The Higher Ed Podcast

Highly Productive Workweek Habits

Kendall Hunt Publishing

Looking for ways to maximize your time and seize each work day? If so, this episode is for you! Join Jen Lewis and Meghan Peterman for a human approach to productivity that supports your output and prevents burn-out. From scheduling breaks to setting boundaries, from calendar blocking to regular check-ins, we cover realistic, sustainable habits that you can start today, as well as the necessary mindsets to make them successful. Find out how to optimize your own unique approach to productivity!

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Jen Lewis:

All right, welcome on in to the higher education podcast. I am Jen Lewis, Director of Marketing. And I always say I'm excited for episodes. But today, I'm really, really excited because we are talking productivity in the workplace. And so I have one of my team members here, who I think we share the same affinity for being productive and all the things that surround our work week. So I've got Meghan here with me today. Meghan, why don't you say, "Hi," and introduce yourself and let everybody know what you do?

Meghan Peterman:

Yeah. Hi, I am Meghan Peterman. I'm Marketing Communications Specialist here in the Higher Ed marketing department. Part of my role has been social media throughout the years. And so one of the things I have really, really grown to love is like the LinkedIn-fluencers who talk about productivity, and I've really gleaned some things that I think have been really helpful just in the day-to-day. So yeah, I'm excited for today's topic.

Jen Lewis:

Did you say LinkedIn-fluencer? I've never heard that before!

Meghan Peterman:

Yeah, I can't remember where I heard it. Actually, it probably was in a LinkedIn post.

Jen Lewis:

I don't know why, I just love merge words. Oh, I'm just such a sucker for it. So yeah, today, we're talking productivity. You know, we've got a whole list of topics that you and I want to cover. But obviously, there's never enough time. So let's just dive in to the one I know that you and I are the most productive about. And it is the role of taking breaks - practicing self care - to boost your productivity in the workplace. So, I'm gonna go first, just because this has been the most recent thing I've done. I don't think anyone down our hallway doesn't know that I got out a walking pad in the office. So something that I wanted to do is get a walking pad because, you know, sitting down all day, sometimes I get that mental fog. Sometimes I hit a wall. So I've read a lot of things and heard a lot of positive feedback about getting a walking pad. And I can tell you, no, I don't like typing when I do it. But if I have to attend a meeting, or if I have to do something that doesn't require as much activity on the keyboard, I really, really find that it kind of snaps me out of that fog and kind of energizes me again. So that's probably my favorite thing to do. Before that I would go down to - we are very, very lucky here at Kendall hunt to have a fitness room - I used to use the treadmills down there, as well as you know, going outside for a walk. But I would say walking pad has been my number one thing. What about you? What's some of your favorite self care to help boost your productivity?

Meghan Peterman:

Me, I think, fundamentally, it was even just giving myself the permission to know that I don't need to be chained to my desk. There's actually studies that the people who are the most chained to their desk are actually the least productive. Having to schedule yourself in breaks forces you to be a bit wiser with what you are looking at getting done. And so even just the act of scheduling breaks is helpful. But for me, I like to take like - I try to get a 15 minute walk in in the morning, and then maybe something in the afternoon with our team. And it's fantastic for just detaching from work and getting some fresh energy going and then being able to come back refreshed, and then hit my tasks with all due energy.

Jen Lewis:

You guys do love your walks - the marketing team. You guys are always taking walks, whilst I don't always attend. I feel like I need to do better at saying yes to those. But I have my walking pad. I guess it's not the same as fresh air. Yeah, I would say I think obviously walking is probably the number one. So let's talk about our work week. Right? It's Monday, we come into the work week. I love talking about scheduled blocking. So I want to start there. I think this is something- I don't know, I introduced it to you? But I remember when I first met you, we talked about your plate how full your plate

was, you know:

what can we move around? What can we do? And I remember telling you that I'm a big fan of batch working and calendar blocking. So what I mean by that is, is on Mondays I usually block my calendar in the morning for an hour or two, if I can, and then on Fridays I also have a two hour block of time. So on Mondays, it's more of a planning time looking at the week ahead. Because I used to do it on Friday afternoons, but I would find that over the weekend, I would forget that block of time at the end of a Friday that I spent planning for the next week. So Monday mornings, I love to just get all my ducks in a row. But the biggest thing that I've implemented, thanks to our lovely the VP of HR, Stacey, she recommended this to me a couple of months ago, is blocking off two hours on my Friday for admin work. I am a creative thinker. I do not like paperwork. I do not like admin work. So, if I block off two hours on Friday, that's when I get everything done in bulk. And I batch it out so that, even though I still kind of dread it, I know that it's going to take me maybe two hours, maybe three, and I just get it done on a Friday. So for me, blocking my calendar on Monday and Fridays is a big thing for me, then also, I always block my lunches. And I always make sure that I block the time that I want to be gone for the day. So those are my tips on calendar blocking. What about you? What have you learned?

