The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - How To Be Productive In 2021 With An Effective Mindset Ft. Lauryn & Michael

Episode Date: January 28, 2021

#326: On this episode Lauryn and Michael are solo discussing how to be productive in 2021. The couple discuss tactics they used in 2020 to stay productive and how to apply those same tactics to 2021 so that you can have your most productive year. The duo also discuss how the right mindset plays a big part in staying productive and how to protect the well being of your mind.  To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential 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 Phexxi Phexxi® (lactic acid, citric acid, and potassium bitartrate) Vaginal Gel 1.8%, 1%, 0.4% is a hormone-free, prescription birth control used only before sex. Phexxi works to maintain the vaginal pH level to prevent pregnancy and you only use it when you need it! Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have a recent history of 3 or more UTIs per year. Learn more, including all risks at Phexxi.com This episode is brought to you by Tatcha We are super excited to incorporate Tatcha’s newest treatment, The Dewy Serum, into our skincare ritual. This 3-in-1 serum resurfaces, plumps, and locks in moisture for smoother, plumper, dewier skin, and who doesn’t want that?The Dewy Serum helps replenish components of healthy skin lost over time, so don’t be surprised when your friends ask why your skin looks as soft as a baby’s. use our code SKINNY at www.tatcha.com for 15% off you order! This episode is brought to you by Nutrafol THIRTY MILLION women experience hair loss. But it’s not openly talked about, so going through it yourself can feel lonely and frustrating. It’s time to change the conversation and join the thousands of women standing up for their strands. Nutrafol is formulated with potent botanicals to help you grow hair as strong as you are and it’s physician-formulated to be one hundred percent drug-free. Visit Nutrafol.com and use promo code SKINNY for 20% your order and free shipping.  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.

Ah-ha! Hello, hello, hello. You have a solo episode today. Michael and I are getting on the mic. We promised you guys in 2021 that there would be more solos. We might have Taylor pop in here and there. He's not too long winded, but we're really excited because today we are going to talk about how to be productive dot

dot dot in quarantine. And not just in quarantine, but when you're basically at home and you have more time or when you feel like things are slow. Lauren and I were talking the other day and obviously 2020 was a challenging year for so many and there were so many things going on. But at the same time, and this is not to make anybody feel less than or worse, it honestly was one of the most productive years of Lauren and I's life, both personally and professionally. And I think that's because we had so much time to slow down, be at home, think about new goals, think about ways that we could be better, think about ways that we could

push ourselves. And that's what we're trying to pass on to anyone that's listening here is like, when you get a little bit of that downtime and you feel like things are slow, or, you know, even if you've lost a job or lost, you know, what you thought was going to be your career and there's something new, like this is a time to really buckle down, reflect and realize like you could either sit with that and be unproductive and kind of wallow in the slowness, or you can recognize it as like, whoa, this is an opportunity to really do that thing I've always wanted to do and be super productive. Yeah. And like what Michael's saying, I listened to this episode. I talked about this on my Instagram stories from Ed Milet. Ed Milet is such an inspiration for me. And he, I just like love when he does solo episodes, but basically he

said that there's this thing called separation season. And he said that during the months of November and December, people tend to check out. They think, oh, okay, I'll deal with it next year. I'll put off that book and writing that book until next year. Oh, I'll do that thing I've been saying I was going to do next year. And they just sort of let November and December kind of just go by. And what he was saying is that November and December is when you should go the hardest. And what I want to like make this really clear, I'm not saying hustle your face off and don't sleep and all that. I'm a huge believer in sleep. I like sleeping eight to nine

hours a night. What I'm saying is creating space to do the things that you said you were going to do. I also think it's, we're not saying don't enjoy life and don't have fun. We did plenty of that at home and with each other. It's more about recognizing when you have new time or new circumstances that you have a choice to either be productive with that and strive for greatness or to use it as an excuse to slow down and not be productive. And I think in 2020, there was obviously so much going on, but many people just decided, well, this is kind of a wash of a year, no opportunity, not doing anything. And I think, you know, that mindset holds you back in a lot of ways. There's the other mindset where it's like, hey, okay, things have changed.

Circumstances are more difficult. We have new opportunities to look at. And those people seem to accelerate. And so what we're trying to do is point out that there's a mindset, no matter what circumstances you're in, to be successful, productive, and to thrive for more. And there's maybe a couple of tactics that Lauren and I can point out that helped us do that in 2020 and hopefully in 2021. This episode will be all tips, tricks, and tactics that you can apply to your life in 2021 and in the world that we're living in. Basically, it's about instead of saying,

I can't do this because of what's going on in the world, it's rewiring your brain to think, how can I take what the world is right now and make it work for me? And it's that simple of an unlock. So it's just instead of saying, oh, this sucks, this is a wash of a year, like Michael said, it's instead reframing that to be like, okay, this is the world we're in. How am I going to make it work?

