Hey friends. It’s so great to be back with you on another episode of the milspouse mastermind show. Today we are diving into the topic: Three life-changing productivity hacks for the busy military spouse. Because let’s be honest life for many of us is really busy. We feel pulled in so many directions and we’re constantly asking ourselves this question, how do I save time?

[00:00:28] How do I fit more into my schedule? How do I make this work? How do I make a contribution? And care for my family and hold down the homefront? How do I care for everyone around me? And still take time to take care of myself. So if you have asked any of these questions, and I’m sure you have, then grab a cup of coffee and let’s dive into today’s episode.

If you are listening to this episode live, then I want you to know that today is the last day to enter the drawing, to win a free copy of Lizann Lightfoot’s book, Open When: Letters of Encouragement for Military Spouses. All you have to do to be entered to win is share this podcast in your social media feed.

[00:02:09] You can share it in your stories. You can make a post about it, whatever you want to do, share what you are learning a specific episode that has been meaningful to you tag me in that post so that I know that you have made it or hop over into our Facebook community. And let us know that you have shared that information.

[00:02:28] So this does two things. Number one, it enters you to win. Number two. It helps more people find out about the milspouse mastermind community, because this is a place for us to have conversations about the good, the bad, the frustrating parts of military life and how we learn to thrive, regardless of where we’re stationed. Regardless of our season in life.

[00:02:49] I created this podcast because so many of us have put our own dreams and goals and passions on the back burner to follow our spouse in this military lifestyle. And then we find out that we’re not feeling fueled and full of joy. We’ve lost a little bit of ourselves. And we question what it is that we have to offer any more.

[00:03:17] Really who are we? I know. I’ve been there. I’ve walked that road. And in fact, I recently saw a military spouse survey that said the two biggest challenges that most military spouses face today are the challenge of identity, of knowing who you are outside of family, outside of your spouse, outside of your role as a military spouse, outside of what you do. Who are you?

[00:03:44] And the other thing that military spouses struggle with is knowing how to make an impact, to find purpose, to make a contribution that lights you up.

Yes, depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to find a job, but it may be a job you hate, or you may feel like you’re having to choose between doing something that matters and uses your skills and taking care of your family and making sure that your kids are taken care of.

[00:04:17] You want to know how to make a contribution that matters, without sacrificing what matters most to you. And that’s why I initially created this podcast. And that’s why next week, on November 1st, we are launching the Milspouse Purpose Playbook, your step-by-step guide to find purpose, reclaim your life and dreams and discover who you are meant to be.

[00:04:45] Last week I announced that I am opening up five spots. If you would like to be a part of the milspouse purpose playbook launch team, all you have to do is head over to milspousemastermind.com/clarity. And be one of the first five people to pre-order this course, what that means is that you will be the first to receive access to the course and you will get this course at 50% off the price, in exchange for providing us with a testimonial on what this course meant to you.

[00:05:25] What it helped you overcome and how it helped you move towards becoming who you are. In this course, you will get clarity on your purpose, learn how to pursue your purpose in a sustainable way, and begin chasing your dreams today, regardless of what season of life you’re in. Yes. If you are working full time, this course will help you.

[00:05:54] If you have a newborn. This course will work for you. If you are searching for a new job and wondering what kind of job that you need to pursue, how to find something that aligns with your sweet spot and what lights you up this course is for you. You’ll walk away with your own personal purpose statement, a vision for what you really want out of life, a decision-making framework to help you prioritize what matters most.

[00:06:25] A weekly schedule that will help you pursue your dreams and wake up each day, feeling filled, fueled, and full of joy. You’ll get a workbook to guide you through each exercise, printable daily productivity sheets, weekly and monthly assessments to track your progress, and exclusive access to the milspouse goal setting masterclass, where I teach you my signature flexible goal setting method that works for your life as a military spouse.

[00:06:56] And all you have to do is go to milspousemastermind.com/clarity to get started today. I am so excited for you as part of the milspouse mastermind tribe, to be a part of this launch team. So let me know if you have any questions, you can always feel free to email me at Christine at milspouse mastermind.com

[00:07:21] Okay. Let’s talk about productivity hacks for the driven military spouse. And here’s why I want to talk about this particular topic, because I know that so many of us are searching for a way to make life better, to make things flow more smoothly in our daily lives. How do we make getting food on the table easier?

