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Welcome back to the podcast.
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I'm Sarah Steckler, and I can't wait to tell you about all these changes I've made to my business.
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In fact, I'm not going to be authentic at all, and I'm going to share everything except any of my struggles.
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I'm only going to focus on my wins.
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In fact, I can't wait to tell you-Not on today's episode.
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For the past year, I've been struggling in my business to get anything done.
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I was missing deadlines, having a hard time finding things, and being slow to get back to people, if not missing emails.
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As a seasoned business owner, almost running my business for a decade, this was unacceptable.
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And while I had every excuse under the sun with life circumstances, lack of sleep, and this, that, and the other, I knew that I had to find a way forward.
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In today's episode, I'm going to talk to you about how I burned everything to the ground and built myself a new productivity system.
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Welcome to the Mindful Productivity Podcast.
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I'm your host, Sarah Steckler, and this is the place to be to live a more mindful and productive life.
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If you're ready to turn daily chaos into calm and start your days with intention, then get ready to join me as we dive deep into mindful living and personal productivity.
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It's time to connect with your true self so you can live the life you want to live.
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And it all starts now.
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For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with productivity tools.
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Give me any SaaS software that involves tasks, to-do lists, projects, all those things, especially color coding, and I went in on it.
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I've spent tons of money on different AppSumo deals.
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I've tried things like Asana, Trello, ClickUp.
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I even I spent over 100 hours building out an entire productivity ecosystem inside of Notion, and I sold it as pretty productive life.
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It's amazing, it's incredible, and it's helped me get a lot done.
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But I found that as life was ebbing and flowing and things were really difficult, I wasn't getting things done anymore.
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There was just a shift that happened in my life and business, and I needed to make a change.
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And so in today's episode, I'm going to talk to you about how I recreated my productivity system.
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I changed everything, and I asked myself some big questions about what I really needed so I could actually get things done and not just try to use something because it looked super pretty in my photos.
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I think as business owners, we spend so much time creating so much from the ground up.
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We start a business, we don't even know where we're headed or how it's going to work.
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I remember when I first started in 2015, I was longing for a day when I could actually have tasks that I could write down and I would know what to do.
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There was just so much that I had to create from scratch.
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And when we do that, we really want to lean on some system, some tool that can show us the way and tell us how to do things.
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And when we figure something out that works, it's really great.
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But then if something changes or we just find that our brain isn't working with it the same way, we can fight it.
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And I had to remind myself that as a business owner and as a human, my brain's going to change my workflow and style and my creative juices and all that stuff.
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That's all going to change and shift and adapt.
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And I've changed my business model multiple times.
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I've changed how I work, when I work, the hours of the day, all those things.
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But for some reason, I always felt like once I figured out something in terms of task management, I couldn't stray from it, right?
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I built so much up, there would be no point in trying to recreate it.
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Well, I finally hit a roadblock about a year ago when I was like, you know what?
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This isn't working.
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I wasn't opening up Notion anymore.
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And there were some very specific reasons, and I'll get to that in a second.
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But I just found that I wasn't loving the Notion experience.
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And in terms of capturing stuff on my phone, there could be fun workarounds or I could create a form that could integrate with Notion and do all these fun things that if I was making tons of YouTube videos, probably would have gotten a lot of views and people would have been like, wow, that's so funky and cool and techy.
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I want to do that, too.
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But all those things weren't actually helping me get much of anything done in my business.
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So the first thing I noticed with Notion that really got under my skin was that when I brought it up on my phone, even if I used, no matter how I accessed it, whether it was the app or just the website, I couldn't capture my tasks in a way that made sense.
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And believe me, I felt like a Notion template expert.
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I'd spent so many years learning how to build Notion databases, connections, integrations.
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I was like, there's got to be some way that I can figure this out where it works for me and my brain.
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And what I ultimately figured out was Notion is great for some things, But it's not great for task management.
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There's not actually a task system inside of Notion, and this isn't new news.
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Maybe they'll come out with something and I'll have to make a new podcast about it.
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But when it came to some things in Notion, like managing specific projects or even creating a database for bundles and summits I was applying to and being a part of, I loved that experience.
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But when it came to everyday tasks or even creating weekly templates, my ecosystem inside of Notion, my whole place, just started feeling really cluttered and like a lot.
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And I couldn't really grapple with how I wanted to create an archival system or how I wanted to get rid of past stuff.
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And I just found that I was creating a lot of blocks and things and content in Notion, but I wasn't actually coming back to it and I wasn't actually using it.
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And then I can't remember when this was exactly, but Notion dropped all these AI features.
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And you can totally let me know if they've changed this by now.
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But when it first came out, you I couldn't type anything into Notion without it immediately bringing up this prompt for AI.
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So it was like I'd be in flow.
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And then all of a sudden my writing would stop because it was trying to write something for me or it was being like, hey, what do you want to use AI for?
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And so I couldn't just create databases and write and do all this content stuff, management I was doing before.
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I was suddenly interrupted by AI.
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And it was so incredibly infuriating.
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I emailed Notion support immediately and was like, can you disable this feature?
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It took days and days and days.
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And they And also we're like, why do you want to disable it?
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It just it drove me insane.
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And I'm not against AI.
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I mean, there's all kinds of issues with it, just like any new technology, right?
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But I do use it here and there.
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But I didn't want it front and center of my productivity experience.
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So I started asking myself, where am I spending my time when I work?
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And I also gave myself permission that my ways of getting things done could be completely simplified and not something that would look They were cool on the outside.
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And part of the reason why I love Notion was that I created these daily dashboards with all these cute images and I could do all the colors.
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And it was really fun.
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And when I take a photo of my workspace and post it on Instagram, people could see like, oh, look how cute Sarahh is getting things done.
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I know it's really this ego thing, but that was part of the reason why I felt so attached to it.
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But instead, it wasn't working.
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So I came back and I asked myself, where am I spending time in my business?
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What am I actually doing in my And more and more, again and again, I kept finding that I was using tools that I had used for years.
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I was using stuff like Google Docs, Google Sheets.
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I was still using Gmail this entire time.
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I was still using Google Calendar.
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And so I really had this moment where I was like, why am I not using Google Workspace?
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I'm already paying for it every year.
