The Bossticks - Lauryn's Productivity Habits, Tactics, & How To Plan An Impactful Day

Episode Date: July 3, 2023

585: On today's episode Lauryn is solo with our executive assistant Katie Hobson to discuss how she is able to productive. She discusses tools and tactics she utilizes to make sure that she can be productive throughout her day. She also discusses how listeners can set their days up to have the most impact by implementing productivity habits that will change their lives.  To connect with Lauryn Evarts Bosstick click HERE To connect with Katie Hobson click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE To subscribe to our YouTube Page click HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential The Hot Mess Ice Roller is here to help you contour, tighten, and de-puff your facial skin and It's paired alongside the Ice Queen Facial Oil which is packed with antioxidants that penetrates quickly to help hydrate, firm, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leaving skin soft and supple. To check them out visit www.shopskinnyconfidential.com now. This episode is brought to you by Sun Bum Sun Bum creates products to protect the world from the sun, specifically formulated to help protect those of us who love and live in the sun. Use code SKINNY15 at www.sunbum.com for 15% off your first purchase. This episode is brought to you by Coterie Coterie diapers are designed to minimize leaks, blowouts, and diaper rash, so you and your baby can enjoy more comfortable, dry, uninterrupted sleep Use code SKINNY at coterie.com for free shipping and 20% off your first subscription order. This episode is brought to you by Just Thrive Pair the award-winning, gut nourishing Just Thrive Probiotic with the stress-busting, mood uplifting power of Just Calm. Use code SKINNY at justthrivehealth.com to get 15% off a 90 day bottle of Just Thrive probiotic + Just Calm. This episode is brought to you by Daily Harvest We all deserve easy mornings. Let Daily Harvest give you one less thing to worry about. Visit dailyharvest.com/skinny to get up to $65 off your first box. This episode is brought to you by Poise Ultra Thin Poise Ultra Thins are bladder leak pads that fit and flex with your body, to provide protections so that you can cherish your postpartum moments worry-free. Learn more at poise.com. Produced by Dear Media

The following podcast is a dear media production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.

I am doing a six-part solo episode situation where I'm going to pop on here without my and I am just going to talk about a subject that I'm passionate about that I think will provide you with value. So today, we are really going to niche down on habits. I want to get as granular as possible. And I hope there's people out there that are listening that can really have some strong takeaways from this episode. Like you'll be able to apply some things that I'm saying to your own life. A lot of these habits that I've picked up along the way are from people that I've had the opportunity to interview. They're from reading. I'm a huge reader. And I've just been able to really sort of squeeze the pulp out of these people's habits and find what really works.

And they're habits that I've tested. So I think that people will like this episode because we all love a healthy habit. I have dragged my assistant, my EA, Katie back on the podcast. She's kicking and screaming. Or pooping my pants. No, what? Stop. And I think that Katie is a really good guide for this conversation because she's actually someone who is a practitioner of my calendar. She sort of lives, eats, and breathes Michael and my schedule. And she's damn good at it. And she's way more fucking organized than I am. And I would be a dreadful mess without her. So I think this conversation to have her involved is even better. Like my habits on steroids.

So we went straight to you to ask you what your questions were when it came to habits. And we're just going to theme each question so we can tell you all the things. And Katie, kick it off. Okay. So the first thing that everyone wants to know is how do you set your week up? Are you sitting down with pen and paper? How are you planning out your time for the week to be the most productive and to set you up for success? This has been a dance over the last 12 years of doing business.

This is constant editing and refining. And what I've realized in my life is as I evolve and evolve the brand, I have to be constantly editing and refining. And when I first started out with an assistant, you know, 10 years ago, I wasn't doing that. with you, I feel like we're constantly being like, okay, this didn't work. So let's do this differently. We're constantly like on text communicating about what's working and what's not. I'll give you like an example. Like we discovered that it was really important for me to put driving time in my calendar. Because if I don't see that driving time, it's like one, I won't stick to it. And two, I won't be able to see what time I really have to leave. So that was like an edit and refine.

Yes. So what I like to do with my calendar and you can also speak on this too is I look at my calendar on Sunday night and I look at it for the up and coming week. And I do this every single Sunday. You could do it on Saturday too. And I spend 10 minutes just thinking. And this is thinking time is so underrated. I just think about what's going to work and what's not going to work. So I spend my money on my time. It's where I love to spend money. So I will get my makeup done so I don't have to spend an hour in the mirror. I will get a blowout so I don't have to spend an hour blowing dry my hair. And I'll use the time that I'm saving to be productive. So if I'm getting makeup done, Katie will set four calls. If I'm getting a blowout,