Meghan Peterman:

For me, I think- because I used to think that I was calendar blocking - but then what I learned is, when I block hour after hour after hour, and I'm just switching between things, I'm not really actually giving myself time to do the things that need to be done in that time. And so understanding that calendar blocking is not having six different - or eight different - blocks on my calendar, it's having like, two or three major ones, and maybe a couple other minor ones. And that, for me, has really kind of changed the game in what I'm able to output, but still also feel like I'm enjoying the process and getting in a flow and things like that. I love, on Outlook, setting tasks. And I you know, if it's not a meeting or something, I do have myself appear free to people, in case they do need some of my time. But that is how I am able to visualize my day in my calendar, and I make them different colors, because that's fun. So for me, that's been a big thing.

Jen Lewis:

You know, Outlook email organization has been on the top of my list of things that I want to do, but it's also a wishlist item. So I don't prioritize it. But I remember I worked with someone once and I went over to her desk to read an email. And she had like a folder system of all of her emails, alphabetical, which is crazy to me. And I was like, "I'm never probably going to get that intense with it." But I was like, "Wow, I didn't know that people organize their emails." I just assumed there's an inbox, there's a deleted folder, there's trash, there's junk. So I think that's really high on my list. If anybody has any tips, please drop them in the show notes, because I'm really interested in learning how to organize my Outlook emails. Because, Lord knows, we all have way too many emails every day. Something interesting I saw on the list of what we wanted to talk about today was embracing monotasking. A monotasking mindset versus multitasking. Why don't you talk a little bit about this? Because I know you're super passionate about it.

Meghan Peterman:

Yeah, for sure. So just to start off, I'm a kind of person that my brain is always in five different places at once. So I'm on the task I'm on. But then I'm also thinking about what I'm going to do later in the day. And then I'm also thinking about the recipe I'm making for dinner at night, but then also about what I want to do in the evening. Then all of a sudden, I'm surprised when I'm like, "Oh my goodness, I like I just lost focus on this thing."

Jen Lewis:

And I find you forget things to when you're so focused, because, what do I always tell you? I am a goldfish unless I'm strategically mapping out my day and really intentional with my time. Otherwise, I will forget probably 80% of the things somebody says to me, because I'm just so overwhelmed with all the tabs open in my brain.

Meghan Peterman:

Yes. Oh my goodness. And so like, again, going back to like for me, it was just really like giving myself permission to say, "Okay, here's a chunk of time where I'm going to focus on just this thing." And I'm going to - Gasp!- I'm going to X out of Outlook, so you're not getting those pings, because if someone really, really needs me - and that rarely happens - they're going to call me. And so I do keep teams open, because here at Kendall Hunt, that is our urgent kind of communication road, so I do leave that one open. But for emails where I get distracted by something shiny, I close that out. And that has been a game-changer for me.

Jen Lewis:

But I think this kind of comes back to what we were just talking about with Calendar blocking. So for me, I do that mostly just to map out my week, but I also do it because if it says I'm busy on my calendar, it's going to show that I'm busy in teams, and you guys know you can still message me, but if you see that red circle that says,"I'm busy," you guys know that I might not respond you know as soon as you want me to. But it means that I'm gonna respond when that when that light turns green, right? So I think that's a big reason why calendar blocking is important, to show people what your actual availability status is. But yeah, I'm with you on the monotasking and for me, I just - do you call it monotasking? I call it like bite size. So, at the beginning of the day, I always look at - this changes right every day, where I'm like,"Okay, I'm gonna get these three things done." And then the next day, I'm like, "Okay, I only got two of those done." But I always pick the most important thing that I need to get done. And I've tried to like not let my brain go to anything else until I get that one specific thing done. Which comes back to blocking your calendar, because distractions, right? Notifications. I mean, it's funny, because before we recorded this podcast, I'm like,"Oh, gotta turn off all of my notifications and alerts." So the sound doesn't come into the recording, right? But it's kind of true with translating into your personal life. For me, when I go to bed at night, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb. So from whatever time I go to bed, you know, nine o'clock until I get up in the morning, you know, five 6am. Even if someone tries to contact me, I don't get that notification. Because when something breaks your focus at home, or in the workplace, I feel like you're just less likely to get your tasks done as quickly as you can. So for me, the Do Not Disturb slash removing your notifications. But I think you hit the nail on the head with closing outlook. I think we all just like we just live and die by our email notifications. And you anybody listening to this can agree that if an email comes through, they immediately stop what they're doing. And they open it. Right? So easy. And I think it's tough, because nowadays, we're so interconnected. Like, I get an email notification on my laptop, I get one on my phone, and my phone sends it to my Apple watch. So I've actually stopped notifications on my phone for all social media, all Outlook, emails, all of those things, so that when I'm looking at it, I'm looking at it intentionally, not reactively. So I think that's a key, I would highly encourage anybody listening to do that to turn off notifications on your phone with social media apps. And if you can, your work email, when time permits. So, I love that. I think that's a big win for me. Let's talk about the value of regular check-ins and progress reviews, and basically, course correcting. So, I really wanted to talk about this one because you and I meet monthly, right? Sometimes it's more than that, but once a month, you and I meet to talk about our plate, our productivity, our projects. It doesn't mean we don't meet in between those. But as someone who meets with me regularly, every single month, what would you say the value is in that? And what do you think that does for your career path? Or just, you know, how your work weeks progress?

Meghan Peterman:

Well, probably the biggest thing - and we've talked about this a lot lately - is knowing when the plan needs to change, and being okay with that. And so, when you're checking in regularly - say you're doing all the things and you're picking your biggest goals, and you're working towards those objectives - but you know, life happens, things change, your company objectives change, and then suddenly, what you're working on and focused on, that needs to be altered a little bit. So regularly checking in allows you to make

space to ask those questions:

"Are these still the right things? Does my focus need to shift?"

Jen Lewis:

And you and I have talked about that a lot, because you are a goal setter. Anyone who knows you knows that you love to set goals. And I think a big learning curve for you this year has been me saying, "Guess what? I don't want you to have ten goals this year, I want you to have three goals and really go after those ones." Kind of a quality over quantity type thing. So I think for you, I know you've learned a lot from that this year. But it's kind of also like monotasking in a way. So you set, like, a ton of goals for yourself. But the reality is that maybe if you just sent a couple - all of us, not just you- you can go after these smaller, bite-sized things, versus feeling overwhelmed. And you know, at the end of the year, when it looks like you haven't completed all of these tasks, it's kind of deflating. But it shouldn't be, because maybe you accomplished the tasks that were more important. So I think, for me, consolidating goals and going after the ones that mean the most, is way more productive than setting ten goals and going after that.

Meghan Peterman:

Absolutely, and I feel like that goes back to, again, even my earlier notions about calendar blocking. What is realistic for me to expect myself to do in a day, you know? Three things fully accomplished is way better than like six tasks kind of started.

Jen Lewis:

I think something important to note, too, as we talk a little bit about calendar blocking and what I do with notifications on my phone. But I think it's really important to talk about how outside life affects our workspace and vice versa. So let's talk about some things we do in our personal lives, I think, that maybe helped us feel more organized and maybe set us up for success in the office, and vice versa. So I'll go first. This is gonna sound like a really dumb one - to some, probably not to you - but I think anyone on our team can say that I drink a lot of water. I don't think it goes unnoticed. I've had to leave several meetings before because I'm a firm believer that you should drink 100 ounces of water a day. So for me, being diligent with my health in that way, I think kind of translates into the workspace. Making sure I have my water bottle with me, making sure I'm regularly filling it up, but it also kind of translates into eating healthy as well. So you know, when I'm at home planning for the day, I like to get up early to make sure I'm set up for success, right? Making sure I have my water, making sure I have the right food, making sure I'm doing all the things. And then when I get into work, I already feel successful in the day. And I think that that kind of, you know, makes me more productive. What do you think about stuff you do outside of work? It could be morning, it could be night, what do you do to make sure you're set up for success?