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It's right now about $168 USD per year.
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There's all these features.
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What if I went all in with it?
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What if I went all in with Google Workspace and actually tried to see if I could make it work?
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They have a task management system, a task app.
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They have Google Docs.
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They have all this stuff.
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And I remember I kept putting it off because I was like, well, the task So the click-up thing that they have, it's so simple, right?
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There's not all these robust features, like things like ClickUp, Asana, or Trello have.
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And I've tried all those systems, too, and I like them.
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But there was always something there that became too over complicated, Especially for me with ClickUp, it was like, I just wanted to capture my tasks so that I could move on and do them and schedule them.
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And I always found that with systems like Asana and Trello and ClickUp, for example, not that there's anything wrong with those.
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They're really robust.
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And I know a lot of people use them.
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I just found more and more that it was like, I get in there and I'd be like, Can I just write down my task and then do it?
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Why is it so complicated?
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So I took a long time and really sat down with experimenting with Google Workspace and really seeing if it could implement into my daily life and my work routine.
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And it caught on almost immediately.
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I could not believe how streamlined and simple it was to use Google Tasks.
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And I started finding other ways to make the whole thing work so much better for me without having to spend 100 hours building something out custom like I did inside of Notion.
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I kept coming back to just three simple things that I really wanted for my workday.
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I wanted it to be streamlined, simplified, and organized.
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And that was it.
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I didn't care if there was tons of color coding.
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I didn't care if it matched my brand.
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And even though there are things you can do like that in the workspace, I just really came down to the fact that I was like, I want to declutter this whole experience for myself.
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If you don't know, I spent the last year inside my home while my husband was deployed decluttering.
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I got rid of half of our stuff.
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And It was such a hard, good experience.
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And I'm not done.
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I want to get rid of more before we do our big move.
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But it really gave me some perspective on how stuff was just getting in my way.
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It was causing me more stress, more time to be able to just function in my own home, especially in my kitchen, with so much stuff.
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And I realized, wow, this really translates to my business.
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Why am I constantly shuffling around, digitally moving things, trying to find stuff, right?
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Trying to make a system work that doesn't work for me.
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I'm not working for somebody else.
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I'm working for me.
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This is me.
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So you can change things.
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And it just was a real eye opener.
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So now I wanted to take some time to tell you how I have my Google Workspace system set up and what I'm using and some of the things I'm doing.
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Obviously, this is a podcast, so I can't visually show you, but I can describe it.
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And if it sounds like something that could be helpful to you, then you can start using Google Workspace maybe in some similar ways.
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So first of all, and a lot of this stuff wasn't new, but since I went all in, it's become an unspoken rule for me and my business.
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Instead of housing things sometimes on my computer or in a different place, it now always goes into Google Drive.
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And because I went all in with Google Workspace, I went all in with each of these different tools.
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So instead of having a messy Google Drive where it wasn't always clear where things would go, I I really started using it.
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I really started building out a folder structure and hierarchy that really made sense for me.
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And then as I used it more and more and more, I was like, oh, wow, this works for me.
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This doesn't.
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Even simple things It makes sense to have my podcast intro linked in a different folder than it does having it in a content creation folder just because it's easier to access and it makes more sense for my brain that way.
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So there were these little things I would do that would really make the whole experience better.
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And then I got into naming conventions more.
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So I started really getting consistent with all of my documents.
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And this is something I obviously wish I had done at the start of my business.
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But you just don't think you're going to create that much or do that much or have that much until you do.
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In fact, it gave me a little bit, I felt bad because there's been so many jobs I've had where I've jumped into a company as an administrative assistant or something like that.
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And I've been so judgmental of how disorganized they are.
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Like, oh, my gosh, you can't find anything on this server and nothing's named correctly.
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And now I'm like, well, I did the same thing as I built my business, right?
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I didn't start with naming conventions.
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And in a lot of ways, you can't always do that Because you're just working from the ether of your brain and you don't always know how it's going to come together.
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After three times now of restructuring my business and how I run things and how I do things, I now have a naming convention It's a system that works for me.
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But I wouldn't have been able to figure that out even a year and a half ago.
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So that was part of it.
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I love Google Drive.
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I love all the different sharing features you can use.
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I use like folders for sharing stuff.
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If I'm running a bundle or a summit, it's just so easy to share stuff with people and collaborate.
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And same with Google Docs and all that stuff.
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So I've just really, really been loving it.
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And there's just so many things you can do with Google Drive.
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It's just it's wonderful.
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Another thing I'm really loving is that within the Google ecosystem, if you will, I guess it's just Workspace, you can link to anything.
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So if you have an email that you want to reference, you can link directly to that email.
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You can link directly to stuff in your Google Drive, obviously specific Google Docs and this, that, and the other.
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But you can then make shortcuts.
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You can link stuff and documents with things like smart chips.
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There's now tabs.
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I mean, I could go on and on, and I plan to do more content, YouTube videos and blog posts about specific content or features within Google Workspace.
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But regardless, it just became so helpful to be able to start using that.
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So one of the things I love most about tasks, and I actually have this brought up right now in front of me so I can actually visualize this as I'm talking to you about this.
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But again, coming back, when I first saw Google Tasks, I was like, you can create a task, you can do recurring stuff.
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So it had all these features that Notion didn't.
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You could do recurring and you can recurring in any way you could possibly think, the third Thursday of every month or whatever.
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And so I found that really helpful.
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And they also can show up on your Google calendar, too.
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So I really liked that because now in the morning, I can just open up Google calendar and know what tasks I'm working on.
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And It's already there because I'm already in Google calendar working on those things.
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I also like that beyond those things, you can access tasks anywhere.
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So when you pull up Gmail or you're in Drive or anything, there's that little sidebar in your Google Workspace where you can see literally everything.
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So you can see your tasks, you can see your calendar, everything.
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And you can also add a different apps and stuff like that and add-ons.
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And I just really, really loved that so much because I'd be in the middle of uploading something in Google Drive and figuring out where I want to put it.
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And then I get a content idea and tasks is right there.
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I don't have to jump over to Asana or anything else.
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And even though you could easily do that with other programs by just having another tab open or a shortcut somewhere on your desktop, having it integrated into the same exact website that you're on without having to go to a different tab just helped keep me so much more focused.