I'll set an hour to review something that needs to be reviewed and edited by me. If I'm having, I'm having a birthday party for my son tomorrow and Weston's coming over. We'll set an hour aside to go over up-and-coming products before the birthday. Like, I'm always looking for strategy when it comes to time. And I think when you're doing this, number one is if you can have a hire, the first hire should be someone who is a strategist with the calendar. Because if you're able to open up more time for yourself, you're able to be more efficient and more successful. So what I found is having someone like Katie really combed through my calendar with me every single day, weekly and constantly refining, has made me make more money, made me a better mother, it's made me be more present,

it's made me be able to put my phone away because it's opened up space on my calendar. So going back to a granular habit is Sunday, I look through my calendar. Katie is really good at doing the overall calendar and then all come in with that final tooth comb on Sunday and move a couple of things. Sometimes I'll see a call on the schedule that can be combined. So I'll give you a very specific example. We do sprint calls with our team, where our team gets on the phone and it's 15 to 30 minutes to go over what's going on. And we probably do them two to three times a week. But if I see another call that's a marketing call and that can be combined into a sprint call, we'll combine it. So Katie and I are always looking for ways to be creative. Another

example is if I see, I don't know, three podcasts on the schedule and there's two on one day and a third on another, I'll ask if we can move the podcast. I'll always try to be thinking about how to optimize my time. And you can maybe speak more on sort of what that habit is between us because I feel like I'm a little chaotic. No, you are, but that's why you have me. And I think to like especially now, I think with any assistant and boss really, It's on the assistant to learn not only just the business quirks, you know, what you prefer, but also understand that you're a mom and like you're a wife and you want to be present. So how can we make the week super organized and, yes, optimizing where we don't have 10 meetings

littered from 9 to 5. Let's cram these meetings into maybe a couple hours. And then you have the rest of the day to go be with your family. So I think I operate with that mindset to where I'm not. dragging you nine to five through calls if I can. But also, you know, yeah, you and I bounce back multiple times a day on how to move things around to make the most sense. Again, I think it's just having a really good mind as far as understanding that there's more than just the workday things that are on a calendar. It's the time for meditation. It's the time with your family. It's the time

to work out. It's the time to read. I mean, those things are also something to be kept in mind when you're planning the week out. Yeah, I think it's being realistic, too. Like you just said, like I, if I don't have certain things in my calendar, I will not be as effective. Right. So I know if I can get a meditation in or a cold plunge or, you know, if I have like a chunk of family time in the morning, I know I'm going to be more effective.

And I think over communicating with someone who is helping you with your calendar. Now, if you don't have someone to help you with your calendar, that's okay. you can still go through your calendar with a fine-tooth comb. I'm also not telling you to be busy seven days a week. There is days where I have nothing on my calendar. Yep. Brian Holiday taught me this, in my opinion, and his opinion, too, the most successful people are ones that have days with nothing. I don't want to be booked to the brim. That would make me miserable. You know that I don't like being on the phone. I just don't. So what I typically do is, I'll schedule all my calls on Wednesdays and Fridays. So I'm not on the phone all week. And sometimes

that means that I have 25 calls like I did yesterday. Yep. But I do so much business in those 25 calls. And that's the day that like drink an extra cup of coffee and hold on tight. Because now I get my son's birthday tomorrow with nothing. Right. So for me it's like let's push it when we need to push it and go on the gas. But then let's break when I need to break. I'm a very much work hard, also rest hard type of person. Like, I need space and clarity to create. Yes. And that's what we've learned, too, is like even having creative time on the calendar.

I am not one of those people that wants to work nine to five. I work, I'll work like I did yesterday, like a workhorse. And today, like a workhorse. And then tomorrow I have some free time. And then maybe on Saturday I'll have like two. hours of creative and then Monday it's hard again. I think this whole ideology that you have to work nine to five and hustle so hard is sometimes just not effective. So you know you best. And I think taking Sunday and taking literally 10 minutes to align with your significant other or just align

with yourself on what you're doing is purposeful and it's smart. Just to go back to the calendar of how detailed we are. I mean, I schedule on Sunday my workouts. So I'll have my workouts in yellow. On the calendar, I'll have when I hopefully want to meditate. We don't get it all the time, but I try to get it. We have if I'm going to use the cold plunge in there. We have if I'm doing like a facial treatment, like a like a facial or a stretching appointment, like that is on the calendar. So I feel like with that, I have my non-negotiables sort of set in the, the calendar and then I can build around that of what my business schedules like. I'm a fan of the foundation being my health, wellness, and time with my family and then building the work around

that. That has made me a very happy person. You have to tune in to whatever is best for you. I don't know each and every one of you personally and everyone's different. You might say, I'm in my fucking hustle phase, which I get it. I was in that too. I still am in it in a different way, but like I was working in my business, not on it. And I think if you're in your working in your business phase and your hustle phase, then you need to lean into that. And maybe that's the foundation of your calendar. Anyways, the habit takeaway here to me is make it a habit on Sundays to take 10 minutes of your time to really think on your calendar and look what makes sense and what doesn't. Do you have driving time? Another thing I realized is when I was done with the gym,

