Optimize your Energy
[00:00:00] Aicila: From to do lists to flowcharts, streamlining your business for sustainable growth. You've identified your resources, audited your energy.
[00:00:08] Aicila: . . Now let's talk about how to streamline your business for sustainable growth so those resources work for you. Discover tools and tactics to automate, delegate and simplify, freeing up more time and energy for what truly matters.
[00:00:21] Aicila: My dad loves to tell the story about my mother's father. He was consulting on a project for a silver mine, and as they walked through the area where they had the ore being sorted through by the machines, my grandfather casually mentioned to one of the folks as they were walking by, if you switch your process and you do that step before the other step, you will save on your silver.
[00:00:40] Aicila: The person he mentioned it to passed it on, and they implemented the change. Months later, the company sent him an incredibly large check
[00:00:47] Aicila: In the tens of thousands of dollars.
Apparently, they had an employee rewards program, and any suggestion made by an employee that saved them money, they gave the employee a small percentage of the savings.
[00:00:59] Aicila: [00:01:00] And in thanks to my grandfather for this suggestion, they treated him like he was part of that program. When you understand your energy, your resources, and how you work, your natural rhythms, you can make similarly simple changes to your work schedule and flow to have equally impactful results.
[00:01:16] Aicila: Much like the silver in the silver plant, your energy is going to benefit from you paying attention to the ways in which you organize your time and tasks to get the best results for your well being and your business success.
[00:01:29] Aicila: We're going to dive into some tactics and tips to optimize your energy in a way that's functional and successful for you.
[00:01:36] Aicila: The next step is understanding how systems can overwhelm instead of support.
[00:01:42] Aicila: Not all systems are created equal. Some add complexity while others create flow.
[00:01:49] Aicila: One of the reasons that I work to get you really grounded in understanding you, your energy, your workflow, your rhythms is that's really going to inform whether a system is going to be [00:02:00] supportive or overwhelming.
[00:02:02] Aicila: You know how sometimes you leave a parking lot and you're sitting there waiting to take an unprotected left and you can't see really more than a car length out. , and it feels a little like you're taking your life in your hands when you accelerate like you're, taking off at a, Daytona race or something, and it feels adrenaline rushy, right? Versus, you pull out and you don't even notice that you're leaving the parking lot.
[00:02:26] Aicila: And that's, I would say, a really good way to understand the difference between , systems overwhelm versus systems support. Now that you've got a sense of the tasks that drain you, the tasks that energize you, the resources that you use regularly that you need to replenish and be able to call upon in order to be successful at what you're up to, And your natural work rhythm and flow, , when and how to schedule and use those resources, , and tasks that drain you and energize you.
[00:02:54] Aicila: So we've kind of gone through all of that. Now you need to think about what are the [00:03:00] systems and tools and tactics you're going to put in place to really help you be, more effective and in that space of ease and flow.
[00:03:08] Aicila: What I like to do is really think about the things that are working.
[00:03:12] Aicila: Can you think of something that you use consistently that works for you? And the next step is how would you take that thing and scale it up? So for instance, I used to use a paper calendar. . I've always been really good about referring to my calendar, using my calendar, and following the tasks that are on it.
[00:03:31] Aicila: Noticing that and say, okay, the paper calendar doesn't really function for where I'm at, at this point. However, I can move to a digital calendar that I've shared with people. And it draws upon a strength I have, which is that I'm really good about checking that calendar and writing things down.
[00:03:45] Aicila: And it moves it into a slightly different format that fits more with where I'm at as a human and where my business is at today.
[00:03:51] Aicila: If you can think of something like that, where you take something you're already doing and you tweak it, just 5 percent to help now that you've scaled or grown what you're [00:04:00] doing for that same system to grow with you instead of trying to create something new that's going to require a lot of input and oversight from you. Because probably you don't have time or energy for that.
[00:04:11] Aicila: Next, I'm going to touch a little on automation and delegation. Automation tools and delegation strategies are, , it's like a magic word, just delegate more. And the reality is that there's a, there's some pre work, and we've been doing this pre work in terms of understanding how to delegate and what to delegate.
[00:04:28] Aicila: And there's also pre work in terms of understanding what's an effective way to automate or delegate versus a way that's going to get in the way of your, ease and success. Batching, I think is often a really great way to work on projects that take a lot of time, attention, and energy.
[00:04:47] Aicila: I will sit and do social media posts, I have a time block every Friday, that I spend about four hours working on social media posts for a client. And I get [00:05:00] about a month's worth done. in that four hours. However, if I were to sit and do them every week, I've found it takes me about two hours a week to do the same amount of work.