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And I really found that my distraction time or task switching time just really was reduced in some major Also with tasks, I like how simple it is that you can create different task lists.
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So I'm actually looking at it right now.
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So you can look at tasks within any component of Google Workspace, so any page you're in.
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But then you can also open up tasks in its own window.
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So because of that, if you want to look at a glance at everything, it's really easy to.
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And then you can have all these different lists.
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So I have ongoing lists.
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I have one that's like my tasks.
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I also I have one for current courses I'm building out.
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I have one for Publish with Purpose, where I'm making updates to things.
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I also have one for my YouTube channel, one that just says things to read or tech to try out.
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If I see something or someone mentioned something, I'll put it in those different lists.
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And it's so easy.
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And then you can actually check or uncheck those lists in the task page view.
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So you can just see only what you need to work on.
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And it's just so The only thing that a task doesn't have that I think can be a barrier for a lot of people is that you can't share tasks with anyone outside of your organization.
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So I know with like Notion, you can have I guess people on your page or something like that with Asana, I'm sure they have those features.
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But right now with tasks, it's just you.
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But as someone that's a solopreneur, a solo creative entrepreneur, and I don't plan on ever having a huge team, maybe I plan on eventually getting a VA or something like that.
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That hasn't been an issue.
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And again, it's all about working with what makes sense for you.
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So there's tasks.
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And then the other thing I really like about it is that Google Docs now So there's like a direct...
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It all integrates with each other, right?
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But within Google Docs now, if you make a checkbox, you can turn that into a task and you can assign it to yourself and it'll show up in a Google calendar.
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And what's so cool is if you So into a Google Doc, right?
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What I do is I usually create a project in Google Docs and then I'll have different tasks.
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And if you check a box in the Google Doc and be like, I'm done with this task, it automatically sinks across your whole workspace.
00:18:14.884 --> 00:18:17.119
So in a tasks app, it's now checked.
00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:19.640
In Google Calendar, it's now checked.
00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:23.095
And on your phone on the task app, it's not checked.
00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:34.009
Now, let me tell you, the big selling point for me for really going in all in with this was the fact that the Task app on your phone, at least on the iPhone, is so seamless.
00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.599
I have it front and center on my phone.
00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.599
I'm looking at it right now.
00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:39.079
And it's just so...
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:43.440
All you have to do is click this plus button at the bottom and add your task.
00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.279
And that's it.
00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.279
There's no barrier.
00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:52.694
And it will automatically just go into your main whatever task list you have first.
00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:54.009
I have one just called My Tasks.
00:18:54.039 --> 00:19:06.480
So if I'm running around the house or out and about and I come up with an idea or my husband is like, we need this from the store or whatever, I just throw it in there and then it's captured.
00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:11.295
I don't need to worry about it not transferring to my Google Workspace.
00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:11.920
It's there.
00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:19.575
And then at the end of the day, I have a little recap for the day and I can put it, I can filter it, I can schedule it, all that stuff.
00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.414
But in terms of being able to quickly capture tasks, this is so helpful.
00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:28.000
And I know there's other cool apps, like Todoist and stuff like that.
00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:29.480
I've tried those.
00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:32.039
The barrier for me was often I just didn't want to pay for a subscription.
00:19:32.065 --> 00:19:35.134
This is just so incredibly helpful.
00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:39.119
And I've never used a task app as much as I've used this.
00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:47.174
One of the biggest things, though, I had to figure out was when you do create a task and then you mark it complete, it disappears.
00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:49.460
Well, it goes into the archive of your tasks.
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:55.615
And there's not an easy way to make template tasks within it because, again, it's really simple.
00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:57.180
So at first I was like, oh, that's annoying.
00:19:57.204 --> 00:20:07.319
But because you can integrate it with Google docs, I now just create my projects inside of Google Docs and then I'll mark certain tasks within there.
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:13.240
So I don't necessarily have every single task mapped out in Google Tasks for a project.
00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:19.759
It's basically like I'll create a task to get me to go into that Google Doc and work through everything there.
00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:22.799
So it just becomes really easy.
00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:22.799
I really like that.
00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:32.640
There's also a nerdy part of me that loves the fact that because I do it that way, I can actually print out a Google Doc if I want to for a project and work in an analog way.
00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:35.575
That's something I really, really love.
00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:41.279
And it's funny because obviously I run an online business that works with digital products and tech.
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:47.894
But if I am able to ever do stuff with a planner or with a printed out piece of paper.
00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:47.894
I love that.
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:49.220
It's a great function.
00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:52.400
So there's tasks, there's all those different tasks lists.
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:58.160
And there's just two main other things I want to talk to you about today in terms of what I've really been using.
00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:03.134
So Google Calendar has always been the default that I use.
00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:07.400
I mean, it's just really easy and it's incorporated into the whole workspace.
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.079
But I, again, hadn't really went that deep with it.
00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:21.400
So I was just adding stuff to my calendar for years and didn't really pay attention to the types of different calendars that you can create.
00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:28.255
I finally went in and I added all the different time zones for where my students are with Publish With Purpose.
00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:30.680
So that made it a lot easier when we were scheduling calls.
00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.599
I started really working through all the settings in there and really learning about it.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:41.289
And again, you could watch endless YouTube videos about all this, but really the learning comes from doing.
00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:47.920
So I spent a lot of time just going through Google Calendar calendar, using it, seeing what worked, seeing what didn't.
00:21:48.319 --> 00:22:08.000
And one of the things, too, that's a big business goal of mine, and I'll do this in another podcast episode, is I'm really trying to see, and I have this number, I don't know if it's actually going to be sustainable, but I really want to see if I can get my business expenses down to a thousand dollars a year, which sounds insane because prices for a different software keep going up.
00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:14.214
But part of my plan with that is really combining different tools I'm using.
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:17.160
And then also I've purchased a lot of lifetime deals.
00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:23.359
Again, those aren't, hopefully they stay around, but that's really reduced my costs a lot.
00:22:23.384 --> 00:22:29.454
So I'll do a whole other episode where I talk about exactly how I'm working on that, what I'm saving, what I've done so far.