I had no shower time in my calendar. So I'd be like going from a shower or going from the gym to like straight to makeup. And I needed like shower time within that. Yes. And getting dressed, I think too. It's like those little things that you just don't even think that time, take time. Right. And we need to account for that. Yes. Put in little things in your calendar. You are not going to hit it all the time, but you will hit it 80% of the time. And I also want to like be clear that I have time in my calendar to read. I have time in my calendar for downtime. I have family time. My family was in town for three days and we had, I was off my phone. I am not a person that wants to be on my phone while I'm present with my family. So when you

people tell me they don't have time, what I say to that is, no, you're not making the time to evaluate your time. If you make the time to evaluate your time, you'll have more time. 100%. And it really is that simple because, listen, I get it. I'm running a team of like 20 people. I've got a husband who isn't easy. He loves to talk. I am a huge proponent of working out every day. I want to be healthy. I want to have my mornings. I want to have self-care. I have two kids. And I'm also running my social media accounts. That's not a huge chunk of my day, but I'm running that. And I have interviews and calls and all different directions that I'm being pulled in. So I get not having time, but I notice that I have more time when I evaluate it. And sometimes that means

turning one day into three. And Milet taught me this, like looking at your day in three chunks. That's such a good tip. We kind of did that today. Like, I was able to work out today. I was able to get my makeup done. I was able to have a call. I was able to do an interview. Now we're at the studio recording and then I'm going to go home and film an Amazon live. And that's sort of like shoving three days into one. So I have tomorrow free for Towns's birthday. Right. And just to like go off of that, reason why I set this day up the way I did is because you have makeup and you're doing things live stream on video. So yes, it's, you know, we're stacking the day because you'll be on camera, you know, and it makes sense. I think that's a really, really good point what you just said. So here's

how I would apply that to anyone. I personally don't like to put on makeup every day. Like, I just think it's bad for my skin. It's like, it's annoying. I just don't want to do that. If you're like me, what I would say is pick the days that you have to put on makeup and build the day around when you're putting on makeup. That is being a practitioner of your time. So the habit is Sundays, take 10 minutes to think about your week. Make the foundation of your week with what's really important to you. Build around that and make sure that there's also time for you to have space within your calendar. Those are habits that I adhere to and I promise you it will change your life. What's next? Katie. Everyone wants to know your thoughts and you speak on this a lot. But what is

habit stacking? How do you like to use it? Give us the deeds. Habit stacking is how I get my mornings and nights. So people will be like, I don't have three hours for a morning routine. Neither do I. I habit stack it. So I'm maybe not going to explain this as eloquently as I can. Read the book Atomic Habits for a more in-depth explanation. But basically, it's taking something that you're already doing and attaching another habit to it so you can get the most out of it. So to me, an example of that is, I like to meditate. Well, if I'm meditating, I might as well put my feet up on the wall. And if I can sit in an infrared sauna, great. If I can't, can I sit on a PMF mat? can I sit in front of red light? Can I put a red light mask on? Can I put on a fucking crystal

eye mask so I can get some grounding? Just what can I do to make that meditation on steroids? Okay. So that's the first thing. I try, don't always hit it to wake up before my kids at 6.30. They wake up at 7 on the dot, sometimes 7.15 or 7.30 if I'm lucky. But I try to meditate at 630, 6.45. and I have all my shit to meditate right next to my bed. That's a habit stack. Then I have a habit stack for my morning. Like there's non-negotiables that I try to hit. Can I wake up, scrape my tongue, like drink my water while I'm making the bed and opening

the shades? Those are habit stacks. Another habit stack that I do is every single time before I go to the gym, I make my mango amino acid in my water with ki-onaminos, and I'll add creatine. And what's happened is because I'm already making a water for the gym, I've habit stacked on the amino acids and then I've have it stacked on the creatine. If you told me, take creatine, that's so ambiguous. Like, am I really going to remember every day? But since I'm already going to the gym, which requires water, it's easy to put the aminos and the creatine onto that habit.

So I'll give you another one. Brushing your teeth. You're going to brush your teeth every day. Why not do it in a cold shower and scrape your tongue first? When people are like, well, not everyone can have a cold punch, but you can have a cold shower. I do a cold shower. I do a cold shower.

You're doing a cold shower, add a dry brush in there. Just how can you optimize your time and get the most out of it? Everything for me is a habit stack. Even the way I lay my life out visually. So like I have like a wellness covered. And in the wellness cupboard is like the vitamin C symbiotica next to the ritual, next to the Just Thrive, next to the athletic greens. So like when I got to go, it's just do do, do, do, do do do do. It's an assembly line. Yes. It's like if you have let me like let me break this down. If you have athletic greens up in your pantry and then you have ritual on the other side of the room and your vitamin C symbioticas upstairs, you're not going to be able to do that quick like an assembly line like you said. So everything is. You're. You're not going to be able to do that quick like an assembly line like you said. So everything is. is like, how do you make this seamless? This is random. I'll have like my incense next to my candle next to my lighter so I can just like wake up and have like a nice little vibe in the morning.

