The Productive Woman

This week we're looking at what can we do in the coming weeks to ensure our year ends on a productive note and to prepare for next year.

I don’t believe productivity is dependent on particular tools or apps, but we are fortunate to live in an age when there are many resources available to make our lives and work simpler and more efficient. This week I'm sharing a few of my favorite productivity tools.

This week, Mary Cheyne and I talk about finding your voice, speaking with confidence, and how to bypass your inner critic. Even if you have no interest in speaking from a stage, Mary has some great tips for speaking confidently in any situation.

No one likes to think about an emergency occurring, but it's important to be prepared. Since September is National Preparedness Month, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned about how to prepare for an emergency situation and ensure you and your household are safe.

Do you have a project you've been avoiding because you're overwhelmed, don't have time, or aren't sure how to get started, or a dream you haven't taken action on because you're afraid it's out of reach? This week we're talking about how to figure out what's holding us back and come up with strategies to get started.

Early childhood education profession, mom, and author Autumn McKay talks with me about mom guilt, practicing gratitude, and keeping kids engaged and happy during hectic times.

Productivity is more than just crossing things off a to-do list. How would you define a life well lived? It’s easy to get absorbed in our days and lose sight of the bigger picture (those things that matter most) unless we intentionally make time and opportunities to remind ourselves why we’re doing the things we do.

"Keep calm" is easy to say but sometimes harder to do. The week we're looking at ways to cope productively with anxiety and stress during tough times.

Professional organizer Lisa Woodruff returns to the podcast to talk with me about how we can increase our productivity and happiness by conquering paper clutter in our homes and offices using the system described in her excellent new book, The Paper Solution.

Having an overachieving "do it all, all the time" mindset can lead to burnout, discouragement, and missing out on what's really important. This week we're looking at ways to overcome the paralyzing, discouraging effects of perfectionism and move forward on the goals that matter most to us.

This week we’re talking about how to have a good, productive week, and how to make kindness and gratitude a part of every day.

To achieve a goal, we have to keep saying yes to that priority when we want to say no. This week Elizabeth Benton and I talk about setting, and living by, intentional priorities.

When normal activities are suspended, whether during a pandemic or due to some other change in circumstances, we might find ourselves with unexpected free time. How can we use that free time in positive and productive ways?

2020 has been an unusual year. How have the first six months of 2020 gone for you? What do you want the next 6 months to look like? Mid-year is a good time to pause, reflect, and regroup.

This week, Majo Molfino and I talk about the 5 Good Girl Myths, reclaiming your creativity, and finding your purpose.

As we celebrate 6 years (!!) of The Productive Woman podcast, here are a few productivity tips and tools from the TPW community and from me!

It's not enough to just get lots of stuff done. We want to make lives that matter--we want our productivity to be meaningful. In this milestone episode, we discuss what meaningful productivity means and how we can order our lives so as to maximize our positive impact on the world.

This week, Eva Jannotta and I chat about being the most productive version of yourself and boldly using your voice to advocate for what you want.

Even those of us who usually practice productive habits get off track sometimes. What do you do to get back on track when everything gets away from you?

With all the hats we wear and our never-ending to-do lists, it's important to use our time wisely so we can focus on the things that truly matter. This week I'm sharing a few things I do to make time for what matters most to me.

Kris Rice and I chat about how she prioritizes wellness and tends to her most important priorities. (And don't miss the freebie she's offering TPW listeners--see the link in the show notes!)

Good books can be a source of entertainment, education, and inspiration, helping us make meaningfully productive lives. Here are a few of my favorites.

What do you know for sure? The older I get, the less certain I am about many things, but there are a few things I know for sure about productivity and making a life that matters.

Psychologist, executive coach, and author Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin has focused her career on helping women (and men) overcome Impostor Syndrome and make meaningfully productive lives.

How can you be productive during, or in the aftermath of, trauma?

As a longtime organization nerd, I've gathered some great tips from professional organizers whose books, YouTube videos, podcasts, and articles I've learned from over the years.

Healthcare executive Merrily Orsini is an advocate for home healthcare--and for taking small incremental steps to achieve your most cherished goals.

Meaningful productivity is about making a life that matters. For me, a life that matters centers on people that matter. Aside from family, friends and mentors have perhaps the most influence on our meaningfully productive life.

Working from home can be great, but if the decision to do so was made for you by outside circumstances and with little time to prepare, it comes with unique challenges.

This week I'm sharing a few thoughts about life and productivity during a time of crisis, including a few suggestions for adjusting to a new reality.

What time wasters can we eliminate to make more time for what matters most? We're talking about a few of them in this week's episode.

Setting goals that matter starts with knowing what's most important to you. This week we're reviewing some principles of setting meaningful goals.

Is work-life balance really a thing? Some thoughts about what it means (and what it doesn't mean) on this week's episode.

This week's episode features my conversation with former investment banking professional Mayda Poc about how she intentionally incorporates being present in the moment into her productive life.

This week's episode features tips from women in the TPW community on how they fit healthy eating into their busy lives.

When it comes to making a meaningfully productive life, there is incredible power in focusing on the things we can control.

This week's episode of The Productive Woman podcast features my conversation with professor, wife, and mom Min Choi about how she identified her optimal hours for productivity and protects those hours for getting her most important work done.

What gets in the way of getting stuff done, and how can we overcome those obstacles and accomplish what matters to us?

Achieving our goals this year requires consistent action. What do you do if your motivation to act starts to fade as the year continues?

The beginning of a new year is a great time to declutter your space. This week's episode offers some ideas and inspiration to get you started.

Amy Landino is on a mission to help you go after the life you want, starting with a morning routine that launches and grounds productive days.

Big changes are impressive, but great progress can be achieved by taking small actions consistently. Consider 5 small things to do every day for a more productive year.

This brief episode looks at four productive choices we can make during the holidays--and every day.

Now's a great time to think about a new planner for the coming year. In this week's episode we look at some things to consider in choosing (and using) a planner--including some great suggestions from the TPW community.

This week I'm talking with nutrition and wellness coach Dallas Heath about how intentional self-care helps her (and us) be more productive.

Attention management is a key productivity skill--and the subject of Maura Thomas's book, Attention Management.

Cultivating gratitude helps us be happier and more productive. Hear about a few more benefits of gratitude in this week's quick holiday-week episode.

London-based banking professional Helen Wright sets intentional boundaries between work, personal, and family commitments. We talk about what that means to her in this week's episode.

What are your favorite productivity tools? I'm sharing 10 of mine on this week's episode.

Do you ever feel disappointed in your own productivity? Me too. This week I'm sharing a few thoughts from my heart about productivity, disappointed expectations, and feeling better.