00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:35.880
But Google Calendar has just been really helpful, and especially for doing different routines.
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:42.839
So I'll create recurring events in Google Calendar that have all of my routines broken down in the event.
00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:46.440
And then I can just open that up and know what I'm doing.
00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:56.359
For example, my whole evening routine, in fact, if you go back a couple of episodes from this one, I did a whole episode on how I set up my evening routine.
00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:01.279
That's actually all mapped out in my Google Calendar by the hour every task in there.
00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:15.039
And so if I'm ever having a day where I just don't seem to be able to function, I can literally just open that up and it'll tell you, hey, you're going to make dinner around this time, then you're going to get on the treadmill at 6: 30, then you're going to walk Bella.
00:23:15.065 --> 00:23:18.055
And I just find that that really works for me.
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:19.799
So that's been a game changer.
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:26.615
There's so much more I could tell you, but the other thing too is, oh, Google Calendar.
00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:27.720
I'm looking at my notes.
00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:36.880
Google Calendar also now, if you to pay for a workspace, which again, I think is 168 right now, USD a year.
00:23:33.559 --> 00:23:36.880
So not all that much.
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:42.134
You can now use a scheduling tool inside of Google Calendar.
00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:52.359
So if you use something like acuity scheduling or any of these different other software tools that you can pay a subscription for to do paid bookings, you can now do that through Google Calendar.
00:23:52.519 --> 00:24:04.615
You have to have a paid workspace account, but you can set up a whole thing, integrate it with Stripe, and have people book with in a specific time slot, you name it, and pay you directly through Stripe.
00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:08.180
So essentially, they're not able to book with you until they pay you, all that stuff.
00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:09.799
That's great.
00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:09.799
That's a game changer, right?
00:24:09.825 --> 00:24:17.119
Especially if you're just getting started with doing consulting work or something like that, you don't have to have this huge, robust system to get started.
00:24:17.144 --> 00:24:18.720
And you can customize so much.
00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:21.494
I also have moved off of Zoom.
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:24.519
I don't mind Zoom.
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:24.519
I think it's fine.
00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:28.255
But I just, again, I was like, is there a way I can not pay for this?
00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.535
So I started using Google Meet more.
00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:34.375
And I have to say, things have really improved.
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:38.759
I don't think I'd use Google Meet since like years and years and years ago.
00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:41.680
And the experience is very seamless.
00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:43.599
It reminds me a lot of Zoom.
00:24:43.625 --> 00:24:48.174
You have pretty much all the same features in terms of control.
00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:54.934
So if you're inviting students to a call, you can control whether or not they can turn their mic on or their video or share their screen.
00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:58.640
So you've got all these different permissions and controls, and then you can also record.
00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:04.119
So in In my eyes, I was like, cool, this this replaces Zoom for me and I can just use Google Meet.
00:25:04.144 --> 00:25:07.174
And that's what I've been using in my business lately.
00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:08.640
And it's really been great.
00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:11.640
So I really, really enjoyed it.
00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:16.855
There's obviously so much more I could tell you about Google Workspace and what I'm doing.
00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:21.400
And again, you can always send me a message or I think there's comments now on Spotify.
00:25:21.424 --> 00:25:26.680
You can do any of those things to request different topics that I talk about on the show here.
00:25:26.704 --> 00:25:32.454
But I want to tell you real quick that I have a brand new training on Google Workspace.
00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:40.519
I go into so many more details and examples and I give you a cool template for how you can do some of these things in your own business, in your own setup.
00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:42.775
And you can register for that for free.
00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:44.559
Just go to Sarahsteckler.
00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:48.440
Com/workspace.
00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:51.319
Again, that's Sarahsteckler.
00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:51.319
Com/workspace.
00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:59.295
And you'll be able to sign up for that and get access to that training where I go for all these details, there's so many cool things.
00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:09.894
You can actually see my task board set up and some of the features and what that actually looks like, and test drive and see if Workspace is something that might work for you.
00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:12.734
So thank you so much for being here for this week's episode.
00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:15.759
As always, you can find more resources over at Sarahseckler.
00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:19.039
Com, and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:21.660
I'll see you back here next Monday for our next episode.
00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:32.079
One last thing this music totally reminds me of Severance, doesn't it?
00:26:32.105 --> 00:26:33.839
Gosh, season 2 was so good.
00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:04.615
Welcome back to the podcast.
00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:09.160
I'm Sarah Steckler, and I can't wait to tell you about all these changes I've made to my business.
00:00:09.185 --> 00:00:14.695
In fact, I'm not going to be authentic at all, and I'm going to share everything except any of my struggles.
00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:16.614
I'm only going to focus on my wins.
00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:27.079
In fact, I can't wait to tell you-Not on today's episode.
00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:32.119
For the past year, I've been struggling in my business to get anything done.
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:39.479
I was missing deadlines, having a hard time finding things, and being slow to get back to people, if not missing emails.
00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:44.840
As a seasoned business owner, almost running my business for a decade, this was unacceptable.
00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:53.159
And while I had every excuse under the sun with life circumstances, lack of sleep, and this, that, and the other, I knew that I had to find a way forward.
00:00:53.880 --> 00:01:01.960
In today's episode, I'm going to talk to you about how I burned everything to the ground and built myself a new productivity system.
00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.319
Welcome to the Mindful Productivity Podcast.
00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:12.799
I'm your host, Sarah Steckler, and this is the place to be to live a more mindful and productive life.
00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:22.239
If you're ready to turn daily chaos into calm and start your days with intention, then get ready to join me as we dive deep into mindful living and personal productivity.
00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:26.640
It's time to connect with your true self so you can live the life you want to live.
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And it all starts now.
00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:43.560
For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with productivity tools.
00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:53.239
Give me any SaaS software that involves tasks, to-do lists, projects, all those things, especially color coding, and I went in on it.
00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.239
I've spent tons of money on different AppSumo deals.
00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.959
I've tried things like Asana, Trello, ClickUp.
00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:08.639
I even I spent over 100 hours building out an entire productivity ecosystem inside of Notion, and I sold it as pretty productive life.
00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:11.759
It's amazing, it's incredible, and it's helped me get a lot done.
00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:20.219
But I found that as life was ebbing and flowing and things were really difficult, I wasn't getting things done anymore.