Little things that you can have at stack go a long way. Another way to do this is if you're going to do a sprint call like I like to do with my team, maybe after that sprint call every single time you get off the phone and you write down, I'm just making this up, what you're going to do. you have to do for that day. So right now, I've just habit stacked talking with your team with a list of what you have to do today. And then maybe you go take a walk for 10 minutes. After a while, what happens is your brain just starts to stack these habits and it becomes easier. Maybe you take your conference calls outside. Maybe you have a treadmill. Is it treadmill? How do you say it? Treadmill. Whatever. and you, for an hour in the morning, take all your calls on that. Finding ways to passively

multitask without actually multitasking is the move to when it comes to optimizing your time. So that is what a habit stack is. I would love for you to speak more on that because you maybe can speak more micro. Yeah. I mean, I think too, like just thinking about my day and, you know, I'm your assistant and at Michael's assistant. So sometimes I'm double barreling the day and it feels like there's not enough time. I get to control what time sometimes your calls and Michael's calls are. And so I'll even be strategic about it and be like, okay, well, Lauren's got a ton of calls from one to three. I don't really need to be on a lot of those with video. So I'm going to go take a walk. Or I'm going to go, you know, play fetch with my dog. I'm just standing there. I might as well

take a call if I'm not on video. And then with Michael's calls, I tend to be on video more. So now I'm going to prep some food, fill up my water, take my vitamins, get things ready, and kind of set it up at my desk where I'm going to be stationed for the next couple hours on Zoom. It is about teeing yourself up for success. And I think that, again, like with the day as busy as mine, you know, I'm still finding ways to like throw these things in. And again, wake up early or stay up late. I mean, as long as you are taking care of and ticking off those things that are important to you, it really doesn't matter what time of the day it is. It's going to get done and I'm going to feel so good laying my head down at night knowing I got my water intake in. I got my walk in. I got outside and saw the

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And I can tell you that this is all true because I use them every single day all day long for two kids under three. I love these diapers. I'm their biggest fan. I've harassed them on Instagram. I email them all the time. I, like I'm telling you, you guys, if you have kids, this is the move, their quality. And right now, Cotory is partnering with our podcast to offer you 20% off your first order plus free shipping. You're going to go to coterie.com promo code skinny. I've used my own code many times. That's Cotery spelled C-O-T-R-I-E dot com promo code skinny. You get 20% off your first order and free shipping. Cotery.com promo code skinny. Every single morning I wake up. I do my routine. I have my lemon water.

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their benefits are insane. 70 to 80% of your immune system lives in your gut. So to just add this to your routine is amazing. I also think if you're going to take antibiotics to balance it out with a probiotic is super important, especially if you want to boost energy, improve your sleep, and promote healthy skin. You can use promo code Skinny 90 for 20% off a 90-day bottle of Just Thrive probiotic and Just Calm. And Just Calm is a psychobiotic. So they work hand in hand. You can go to justthrivehealth.com. That's justthrivehealth.com, Skinny 90. I'm going to blow your fucking mind right now, too. Not yours. You already know this. Go ahead. Everyone's secret to this, too, is getting off your phone. A hundred percent. Let me blow your fucking mind. I am off my phone

two and a half hours before I go to bed. Guys, that is like, that is like, I, sometimes it's fucking 7.30 at night or 8 at night that I, my phone goes away. It's on airplane mode in the other room. I don't usually touch my phone. Today I touched it at, I want to say, 9.30. Sometimes I don't touch it till 11. Why people are getting fucked up is they're waking up and staring at their phone and looking at what everyone else is doing and reacting to all the text messages and going into their email and watching TikToks.

So that's why you're not able to have a morning routine. That is my opinion. It's so true. put the phone away. The phone is not out for me unless I'm listening to a podcast or I am giving someone else something that I need done. Sure. If I need things done before 10, I'll hand off something to someone. I'll throw the football. Our team usually starts at 9 so I can maybe throw the football at 8.30 and then get off my phone. You will never catch me scrolling through TikTok and watching someone's Instagram stories. I don't watch people's Instagram stories. I don't watch people's

Instagram stories really ever. I mean, I just find it to be a waste of time because you're not focusing on your own line. You can go down a rabbit hole quick. Yeah, you're, I'm not, no, thank you. Like, it's just, I've tried to be a waste of time and I can't when people say they don't have time and they're let people will ask me how I have time to read on Instagram stories and I'm like, you just watched my Instagram story. That's, that's two minutes of time. Add that up. Anyways, this is a different episode, I feel like, but get off your phone in the morning. If you want to listen to a podcast or an audiobook, great. I do that all the time while I'm making the bed. But don't scroll through your phone in the morning for at least two hours.

Yeah. And even if you think about it in five minutes of scrolling, you could have done 100 air squats. Or you could have drank three glasses of water. Or like, you know what I mean? If you think about it like that, if you turn that time scrolling into practical things that actually will help you maybe be healthier, you have a better mindset for the day. You can do a lot in five minutes. You're deep working your life. Yes. Like when I wake up, I'm so focused on, okay, what do I need to do to get out the door before my gym? I need to dress saws up for school. I need to get this organized. I need to make the bed. I want to clean my space. I want to do my skincare routine. I want to ice roll. I can do all this because I'm completely focused on the task at hand because I'm not immersed in my phone. So if you're waking up and you're on your phone, you're not going to be able to do any of this, in my opinion, effect.

because you're distracted with something else. Yeah, distraction is detrimental. Right. And I think what you said too about like playing fetch with your dog while you're on a call, for me, I find that to be really healthy for my team. I, that makes me happy to hear that because I wouldn't want them to feel like they're chained to a desk from nine to five. like it makes it makes me feel good like even when me who's worked for us for like 10 years she is the

art director of the skinny confidential and she'll text me and be like hey i'm going to go out to lunch for an hour and get a coffee and like just chill i'll be back on my phone at one i want her to recharge so she feels her best when she comes to work she feels fully focused i don't want a bunch of people that are dragging their ass because they're tired and they don't feel fulfilled I want everyone to feel fulfilled. So I hope my team is walking when they're on calls. I hope my team is playing fetch with their dog. If you can passively multitask, great.