Yep. And I'm going to go in hard here and then I'm going to go out easy because I want to clear something out of the way. There's some people listening there and right when they hear this, they're feeling like, oh, easy for you to say. Yeah, I will. My circumstances are different. I'm unique. I have harder time. Like, yes, I get that. And we all have those people in our life that when you start to get excited about something, they're going to come in like a big rain cloud and tell you why you can't do it or why you shouldn't do it or why you shouldn't take that chance. And what I'm telling you here is the first thing you should do if you want to be more productive and get shit done is to get rid of those people. You don't have to get rid of them out of your life, but at least drown out the conversation

and drown out the noise because there are people in our life, especially those that get into a negative headspace, no matter what circumstance, that are going to look to drag you down with them and bring you to the level. You ever had that depressed friend or that sad friend that like the Eeyore of the room and they always, no matter what's going on, they always want to tell you how bad things are. You can't have those people in your ear if you're trying to be productive and hit your goals. You got to drown them out and say, hey, listen, buddy, I got to go focus on myself and I got to focus on be productive and hit your goals, you got to drown them out and say, Hey, listen, buddy, I got to go focus on myself. And I got to focus on being productive and, and successful here. And with that comes maybe drowning that out or putting pause on that

friendship or that person or whoever it is. It's not the easiest thing to do. It's not also the kindest thing to do maybe, but it's necessary if you want to be able to move forward and be productive. How I like to look at it is I'm a cell phone battery. And every day I get to wake up and put where I'm going to allocate that energy charge. And to sit around and talk about how much this sucks and how it sucks that we have to do this and we have to do that. Instead, it's like what you just said, like getting rid of those people and getting outside of that toxic energy and getting away from it.

And how I do that is I try to flood more positivity into my life, whether that's reading, working out, doing something with a productive friend, like just instead of getting rid of it, flooding in more positivity. I actually think of it like my diet. Instead of subtracting from my diet when I want to tighten up, I add vegetables. So think of it like that. And Lauren, one of the things that we did, especially in 2020, and it wasn't, I don't want to say the most popular thing to do, and we caught some flack for it, is we've

talked vocally on this show about turning off the news. Last year, it was a shit show. Obviously, people say, Michael, how do you get your news? You can go and read news publications and do a quick debrief and realize what's going on in the world and check it there. But this incessant need for all of us to tune into the news, especially in 2020, all day long, have it on in the background, it's just feeding negativity in the brain. What we did very intentionally, we canceled our cable subscription, we had no news in the house, if we wanted to figure out what was going on, we would read on

our iPad or on our phone to see what was happening. And there's a couple publications that you can do to check that out real quickly. But we got rid of the incessant negative noise that was in the back of our head. None of us needed more negativity last year. And you could say, oh, that's a bubble or you're sheltering yourself. That's exactly right. I'm putting myself intentionally in a bubble and sheltering from the negative noise that was coming in. It's not to say I'm not aware of what's going on or Lauren's not aware. It's just, we don't need to be reminded 24-7 of how bad things are. Well, also, I don't want my daughter to be sitting playing in her playpen and hearing

subconsciously all the negative things that are going on. I want her to maybe be flooded with bossa nova or a YouTube channel that's educational. I just don't see how that helps anyone to just hear negativity all day. Another thing that I do that I cannot recommend more, and I'm telling you guys, if you do this one simple thing, it will change your life. I do not check my phone in the morning at all. And I would say I don't check it for like an hour and a half sometimes. The only reason I will pick up my phone is to read on it and I go straight to the book

app because I don't fuck around. Or I will pick it up and I'll listen to a podcast that is educational or inspiring, something that's going to get me going in the morning. Those are the only two reasons that I check my phone. The second that you start checking your phone in the morning, you are reactive to what everyone else wants. Your text messages, your DMs, you start looking at the news on Instagram, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It goes on and on. And it's like this total

hamster wheel. So I would say to definitely put away your phone in the morning. Flood your mornings with music or books or hanging out with your family or having a good cup of coffee, meditation, breath work. There's so many things that you can do in that first hour of your day to set the tone. Yeah. And there was some valid feedback that a listener wrote into me about, you know, we've talked on this show, especially we had an episode with Glennon Doyle, if you haven't heard that one, check it out, about how we check our phones and how we respond to emails. And really what we do is we take time throughout the day where we batch. So like maybe for me, it's at between 9am and 10. and 10 a.m. Typically every morning,