00:02:20.245 --> 00:02:25.449
There was just a shift that happened in my life and business, and I needed to make a change.
00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:31.120
And so in today's episode, I'm going to talk to you about how I recreated my productivity system.
00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:42.080
I changed everything, and I asked myself some big questions about what I really needed so I could actually get things done and not just try to use something because it looked super pretty in my photos.
00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:49.759
I think as business owners, we spend so much time creating so much from the ground up.
00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:54.014
We start a business, we don't even know where we're headed or how it's going to work.
00:02:54.039 --> 00:03:02.055
I remember when I first started in 2015, I was longing for a day when I could actually have tasks that I could write down and I would know what to do.
00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:05.960
There was just so much that I had to create from scratch.
00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:13.879
And when we do that, we really want to lean on some system, some tool that can show us the way and tell us how to do things.
00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:17.039
And when we figure something out that works, it's really great.
00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:23.400
But then if something changes or we just find that our brain isn't working with it the same way, we can fight it.
00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:32.800
And I had to remind myself that as a business owner and as a human, my brain's going to change my workflow and style and my creative juices and all that stuff.
00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:34.960
That's all going to change and shift and adapt.
00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:37.439
And I've changed my business model multiple times.
00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:41.039
I've changed how I work, when I work, the hours of the day, all those things.
00:03:41.064 --> 00:03:47.615
But for some reason, I always felt like once I figured out something in terms of task management, I couldn't stray from it, right?
00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.039
I built so much up, there would be no point in trying to recreate it.
00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:56.840
Well, I finally hit a roadblock about a year ago when I was like, you know what?
00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.360
This isn't working.
00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.360
I wasn't opening up Notion anymore.
00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:03.680
And there were some very specific reasons, and I'll get to that in a second.
00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.639
But I just found that I wasn't loving the Notion experience.
00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:22.759
And in terms of capturing stuff on my phone, there could be fun workarounds or I could create a form that could integrate with Notion and do all these fun things that if I was making tons of YouTube videos, probably would have gotten a lot of views and people would have been like, wow, that's so funky and cool and techy.
00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:24.120
I want to do that, too.
00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:29.120
But all those things weren't actually helping me get much of anything done in my business.
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:43.600
So the first thing I noticed with Notion that really got under my skin was that when I brought it up on my phone, even if I used, no matter how I accessed it, whether it was the app or just the website, I couldn't capture my tasks in a way that made sense.
00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.935
And believe me, I felt like a Notion template expert.
00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:52.095
I'd spent so many years learning how to build Notion databases, connections, integrations.
00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:56.134
I was like, there's got to be some way that I can figure this out where it works for me and my brain.
00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:01.759
And what I ultimately figured out was Notion is great for some things, But it's not great for task management.
00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:06.975
There's not actually a task system inside of Notion, and this isn't new news.
00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.500
Maybe they'll come out with something and I'll have to make a new podcast about it.
00:05:10.524 --> 00:05:22.519
But when it came to some things in Notion, like managing specific projects or even creating a database for bundles and summits I was applying to and being a part of, I loved that experience.
00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:33.855
But when it came to everyday tasks or even creating weekly templates, my ecosystem inside of Notion, my whole place, just started feeling really cluttered and like a lot.
00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:41.079
And I couldn't really grapple with how I wanted to create an archival system or how I wanted to get rid of past stuff.
00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:50.300
And I just found that I was creating a lot of blocks and things and content in Notion, but I wasn't actually coming back to it and I wasn't actually using it.
00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:55.040
And then I can't remember when this was exactly, but Notion dropped all these AI features.
00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.000
And you can totally let me know if they've changed this by now.
00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:05.079
But when it first came out, you I couldn't type anything into Notion without it immediately bringing up this prompt for AI.
00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:06.975
So it was like I'd be in flow.
00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:13.560
And then all of a sudden my writing would stop because it was trying to write something for me or it was being like, hey, what do you want to use AI for?
00:06:13.584 --> 00:06:18.439
And so I couldn't just create databases and write and do all this content stuff, management I was doing before.
00:06:18.464 --> 00:06:20.535
I was suddenly interrupted by AI.
00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:22.839
And it was so incredibly infuriating.
00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.279
I emailed Notion support immediately and was like, can you disable this feature?
00:06:26.305 --> 00:06:28.560
It took days and days and days.
00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.360
And they And also we're like, why do you want to disable it?
00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:34.079
It just it drove me insane.
00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:36.654
And I'm not against AI.
00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.860
I mean, there's all kinds of issues with it, just like any new technology, right?
00:06:39.884 --> 00:06:41.639
But I do use it here and there.
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.399
But I didn't want it front and center of my productivity experience.
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:51.214
So I started asking myself, where am I spending my time when I work?
00:06:51.240 --> 00:07:01.660
And I also gave myself permission that my ways of getting things done could be completely simplified and not something that would look They were cool on the outside.
00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:08.814
And part of the reason why I love Notion was that I created these daily dashboards with all these cute images and I could do all the colors.
00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:10.040
And it was really fun.
00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:16.360
And when I take a photo of my workspace and post it on Instagram, people could see like, oh, look how cute Sarahh is getting things done.
00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:21.079
I know it's really this ego thing, but that was part of the reason why I felt so attached to it.
00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:23.759
But instead, it wasn't working.
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.040
So I came back and I asked myself, where am I spending time in my business?
00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:36.560
What am I actually doing in my And more and more, again and again, I kept finding that I was using tools that I had used for years.
00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:40.079
I was using stuff like Google Docs, Google Sheets.
00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:42.415
I was still using Gmail this entire time.
00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:44.199
I was still using Google Calendar.
00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:49.399
And so I really had this moment where I was like, why am I not using Google Workspace?
00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:52.134
I'm already paying for it every year.
00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:56.959
It's right now about $168 USD per year.
00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:56.959
There's all these features.
00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.639
What if I went all in with it?
00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:04.879
What if I went all in with Google Workspace and actually tried to see if I could make it work?
00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:08.759
They have a task management system, a task app.
00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:11.079
They have Google Docs.
00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:11.079
They have all this stuff.
00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:17.920
And I remember I kept putting it off because I was like, well, the task So the click-up thing that they have, it's so simple, right?