Well, and I think there's an art to also not being on camera, and you have taught me that because you can eat your lunch or, you know, go on a walk. I mean, I think being off camera, we're so used to on Zoom specifically, you know, sitting at a desk and making sure the light's good. and you know, you have your whole room put together before you turn your camera on. And I'm like, if you don't need to be on it, like, you can be multitasking and habits. Sometimes you just want your pothole to hang out. Yeah.

Lauren taught me about the no camera thing. And Michael's like, cameras on. Michael, he loves it. There is a time and a place for cameras. Like sometimes there's like a really like hefty like team meeting where, you know, people need to be super focused. Whatever. However, if I don't have to be staring at a screen, it's not good for your eyes. Or your brain. No, I'm not going to do that. I'm just not. It's, listen, it's, that's not, I wanted to work for

myself. So I had ability and flexibility when it comes to doing things like that. And if we are on a sprint call, I don't need to see someone's face. They can be walking and playing fetch with the dog. Like, great. That makes me feel better. Yeah. Michael, I remember like when I first started working for you guys, He goes, I truly don't even care if you're like in a tree in Costa Rica. Like if you're getting your shit done, what do I care? Like, I don't care if you're hanging from the ceiling as long as everything gets to. I don't care. I don't care if you're in space.

By the way, if you can get four hours, eight hours of work done in two hours, good for fucking you. Go read the four hour work week. I am all about it. If you can be creative with your job, great. And also like, if you can get creative with your job. job, then you can add more to your job, which I'm not talking about you specifically, but like, you can make more money and you can do more things and you can be more multifaceted and you can be on the podcast right now because you have flexibility and agility with what with what you set up because

you did your job efficiently and effectively. It's really like time and being a psycho with your time, in my opinion, is like so important. So a habit stack. That was a long answer. That was a long answer. But we actually covered a lot of the questions just in that blurb. How do you, like, what are your habits with your family? What are things that you guys have designed, you know, to that's important as far like the kids or your marriage or date night or trips? What are things that you've developed habit wise with your family? I really try to be off my phone with my kids, which is why that two hours in the morning and the two hours at night is really nice. Listen, I've had moments where I feel guilty all the time. It's, it's, it's. hard. Like, I work from my phone. So, like, I will be on a conference call sometimes and my daughter wants to make cupcakes or she wants me to lay with her. And, like, it really is like a balancing act daily. But I do try to make those two hours to be off my phone. When I'm in the car with her, driving her to school, I'm, we're listening to, like, Bluey or Baby Shire. Like, I'm present with her.

I think taking time even, like, to take her to the park and get off my phone. Things like that I really try to be mindful of. I am not perfect. And let me tell you, parenthood is one big guilt trip. But you just try. And I think even implementing the phone, no two hours in the morning and no two hours at night will help just be a more present parent. As far as my marriage, it's exhausting with two kids under three. You really have to be thoughtful. Again, it goes back. Thinking time is so underrated. So, like, what we do is we try to do a date night once a week. We also take vacations that are, like, sexy with alone. We also, like, when the kids are in bed, like, sometimes we'll sit for 30 minutes and just talk.

Another thing we've been doing that I think is, like, a micro moment is we walk and we'll walk for, like, two hours in the morning sometimes. That's awesome. And it's so amazing to just do a brainstorm, like, general talk with my husband. and I'm not just talking about business. We will talk about where we see ourselves in three years. That's been a really healthy habit. I think if you are married or you have a relationship with anybody, taking a walk three times a week for an hour,

it's really beneficial to the overall picture of your life. And if your husband's out of town or your girlfriend's out of town, you could also take a walk and be on the phone. Yeah. Just setting the intention that you're going to talk with that person, And by the way, at the same time, we're getting sunshine. We're drinking our water. We're walking.

It's like getting that movement in, getting those steps in. So again, it's optimizing time. When my family comes to see me or we see them, I don't want to be on my phone. I mentioned this earlier at dinner the whole time. I find that to be boring and predictable on my end. Like, I'm going to really sit there on my phone and be dismissive. How bad does it feel when you're with someone and they're on their phone? I know.

And you've, listen, I'm not talking about like you're at work and someone's on your phone. I'm talking about like, if I'm taking you out for your birthday and I'm just scrolling through my phone, it feels really bad. And you see it all the time at restaurants. It doesn't feel good. And pay attention to how you feel when someone's scrolling on their phone and they're dismissive of you. It feels like the phone is more important than the person that you're with. So I make it a point when I'm with my family to block off time. again, I'm not perfect, not perfect. And I definitely will be snapping a flat lay of the table. Yes. However, then being intentional about putting the phone away, I think is a great habit.