Meghan Peterman:

Yeah, for me, there's a couple things. One of them is, on my lunch break, I always - we're very blessed to have a little fitness center downstairs - I always go down and get some kind of workout in, because it's been said, so many times, one of the best natural performance enhancers is exercise. And I feel so much more on-the-ball accomplished in general when I know that that time is set aside. And then also for me lately, one of the big things has been getting up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. Because then your body knows what to expect. And you're able to improve your sleep quality, which is nice, because I used to - you know, it didn't vary much - but I used to get up just maybe an hour later on the weekend. But I have noticed since I have been sticking to the same schedule, regardless, it's been really helpful and it helps me turn on better in the beginning of the

Jen Lewis:

The parent in me over here, who has two little tater workweek. tots under the age of three, I obviously don't live by that standard. But I'm curious - because I wake up at varying times, because I'm woken up, I don't wake up, right? There's a difference. What time are we talking here? What time do you wake up in the morning?

Meghan Peterman:

I get up at five.

Jen Lewis:

On the weekends? Oh my. See, I just think there's such a difference

Meghan Peterman:

Yeah. in waking yourself up than someone coming in and crawling - Oh my God, my son did that yesterday, he crawled into our bed. And just WWE style, he flew off the rafters and elbowed me right in my ribs. And that was my first part of waking up for the day. So for me, that is not a very harmonious and peaceful way to wake up. So I think there's a difference. So for me, I'm actually the opposite. And I think this is why it's important to note that anything we talked about in this episode about productivity is totally per person, right? So for me, my husband and I, we work out Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I'm sorry, let me say that again. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, so we have Wednesdays and Fridays off of working out, right? So on Wednesdays and Fridays, we just let ourselves sleep until the kids wake us up. We don't, because our kids - listen, I'm never going to be late for work. Our kids always wake up by 6:00, 6:30. But it's nice for my mental health and my mindset to know that, if it's Tuesday night, I'm like, "Man, yes, I get to at least sleep

until 6:15 tomorrow or 6:

30. Because we're not waking ourselves up early or getting woken up super early. So I think there's a mindset shift when you have those free days, and I'm only speaking to being a parent with young kids who just sleep is never guaranteed.

Meghan Peterman:

Right. Well, and I think, too, that's a really great PSA for you. Know yourself, know your circumstances. There have been definitely seasons in my life where it's like, "Okay, this is a great wish-list thing, but it's just not sustainable for me right now." And so, you know, I was sick last week. And so I was taking that extra time to sleep in, to get extra rest. But when you're a parent and your rest is not guaranteed? Obviously, take it when you could get it. If there's a season where planning out your entire evening is just really, really mentally taxing for some reason, take a break, let yourself have some evenings to do nothing.

Jen Lewis:

Yeah, for sure. And again, speaking from a parent, you know, my kids, bedtime is eight, but we typically don't make it to our bed until nine. So then you're kind of left with like the decision, "Do we watch something? Do we read?" Like, what do we do with our time? And typically, it's not watching anything and just going to bed. So that's why I think Wednesday nights for us and Fridays, and then obviously weekends. It's just nice to look forward to something like that. It's kind of like when you look forward to a vacation, right? So for me, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturday, Sundays are my easier days. But I think something important, too, is I like to stay on track on the weekends. So we get up and obviously have slower mornings, Saturdays and Sundays. But what I love is that our rule in our house is to just, like, have our coffee, have time with our kids, but then we all go downstairs and we get our workout done. We just do it, even if you just walk slowly for 30 minutes on the treadmill, or do some free weights. Whatever you're doing, I think just doing something, is the same thing on Saturdays and Sundays as your weekdays, where it just sets you up for success, and you have a much more productive day. If you get up with intentional time, I think that's what I meant to mention earlier, is when you wake up with intention is different than just waking up and just going through the motions and just showing up for work. So if you get up and do the things that you want to do, I think your workday is gonna be just way more productive.

Meghan Peterman:

It makes you excited to get up, too. It's like, you've got something to to look forward to.

Jen Lewis:

I don't know if I'm ever excited - again, this is the season of life that I'm in right now. If you're talking to Jen, you know, five years ago, four years ago, I think it would have been a different story. But it's funny, because everything we're talking about today is the has a common theme. And I know you guys, you and our team hear me say this all the time, and you're probably so tired of this word, but I love boundaries, boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. And I think the boundaries you set at work are no different than setting boundaries in your life. And I think as you get more seasoned in your career, as you grow older in life, you learn that you kind of have been setting boundaries, but then you get more intentional with them. So you know, for me, it's in the workplace, it's setting boundaries with my calendar, it's setting boundaries for protecting my lunch hour - obviously, there are times when I can't - it's protecting the time that I leave. I'm really passionate about taking my kids to school and picking them up every day with my husband. We love doing that together. It's just something we've always said we were going to do for as long as we can do it. So I always try to protect that as much as I can. And then protecting your time on your calendar is no different than time blocking. But in personal lives, it's protecting the time that I have with my family. So you know, only going out and having, like, one girls night a month or you know, doing those things, and obviously creating time for that space, too. Because I can't just be a mom all day every day. But for you, I know you and I have talked a lot about boundaries. What have you learned this year, specifically, from our conversations and monthly meetings and just our working relationship? Because you know, I'm so passionate about this topic.