[00:05:10] Aicila: Even though I set the system up, I have to re remember where everything is and all the different hashtags. And once I've gone through a couple of them, then each one becomes a little easier to do in that little batched set of time. Another thing might be writing.
[00:05:28] Aicila: Podcasts are a great example in terms of if I do a few at a time, I can get into that space, really thinking about how I want to talk about these topics. And definitely prepare for that time, for your batch time, if you're going to do it. I gather topics, information, and outlines, and I put them into a document.
[00:05:49] Aicila: I check on them a couple times beforehand. I add notes from interactions with clients or things that just come to me, so that when I sit down to record, I'm not starting completely fresh. I have some things to prompt [00:06:00] me to give something that I hope will be valuable and useful to you.
[00:06:03] Aicila: And the other one is to, you know, we talked about that workflow piece. Interestingly, like when I record it really matters.
[00:06:11] Aicila: I used to think, I'll get up early and record podcasts and videos, and I'm just not gonna. I don't know what it is, but anything before 9am, I don't want to be on video.
And so then I'll procrastinate. I won't do it cause I hate it so much. But , Sunday afternoon, for some reason, I love sitting down and going through all the things that I've been writing on and taking notes on and writing out what I want to schedule to, to share with folks, things that have inspired me during the week.
[00:06:37] Aicila: Not only does it take less time if I do the same activity on a Sunday afternoon, I actually enjoy it a lot more. If it's your business, I think you should be enjoying it.
[00:06:46] Aicila: I encourage you to think about what is something that , if you were to batch it, how would that create more time or more joy for you in that process? Do some experiments and see how it goes. Let me know.
[00:06:59] Aicila: and the other [00:07:00] thing is really notice, , am I procrastinating? And is it because I just dread this? Is there a way I can make this more enjoyable for myself? And, and then in terms of automation, the other really important thing to remember is. that automation has its place. For example, I use a social media manager to schedule my posts ahead of time because during the week I really just don't have time to go in and do that on a daily basis.
[00:07:26] Aicila: And one of the features of my social media manager is that I can use this queue, right? And I did, I set up the queue . And then I realized, Oh, no, that just doesn't work for me. I spent so much time fighting on how to get the cue to work that it's mentally draining as well as a huge time suck.
[00:07:43] Aicila: Whereas other people I know just pull up and it's all good. I spend a lot of time personalizing what I'm sharing with people because I want to be engaging with people. I really want to connect with the people that are interested in the work that I'm doing.
[00:07:57] Aicila: And that means that [00:08:00] it's going to be slower for me, , I really think about once again, for you, where does that place of automation start to become more work than it's worth?
[00:08:10] Aicila: And if you just have to do one task in your workflow, because you can't automate it, that's fine. Don't worry about it. Don't, don't get too obsessed with that.
[00:08:19] Aicila: To be fair, that's mostly advice for me that I'm just sharing with you. But if you're like me in that way, there you go.
[00:08:25] Aicila: Choose one task from your energy audit that you can automate or delegate this week and research the tools or resources needed to make it happen. And if a task can't be automated or delegated without significant input from you, or it's just not, doesn't quite fit in that way, brainstorm three ways to simplify or streamline it.
[00:08:43] Aicila: Could you use a template, create a checklist, or combine it with another activity? Perhaps you could batch. Let me know what you come up with. I'm always curious, , how people solve these problems. And , if you're not sure about tools or resources that you need to help with your automation or your delegation, [00:09:00] reach out to me.
[00:09:01] Aicila: Something I love to do in my free time is go research different, business tools that exist and I'm always happy to share what I found.
[00:09:09] Aicila: From overwhelmed to optimized, build systems that support your success. By working smarter, not just harder, we create space for our businesses and ourselves to truly thrive. Take back control this week by implementing at least one system improvement. And if you like what you hear or you're curious for more, head over to buycurian. com. I'm working on developing more and more resources to help you in your process and you can sign up for my newsletter and get them delivered right to your inbox every week.
[00:09:36] Aicila: Next week, join me in conversation with Peggy McArthur to learn about the global business plaza and online networking and business community working to create success together.
[00:09:47] Aicila: Thank you for tuning in to Business as Unusual. Remember, in this ever evolving world of modern business, it's not about fitting in, it's about standing out. See you next time. Stay curious, stay innovative, and [00:10:00] always keep it unusual.