Yeah, I think that can translate across a lot of different things, like family, friends, yourself. I think the phone is like the root of all evil, but the necessary evil, unfortunately, but it is. It's, again, distraction. Like I said it earlier, it really is detrimental. And, if you're distracted, there's no way that you're setting good habits for yourself. Like, it's just they don't go together. They're opposites. A hundred percent. And the phone is one big distraction unless you're thoughtful about it. So the habit number one of this conversation is be thoughtful. Yes. Your fitness habits.

We kind of discussed that. I book with a trainer because I like to be held accountable. And again, it goes back to saving time. If I wasn't meeting anyone at the gym, would I hit my goals of fitness? I would hit probably, if we're being honest, 70%. Yeah. I think that having someone there is a really great investment in my health, in my clarity, because when I go to the gym, I feel better. So I usually schedule with a trainer five days a week.

The other two, I'll do like a Skype with my trainer from San Diego, or I'll schedule like two hours of walking. I really am very, very, very serious about getting a workout in. I think it's a non-negotiable for multiple reasons. And right now I'm in my like tightening up season. Like I just want to, I don't ever want to be like, well, I had two kids. So this is no, I'm not. You're not taking the cards that you might be dealt.

You can change your cards. No, I can change my cards. and I have control over my future on that, I think. And I think putting my fitness on my calendar is non-negotiable. Katie even knows like, I think that's like one of the most serious I'm about the whole calendar. I agree. That and time with your kids. Yeah.

Those are top two for sure. I just, I want to be able to get an hour of workout in. I just do. Which makes your day better anyway. Yeah. And we specifically put your workouts before you have calls for that reason. because you've got some blood flow to the brain. You've woken up.

You've, you know, of course, you're going to have some protein. So you ate. You've hydrated. I mean, there's, and you've socialized, sort of. You know what I mean? Like, it's a really good warm up before your day begins. And another thing that this, that we can have it stuck on to this conversation is that where are you working out?

Are you going to a black room and getting yelled at with strobe lights? To me, maybe that works for you. That doesn't work for me. I need a specific situation when I'm working out and like be thoughtful about what works for you. So for me, I sought out a place that doesn't have a lot of people because I'm just, I don't want that in the morning. Yeah. It has really mellow like Spanish guitar music. It's half outside, half inside, which is amazing.

Fresh air. Yeah, you get fresh air, the morning sunlight. I don't have to hear people like, you know how like the guy's like glit to show. And you can smell their musty, sweaty asshole from across the gym. Yeah. So the place that I work out and also my trainer has a certain energy that I like. By the way, if you like a dark room and you want to get yelled at and you want like join the military. No, some people like that.

Like a lot of people like that. For me, that raises my cortisol. And I don't want to do that in the morning. I think when my cortisol is raised, I feel like I gain weight. No, I mean, there's, hormones are real. Someone's going to pull that for TikTok and be like, that fucking bitch. But so you like, I also think like zoning in what works for you. Maybe you also work out in the middle of the day so it's not so jarring.

For me, I try to get my workout in in the morning. And I don't want to go into a jarring situation. I want to lift my weights or do like I'll do Melissa Wood Health from home. I think her energy is great. Or walk, listen to a podcast. Just get it in. because you do feel better. If you guys are a busy parents and you want to make a smoothie, you have to check out daily harvest. Okay? First of all, these are like the easiest smoothies to make.

You can keep them stocked in your freezer and they come in a cup and everything is just pre-choped. And all you have to do is pour it in your blender. You could add some almond milk. You could add some raw, full fat milk. I'm really into raw full fat milk. some ice, maybe some juice, blend it up and you're good to go. You can even pour the smoothie back in your daily harvest cup so you really don't even need to like have a cup. It honestly is like a genius, genius brand. If you are in a time crunch, what I think daily harvest really sells is time. It gives you your time back and it keeps you healthy. I think this is also great for kids. My kids love smoothies. So when I'm on the go and I want to make something quick, I pull them

out of my freezer. I put it in the blender. I add some ice, maybe some almond milk, like I said. And there's not like this crazy cleanup. Everything's pre-chop. And they work directly with farmers. So it's like the best ingredients. We all deserve easy mornings. Let Daily Harvest give you one less thing to worry about. You're going to go to Dailyharvest.com slash skinny. You get up to $65 off your first box. That's Dailyharvest.com slash skinny for up to $65 off your first box. Dailyharvest.com slash skinny. The one I like best is the strawberry peach smoothie. It's so good. This episode of The Skinny Confidential is brought to you by Poise, Ultra Thins. Anyone who has kids knows that you need all the tips, tricks, and hacks that you can get.

And I know from my postpartum experience, I've been able to connect with so many moms over Instagram. And I have heard a lot of stories about bladder leaks. Okay? I have this mini trampoline in the back of. my house and all go in the cold plunge and then jump on the trampoline. And whenever I post this mini trampoline, so many moms will message me and be like, how do you do that after two kids? And if you have bladder leaks, there is this pad, okay? It's by poise. It's poise. It's poise, ultra thin pads. And they help for bladder leaks. So if you're someone who can't jump on the trampoline or maybe in workout classes, you have bladder leaks, these are the pads for you.