Meghan Peterman:

A concept that has like really resonated with me is the concept of "Yes, asterisk." Because when I first heard the concept of boundaries, like the first thing, like I felt was like, "Oh my goodness,I don't want to look like this unhelpful coworker."

Jen Lewis:

I remember you were so nervous about people thinking

Meghan Peterman:

Yeah, absolutely. And so, the answer you were rude. is never, "No," outright. But it's, "Yes, asterisk, I don't have bandwidth for that now. But I would love to help you with that in two weeks. I'm gonna put a reminder on my calendar, and I'll reach out to you then." And things like that.

Jen Lewis:

There are no prouder moments than when I get an email that you cc me on when you say that to someone: "Yeah, this sounds like an incredible project. You know, I'm capable of this on this date in two weeks." I'm just like, "Oh my gosh, look at her setting boundaries - professional boundaries!" And, you know, there are times where when people ask us for things - yes, we have to do them right away. Because obviously, what's best for the company always comes first. But there are times where I think oftentimes - you and I have had this conversation a lot- where I think sometimes you're your own worst enemy. Or you were, before you started learning about boundaries, where you were concerned what people were going to think of you, or you would say, "Yes, I can get this done tomorrow," but they didn't even necessarily ask for it tomorrow. You kind of do these things to yoursel -, not just you, I think people in general. So I think setting boundaries and learning when to say not necessarily, "No," but,"Yes, dot dot dot," I think that's probably one of the biggest things I try to drive home to you and our team is that, you know, we're not a "No" team, we're never going to be a"No" team. We are always going to say, "Yes," but we are always going to protect our time. Because for me, if we have someone who submits a project for us, you know, three weeks ago, when we're working on finalizing it, and then someone comes up and says, "Hey, I need this in two days." I'm like,"Okay, well, you know, someone responsibly contacted us three weeks ago." So we have to, you know - I order a project to get this done. So, I think that's why it's important, because it's also respecting the process that other people have submitted to our team. So I think boundaries for me are just so, so, so important.

Meghan Peterman:

Yeah, absolutely. And then it even speaks to some of the things we were talking about earlier, setting boundaries with yourself, like okay, I'm in the middle of something, but it is going to be better for my well being, it's gonna be better for my productivity in the long run, if I keep this walking appointment with myself and I go get some fresh air and clear my head for a little bit. And so just remembering that those sorts of things, they're not - Oh, I'm listening to a book called Feel Good Productivity right now by Ali Abdaal, and he was talking about, you know, your brakes are not just a nice-to-have, they're not a sometimes-thing, like, schedule these, they are important. And this is going to change the kind of professional you are in the long run. And so keeping that appointment with yourself and being clear with that boundary of "I'm not going to look at my email right now when I said to myself that I wouldn't." That's also like a big part of the conversation, too.

Jen Lewis:

Yeah, and I think a lot of times where we feel that guilt, for me personally, is when I'm feeling low productivity. Because listen, we're all not machines, right? Not every single person can just be the same level of productive a day. I have my high days, I have my low days, I have, you know, just days where I feel overwhelmed with personal life, and you have to try to navigate those. So this is probably unpopular. And you guys might not even know this. But I mentioned earlier, I'm a creative thinker, but sometimes I hit those roadblocks or you know, whatever you want to call them. Brain farts, that's what my toddler calls them. So for me, if I'm feeling a creative block, instead of like a walking pad - those are more to just make me feel more energetic - but feeling creatively blocked, I typically play like Wordle or Words with Friends for like five or ten minutes, because it takes my brain like to a different place and not focusing on all the tabs open in my brain. I'm just focusing on something creative, or I have a game on my phone called dots. So for me, again, this is per person. But you know, it's probably an unpopular opinion, because people are like "Oh, screen time is so bad for you." But I'm like, "But it's not if you're using it in a way where you're trying to kind of reroute your brain." Alright, so, tip for you, if you don't do that. I love doing like a quick Wordle or something to just, you know, put my brain on a different path for the day. So, recently, we've had a lot of interns start, which is fantastic, and I love it so much. Let's pretend they're listening today. Let's hope they're listening today. Right? What is one piece of advice you would give someone who just started. even not at Kendall hunt, just someone who just started their career or their first big job? What is the first thing you would tell them to do in terms of being productive in the workplace, or some advice you would give them now that you're a little more seasoned in your career?

