Episode 178: The Productivity Hack You Need to Tell You What to Stop and Start Doing as a Leader
Red light. Green light. Yellow light.
Bring back some playground memories? Us too.
In today’s episode, Erin gives you the productivity hack that’ll help you use your time in a way that lights you up, boosts your productivity, and prevents burnout.
If you feel like you’re constantly drowning in work but not really getting anything done – this episode is for you.
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Connect with Erin Diehl:
Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 178 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Hi new friend. I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, failfluencer, and keynote speaker who is ready to help you improve your it, it being the thing that makes you, you. So think of me as your keeping it real. Professional development bestie who is here to help you develop yourself into the best version of you possible so you can develop your team and lead with intentionality, transparency, and authenticity. Oh, and did I mention we're improving your IT through play? That's right. I'm an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moment. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook, and your inner child because I'm gonna take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It Podcast,
Erin (01:09):
Improve it peeps. Welcome to another solo episode here at the Improve It podcast. I'm so happy you're here. If you are new to the show, welcome If you are one of my listeners are Improve It Peeps, oh man, pencil paper, ready for both of y'all because I have a productivity hack that you need right now to tell you what to stop and start doing as a leader. So I just wanna share this. If you are looking for a keynote speaker for your organization, that is what I do. And I've been having the most fun out on the road this year talking with all different types of organizations and teams and bringing this amazing gift of improvisational comedy to life within organizations. I have two specific keynotes. One all about failure called F Words at work, and another one called I See You Become a Selfless Leader through radical self-love.
Erin (02:15):
Know that everything we do is infused through this lens of positivity, laughter, and levity. But there are so many tangible takeaways and tips from both of my sessions. So wanted to say that on the upfront, because today I'm giving you the tangible, some more tangible tips to put in your toolkit. And I wanna start with just talking about productivity. We all wanna be productive, but how do we do this productively? But boom, boom. So give yourself a point if you are a go-getter and you love tackling tasks, so go ahead, tallied up on your hands, give yourself a point. If you are a go-getter and you love tackling tasks, give yourself a point. If sometimes you put too much on the to-do list, give yourself a point. Give yourself a point. If sometimes you put something on the to-do list just to cross it off so you feel productive, okay, you could have up to three points at this point.
Erin (03:26):
Finally, give yourself a point if sometimes you think that you can get a lot done, but it turns out that the tasks take way longer than you think to complete, you could have a total of four points shocking to zero people. I have four fingers raised. Okay, so let me ask you this. This is my life. This is exactly how I feel about productivity. I love to be productive. I'm a type three Enneagram. We had a great episode on this show or a great series of episodes, all about the Enneagram. So check those out. You can scroll back just a few shows ago. But if you are a person who loves to be productive and loves to achieve, you are not alone. Let's stop being busy and let's actually make impact versus busyness on our calendar. So you don't need to keep spinning in circles and shuffling paper.
Erin (04:27):
I have a hack for you that you can use, and it is pulled directly from the red light, green light activity in our play Your Way into our wellness workbook. If you have not downloaded the play your way into Wellness workbook yet, you can do that so many ways. Number one, you can go to the show notes and there is a link that will take you right there. It takes you to a quiz that helps you determine your wellness avatar, and then it gives you daily rituals, energy boosters, as well as improv based activities that can help you redefine your wellness routine based on the type of wellness avatar that you are. So this is actually a activity pulled from this CEO's wellness avatar, which means basically, if you are a C E O, you have to schedule in your wellness. You have to make it a priority in your life. You have to feel productive while resting. That's me, it's me. Hi. I am the problem. It's me. Don't, don't hang up. Don't, don't stop this show. I know the singing span. I know.
Erin (05:36):
Let's get to this activity because my friends, this activity is going to blow your mind. It's just like the red light, green light that you played in school and elementary school as a kid. All right? So remember that one where you grin because literally you'd be standing at a back line and somebody would said, red light, and you'd stop. Or they say green light, and you'd run and they'd say, red light, and you'd stop. My three and a half year old son absolutely loves this game. So this game is actually applicable to your professional life. So here's how it works. On a piece of paper, I want you to make three columns and label each column. Red light, green light, and yellow light. So one paper, three columns, red light, green light, and yellow light. Now here's what I want you to do. You're gonna use the prompts that I'm about to give you to fill in each column with bullet points, short responses, doodles.