I get in and do an hour worth of emails and answer all the emails I need to get into. And then I really don't look at it again until maybe noon and then maybe at the very end of the day. And the valid response that I'm alluding to here is someone wrote in and said, well, for me, I'm in a position

where I set my own schedule and I'm not working in a structured environment or nine to five where I have to be at the beck and working in a structured environment or nine to five where I have to be at the beck and call of either a manager or supervisor or whatever. And I get that. And I know many people feel like they need to respond to whoever they're working with immediately. But what I do think if you are in those circumstances is at least make sure that you're scheduling times even in your workday where it's like, okay, when I first get in the office,

some of the first things I'm doing is I'm nailing my emails. And then maybe it's a couple every hours, or maybe you're batching 15 minutes. But what I would caution everybody against is to get away from this incessant need to check and respond every five minutes. There's a great book called Deep Work by Cal Newport that I read a long time ago. And it talks about exactly what it says, which is deep work. And it says how disruptive it is for us to be going back and forth constantly between tasks. So you're in an email one second, then you're in a Slack, then you're trying to get your work done. Then you're trying to get a task done that you need to get done on a deadline. Then you're going back to email.

It actually points out that when doing that, you become less productive and less efficient. So even if you are in that structure, I would start to identify pockets of time in the day where you're like, okay, I'm only answering emails at this time. And maybe that could be a little bit more frequently. And then during these intervals, I'm doing my work. Going back and forth and constantly being drawn into your inbox is going to make you very unproductive and actually slow you down. And the people that are productive and focus on windows of time are going to surpass you and get ahead because they're just being more efficient with managing their productivity. Hair. We all love luscious long hair. Michael doesn't have to worry about this, but I do.

And postpartum, it's even worse. Okay, so women don't often talk about thinning hair, but here's a little hot tip for you. Nearly half of all women experience it by as early as the age of 40. So if you are one of these women, you know how it can feel scary and stressful, and it only adds to the problem. I feel like when I fixate on a problem, it always makes it worse. So intro, neutrophil. Here's the deal. I met with one of the people on the Nutrafol team, and I got to completely pick his brain. And what I found is that this is going to give you that thick, fuller, healthier hair, okay? So you can take charge of your hair growth and make the next few months of your time to just grow that luscious hair. For me, I've really taken quarantine and

looked at my self-care routine. And one of the things that I definitely wanted was to find something to enhance my hair. So here's the deal with Nutrafol. It's formulated with potent botanicals to help you grow hair as strong as you are. And guess what? It's physician formulated to be 100% drug-free. That's why I am a huge fan of it. And they use natural, clinically effective botanicals for better hair growth. So on top of thicker, stronger hair without the lasers or the chemicals, Nutrafol's ingredients may also help you get a handle on better sleep, stress, skin, nails, and libido. Oh, hello. So what you're going to do is you're going to visit Nutrafol.com and

you're going to take their hair wellness quiz, okay, for customized product recommendations. Super easy. You can grow thicker, healthier hair and support our show by going to Nutrafol.com and using promo code SKINNY and you get 20% off. This is their best offer available anywhere, you guys. Plus, you get free shipping on every single order. Get 20% off at Nutrafol.com, promo code SKINNY. Like I said, this is their best offer anywhere. 20% off at Nutrafol.com, spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L.com, promo code SKINNY, for hair as strong as you are. Another thing, just because you brought up batching, is I want to really get micro with batching because I feel like for me, I've cracked my code when it comes to this.

I realized, and I've talked about this a lot, that I was going in and out of calls Monday through Friday. And so what I did is I decided I'm having one or two days a week that are all calls. So I know on those days that I'm going to be on Zoom all day. I'm going to be on calls all day. I'm not going back and forth, like Michael said, taking me out of deep work. In my calendar on top of that, and again, to get very detailed with you, I even have blocks of time where it says create.

Like that's all it says. And my team knows don't schedule or anything during these times. And what I'll do is I will do a reel or an Instagram story or create a blog post or a podcast like I am right now. It's just a creative time. So I think it's really important to put those blocks on your calendar. Another thing that I want to talk about, and I know Michael does too, sometimes you do, is content. They say that you're the five people that you hang around with. And I also believe that you're the five people that you hang out with on social media. So be really cognitive about whose content you're consuming. I tend to not ever look at the feed. If I've looked at a picture, I usually seek it out.