00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:22.800
There's not all these robust features, like things like ClickUp, Asana, or Trello have.
00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:25.920
And I've tried all those systems, too, and I like them.
00:08:25.944 --> 00:08:37.600
But there was always something there that became too over complicated, Especially for me with ClickUp, it was like, I just wanted to capture my tasks so that I could move on and do them and schedule them.
00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:44.294
And I always found that with systems like Asana and Trello and ClickUp, for example, not that there's anything wrong with those.
00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.279
They're really robust.
00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.279
And I know a lot of people use them.
00:08:46.304 --> 00:08:53.960
I just found more and more that it was like, I get in there and I'd be like, Can I just write down my task and then do it?
00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:55.200
Why is it so complicated?
00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:07.000
So I took a long time and really sat down with experimenting with Google Workspace and really seeing if it could implement into my daily life and my work routine.
00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.159
And it caught on almost immediately.
00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:14.759
I could not believe how streamlined and simple it was to use Google Tasks.
00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:25.720
And I started finding other ways to make the whole thing work so much better for me without having to spend 100 hours building something out custom like I did inside of Notion.
00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:31.080
I kept coming back to just three simple things that I really wanted for my workday.
00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:35.360
I wanted it to be streamlined, simplified, and organized.
00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:36.240
And that was it.
00:09:36.264 --> 00:09:38.534
I didn't care if there was tons of color coding.
00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:40.799
I didn't care if it matched my brand.
00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:50.095
And even though there are things you can do like that in the workspace, I just really came down to the fact that I was like, I want to declutter this whole experience for myself.
00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:56.575
If you don't know, I spent the last year inside my home while my husband was deployed decluttering.
00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:58.519
I got rid of half of our stuff.
00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:03.495
And It was such a hard, good experience.
00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:03.495
And I'm not done.
00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:06.159
I want to get rid of more before we do our big move.
00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:12.735
But it really gave me some perspective on how stuff was just getting in my way.
00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:21.014
It was causing me more stress, more time to be able to just function in my own home, especially in my kitchen, with so much stuff.
00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:23.120
And I realized, wow, this really translates to my business.
00:10:23.144 --> 00:10:28.200
Why am I constantly shuffling around, digitally moving things, trying to find stuff, right?
00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.014
Trying to make a system work that doesn't work for me.
00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.240
I'm not working for somebody else.
00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.240
I'm working for me.
00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:32.879
This is me.
00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:34.759
So you can change things.
00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:37.559
And it just was a real eye opener.
00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:48.615
So now I wanted to take some time to tell you how I have my Google Workspace system set up and what I'm using and some of the things I'm doing.
00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.159
Obviously, this is a podcast, so I can't visually show you, but I can describe it.
00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:59.519
And if it sounds like something that could be helpful to you, then you can start using Google Workspace maybe in some similar ways.
00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:09.815
So first of all, and a lot of this stuff wasn't new, but since I went all in, it's become an unspoken rule for me and my business.
00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:17.735
Instead of housing things sometimes on my computer or in a different place, it now always goes into Google Drive.
00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:23.159
And because I went all in with Google Workspace, I went all in with each of these different tools.
00:11:23.184 --> 00:11:31.039
So instead of having a messy Google Drive where it wasn't always clear where things would go, I I really started using it.
00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:36.159
I really started building out a folder structure and hierarchy that really made sense for me.
00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:41.495
And then as I used it more and more and more, I was like, oh, wow, this works for me.
00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:42.840
This doesn't.
00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:57.095
Even simple things It makes sense to have my podcast intro linked in a different folder than it does having it in a content creation folder just because it's easier to access and it makes more sense for my brain that way.
00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.879
So there were these little things I would do that would really make the whole experience better.
00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:04.679
And then I got into naming conventions more.
00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:08.759
So I started really getting consistent with all of my documents.
00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:12.159
And this is something I obviously wish I had done at the start of my business.
00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:18.294
But you just don't think you're going to create that much or do that much or have that much until you do.
00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:29.080
In fact, it gave me a little bit, I felt bad because there's been so many jobs I've had where I've jumped into a company as an administrative assistant or something like that.
00:12:29.105 --> 00:12:32.495
And I've been so judgmental of how disorganized they are.
00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:36.215
Like, oh, my gosh, you can't find anything on this server and nothing's named correctly.
00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:40.455
And now I'm like, well, I did the same thing as I built my business, right?
00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.855
I didn't start with naming conventions.
00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:51.960
And in a lot of ways, you can't always do that Because you're just working from the ether of your brain and you don't always know how it's going to come together.
00:12:52.360 --> 00:13:01.575
After three times now of restructuring my business and how I run things and how I do things, I now have a naming convention It's a system that works for me.
00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.659
But I wouldn't have been able to figure that out even a year and a half ago.
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.894
So that was part of it.
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.894
I love Google Drive.
00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.840
I love all the different sharing features you can use.
00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:13.774
I use like folders for sharing stuff.
00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:19.294
If I'm running a bundle or a summit, it's just so easy to share stuff with people and collaborate.
00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:21.654
And same with Google Docs and all that stuff.
00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.440
So I've just really, really been loving it.
00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:27.200
And there's just so many things you can do with Google Drive.
00:13:27.225 --> 00:13:28.399
It's just it's wonderful.
00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:36.639
Another thing I'm really loving is that within the Google ecosystem, if you will, I guess it's just Workspace, you can link to anything.
00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:41.240
So if you have an email that you want to reference, you can link directly to that email.
00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:48.695
You can link directly to stuff in your Google Drive, obviously specific Google Docs and this, that, and the other.
00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:48.695
But you can then make shortcuts.
00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:52.519
You can link stuff and documents with things like smart chips.
00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:54.335
There's now tabs.
00:13:54.360 --> 00:14:02.054
I mean, I could go on and on, and I plan to do more content, YouTube videos and blog posts about specific content or features within Google Workspace.
00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:06.759
But regardless, it just became so helpful to be able to start using that.
00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:16.139
So one of the things I love most about tasks, and I actually have this brought up right now in front of me so I can actually visualize this as I'm talking to you about this.