Erin (06:35):
You do yu boo. Okay, so in the red light column, I want you to put bullet points, answers, doodles. What do you need to do? Or what did you do today that you want to stop doing? What tasks on your calendar drain you? What can you delegate elsewhere? Think of everything you did today. What goes in the red light category? I'm gonna play this game with you right now for me today. Red light category, huh? Scrolling Instagram. It's not a task, but it becomes a task when I make it a habit. So scrolling Instagram is gonna go in my red light column. Now the next column is your green light column. And so this column is going to list all of the things that you did today that you want to keep doing. What tasks on your calendar energize you? How can you expand those tasks to fit your schedule and also deepen their impact?
Erin (07:53):
So in my green light column today, guess what goes? Number one, tuck into you and prove it. Pee. I love it. This is, if I could just do podcasts every single day, I would be so happy. I love, love, love recording shows. I love making them. I love thinking of them. I love answering your questions, all of it. So yes, podcasting would go in the green light category for me. I would also say creating video content. I did some of that today would go in the green light category. I also did some, okay, see, I don't love this task. It's accounting work. But when I do the accounting work, it makes me really happy because it shows me where we're at with our business. So I'm gonna keep that on the green light list. All right, so think of your own day. What do you love doing?
Erin (08:41):
What gives you joy? Because lemme tell you, I don't really love the accounting thing, but I love when it feels like my books are clean. It's like I cleaned a closet. Alright, so think of those tasks that when they are complete, you're like, ah, it feels good. Put those on the green light column. Now the third column is your yellow lights. What are you halfway doing that you wanna stop doing? What are you halfway doing that you wish you had more time for? And how can you shift that? So for me, shooting from the hip here, my yellow light today would probably be really outsourced. A lot of stuff here. Everyone. My yellow light, what would it be? My yellow light I would say is video content. And that kind of goes in between the green light and the yellow light category. For me, I make it, I enjoy doing it, but I also find myself comparing myself to a lot of people if I'm going to be honest.
Erin (09:46):
So what I would say that I'm halfway doing is really committing fully to just owning my content, being proud of it, sharing it, and not given two poops about the counts of views on Instagram or LinkedIn. And if you're on any of those two platforms and you see any of my video content and you like it, but you don't hit, like do your girl a favor, just help her get it out there. Because I do work really hard on it. I really enjoy doing it. This show is not about me, it's about you. Hi digress. However, that's where we're at with the yellow light. Those things that feel just a little iffy, right? Those things that don't feel a a hundred percent green light or a hundred percent red light, they're the in betweens. Put them in the yellow light category. Now, why does this activity work?
Erin (10:34):
So for the C E O Wellness avatar myself, I tend to view tasks on my calendar relatively the same things that need to be completed, right? This activity allows you to see that each of our to-dos has an effect on us. It has an effect on you in addition to the obvious effect it has on the world. So an email being sent or a presentation given. When you categorize your tasks in terms of stop doing, keep doing, stop doing halfway or do this all the way, you'll find a sweet spot of productivity that lights you up and allows you to be fully present for everything that happens off your calendar. I love this activity. It's a great way to look at your current role and decide if it's bringing you joy. If you're in a corporate role and you're not an entrepreneur like myself who gets to make up what I do every single day, it's also a great way to look at how you're spending your time.
Erin (11:43):
And if you're finding that you have a lot in the red light list, that's gonna tell you a story. Dana tells a story, people, and if you have a lot in the green light list, that's amazing. If you have a lot in the yellow light list, this is an opportunity for you to go through those individual tasks and decide what you want to do, how you can distribute them, how you can take more of it on, or how you can get rid of it completely. So I want you to give yourself the green light to move things that move the needle. Give yourself the red light to stop doing things that don't create impact or energize you on your day-to-day. And I want you to either stop doing your yellow lights or create more space in your day for them. It's either a red or a green.
Erin (12:41):
And if it's a yellow, I really want you to take time to think about the impact that it's creating for you. So if you have not get your play your Way into Wellness workbook, the link is in the show notes. You can go to our website, learn to improve it.com. A popup will pop up and it will ask you to take the play your way into wellness quiz. It will give you your avatar and then it will email you your play your way into Wellness Workbook. This workbook is fantastic. It's literally 23 pages of actual tangible tips that you can use and implement into your life today. Have to shout out to Nicole on my team. This was her baby. She created it, and it is beautiful intangible. So this workbook will help you learn more about our methodologies, and then if you want, again to bring myself or any of our team members into your organization, we use all types of tips and tricks rooted in play, and from the improv stage to help you be your best self professionally. Reach out through our website. You can email us directly at info, learn to improve it.com. Friends, this has been a true joy. I hope that this productive product, English, Aaron, this productivity hack, makes your life your day and everyone around you feel more productive. And you know what I'm gonna say? Keep failing, keeping proof, because this world really needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you next week.
Erin (14:27):
Hey, a friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it, and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.