[00:07:45] How do we manage keeping the house clean, pursuing our own purpose, getting our kids to all of their activities, supporting our spouse, all the things that need to be done on a daily, weekly, monthly basis? It can feel like a lot, just the mental load of remembering when people’s birthdays are, who needs to have gifts ordered and how early do I need to start ordering Christmas gifts and Christmas cards and all of the things that just need to happen in our lives.

[00:08:13] It can feel overwhelming, and we need a system, and a way to make things easier. So we don’t feel like we’re on this hamster wheel or we feel like we’re pulling our hair out, trying to make it all happen. And we feel sometimes like we’re failing. but here’s what I want you to remember. Burnout is not a badge of honor.

[00:08:41] I know our culture right now celebrates this idea of busy-ness. We somehow equate being busy with being productive, but that is not always the case. Just because you’re spending time and doing a lot, it doesn’t mean you’re really doing the things that matter, or the things that really move the needle forward for what is important to you and your family.

[00:09:07] I know how easy it is to fall into this trap of doing all the things. I did it for so long. I was trying to make it all work and figure out how do I do everything and do it well? And what I learned is that it is just not possible because every time we say yes to something, we are saying no to something else, and vice versa.

[00:09:38] There are only 24 hours in a day. And when we say yes to the things that don’t really matter to us, we say no to the things that do matter. And when we say yes to the things that matter most, that will mean we have to say no to good things. Things that everyone around us may be doing. And everyone around us may not understand why we say no to that.

[00:10:08] And it’s hard. I think about this often. I think about wanting to do everything that all the other parents are doing, throwing my kids the over-the-top birthday party. But when I think about that in terms of, does this align with what matters most to me and to my family, then it doesn’t really measure up. There are things that are more important to me and to our family in our current season of life.

When I started thinking about how much we are constantly searching for a magic bullet, something that will help us fit everything into our schedule. And what I constantly come back to is that there are 24 hours in a day. And yes, we want to make good use of our time.

[00:10:59] We want to be good stewards of the time that we have, but we also don’t want to live in this cycle of feeling drained, of feeling pulled in all directions, of feeling close to burnout. So I started thinking about the top three things that have really moved the needle towards helping me feel less overwhelmed, towards helping me move the needle towards what really matters and prioritize what matters most to me and to our family.

[00:11:34] I came up with this. Not specifically a productivity hack, but I really think it’s going to help you. And I want to have an honest conversation about what we say yes to, and what we say no to. Back in episode 24, I introduced the concept of essentialism. I’ll link that below in the show notes, you can go back and listen to episode 24 and 25, which are a two part series, but it’s this idea that we don’t need productivity hacks as much as we need to do less better.

[00:12:15] That’s the concept of essentialism. So when I think about what really saves me time and helps me get to this place of wholeness and balance, there’s three things that really have moved the needle for me.

Again, I want to say that this is not something that I have perfected. It is a work in progress. It is something that I am working on, on a continual basis. Because the more that we take action to prioritize what matters most, the more that we’re going to see where we get tripped up and what we struggle to say no to. And so I think it’s good to have these conversations and to really just start being aware of where we’re getting tripped up.

[00:13:06] I want to talk about the three things that have really helped me learn to do less better. That have helped me in my productivity in are continually helping me move the needle forward so that I can live with purpose, joy, and live a life as impact and make a contribution that matters without sacrificing time with my family.

[00:13:33] The three things that have really helped me are: number one, having a clear vision and goals for where I want to go. Number two, my weekly schedule and number three, my morning routine. So I want to talk about each of these three things with you today.

Number one, having a clear vision.

[00:13:59] A clear vision for where I want to go. When I don’t know where I want to go or what I should be doing. So much time trying to figure that out in the moment. And I don’t know about you, but when I have not thought about something for a while, and then I come back and I sit down, then it takes me a while to figure out where was my head.

[00:14:19] The last time I was working on this, what are the things that I’m supposed to be doing right now? And when I have a clear vision for what I want and where I want to go, then I know. Am I doing the things that lead me towards where I want to go and I moving towards accomplishing those goals. So that means we need to get clear on what we actually want.