They're the poise ultra-thin bladder leak pads. Okay? The good thing about these poise ultra-thin pads is that they fit and flex with your body. If you want to jump on the trampoline with your kids and you have a bladder leak, poise has got you covered. Poise ultrithins provide protection so you can cherish those precious moments worry-free. So if you're looking for something postpartum or maybe you just have bladder leaks, check these out. It takes poise. Learn more at poise.com. The skinny confidential planner.

because this episode is all about habit stacking and planning, I wanted to give you a deal on the planner. So here's the thing. We ran out of stock. These planners are absolutely incredible to plan your day. They lay open really nice. Like I made sure there was a huge spiral on them. They're also beautiful. Like you lay them out. They're lilac. They're pink. And most importantly, they have big lines for you to fill things out and everything to plan your morning. And they sold out so quickly. And they sold out so quickly. that we didn't have them in stock forever. They're back in stock now. So we're going to give you a code. You can use code plan pink for 20% off at shop skinny confidential.com. Grab the planner. It's like the best if you want to have sort of a foundation for your day. That's not overwhelming. You fill in your book,

your meditation, your podcast, what you're listening to that day. You do gratefuls, intentions. and then you have a really specific sort of Ivy Lee method to do list. It really helps me prioritize. I know you're going to love it. Go to shop skinny confidential.com and use code plan pink for 20% off. Just to caveat off of like if, you know, you don't have access to a trainer, get an accountability, buddy. It's, I mean, like, you can literally find workouts on YouTube. There's no excuses.

No, find a friend that you can do it with. Meet at the park. I mean, or meet at their house. bring a yoga mat. I mean, there's so many ways to hold yourself to that habit of getting to your workouts or getting it done. And I think it's, there, there isn't an excuse with that. You can also go outside and walk. For sure. Someone told me that the other day they needed a treadmill to walk. Meal, treadmill. No, you said it right. I said right. But yeah. And I'm like, no, you don't. Go outside and take a walk. Put your driving gloves on like I do because I don't want some spots on my arms. Put a hat on.

and hit the pavement. Go take a walk. And also it's so good for your eyes to just be outside. Huberman has been on the show twice. And he talks about just being outside and seeing nature and allowing your vision to adjust to that let. What's it called? Not far-sighted. Is it far-ssighted?

Yeah. Near-sighted, I think. Just being able to look out as opposed to like staring at the screen. Yeah. Walking. Just make time for yourself to move. your body. There really is no excuse. Right. Love it. And this is kind of, you know, related. This is the last one. This self-care habits. Like, and again, we've touched on this a little bit, but what are your best

self-care habits, your favorite ones, the ones that you always incorporate into your week? I already know what they are, of course, but tell everyone. You're like probably like, fuck, I'm so bored of this bitch's schedule. No, no, it's inspiring. It's, it's honestly, like it's changed my life a lot. You know, I mean, my mom's like, wow, you're kind of woo-woo now. I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm just like very serious about my health and like my brain and my emotions. Like, you know, I used to just work and work and work and work and like I was completely

depleted every day, borderline depressed, you know, and it's like to watch you and Michael do your job, but prioritizing all these other things that are good for you has taught me so much. And I have completely restructured my entire, I don't want to be dramatic, but like my life. It's crazy the things that I just don't, I won't put up with anymore because I can see like it's feasible. Like you guys do it every day and like I'm in it every day with you guys. And like, you also respect, you know, my self care as much as your self care, which is also a huge. A lot of like employees are not that lucky. So I will say that. Like you guys are like, you know, if I'm having a bad day and like you're like, go to the footspread.

You know what I mean? Like, who does that? But it's just, it means a lot and I needed it. And like, I came back from that and I'm like, okay, I'm ready to work. Like it made the self-care. I mean, just get into it. Because like I, it's so important. The self-care, I respect so much from my team. Like, it's so important to me because I don't think, like I mentioned earlier, that they are 100% if they're depleted. I hope that you weren't depressed. I'm at your job. Were you just pressed at this job? No, my old job. No, my old job. Oh my God. I would no. No, God, no. It's like a whole, it's a whole other lifetime ago, it feels like, you know. Yeah, that makes me, that what that shows me is that you maybe were not, you were like hustling so

hard that you were just putting your head in the sand when it came to everything else. Listen, by the way, the reason that I feel like I can talk about this with sort of as like an expert on time is because I have been where a lot of people are with hustling myself to the ground. Yes. And that takes you to where you want to go. So I'm not saying like that there's not a time and a place from that, but then it stops working. Yes. And that's, you can feel it. And it's a shift. And that's, and I'm glad I went through it. I'm glad that it taught me so much about myself, my boundaries, what I'm, you know, willing to put up with, what I'm, where my, you know, cap out zone is, where my capabilities are. I mean, it taught me a lot about myself as a professional and as a human being. But yeah, I just think if you're not making