And I also tend not to watch Instagram stories. And I'll tell you why. If I'm watching 30 people's Instagram stories a day, that's a minute of my day. Okay. So that's for each one. Okay. Let's say that's 30 minutes a day watching other people's Instagram stories. That adds up over 365 days. I mean, that's a lot of fucking time watching someone else's life. So what I've done is I have someone that I really love for health and wellness. I have someone that makes me laugh. I have someone that I like to look to for creativity. And I will seek out those five people to watch their Instagram story every day. But each one of those people is a positive, uplifting person.

It's not someone bitching or it's not drama. It's someone that's going to bring value to my life. So really try, if you can, after this episode to write down who those five people are and stick with it. Because I feel like just having that discipline of just really not consuming all the content, but the quality content makes a big difference overall in your life. Well, I'll add to that. I think, you know, You like a meme. When we start, yeah, I love, I mean, when we started

this show, obviously Lauren and I had no experience in podcasting or broadcasting or like spoken word. And I'm a big fan. And our friend Neil Robertson came on the show and says, you want to figure out how to do someone ask, ask somebody who's done it before. We were able to kind of stand on the shoulders of giants in the beginning of this. We were able to listen to guys like Tim Ferriss and Gary Vee and Joe Rogan and, you know and people that have been doing it in the space for a long time. Even Jackie Schimmel, she had been doing this a little bit longer than us. So we could hear these people that had been podcasting. And it was great because it inspired us in the beginning, obviously, to get going and do things like this. But what I noticed over time is we had to kind of stop

listening frequently to a lot of these people because what you don't want to happen as a creative or as a creator, as someone who does something like this, is you don't want to be influenced too much by people that are doing something similar to you. So for me in the podcasting world now, people ask me all the shows I listen to and it's shows that are completely opposite from what Lauren and I do. Like I'll go and listen to scripted things or a narrative or, you know, Hardcore History by Dan Carlin or something like that, that has nothing to do with kind of the conversations that we have, because I never want to be taken out of my own voice. And I think by doing that, and kind of drowning out the noise of people we appreciate so much, and who we admire greatly in the space, we have been able to kind of find our own footing

and our own voices a little bit easier. And so that also falls into productivity in the way that like, you never want to be consuming someone else's content so much that it takes you out of your own voice. You really need to find your own footing and your own narrative. And by doing that, you're going to make the process much easier because you're not trying to mimic anyone else. You're just being yourself. Agreed.

So I want to acknowledge the fact that we work from home right now. I think a lot of people do that right now. Right. You're right. But some people don't. And we're very lucky that we get to work from home right now. We are- I think a lot of people do that right now. Right. You're right. But some people don't. And we're very lucky that we get to work from home right now, given everything that's going on.

Are we lucky? I don't know. It's been a lot of time at home with each other. It depends on the day. It depends if I'm by my period. We had a huge fight right before this episode. We almost didn't even get the episode done. Huge fight.

One day I'm going to have Taylor play the bloopers of like- Who was right and who was wrong? You're probably right, because even if I'm right, I'm wrong. Right. Does that make sense? Like it's so. But I'm a stubborn motherfucker.

Easy. You're so stubborn and it's so much easier. Taylor, don't you think it's so much easier for him to just say you're right? Yes, dear. I think it's way easier to always just say to tell a girl that she's right. And also I'm not like I'm going to win. Taylor, save that clip for yourself and send it to me so that I can play it to you later.

This is the thing is Michael, of course, Michael made good points, but he completely shot himself in the foot when he would always say, oh, you listen, I'm so sorry. But, no, I can't with the but. If you're going to say I'm so sorry, but just don't even bother saying sorry to me.

For all the men listening, you want to know the one productivity tip? Don't say but at the end of sorry. Just say yes, dear. It's so fucking easy, Michael. It's not as easy as you think. It's hard. It's really hard. You came back with your tail between your legs. The men out there are listening. Who won the fight? You won the fight because even if I win the fight, I lose the fight. Exactly. That's what I'm talking about. It's so easy. But the other thing that I want to talk

about when you're at home is the importance of a schedule and a calendar. I cannot tell you what a difference this makes. If you do not have a Google Calendar that sort of schedules out and structures your day, you're going to end up having the day run you instead of you running the day. So some things that I would say to calendar that you're probably going to laugh, but I'm telling you it works. I have my wake up time in there.

I have time with my daughter in there. I have my workout time. I also have when I'm taking a shower, doing breath work. I have driving time. I have every single thing calendared so I can see what's happening. Now, am I perfect? Do I hit it every single day? No, I don't.

But the point is that I'm hitting it 80 to 90% of the time, which over time becomes a habit. So I would tell you to definitely get the Google Calendar. And then also, so your brain recognizes it really quick, color code it. So like my workouts are on my schedule seven days a week in yellow. My shower is in blue.