[00:14:43] We need to sit down and set goals for ourselves. What do I want to do? What do I want to accomplish? Who am I becoming every year? I sit down before or at the beginning of the year and say, okay, what do I want to do this year? What growth goals do I want to set for myself? What am I working towards? And then throughout the year on a quarterly and monthly and weekly basis, I’m revisiting those goals.

[00:15:15] Am I doing things that helped me move towards those goals? What do I need to change about my schedule to make what matters most in this season possible? How do I make the things that matter happen? What do I need to change about my schedule? What do I do need to do more of? What do I need to do that?

[00:15:36] Essentially, what do I say yes to? And what do I say no to? I can’t make that calculation if I don’t know what matters and where I want to. We talk about this a lot in the milspouse purpose playbook, we talk about how to craft a vision for your life to get clear on what you really want. And then be able to say, what is my purpose in action and how do I start pursuing that purpose and action today?

[00:16:07] How do I prioritize what matters most so that I know what I allow onto my plate and what I do. Because we just can’t do all the things and do them well. There are times and seasons for everything. And in some seasons things just get pushed to the back burner. I mean, I am walking this out in my daily life right now.

[00:16:35] When I sat down to create the MilSpouse Purpose Playbook, I knew I couldn’t keep doing all of the other things that I was doing. And so things like supporting you in our free Facebook community went to the back burner. Me showing up on social media on a regular basis went to the back burner, because that was not the most important thing in this season.

[00:17:01] And does that have an impact? Absolutely. I could tell you that more people are not seeing this podcast, because I’m not regularly posting about it on social media. And that’s hard because I want to see this podcast grow. I want to see more people reached with this message and more people understand that they don’t have to wait for tomorrow to chase their dreams.

[00:17:26] You can make a contribution that matters as a military spouse. You can find joy and peace and. I want more people to hear that and to learn from the conversations that we have each week. But I also know that I wanted to be able to do a deep dive with you through this Milspouse purpose playbook course.

[00:17:48] And I wanted to get this framework in place so that while you can listen to the episodes on their show and we get actionable pieces of advice that we can implement in our lives, each. If you want the framework for how we set up our lives and you want to know what to do in the right order to make it happen, then we can go deep on that together and the mass fast purpose playbook course.

[00:18:17]Iin order to create that for you, I had to pause growing the podcast through posting on social media. And so there’s a trade-off in that as I was prioritizing putting this course together, there is still life happening. My kids are still, you know, getting sic,k and I’m being forced to say, okay, what do I need to make happen today?

[00:18:43] And what can I put off until a future date? What are the things that matter most in this season, in this month, in my current week and in my daily schedule? Am I prioritizing the things that matter most? Now, this leads me to really the second thing that has truly helped me understand what I’m supposed to be doing on a daily and weekly basis.

[00:19:11] And that’s having a weekly schedule that prioritizes what matters most. Last week on the show, we talked about three fundamental needs that each of us have stewarding and caring for ourselves for those we are in relationship with and for our purpose care connect and how we contribute. And so the question we have to ask is, am I setting up my weekly schedule to prioritize those.

[00:19:45] One of the biggest things for me this year has been developing a set of core needs that helped me move the needle on what matters most to me that helped me prioritize, caring for myself, for my relationships and for my purpose, I came up with a set of eight to 10 things that need to happen on a weekly basis for me to live filled, fueled and full of joy.

[00:20:13] And when I set out my schedule for the week and we come up with what needs to happen when those need to be prioritized first, and then number one thing that has to be on my list is finding time to rest during the week. We’ve talked before about how rest is often the first thing to go and the last thing to get put on our schedule. But we have to make it the first thing.

[00:20:40] And I realize that this is hard to do right now. I have a sick kid and that child has needed me at all hours of the day and night, which makes it difficult for me to get that rest that I need. So there are times when that is even harder to do, but on my weekly schedule, I block out times that I’m going to intentionally do nothing except things that help me rest, that help me reflect, and that fuel and fill me with life.

[00:21:16] It is so important that we start from this place of rest. And if we don’t schedule it into our calendar, it won’t happen. So we have to figure out what are the things that really help us prioritize our health, our family, our relationships and our purpose. How do we make sure that those get into our schedule first? It’s a work in progress.

[00:21:40] I understand that sometimes it feels like every hour of the day is spoken for. I know what that’s like. I’ve been there. And this is something that I am very intentionally working on this year, because I know that habit right here is going to help me become who I am meant to be. That helps move me from what I do to who I need to be.

