How to Get Clarity So You Can Be More Productive w/Mark Struczewski

Thank you , Mark , for coming and speaking to us today on Tools of the Podcast Trade .

I am 58 years young and I have been running at least one mile every day since August 29th 2017 . So that's a little bit about me .

Because I know I have a podcast , like you do , and I know that people are probably walking the dog , doing the dishes , they're on a bike ride , they're on a plane and they're not gonna remember complex ideas .

And so I remember that and I always wanna give whatever podcast I'm on , whether it's yours or mine give people simple ideas that they can remember and , most importantly , that they will do .

So it starts with a Y , which leads to your goals , and then , once you have your goals in place , then you go okay , what do I need to do today , tomorrow , this week , next month , whatever that are going to push me toward those goals ?

So productivity means different things to different people , and I think that you should focus on reaching your goals , and when you are doing things that are bringing you towards your goals , then you're being productive . So let's say , my goal is to make $10 million next year If I cut my back lawn . Is that being productive ? No , in my opinion .

So what I do is I hire some guy . He cuts my lawn , does a much better job than I ever could , and so he gets paid doing what he loves to do , and I'm in the house getting paid for what I love to do . That's where I think productivity comes down to it .

That's why , right , okay , all right , thank you Now I see it here , from overwhelming to clarity . I think that's your personal story . Can you share that with us ?

And one of the keys to get out from being overwhelmed is gaining clarity . This goes back to what I just said . You need to figure out what do you want to accomplish this year ? And I don't care if you're listening to this in 2024 or 2025 , 2027 , it doesn't matter , even if it's in middle of the year .

You need to stop and think okay , what do I want to do this year ? So let's say , someone's listening to this show and it's August 10th of 2024 . Well , and you had a really you didn't do much . You had a really poor year this year . Well , start today and go . Okay , how can I finish strong ?

See a lot of people once the year gets started and they go off the rails . They go . I can't do anything until January 1st .

Can you explain what that is to us , what the benefit is to a podcaster , and how context switching , which is the other term you use , helps a podcaster to be more productive ? So I'm asking you a lot .

When I do my show , I will do my show and I , unlike you , I don't do interviews anymore . I only do solo episodes , which is just me , so I will record it .

When I'm done recording it , then I upload it to the One site that will actually make the audio sound better , and then I upload it to the company that distributes the software to the episode around the world , and then I take the transcript and I run it through Otter AI , get a transcript and I use chat GPT to create a readable blog post on my website .

Now , all those things all happen around the same time , so I don't do like the podcast and the next day I'll do the transcript , the next day I'll do the blog . I do it all at once so when I start a podcast from the time I hit record . So the time I'm done , I want everything done . I don't . I don't like these things hanging out there .

So I try to get everything done and you can do this and anything . If you're gonna create up a YouTube video , you're gonna write a book , you're going to it literally the . The list is endless of the possibilities . But you take a bunch of tasks that are similar and you do them all at the same time .

Now what context switching is is when you switch from one task to another , you have some residue on the first task , so maybe working on task B , but your mind is still a little bit thinking about task a .

That's why , if you take tasks and they're all similar , like creating a podcast episode , you're gonna have less Attention , revenue , context , revenue whatever term you want to use because the tasks are all similar . It's all about your podcast . But if you go from creating an episode to Scrolling on social media , to writing on your book .

Well , there's gonna be more residue there because they're different . But if you're like recording the podcast , then you are going to do this . You know the transcription . Then you can do chat , cbt now all the tasks are similar . You're still gonna have residue , the context residue but it won't be as great Because now the tasks are more similar .

Does that make sense ?

All right , thank you . These are concepts that we can grasp , that can help us to be more productive and To do better work as podcasters and business people . So I appreciate it . So tell us what you do for your clients and how we can get in touch with you .

My clients come to me because they're overwhelmed , they're like my life is spinning out of control , I , I don't know which ends up , and , and so the first call we we go on the journey , as you will , as it starts is let's get clarity , because most people don't have clarity . They're putting out fires all day long , and so I like to help people Gain clarity .

And the analogy I use because you use the , the cartoon and the fire , after the guy , the . We all have these Apple headphones . Remember the Apple headphones that used to be with the cord ? And they used to get tangled up and when you try to untangle them , it's like it gets more tangled .

That's what I'm trying to do and it's it's a process , because there's no coach in the world that can just snap their fingers and say Do this , one thing in your life is gonna be great . It's a journey , it's a process .

So what I help people do is Untangle their headphones to gain clarity , and before I can actually give them tips , I got to find out where , where have they been , where are they now and where they want to go .

Not really . And so , whether you're talking about productivity or creating a podcast or writing a book , it comes to clear , comes down the clarity . You got to get clarity and I tell you my secret weapon . I have two secret weapons which I'll tell your listeners that I use for gaining clarity . One is I like writing on my whiteboard .

I went out and got myself a whiteboard and there's something about writing your ideas . And you seen your ideas and like , yeah , now , if you don't have a whiteboard , you can use a notebook , you can use a piece of paper . When you take your pen and you write your ideas down , all of a sudden now your eye sees the words .

It sees the sentences like oh , wait a minute Instead of doing this one , or move this over to here and now , because people try to do it in your head . It doesn't work in your head . You got to do it on paper or on a whiteboard , and that's what I tell people to do . That's my secret to gaining clarity is to write things down .

Don't use an app , don't put it on your notes app on your phone . Write it on a piece of paper . I promise you the clarity will zoom in the focus for you .

Jen , I want people to understand Don't get on your tech , go outside , look at the trees , breathe in the fresh air , look at the birds , listen to the birds . If you do this two to four minutes every hour , you are going to find yourself to be in a different space .

Okay , so many people go from one screen to another screen , zoom to zoom , google Meet , the Google Meet podcast , and we're sitting down looking at these screens and I'm telling you give yourself a break and go outside . Now , I get this question all the time . Someone goes what if I'm on a two hour training ? Do you know what I do ?

I will actually turn my camera off and I will get off my chair and I will walk around the room and maybe I do some jumping jacks or do some squats . We were not designed , we were not created to sit behind computers all day . So I encourage people whether you're on a training , call a meeting , get up every hour .

You can even let the people know if it's a small like group coaching call to say , hey , yeah , you know , as we get toward the top of the hour , I'm going to turn my camera off . I'm still listening . I'm going to be doing moving around the background .

You need to do this because it's going to keep your body fresh and it's going to help you be more productive .

You need to have space where you can maybe go spend some time on social media not a lot , but a few minutes . You need to break it up during the day , okay . So go outside , don't pack your day . And number three be okay with saying no . Be okay to say you know what . I can't do any more today .

I'm going to move some things around and take the afternoon off . Don't push that rope . So many people think I got to work through it . Got to work through it

. But if you're not in the right state , if you're angry , if you're frustrated , you're overwhelmed , maybe you're not feeling well , then take the day off . It's okay if you take the day off and take care of yourself .

It's your job . So stop playing the blame game . Stop criticizing other people and instead focus on how you can live your best life , instead of blaming other people .