My driving time's in red. My due dates are in like a hot pink. Make sure everything is just really organized on your calendar. And my friend Steve told me this, and it was absolutely life-changing. He said every single day before you're about to go to bed, just quickly look over your calendar for the next day and make sure everything's where it should be. Because then when you wake up, you're not reactive, you're more proactive. Per usual, Lauren, your skin is looking so glowy. Thanks, babe. So I've been testing out Tatcha and just loving it. I'm sure you guys have heard of their brand. And if you want the details, it's basically this Japanese beauty brand that believes that skincare is self-care. And I feel like right now we just need more of that. My thing is what I've been doing is I've

been making skincare habits. So what I do is I take a few extra minutes a day to do my routine. I'm just making a severe commitment in 2021 to care for myself. I know moms out there can relate because it's so easy to get caught up in caring for others, but it benefits everyone. I feel like everyone agrees with this when we can get a little self-care ritual in. That sounds almost like meditation. Yeah, you could use some of that, babe. So why I'm into this brand is that Tatcha looks at skincare as a ritual, which I feel like elevates the whole entire skincare routine. And you guys should know that all Tatcha's formulas are gentle but effective. And what I love is they're made with natural,

time-tested ingredients. And you guys can all give them a try for yourself with 15% off Tatcha purchase with code SKINNY. So what do I need to use from Tatcha to look glowy? Okay. So I've experienced a bunch of their products, but my ride or die for sure is the serum stick from Tatcha because it keeps my skin hydrated and pillowy. Like when I press on my skin, it sort of bounces back at me in the best, most hydrated way. So if you're on the go like me, you've got to try their Burrito Agami blotting papers. Whenever I feel too shiny for makeup or a workout, they work like a charm. Another standout is the dewy serum. If you're into serum, this is incredible. It's this three in one serum that resurfaces plumps and locks in moisturizer for smoother, plumper, dewier skin.

It immediately boosts hydration six times, okay? And the dewy serum helps replenish components of healthy skin that are lost over time. So don't be surprised when your friends ask why your skin is looking as soft as a baby, like how Michael is asking me right now. All right, adding to the bag now. They have something for everything, you guys. That's why we want to give you 15% off your Tatcha purchase with code SKINNY. That's 15% off your purchase with code SKINNY. Get ready to glow. That's Tatcha.com, code SKINNY. That's T-A-T-C-H-A.com. Yeah, the whole idea here, I think if you analyze what Lauren and I do is proactive is a huge part of it.

It's not being reactive to other people, not being reactive to things that pop up, being ahead of the schedule, understanding what's coming. And what I would add to that is, and we touched on it from working from home, I think a lot of people got in trouble this last year because we all switched to this work at home environment. And because of that, some people succeeded and some people had

a rough time. And I think the majority of people that I've talked to that have had a rough time, they had a rough time because they fell into their home routine, right? You kind of wake up, you stay in your same clothes. Maybe you don't shower that morning because you're comfortable. Maybe you kind of lay in bed a little bit longer. You know, you don't really have a routine, you don't really change your environment. The people that I've seen or have heard from that have been successful working from home is they were intentional about switching up their environment. They got up at a certain time, they got the shower, they got outdoors, even if it's for a walk, they changed their environment. Even if you're in a one bedroom, they made a little workspace that, that indicated to them, like,

this is the work time. And I think that the dangerous thing about working from home that requires discipline is you can't fall into the home routine. You have to completely separate your home and work routine so that your brain switches into work mode and productivity mode, as opposed to relaxation mode. And that means, you know, getting away from the TV, getting off that comfortable couch, like actually creating a workspace and saying from this period of time, I actually am going to follow a schedule and stick to it. Just that little change alone is going to trigger your brain to tell you, Hey, it's time to be productive here. It's not time to relax. Yeah. And just going off again, I always like to go really micro with you guys. I was able to write a book and launch an Elemis x Skinny Confidential collab when I was in

quarantine. And how I did that was by sticking to a routine. So what I would do is instead of being like, I'm going to write a book. Okay, how? How are you actually going to take the daily routines and habits that it takes to write a book. So what I did is I looked at my calendar for nine months and every single week I put in the times that I would write the book. So I would say I probably wrote like two hours a day, five days a week. And then even when the

book was written, I had to put in when I was shooting the pictures, when the pictures were due, then I had to put in the cover. Every little thing of the book was implemented into my calendar nine months before I did it. So what it did were those little tiny slots on my calendar, it started adding up. So if you want to write a book, let's say, okay? And what I would do is I would look at your calendar and for three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, from nine o'clock to 11 o'clock, all I would do is sit in front of my computer and write, okay? I would put my phone away, put it on airplane mode, and I would write. That's called what Michael was saying earlier, deep work. You have to put

