The Productive Woman

Dr. Brené Brown's books offer ideas and principles that can help us in making a life that matters.

It’s hard to make a life that matters when we’re spending our time reacting to what other people want instead of proactively pursuing the goals and objectives that are most important to us.

We can all learn some lessons on self-direction from graduate student and TPW listener Maria Bengtson, who shares how she keeps herself on track to finish her dissertation while still living her life.

Taking a look at physical & mental clutter--how it affects us, and some thoughts on conquering it.

When life is filled with obligations that leave us feeling overwhelmed, do we have a choice? Can we make a change?

Professor Beatriz Martín-Pérez shares how she's navigated the challenges of caring for loved ones while pursuing professional success.

Self-care is not time off from productivity; it's an essential element of a productive life. How can we make time for self-care in an already full life--and why should we?

Is it too soon to start celebrating the holidays? Probably. But not too soon for a few steps that can help us prepare for the best holiday season ever.

Nutrition coach and former advertising professional Michelle Pfennighaus shares thoughts about how ruthless prioritization (and banana peel tea) help her manage a busy life.

The back-to-school season (or any change in seasons, for that matter) is a great time to re-evaluate our daily and weekly routines to make sure they're serving us.

Some thoughts on what it means to raise productive kids, and how to do it.

Sephra Scheuber is working out a system that allows her to be productive as a musician, a teacher, and a student, while making her faith and her relationships a priority.

Some thoughts about making it work when you work from home.

Getting back into your regular routine after a vacation without sacrificing the relaxation you gained can be a challenge. Here are some thoughts on how (and why) to do it.

When you have a full-time job and a family, how do you make time for what matters to you personally? Sonia Harris shares how she's doing it.

When we're not making progress on a goal we've set for ourselves, is letting go ever the right choice?

A regular weekly review helps us stay on top of our commitments. So why don't we do it? In response to a listener question, we look at how (and why) to make the weekly review a part of managing our busy lives.

Mandy Hanson's approach to productivity offers ideas even for those of us who don't live with chronic pain like she does.

The year's midpoint is a good time to pause and review whether you're headed in the direction you want to go.

Continuing our occasional series on books that have influenced my thinking about what it means to live a productive life, this episode features some of the highlights from Charles Duhigg's fascinating book about habits.

Sales professional and single mom Shelly Clayton shares her approach to creating productive days and making a life that matters.

How well does your to-do list work for you? This episode features 10 tips for making the most of whatever tool you use to manage your tasks.

How do the words we say (and think) affect our ability to accomplish the things we care about?

How can you manage a life that involves multiple roles and a variety of interests? College professor, business owner, & single mom Jennifer Fleury shares how she's doing it.

We’ve talked about the value of planning ahead to keep life moving smoothly, but what about when you can’t? What do you do when your life is in transition, you can’t plan ahead, and your routines get thrown out of whack?

Once again The Productive Woman community came through with ideas for how to spend time on Sunday (or whatever day you choose) setting yourself up for a great week.

A chat with business coach, podcaster, wife, and mom Katie Krimitsos, who shared her approach to balancing structure and flexibility in building a schedule that works for her and her family.

Recorded with a milestone in mind, this episode features a few thoughts about what it means (to me) to live a productive life--and how that's changed over time.

Few things have more impact on how we experience our life--on what we accomplish or what we don’t, whether we’re happy or not--than the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what's possible for us.

Professional singer, vocal coach, and YouTube star Freya Casey of Germany is also a single mom to a young daughter. She shares some of the systems and tools she uses to manage it all--and some of the struggles she's faced--in this episode.

When a listener asked for suggestions on how to fit exercise into an already jam-packed life, The Productive Woman community came through in a big way. Inspired by a conversation in The Productive Woman Community Facebook group, we look at why exercise is important, and how we can get it done.

Many women (and men) are struggling to manage a job, children, a spouse, or life as a single parent. On top of that we're trying to find time for personal interests (or just to get some sleep). What do you do when it's all too much?

This week's guest, public relations pro and single mom Amanda Berlin, is all about making the best use of her talents and skills to make a life (and a career) that matters--she calls it using her powers for good.

This episode, sharing key takeaways from Gary Keller's The ONE Thing, is the first in a new recurring series in which I'll share key takeaways from some of the books that have influenced my thinking on productivity and making a life that matters.

Very few of us have only one project going at a time. The many roles we play in life, our various areas of interest and responsibility, all can be sources of projects that compete for our time, energy, and attention. Managing those multiple projects is a challenge that requires intention and discipline. This episode offers a few tips that might help.

Award-winning author Maria Dismondy knows what matters to her and is determined to prioritize those things. In this episode, she shares how she's intentionally built her life around her most important priorities.

What's on your to-do list? If you have some "tasks" that have hung around on that list for a long time with no action, they might not be tasks at all. This episode looks at the difference between a project and a task, and why forming your to-do list with the right one can help get you past procrastination into action.

We've spent a few episodes talking about the process of turning a dream to a goal and then taking action on it. Sometimes it helps to hear examples of how a process works. This episode is a walk-through of the Dream to Done process applied, step by step, to two examples.

We all face challenges in our journey toward making a meaningfully productive life. My guest in this episode, Dr. Kesha Moore, reminds us how we choose to approach those challenges will make all the difference.

Continuing our Dream to Done mini-series, this time we’re looking at what to do once we’ve created a goal: how to make time to take action on it, and how to motivate ourselves to keep going until we’ve completed it.

Part 2 of our Dream to Done mini-series looks at the difference between a dream and a goal, and offers some steps to turning your dream into a goal (or series of goals) that you can actually take action on.

When we are uncertain of where or how to start, our dreams may seem out of reach. What stands between you and your dream of a life that matters?

Artist and author Kara Benz (also known as Boho Berry) and I talk about building a business and living an intentional life--and a little about bullet journaling.

Big goals are awesome, but here are 14 simple things--small tasks that will take half an hour or less--that you can do this week (or next) to simplify your life and set yourself up for a great year.

Managing a multi-dimensional 21st-century life is easier when you're organized. Fortunately, professional organizer Lisa Woodruff says being organized is a learnable skill. In this episode we chat about how she does it, and she shares some tips AND offers some great free resources!

As the new year begins, are you making resolutions you'll abandon in a month or setting achievable goals? Are you basing your goals on unconscious expectations, or looking forward with a sense of expectancy?

As 2016 comes to a close, my year-end wrap-up process is a way to take a look at lessons learned this year and use them to create a plan for an even better year to come.

For author and leadership coach Puja Madan, one key to living a meaningully productive life is found by tuning in to the rhythms of life, time, & energy.

Most of us look forward to the holidays, but the season has its challenges. How can we stay peaceful and enjoy the season?

Productivity doesn't mean "doing stuff" all the time, and you don't need to feel guilty for taking a break.