[00:22:07] I need the space to reflect and to do the things that fuel me with life. So the first thing that really matters that moves the needle. That helps us live, filled, fueled, and full of joy rather than feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin and, and completely stressed out is knowing what we want. Having a clear vision for our life and setting goals that lead us towards who we want to be and where we want to go in.

[00:22:43] The second thing is having a weekly schedule that prioritizes what matters most and includes the things that really matter. Am I taking time to care for myself, my relationships and steward my purpose? And then the third thing that has really moved the needle for me is having a consistent morning routine.

[00:23:11] In episode 22 I share in detail what my ideal morning routine looks like. Now, it doesn’t always look this way. There are plenty of days when I don’t get everything on in my morning routine done, but what really matters is having a consistent, quiet time and space in the mornings before my kids are awake.

[00:23:35] And honestly that means I have to have an evening schedule. I am forcing myself to go to bed at a consistent time so that I can get up in the morning and have that quiet space to pray and to meditate and to think about what needs to happen throughout my day and set my intentions for the day before my kids get up. And we immediately start going.

[00:24:04] I know this can be difficult when you have young kids, but I have been doing this really consistently since I had my second child was born. And I realized that, you know what, waiting to wake up, not getting this time before that my kids are awake, doesn’t lead me to show up as the person I want to be on a daily basis. And if I really want to do that, then I have to start my day with gratitude and with my morning routine.

[00:24:26] And that has to happen before my kids are awake. I create my entire schedule around carving out that space do have that quiet time. In the morning. Well, you can probably go Google productivity hacks, and we can talk about how you can do better meal planning, and how you can do a better calendar system for your family, and how you can set up a weekly rhythms for what gets done around the house on a regular basis.

[00:24:56] Those are all great things. And we’ll probably talk about some of those more in detail over the coming weeks and months. But the top three things that help move the needle towards who I want to be and how I want to show up that helped me not feel pulled in all directions. It’s these three things, having vision and setting goals for where I want to go.

[00:25:26] My weekly schedule that prioritizes what matters most and I daily, consistent morning. So, let me say this. If you are struggling in one of these. Then that’s why Milspouse purpose playbook exists. It’s going to help you to set a clear vision for what you want, how you set goals that lead you towards where you want to be, how you make progress towards your goals.

[00:25:56] We have the bonus training of the milspouse goal-setting masterclass, where we talk about how we actually pursue goals in the midst of the unpredictability of the military lifestyle In the course, you get the framework to how to prioritize what matters most, how we show up and how we set a schedule around healthy inputs and healthy outputs so that you can create a life with purpose and pursue the things that matter and make a contribution in a sustainable way.

[00:26:29] Now, another thing that you can do today, is help others let us know as a community what’s really working for you right now. I’ve shared with you my top three things, but I’d love to hear what has moved the needle for you. And that’s why we have the MilSpouse Mastermind Facebook community. I would love for you to go in there and make a post and let us know what is helping you.

[00:26:58] What is bringing you life right now? What is helping you prioritize what matters most share what that is. And let’s give more ideas and more encouragement so that we can equip each other on this journey to discovering who we are meant. So, if you are ready to stop feeling pulled in all directions, if you’re ready to stop wasting your life and you’re ready to live into who you’re meant to.

[00:27:27] If you want a framework that walks you through, getting clear on what you want, what lights you up, how would you create a vision for your life? Find your sweet spot, create, eat your personal purpose statement, and then build a life around your purpose to find balance, to prioritize what matters most and set a schedule that supports that.

[00:27:49] Then the Milspouse purpose playbook is dropping November 1st. If the five spots are not already spoken for at this moment, then you can head over and purchase the course for 50% off and be a part of our launch team. Otherwise, the course will be available on November 1st and I cannot wait to have more of you join in and have these aha moments.

[00:28:19] Really start to feel fulfilled and full of joy in your daily life, to thrive as a military spouse and to live with purpose. If you have found value in today’s episode, then I would love it if you would share this episode with a friend, leave us a review on iTunes, or share this in your stories and let more people know about the milspouse mastermind show.

[00:28:47] I am here for you, rooting you on, and I pray that you have a wonderful week living filled, fueled and full of joy. I’ll see you next time.