How And Why I Support People With Feeling Less Overwhelmed And More Productive
Would you believe me if I told you I studied biomedical engineering? It’s hysterical because I've never actually been an engineer.
But one thing that you won’t find shocking is that I’ve always been an overachiever. I’ve always been the kid who loved to organize and color code or alphabetize my books, and I was always reading. I loved getting a fresh planner and school supplies at the beginning of every year, and I tried every list and strategy I could throughout high school and middle school.
There have been several turns taken along the way to get to where I am today.
So today, I want to share my journey from childhood to now running a successful time management business.
My Why
1. It's hard to pretend you're okay when you're not.
For a long time, I was like a duck on the surface, just smoothly floating along, looking great, feeling great, and no one could tell that underneath the surface, I was absolutely freaking out, and I was overwhelmed. I was getting burnt out. I had spread myself too thin and felt like I was disappointing everybody, and that was because I worked nine to five. I volunteered for several different organizations. I was tutoring a few nights a week, and I was also trying to maintain a social life.
I was dating my now husband at the time, and we were also trying to navigate life and build our future together. It was really hard to make sure that everything was staying afloat and staying up to par. And so I know how hard it is to pretend you're okay when you're not.
I want to help people back away from that place. I want to help you decide what is truly your priority and what's truly important to you so that we can make decisions about how to be intentional with our time.
2. I don't need to earn rest.
For a long time, I struggled to just sit around, to just watch TV. I'm getting there more and more every day, but recognizing that I don't need to earn rest has been a challenge. And when we continue to put that pressure on ourselves, we're just going to have an empty cup that we can't pour from.
3. I hate that I've turned so many things I love into an achievement.
I see so many other people who are like me or so many entrepreneurs who have faced a similar set of circumstances growing up where we don't just read because we like to read; we have to read a certain number of books. We like to exercise but can't just exercise; we have to sign up for a race or join every challenge at our gym. We have to take something that we enjoy that brings us happiness into some kind of achievement.
You don't have to sell your artwork if you don't want to. You don't have to run a race because you like to run. You don't have to have a reading goal if you enjoy reading. You just get to do those things.
I'm not saying it's wrong to do any of those things, but just to question yourself or pause before we turn the things that we love into an achievement. Success doesn't always mean that I have to win.
4. I love researching and learning about time management and productivity
…and how I can make my life and the lives of my clients easier and happier and more efficient and effective so that they can spend more time with the people that they love or on the projects that they love.
My How
1. I help people review their personal energy throughout the day.
We always start with energy management because I was inspired to start my business because there's so much bad advice out there.
There are so many people who are waking up at five o'clock in the morning or four o'clock in the morning and telling you that that's the only way that you're going to get anything done. And as someone who is famously not a morning person, I'm going to call bullshit. That's just not true. And so when we look at what's going to actually work best for you, remember productivity is personal.
When are you waking up? When would you prefer to be waking up? When are you most focused throughout the day? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Are you feeling drained and exhausted by Friday? Or are you drained and exhausted by 1 o'clock every day? How can we adjust your workflow throughout your day and throughout the week so that you have steady energy when you need it?
2. We consider those real-life restrictions.
The final straw for me in building my philosophy that productivity is personal was reading one particular time management book.
This guy is some big executive at some big company, and he literally talked about all the support he had. He had a wife who made his dinner for him at the end of every day. He had a driver bring him to or from work. He had an executive assistant prepare all of the meeting minutes, notes, and agendas and schedule everything for him. He took a nap in the middle of the day. That was one of his strategies for getting things done.
And I wanted to throw this book across the room because, at the time, I was working nine to five; I was building my business. I didn't have someone to cook for me or drive me around. And while I don't have children yet, I recognize that that's a ridiculous approach for parents.
We have to consider our real-life restrictions. I do think that people often have more control over their time than they're led to believe, and I'm going to coach you through that, but I'm also never going to dismiss you when you say, “I have to be available when my boss calls me”, because of course, you do. That's real life. “I can't put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ because what if my kids call the daycare calls?” Of course, you can't put your phone on ‘do not disturb’. That makes total sense.
So, we're going to build in those real-life restrictions on the real-life flexibility that you need in your schedule. I'm going to give you the tools to not only create something like a schedule that you like but also how to adapt when those things come up.
3. We get to the root cause of your procrastination, perfectionism, and people-pleasing.
These things can wildly impact your productivity throughout the day. And if we just address them from a surface level, those are just band-aids on a much deeper reason that these things are slowing us down throughout the day. So we're going to get to the root cause of it. We're going to recognize where these behaviors come from so that we can make changes that last forever.
4. We are going to build something that lasts forever.
We're going to build and create systems and routines that are adaptable so they last forever; it's personal to you, so you're going to have these tools needed to change. Seasons happen. And so we have to build something that has a lot of that flexibility.
But what you're going to have forever are the tools and the skill sets. And the self-awareness to say, okay, that season of life is over. These skills are going to last you a lifetime. They are not flashes in a pan. They're not a specific tool that is going to change or disappear, or you're going not to use it anymore because it's not something that you actually enjoy.
So that's really where it comes back to for me and how I help people; productivity is personal. Everything I teach is built off of that.
Free Resources For You
Grab Chelsey’s free guide on Understanding Procrastination.
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation call with Chelsey so that you can create a booked-out business without burnout.
Connect with Chelsey Newmyer
Website: https://chelseynewmyer.com/
Instagram: @chelseyncoaching