00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:24.654
But again, coming back, when I first saw Google Tasks, I was like, you can create a task, you can do recurring stuff.
00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:26.240
So it had all these features that Notion didn't.
00:14:26.264 --> 00:14:34.095
You could do recurring and you can recurring in any way you could possibly think, the third Thursday of every month or whatever.
00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:35.894
And so I found that really helpful.
00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:37.919
And they also can show up on your Google calendar, too.
00:14:37.945 --> 00:14:44.735
So I really liked that because now in the morning, I can just open up Google calendar and know what tasks I'm working on.
00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:48.559
And It's already there because I'm already in Google calendar working on those things.
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:54.399
I also like that beyond those things, you can access tasks anywhere.
00:14:54.519 --> 00:15:05.360
So when you pull up Gmail or you're in Drive or anything, there's that little sidebar in your Google Workspace where you can see literally everything.
00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:13.575
So you can see your tasks, you can see your calendar, everything.
00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:16.620
And you can also add a different apps and stuff like that and add-ons.
00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:25.894
And I just really, really loved that so much because I'd be in the middle of uploading something in Google Drive and figuring out where I want to put it.
00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:29.000
And then I get a content idea and tasks is right there.
00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:31.539
I don't have to jump over to Asana or anything else.
00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:50.120
And even though you could easily do that with other programs by just having another tab open or a shortcut somewhere on your desktop, having it integrated into the same exact website that you're on without having to go to a different tab just helped keep me so much more focused.
00:15:50.960 --> 00:16:08.335
And I really found that my distraction time or task switching time just really was reduced in some major Also with tasks, I like how simple it is that you can create different task lists.
00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:09.820
So I'm actually looking at it right now.
00:16:09.845 --> 00:16:15.580
So you can look at tasks within any component of Google Workspace, so any page you're in.
00:16:15.605 --> 00:16:18.360
But then you can also open up tasks in its own window.
00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:23.639
So because of that, if you want to look at a glance at everything, it's really easy to.
00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.000
And then you can have all these different lists.
00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:28.254
So I have ongoing lists.
00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:29.580
I have one that's like my tasks.
00:16:29.605 --> 00:16:32.799
I also I have one for current courses I'm building out.
00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:36.639
I have one for Publish with Purpose, where I'm making updates to things.
00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:45.095
I also have one for my YouTube channel, one that just says things to read or tech to try out.
00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:49.240
If I see something or someone mentioned something, I'll put it in those different lists.
00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:50.960
And it's so easy.
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.575
And then you can actually check or uncheck those lists in the task page view.
00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:58.759
So you can just see only what you need to work on.
00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:11.380
And it's just so The only thing that a task doesn't have that I think can be a barrier for a lot of people is that you can't share tasks with anyone outside of your organization.
00:17:11.404 --> 00:17:18.700
So I know with like Notion, you can have I guess people on your page or something like that with Asana, I'm sure they have those features.
00:17:18.724 --> 00:17:22.734
But right now with tasks, it's just you.
00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:33.079
But as someone that's a solopreneur, a solo creative entrepreneur, and I don't plan on ever having a huge team, maybe I plan on eventually getting a VA or something like that.
00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:34.775
That hasn't been an issue.
00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.640
And again, it's all about working with what makes sense for you.
00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.920
So there's tasks.
00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:46.079
And then the other thing I really like about it is that Google Docs now So there's like a direct...
00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:47.839
It all integrates with each other, right?
00:17:47.865 --> 00:17:58.134
But within Google Docs now, if you make a checkbox, you can turn that into a task and you can assign it to yourself and it'll show up in a Google calendar.
00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:02.454
And what's so cool is if you So into a Google Doc, right?
00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:07.319
What I do is I usually create a project in Google Docs and then I'll have different tasks.
00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:14.859
And if you check a box in the Google Doc and be like, I'm done with this task, it automatically sinks across your whole workspace.
00:18:14.884 --> 00:18:17.119
So in a tasks app, it's now checked.
00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:19.640
In Google Calendar, it's now checked.
00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:23.095
And on your phone on the task app, it's not checked.
00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:34.009
Now, let me tell you, the big selling point for me for really going in all in with this was the fact that the Task app on your phone, at least on the iPhone, is so seamless.
00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.599
I have it front and center on my phone.
00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.599
I'm looking at it right now.
00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:39.079
And it's just so...
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:43.440
All you have to do is click this plus button at the bottom and add your task.
00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.279
And that's it.
00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.279
There's no barrier.
00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:52.694
And it will automatically just go into your main whatever task list you have first.
00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:54.009
I have one just called My Tasks.
00:18:54.039 --> 00:19:06.480
So if I'm running around the house or out and about and I come up with an idea or my husband is like, we need this from the store or whatever, I just throw it in there and then it's captured.
00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:11.295
I don't need to worry about it not transferring to my Google Workspace.
00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:11.920
It's there.
00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:19.575
And then at the end of the day, I have a little recap for the day and I can put it, I can filter it, I can schedule it, all that stuff.
00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.414
But in terms of being able to quickly capture tasks, this is so helpful.
00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:28.000
And I know there's other cool apps, like Todoist and stuff like that.
00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:29.480
I've tried those.
00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:32.039
The barrier for me was often I just didn't want to pay for a subscription.
00:19:32.065 --> 00:19:35.134
This is just so incredibly helpful.
00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:39.119
And I've never used a task app as much as I've used this.
00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:47.174
One of the biggest things, though, I had to figure out was when you do create a task and then you mark it complete, it disappears.
00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:49.460
Well, it goes into the archive of your tasks.
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:55.615
And there's not an easy way to make template tasks within it because, again, it's really simple.
00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:57.180
So at first I was like, oh, that's annoying.
00:19:57.204 --> 00:20:07.319
But because you can integrate it with Google docs, I now just create my projects inside of Google Docs and then I'll mark certain tasks within there.
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:13.240
So I don't necessarily have every single task mapped out in Google Tasks for a project.
00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:19.759
It's basically like I'll create a task to get me to go into that Google Doc and work through everything there.
00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:22.799
So it just becomes really easy.
00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:22.799
I really like that.
00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:32.640
There's also a nerdy part of me that loves the fact that because I do it that way, I can actually print out a Google Doc if I want to for a project and work in an analog way.
