:43] Tiffany Sauder: What do I mean by that is I cannot change that. Volleyball is a fall sport. That is a season that is selected for me. We have a very specific demolition day that we need to hit with our house and to be able to hit that date. I have a bunch of things that I need to pick out for this home, and I haven't done that before, and so that's gonna take capacity for me.

[00:10:01] Tiffany Sauder: I do not have the luxury of setting down. My business obligations are the things that pay me and my husband for all this stuff that we've said yes to. I don't have the luxury of doing that. I don't want to do that. We've got some excellent momentum with things. That's why I also need to make good time for that.

[00:10:18] Tiffany Sauder: And I know at 45 I need seven hours of sleep, so I've gotta go to bed at 10 and get up. I like to get up at six, but right now I'm getting up more at like five 15 so you can find capacity. Life is sustainable for me right now. I can do this for eight to 12 weeks for. Sure, but I can't do everything at the exact same intensity that I could before we took on this house project.

[00:10:42] Tiffany Sauder: I couldn't do this at the exact same intensity before Ainsley started her volleyball SE season. So it doesn't mean that you have to lop off great big parts of your life. Sometimes you need to, for example, I have stepped away from all boards. Because serving in for-profit or not-for-profit board capacities is not something that I can say yes to and do well right now.

[00:11:03] Tiffany Sauder: So sometimes you have to put it on what I say, your not now list, but we, in the center of a season, something big comes up and you need to be able to create some short-term capacity. So for me, that's like eight to 12 weeks. Then this toolkit of what can I stop? What can I cut in half and what can I stack?

[00:11:21] Tiffany Sauder: That little framework really, really helps me get capacity back into my day without letting people down and without feeling like I'm just reacting all day long. And the last thing is just keep simple things, simple. Don't let your brain. Make things that should be simple, complicated because other things are complicated on their own.

[00:11:41] Tiffany Sauder: When you are in a season of running really fast in life, I feel like right now it's put together like Lego blocks. It's like very tight and there's not a lot of extra capacity, but we can definitely, definitely do it for sure and still get my sleep in, still get my workouts in, still get my time with my girls.

[00:11:58] Tiffany Sauder: Still put them to bed, still have my date nights with JR. Like all those things are on the docket. This is not a chaotic way of reacting to life. This is about proactively saying, this is my toolbox. When life is trying to force me into reactive, into being reactive, this is what I do instead. So 2x Tiffany is now done with this podcast episode.

[00:12:18] Tiffany Sauder: Thank you for listening. We're really having a lot of fun. You guys. If you're not following me on Instagram. We've worked to post there more consistently about what's going on, events that we are doing specifically in Indianapolis. We have some really special events. It's called a Seat at the Table coming up.

[00:12:33] Tiffany Sauder: So check out Instagram, check out my website, tiffanysauder.com. I know we're testing engaging community in a different way and it's really fun. We would love for you to join us, love seeing people in person and hearing how this work, this project is helping. You and your family. So thanks for tuning in and I am rooting for you as you build your own unique Life of And thanks for listening.

[00:12:57] Tiffany Sauder: Thanks for listening to the Life of And. this is your weekly reminder to keep making bold choices, saying clear yeses and holding space for what matters most. As always, if you like this episode, I'd love for you to drop a review and share it with your friend. It's the fastest way that we can grow the show.

[00:13:13] Tiffany Sauder: Thanks for joining us. I'll see you next time.