Meghan Peterman:

Honestly, the biggest thing, like I wish I knew was like, no one is - and fortunately! Ihope you're not working in this type of workplace. If you are, I'm sorry, maybe seek another opportunity. Come to Kendall Hunt! We would love to have you here - but like no one has this like brutal press on you and is watching every moment to make sure that you are the top maximum productive level, you know? They respect you, as an adult, to make the best choices that you're going to with your time. And so for me - I felt so stupid in the moment, but last week, I was like, "Okay, I need to I need to do some brainstorming, I need to rethink some things." And so I gave myself what I called, you know I feel so silly for saying this, but I gave myself "Radical Permission" to take that time and to really think things through. And it was a good time investment. Because, several weeks later, that time I took then is still helping me now, and is going to keep helping me for the next couple of months. And so you know, know that it is okay for you to take the steps to do your job in the best way possible. We're all unique, like Jen said, we're not robots, like- it is okay.

Jen Lewis:

Yeah, productivity is not one-size-fits-all. Not at all. I mean, you know, we've got, what, six people on our team. And I would say we're all very unique in the way that we work, yet we somehow find a way to all work cohesively. But I think that's a huge part of it too, if you're new to your career, is understanding that you work with lots of different personalities, and you have to adapt to those personalities, right? You're never going to be successful if you try your own work style on every personality, because everybody is different, right? The way that I mentor you guys in our meetings, every one of them are different, based off your personalities, based off of your goal, setting your boundaries the way that you are, you know, in your workweek. So I think learning to be adaptive is some advice that I would give, but I would obviously say,"Boundaries." I think just because you're new in your career - I think age doesn't matter. I think as long as you're someone who sets boundaries for yourself, respects your time, respects other people's time, I think those things will translate to being successful no matter where you are in your career. So that would be mine, and also I always

say this to people:

I remember it was a couple of months ago, someone came up to me. And she's like, "I'm so glad that our officers are by each other. You're not scary at all." I remember her saying that. I was like, "What do you mean?" She's like, "Well, I think there is kind of that connotation -" or people with different titles, or even you, like an intern might look at you, someone who's been here for a long time, I think there's always an intimidation factor, when you start at a company or when you're fresh in your career. You know, I think understanding that we're all just here to do a really great job. We're all working after one common goal. So if you can keep that in mind and understand that, and I've said this to you before, and I remember this conversation you, and I had was,"I'm at a different level in my career only because I'm older than you. And because I've gone after things that I want to go after. But I'm here to share those things that I've learned in my career with you. And then you will do the same thing and pass the torch to someone else." I'm not here to be a "Boss Boss," or to be, you know, certain things. I'm here to mentor, I'm here to share the things I've learned in my career, and hopefully guide you guys in a path that will help you figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life and your own careers. Right? Yeah, so don't be intimidated by people, set your boundaries, figure out what works for you, personally, in terms of productivity, self care, and all the things that go into, you know, work life balance, because it's hugely important - being successful in both. So I have so many other ones. But I feel like we've talked about a lot of important topics today, I feel good about the things we talked about, do you have anything else you want to add?

Meghan Peterman:

I don't think so. Really, again, just remember that, you know, these things are highly individual, the thing that you don't want is the whole toxic productivity mindset. Or like every minute has to be the maximum. The best way I feel like you can be productive is to understand that you are human, and you are biology, and just work best with your natural rhythms.

Jen Lewis:

Which is really interesting, coming from you, because we've known each other a year and a half now, and that's totally who you were when I first met you. 100%, like you've grown so much. But I think what you've done is taken everything we've talked about in this episode - this is why I wanted to do this one with you, is because you were that robot a year and a half ago. You were that person who was setting crazy goals and then feeling deflated. And you know, taking on too much - but it wasn't that you were taking on too much, is that you weren't focusing on the right things, and now look at you - highly productive, I think, feeling much better with what you have on your plate and just thriving in your career and doing amazing things for our team. So thank you for that. And I really appreciate you being here today. And I hope you guys all got something out of this episode. And again, if anybody has Outlook help, please send my way. Until next time! Thank you!