00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:35.575
That's something I really, really love.
00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:41.279
And it's funny because obviously I run an online business that works with digital products and tech.
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:47.894
But if I am able to ever do stuff with a planner or with a printed out piece of paper.
00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:47.894
I love that.
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:49.220
It's a great function.
00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:52.400
So there's tasks, there's all those different tasks lists.
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:58.160
And there's just two main other things I want to talk to you about today in terms of what I've really been using.
00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:03.134
So Google Calendar has always been the default that I use.
00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:07.400
I mean, it's just really easy and it's incorporated into the whole workspace.
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.079
But I, again, hadn't really went that deep with it.
00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:21.400
So I was just adding stuff to my calendar for years and didn't really pay attention to the types of different calendars that you can create.
00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:28.255
I finally went in and I added all the different time zones for where my students are with Publish With Purpose.
00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:30.680
So that made it a lot easier when we were scheduling calls.
00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.599
I started really working through all the settings in there and really learning about it.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:41.289
And again, you could watch endless YouTube videos about all this, but really the learning comes from doing.
00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:47.920
So I spent a lot of time just going through Google Calendar calendar, using it, seeing what worked, seeing what didn't.
00:21:48.319 --> 00:22:08.000
And one of the things, too, that's a big business goal of mine, and I'll do this in another podcast episode, is I'm really trying to see, and I have this number, I don't know if it's actually going to be sustainable, but I really want to see if I can get my business expenses down to a thousand dollars a year, which sounds insane because prices for a different software keep going up.
00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:14.214
But part of my plan with that is really combining different tools I'm using.
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:17.160
And then also I've purchased a lot of lifetime deals.
00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:23.359
Again, those aren't, hopefully they stay around, but that's really reduced my costs a lot.
00:22:23.384 --> 00:22:29.454
So I'll do a whole other episode where I talk about exactly how I'm working on that, what I'm saving, what I've done so far.
00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:35.880
But Google Calendar has just been really helpful, and especially for doing different routines.
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:42.839
So I'll create recurring events in Google Calendar that have all of my routines broken down in the event.
00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:46.440
And then I can just open that up and know what I'm doing.
00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:56.359
For example, my whole evening routine, in fact, if you go back a couple of episodes from this one, I did a whole episode on how I set up my evening routine.
00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:01.279
That's actually all mapped out in my Google Calendar by the hour every task in there.
00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:15.039
And so if I'm ever having a day where I just don't seem to be able to function, I can literally just open that up and it'll tell you, hey, you're going to make dinner around this time, then you're going to get on the treadmill at 6: 30, then you're going to walk Bella.
00:23:15.065 --> 00:23:18.055
And I just find that that really works for me.
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:19.799
So that's been a game changer.
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:26.615
There's so much more I could tell you, but the other thing too is, oh, Google Calendar.
00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:27.720
I'm looking at my notes.
00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:36.880
Google Calendar also now, if you to pay for a workspace, which again, I think is 168 right now, USD a year.
00:23:33.559 --> 00:23:36.880
So not all that much.
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:42.134
You can now use a scheduling tool inside of Google Calendar.
00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:52.359
So if you use something like acuity scheduling or any of these different other software tools that you can pay a subscription for to do paid bookings, you can now do that through Google Calendar.
00:23:52.519 --> 00:24:04.615
You have to have a paid workspace account, but you can set up a whole thing, integrate it with Stripe, and have people book with in a specific time slot, you name it, and pay you directly through Stripe.
00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:08.180
So essentially, they're not able to book with you until they pay you, all that stuff.
00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:09.799
That's great.
00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:09.799
That's a game changer, right?
00:24:09.825 --> 00:24:17.119
Especially if you're just getting started with doing consulting work or something like that, you don't have to have this huge, robust system to get started.
00:24:17.144 --> 00:24:18.720
And you can customize so much.
00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:21.494
I also have moved off of Zoom.
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:24.519
I don't mind Zoom.
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:24.519
I think it's fine.
00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:28.255
But I just, again, I was like, is there a way I can not pay for this?
00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.535
So I started using Google Meet more.
00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:34.375
And I have to say, things have really improved.
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:38.759
I don't think I'd use Google Meet since like years and years and years ago.
00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:41.680
And the experience is very seamless.
00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:43.599
It reminds me a lot of Zoom.
00:24:43.625 --> 00:24:48.174
You have pretty much all the same features in terms of control.
00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:54.934
So if you're inviting students to a call, you can control whether or not they can turn their mic on or their video or share their screen.
00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:58.640
So you've got all these different permissions and controls, and then you can also record.
00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:04.119
So in In my eyes, I was like, cool, this this replaces Zoom for me and I can just use Google Meet.
00:25:04.144 --> 00:25:07.174
And that's what I've been using in my business lately.
00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:08.640
And it's really been great.
00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:11.640
So I really, really enjoyed it.
00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:16.855
There's obviously so much more I could tell you about Google Workspace and what I'm doing.
00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:21.400
And again, you can always send me a message or I think there's comments now on Spotify.
00:25:21.424 --> 00:25:26.680
You can do any of those things to request different topics that I talk about on the show here.
00:25:26.704 --> 00:25:32.454
But I want to tell you real quick that I have a brand new training on Google Workspace.
00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:40.519
I go into so many more details and examples and I give you a cool template for how you can do some of these things in your own business, in your own setup.
00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:42.775
And you can register for that for free.
00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:44.559
Just go to Sarahsteckler.
00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:48.440
Com/workspace.
00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:51.319
Again, that's Sarahsteckler.
00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:51.319
Com/workspace.
00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:59.295
And you'll be able to sign up for that and get access to that training where I go for all these details, there's so many cool things.
00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:09.894
You can actually see my task board set up and some of the features and what that actually looks like, and test drive and see if Workspace is something that might work for you.
00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:12.734
So thank you so much for being here for this week's episode.
00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:15.759
As always, you can find more resources over at Sarahseckler.
00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:19.039
Com, and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:21.660
I'll see you back here next Monday for our next episode.
00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:32.079
One last thing this music totally reminds me of Severance, doesn't it?
00:26:32.105 --> 00:26:33.839
Gosh, season 2 was so good.