the systems into your calendar to hit the goals that you want to hit. We are at home so much right now. Don't let this time go to waste because you're complaining about how the world is. Use this time to your benefit. There's so much good that can come out of what we're going through in the world. Switch your mindset. Yeah. And I would add to that also, we were running Dear Media and we were doing the podcast six times a month. And that's not to say to brag. It's to say like, okay, there's obviously ways to be productive under all these circumstances. We had a child at home. And I think the number one thing that Lauren's hitting on the head and that I want to highlight is when Lauren and I are focused on a task,

that is the task. I was talking to one of the talents that have another show on Dear Media, and they were asking me about this very subject and productivity and what we do when we need to do podcasts with all the other stuff going on. And I said, when we are there podcasting, we're podcasting. That's the only thing we're focusing on. When Lauren's writing her book, she's writing her book. That's the only thing we're focused on. When we're at home with our child and playing with our daughter, that's what we're doing. When we're together, that's what we're doing. When I'm running Dear Media, that's what I'm doing. There's a lie that's been told to so many of us for such a long time that multitasking is a power. Multitasking is not a that multitasking is a power. Multitasking

is not a power. It is a liability. Multitasking takes you out of your focus. Multitasking makes you less productive. They did a study, and I can't remember if it was a Harvard study or Stanford study, and they showed some people that were only allowed to do one task at a time to completion, and then other people that had to multitask on all those same tasks till completion. And time and time again, the people that just took one task at a time were way more productive and way more efficient than the multitasker. So someone says, hey, I'm a great multitasker. They're applying for a job with me, or they're working with us. That was always a red flag because I'm like, that's not a good thing. I know how to multitask when I give a BJ.

Yeah, that's different. That may be the area. But you know what I'm saying? It's better to be somebody that's focused and can nail task after task to completion efficiently and to the best of their ability. Okay. So just playing off multitasking, I want to bring this up. I am not a multitasking fan, but I am a passive multitasking fan. Okay. So some ways that I like to passive multitask, I've talked about this a lot, but I just want

to hit on it is I'll go to the foot spa for two hours and I will return 300 emails. Yeah, but can I play devil's advocate with you? Sure. Passive multitasking is exactly what it is. It's passive. It doesn't, you can go to the foot spa and get a massage and do your emails because you are not massaging yourself. Things that require brain power at the same time are difficult. So like you could not respond to emails and write your book at the same time. Totally. So like you could not respond to emails and write your book at the same time, but you could write your book and get a foot massage.

Yes. That's what I want to point out. There's such thing as passive multitasking, getting in some self-care, like for instance, passive multitasking, getting a manicure while you're listening to a podcast and learning. Passive multitasking. I do the juve in the morning and I read or write in my journal. So I'm getting the juve light and I'm also doing the writing because one's passive. One requires my thinking, which is the reading and the writing. The other one is passive where like the juve going on me doesn't take away from what I'm doing on the other task. That's different though than multitasking. And so like another way, it's different than multitasking. Another way to passive multitask, just some ideas for you guys

of how I do it is I'll take a freezing cold shower for three minutes every single morning. And while I'm doing it, I'll turn on three minutes of stoicism. I'll, like Michael said, juve and do breath work, or I'll get a facial and return all my text messages. There's so many different ways to passively multitask. So if you are going to choose between the two, I would definitely say do passive multitasking. It works like a charm. Multitasking, not so much. Well, it's why I love interactive workouts like boxing, right? There's no way you can do anything but be boxing when you're boxing because if you're trying to focus on something else and multitask, you're going to get your head smashed off or you're going to miss your target. So I

think it's really important to, if you look at something, boxing is a good example because anyone who's ever done it realizes that's the only thing you can focus on when you're doing it. And the same thing applies to when you're working on something like emails. You can probably work on emails and then do other things and talk to your boss or like work on your tasks. But all of those things collectively are suffering. You're going to be worse at emails. You're going to be worse at the task you're working on. You're going to be less productive. And I think that's the point I'm making where if you just take 15, 20 minutes in the morning, say, all I'm doing is focusing on these emails, you're going to be more productive. It's going to make you better in other areas.

Totally. Another thing that I have really wanted to talk about for a while on this podcast, and I did talk about it on stories, but I just feel like it helped me so much. And Michael kind of did it with me too, is Think Week. I heard about Think Week through my friend Weston. And basically it's taking a week, you could do a day, you could do five hours to just think. In The Road Less Stupid, Keith Cunningham, who is a billionaire, wrote all about thinking time. So he says it's the secret weapon of billionaires. How many times do you just stop and put your phone down and think and take notes? It doesn't happen a lot.

