Hi there. My name is Avil Beckford, and this is the latest episode of the One Problem podcast. We all know that there are tons of problems in the world, but why should we get overwhelmed? We're going to tackle them one problem at a time. As most of you know, who has been listening to this podcast regularly, I usually have some prior relationship with the guests who come on. My very special guest today is Paulette Durepos. I've known her for seven years or so, and I met her through Ellevate. So that shouldn't come as a surprise.
Her company is CafeLifestyle, and she is into online co-working. Over to you, Paulette.
Paulette Durepos
Hey, Avil. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Avil, like I said, it's been eight years, and we met through networking. And here we are, eight years later. So just to illustrate how important networking, creating relationships is, and how it can impact your business. Which ties into my topic of helping women entrepreneurs who have an online service based business and who are working from home and struggling with isolation because of lack of community.
So that's the issue that I'm going to be talking about. Tips and possible solutions for women working from home. The main solution I'm going to talk about today is productivity sprints. They're called productivity sprints, work sprints, power hour, focus time. They're known by all of those names. So the main issues for women working from home are running into the isolation thing, no one to talk to, probably surrounded by people who really don't understand what you’re doing.
And then you get into your head and then the guilt, and it becomes cyclical. Then you compare yourself. And of course, when you compare yourself, you rarely come out a winner. And that really is demotivating.
Paulette Durepos
So joining a community of other women who are going through the same thing. Some benefits are when you log in, there's someone who says hello, someone who acknowledges you and totally understands where you're coming from. And actually, in fact, to go even deeper than that, sometimes having a work sprint is the reason they get up in the morning. That was my reason for getting up this morning because I'm the host of work sprints. So I needed to get up and get camera-ready to greet my community.
I have two events. One is accountability, and the other one is the work sprint. So some other benefits of joining a work sprint is pure and simple, you get shit done. And the more shit you get done, the more consistency you create in your business. There's also the celebration of wins. And that is important because when you get into a day where you're having trouble getting started, being able to reach into what it feels like to have that win is really important.
That can bring you back and get you started and motivated. We did it this morning based on the previous six months.
Have you read or watched?
- Shelley Nadel: How to Deal With the Volatile Stock Market
- Karen Wilson Robinson, The Importance of Protecting Your Intellectual Property
- Maureen Chiana, How to Lead to Bring Out the Best In Employees
- Ashley Brundage, Leadership and Empowerment Expert
- Sandra Folk, How to Deliver Effective Presentations
- Dorothy Vernon-Brown, Marketing Automation Strategist
- Tessa Drayton, The Importance of Having a Crisis Management Plan
- Safiya Robinson, Writing Coach, Editor, and Author
- Robin Sacks, Confidence Coach: How to Flip the Switch on Negative Self Talk
- Diane Darling, Professional Networking Strategist; Speaker, Instructor & Coach
- Rosie Yeung, Founder and President Changing Lenses
- Nancy Ynchaustegui, Health and Fitness Coach
- Carol Walkner, Life Guide, Energy Healer, and Clairvoyant
- Mariett Ramm, Founder, the Powerful Woman, International Bestselling Author
- Sarah Elkins, Storytelling and StrengthsFinder Coach
- Debbie McKiver, Founder of the Strong and Healthy Temple
- Hedieh Safiyari, Founder, Prompt Health, Healthcare Solutions
- Benita Lee, Trade Consultant, Founder, Benita Lee Professional Corporation
- Jenny Siede, Chief Design Thinker, Green Neurons
- Pamela Jeffery, Founder, The Prosperity Project & Women’s Executive Network
- Alta Odendaal, Financial Coach and Consultant
Paulette Durepos
And a lot of the women who join in accountability, when they started, they might not have been giving themselves credit for all the wins that they have in their business. And some wins are little wins because they created consistency in their business. Maybe it's phone calls, follow-up leads, whatever it is. Or it could be a win that the business is now taking off.
Some tasks that work really well in a work sprint or focus time are creating social media content. It could be doing client follow-ups. Let's say your goal for the week is to do 30 client follow-ups. Or it could be creating content like a newsletter or writing blog posts. If you're working on a project, it could be doing some project planning during the sprint. And sometimes it's those tasks that you need to get done, like bookkeeping that you don't want to do. But if you don't have some kind of accountability done, you just can't keep moving and moving it off. One woman in my group moved off her bookkeeping for a month and then finally got it done.
So that kind of pat yourself on the back. Congratulations, it's done. Now I can move on to other stuff that I really enjoy doing. That's quite profound, and it elevates your self-confidence. It's unnecessary to join a work sprint group. Though it helps because you're in a community. I'm going to layout some steps and things to think about if you want to start with DIY, if you want to do it yourself.
Paulette Durepos
Here are a couple of things to think about if you want to do them yourself. So number one, schedule however much time you're going to do for a focus time, a work sprint. Schedule that time in your calendar and you honor that time. That's your time, that's your business time. So whether it's three times a week, two times a week. And decide how much time you're going to do it.
Studies recommend that 45 minutes is the optimum time. We do 25 minutes, and then we take a pause and then go back to 25 minutes. So the reason it's important to use a timer, a kitchen timer, any kind of timer, an app, whatever, is because when you schedule that 25 minutes or 45 minutes, if you get stuck in one task for too long, then you get stuck there. And then you get like, okay, what's the point?
But when you get that interrupt, it gives you a chance to think about, is it time to move on? Do I need a self-care break? Perhaps you need another coffee or do some jumping jacks or take the dog for a walk. It gives you that pause, to take some time to reflect. Is this the best time? And then it's very important you turn off distractions.
Paulette Durepos
One of the most important things is to plan. Plan out your priority items that you're going to work on. Then, of course, give yourself a pat on the back that you finished what you have planned to work on. So once you work on them, you'll see that you gain productivity wins in your business and that is really motivating. That is the first step, creating consistency to generate more revenue in your business. So if you want to know more about work sprints, whether DIY or joining a group, please reach out and Avil can give you the information. Thank you, Avil, back to you.
Avil Beckford
Thank you so much, Paula. Productivity is important, and setting aside time to work on your business, not just work in your business, is important. So I'm sure that the listeners will enjoy that.
Next Steps
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