time to take care of yourself and you're operating at 70%, like what boss wants to employ someone that's 70% of what they need. Like that's just not, that's not, it's never going to work. It's never going to work. And it's also to be blunt, miserable to be around. Yes. Because it's like you can feel it. Yeah. It's like if you're not taking care of yourself, like it's, it's, It's just going to seep into the job. I think when it comes to self-care that there's so many little moments throughout the day. So like putting a sheet mask on why you're making the bed. So easy. For me, everyone knows this. I love going to the foot spa because the thing about the foot spa that's just so great and why I can't shut up about it is that there's no screaming kids. There's no significant other asking you for

thing. Additionally, there's no one at the office needing something from you. It's quiet. No one's speaking and all the footsteps I've been to. It's dead quiet. You can put your headphones on and you can have, I do 90 minutes of deep work. I'll put my headphones on. I will spend 20 minutes returning text messages. Then I will spend 20 minutes returning emails. Then I'll spend 20 minutes posting social media. And then I'll spend another 20 minutes on like a project for the product line. And by the the time I leave, I have made amazing progress. So stuff like that, to me, the self-care is great. And if you just want to lay there and meditate, that's great, too. That's self-care. One thing I think that everyone will really love if they like this episode is that we have a planner.

It's called Can I Get a Fucking Minute? And basically what it is is it's essentially everything in this episode on one page. So I took all the things that were really working for me to be. be productive. I took Gratefuls, intentions, book, meditation, podcast I'm listening to for the day. My Ivy Lee method, my micro-weekly goals, and I put it into this planner. And the whole

team uses this planner. Yes, it's the best. It really holds you accountable for the day. And how I would recommend using this planner is do it as early as you can. Like, sometimes I do it at noon, but like at least I do it. Try to do it in the morning if you can. and really set your intentions for the day with this planner.

If you don't want to buy the planner, go take a picture of the planner prompt on the site and write it out yourself. But this planner is something that I have literally used for the last four years. I haven't used the exact planner because we haven't had it, but I use the prompts. Right. And it's a planner that I created by pulling all the successful habits of all these successful people and putting it together and implementing my own. making it on one page. And just having that is going to set the foundation of your day. And that's a

really healthy self-care habit. Add chlorophyll to your water. Add minerals to your water. You're already making a water. Add amino acids. Add creatine. Maybe for me, I always associate my nighttimes with certain things. So my kids know when I turn on the red light and I turn on 5 to 8 hertz frequencies that it's time to wind down. So the shades go down. We make a vitamin water. And again, this is habit stacking. The phone goes out of the room and it's seamless and it's easy and they know it's time to go to bed. I think to overall, what I would say about this episode too is when you habit stack and you create these habits, it signals to your brain to be productive and healthy better than anything else. And ultimately, it makes your life easier. And this is what I'll end with.

Someone said to me the other day, they said someone, it was a friend and they said, someone, it was a friend. And said, someone asked me if you really do all these things that you talk about. Well, first, you can. Um, she does. Okay. I do. And the, the girl said, oh, my God, I can't believe she does all those things. She must be so stressed out. And my friend said back to her, no, she's actually not stressed out because she's being preventative. Yes. About the stress. And that's what this is. That's what the point of this is. It's like doing these little tiny habits day after day, that helps you prevent being overwhelmed and stressed. I couldn't have said it any better myself.

It's true. You know what's going to happen. Anticipate it and be proactive. By the way, I do want to say I'm not fucking perfect. The other day I was hung over and had to cancel my whole day. So like things happen. We're just trying. We're just trying.

Life is a work in progress. I hoped you guys loved my first solo episode at this installment. I will be doing six of the. and if you like them, I'll continue it. Sometimes it's fun to just kick Michael off the mic. Yeah, obviously. Katie's a great guide. You guys can follow her at Hangary Hobson on Instagram.

She makes the most delicious sourdough. She still has time to run our life. Do all her self-care make fucking rosemary sourdough and post on Instagram. Yep. You know, I have great examples. So I couldn't be more blessed to watch you guys. You're the pros. Well, thank God for you because you really do make my life so much.

much easier and I just appreciate everything you do for us. And it takes a person who is highly organized to do this. This is like that math equation means every single day. I know. I literally, it's an illness that I have. I swear. Oh, you got to be real organized. Yeah. No, it's, it's fun. And maybe if you guys want to head over to our TikTok at the Skinny Confidential, you can see a day in the life of Katie. She does a lot of those. And you can actually see our calendar. She shows a lot of sneak peeks. And maybe when this episode goes live, you can, show a day or something. Yeah, for sure. I would recommend everyone who wants to kick their life into gear to go check out the planner. I will give you a code. You can use code pink planner

at shop skinny confidential.com for 15% off. Go shop the planner. Get an ice roller. Thank you guys so much for all of your questions. We will be back with the next installment of a solo episode soon. And I would love to hear what you want to hear next on my latest Instagram. You can ask us anything at Lauren Bostic. And you know what? Let's give away three planners. Sweet. Tell us on my latest post what you want the next solo episode to be about. Hope you guys have an incredible, fantastic, productive week. Bye. Thank you guys for listening. Make sure you've rated and reviewed the podcast on Apple Podcasts. And also you can listen or watch us on YouTube.