So if you do want to do a think day, a think week, I would recommend going out around nature, somewhere where it's just like peaceful and very zen vibes and just thinking. And sometimes when you sit and you're still, and Ryan Holiday writes about this and stillness is the key, is like you just have clarity on problems that you wouldn't be able to solve if you had 800 things going on. The think week that I had at the beginning of the year, I took three huge poster boards. I got the markers. I got the stickers. I got everything.

And I just wrote out one board of work. I wrote one board of work, one board of life, and then one board of a project that I'm working on. And I just spilled and projectiled all my thoughts onto each board. And because I was able to take time and just think, it helped. And I would say schedule that thinking time into your calendar. Maybe put a question in your journal. You could do a prompt. Find your favorite pen, your favorite notebook, and get a little timer that's not your phone. And I'm just telling you, if you write down your thoughts, it gives you so much space that it's unlike anything.

Quick break because I need to discuss birth control. I've recently had so many DMs from women all over the world asking for more resources and information and discussion around birth control. So I learned recently that there are more than 21 million women who are not using hormonal birth control, and I'm one of them. But now the FDA recently approved a birth control option that's completely hormone-free. You guys may have seen me talk about this on Instagram already. So it's called Fexi, and it's this combination of lactic acid, 1.8%, citric acid, 1%, potassium bitotrate, 0.4%. It's this vaginal birth control gel that comes in a small applicator like a tampon, and it works immediately and can be used up to an

hour before sex. So basically you apply the gel before you have sex and only use it when you need it, but you have to apply it again before each act of vaginal sex. So when you try it, remember one dose, one hour, one act. And I have to tell you guys how it works because it's insane really. Like I kind of geeked out when I learned this. And you know me, I had to overshare. We're going to go there. Normally, without Fexi, when a guy comes and semen enters the vagina, it causes the pH of your vagina to increase,

which allows sperm to keep swimming and make their way up there to fertilize your egg. Are you listening, Michael and Taylor? So Fexi works by maintaining the vaginal pH to a level that reduces the mobility of the sperm, reducing the chance of the sperm reaching the egg. How awesome is that? While Phexxi could be a great option for many women like me who are seeking hormone-free birth control, it isn't right for everyone. So, be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have a recent history of three or more urinary tract infections per year. And obviously, as with any new birth control, be sure to check for any

ingredients in Fexi you or your partner may be allergic to. The most common side effects reported by clinical trial participants are vaginal burning, itching, and yeast infection. Some male partners also reported local discomfort. And remember, Fexi only works when used before sex, and it doesn't protect against STIs, including HIV. To learn more about Phexxi, ask your healthcare provider and visit Phexxi.com for complete product information. That is P-H-E-X-X-I.com. And Michael, don't pop a boner. And be forewarned too. Here's the thing about doing these Think Weeks or deep thinking is as human beings, we are wired with a fear mechanism. We're wired to look for what's

wrong. So ultimately what happens, especially in a year like last year, is we get more time with our thoughts and we get more time to sit down and think. And the first thoughts that come to our mind is, wow, this is going to be bad. No way I can do it. What should I be afraid of? Why can't I do it? Who's going to judge me?

Everything bad is going to pop up to the mind. And most of the time, what we do with that is we say, okay, well, that's all true and it's going to hold us back. And so we say, okay, well, we can't do that. We better not do that. These circumstances aren't right. I don't have this. I don't have that. And so we never take the leap, never take the chance. This is a muscle that

you have to work on, just like you're a muscle in the gym. And Lauren and I have been working on for a long time, still a work in progress, but the muscle is pushing past that initial fear barrier or that initial, no, I can't do this or circumstances aren't right and real and switching it and getting past that and saying, okay, well, this is a hurdle, this is a challenge, and this is not going to be easy, but what are the first things I can do to start making this a reality? And I think slowly but surely, if you have the mindset to instead just stop when your brain says stop and push past that, that's how you start to be productive. And I've said it time and time again, the main thing here, if you want to be productive in anything, if you want anything in life, working out, eating better, having a better

relationship is taking that first step going from A to B. Don't overthink it. Don't say, I got to do all this at once. And I think what we've gotten decent at over the years is recognizing that in order to be productive, we constantly have to be working towards progress and taking steps forward and drowning out the noise that says, hey, why we can't do that. Well, the opposite of depression is progress. So if you feel depressed, examine where you're not feeling like you're making progress. And that's a think week, think day, think hour question in itself. And I think that's really important to examine.

Another thing that I would say that's really important to me, at least right now, is since we're in our homes a lot, it's really important that we are organized as a family and things are streamlined. So instead of having all of our stuff just shoved in a cupboard, I organized Michael's vitamins. I organized the stuff I put in my smoothie. I streamlined our shoes. Everything is organized in their systems. One of my friends, Rhea Organize, she is amazing and she helped me sort of organize my house. And she said, one of her very famous celebrity clients went to her and said, do you realize you just gave me back two years of my life? When you're organized and your bathroom's

organized and things are where they should be, it makes everything so much more streamlined when you're running out the door. It seriously adds hours to your week. So I would definitely say to get organized. And on that note, also, if there's something that, as Marie, I don't know her last name, she's an organizer, says it doesn't bring you joy, get rid of it. I'm not saying throw it away, donate it, or give it to a friend. But if something, it doesn't make sense in my house anymore, I get rid of it. The other day, Michael doesn't even know this, there was this little bar cart table in our bathroom and it was too big and it didn't fit the space. And I just felt,

I just was done with it. And I gave it away because it was just crowding out the space. So if anything is not streamlining your life, making it better or something you use, I would recommend to minimalize. It's seriously life-changing. I do now, before we run out of time, I want to take this time to talk to people that have maybe been met with challenges over this last year. Maybe you've lost a job or your business has gone under. Maybe some of those cases are circumstances not even of your own fault.

It's obviously been a very challenging time, especially for certain industries. And I would be remiss to say that we wouldn't address those people. I think there's a lot of people in those circumstances that could be listening and saying, well, yeah, again, easy for you to say, you're not in these circumstances. And that's true. But what I would say is in my personal career, I started out in real estate investing in 2008. This was obviously, if I ever write a book, this was obviously the wrong thing to do at the wrong time. That's all I studied in school. That's all I studied growing up. That's, you know, my family was in construction for forever. My uncle's a contractor. My dad was a developer. I figured that was the career path I was taking outside

of passive real estate investments. Now I really don't do anything. I'm not a developer. I'm not a construction, any of that, but I do think real estate is a good investment. So I'm not saying that real estate is not good. It is. But at the time, I thought that that's what I would be doing. And I was young. And then all of a sudden, the world blew up. And that market became impossible. And loans became impossible. And I was sitting there saying, what the fuck do I do? I don't know. I pivoted. I started doing other things. We had Jetbed. We had an ad business. Fast forward to 2015, I had a prominent ad business that was doing great. And then that world blew up. Every large brand and agency started realizing, oh, Facebook and Google and all these platforms are great. And it saturated little guys like me out of the space.

I remember one day we thought we were making a million bucks. The next day we were losing a million bucks. So all of a sudden you're sitting there saying my whole business and my life is thrown up. And the reason I tell these stories and point them out briefly is in each of these circumstances, what I thought I was going to be doing for the rest of my life and what I thought was great blew up. And I could have sat there with that and said, okay, well, I'm giving up. It's over. It's done.

But instead, we just continue to move forward and pivot. Now we're doing the podcast. I hope it's going great. I think it's going great. I think your media is an amazing business. Everything seems to be rolling, but you never know when the world blows up. And when it does, you have two choices. You can sit with it and you can be in misery and you can go backwards and say your life's over. Or you can recognize that life provides all sorts of

different opportunities. And if you're looking for them and willing to pivot and willing to keep moving forward, you will find them. You can never get stuck in your own misery and you can't get stuck wishing the world is as you want it. You have to recognize it for the way it actually is. On that note, if you are at home right now and you're coming from a place of abundance, not scarcity, look at all the opportunity that you can do. You can launch an Etsy store. You can start an Instagram and microblog. You can start a TikTok. I know someone that just started a TikTok, you guys, two weeks ago, and he is now at 55,000 followers and he's already getting brand deals. Maybe you're an amazing chef and you're good on camera.

Like me, I'm an amazing chef, Michael. But all of this, there is so much abundance available to us if we're willing to look at it. There's so much opportunity. And I think the point we're trying to make is how do we get ourselves out of the woe is me, shit is tough mentality and recognize, yeah, that's all true, but where's the opportunity and how do we go after it? Bingo. If you did, we'd love to know what else you want Michael and I to discuss. Let me know on my latest Instagram at the skinny confidential. And as always,

someone from the team will drop into a bunch of your inboxes and send you guys some skinny confidential merch. Also, if you haven't rated or reviewed the podcast and any of our episodes bring you value, it would really help us to grow the show and grow the community. We appreciate all of you guys. We hope you're having an amazing Thursday and don't forget Tuesdays and Thursdays are our new episode days and we're doing eight podcasts a month. We'll see you next time.