Episode 1133: Community and Productivity

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,133 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:07] Guang Ming Whitley: I'm gwangyang Whitley. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to build the skills to last a lifetime is key.

[00:00:22] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott.

[00:00:30] Scott Maderer: only, it's a productivity log to pay attention to what around you affects how much you get done, how quickly you get it done and with what kind of quality. And when you do that, you can begin to pay attention to what it is that you really need. To get done, not just more things, but the right thing.

[00:00:54] Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If [00:01:00] you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that.

[00:01:18] Can impact the world.

[00:01:20] And today's episode about impacting the world by stewarding your time. I talk with you about how the community helps your productivity. I share why sometimes technology can assist in this and how technology can sometimes detract from this. As we talk about stewarding your time. Wouldn't it be great. If you could support this podcast and do it without just taking too long, it turns out.

[00:01:44] All you have to do is use inspired stewardship.com/amazon. When you're ready to make a purchase via Amazon and a small commission, we'll come back to support the show. Just that quick. If you enjoy the show, when you are ready to buy from Amazon, just [00:02:00] use inspired stewardship.com/amazon. The interesting things about productivity is how it is affected by the community around.

[00:02:13] Have you ever been in an office environment, maybe you work with a group of people around you and you can hear the hum of the office. Whatever you want is has their head down and is doing things and being productive are maybe you've worked at home all by yourself with no one else around you. And you found yourself more productive in one of those environments over the other.

[00:02:39] Either way, there's a nature to our work that at times requires community around us. I'm not necessarily talking about needing someone else's input or needing something from somebody I'm just talking about a sense of community, a sense [00:03:00] of having other people who are perhaps if not doing the exact same thing, as you at least.

[00:03:06] Have some understanding of the work that you do as a coach, I work with other coaches in part, because being a coach is like most of small business, it feels like you're on an island. No one else really understands what you do. So I've plugged in with a community called coach connections, where we help other people who are interested in becoming financial coaches, learn how to do.

[00:03:33] But more important than just the knowledge and the skills is the community. The fact that we plug in with a group of other people who all have an abundance mindset, who all want to see each other succeed. And with the pandemic and more and more people working in virtual and at home environments, I think many of us are missing more than ever that [00:04:00] sense of community, that sense of having coworkers, that sense of having other people that understand what you do.

[00:04:07] And if you're a small business owner, maybe you used to get it by going to a co-working space. And maybe you can still do that. Maybe you can't it. I don't know. It depends on what environment you're in and safety and all sorts of other things. Each place is different. That's listening to this all around the world.

[00:04:27] And you go, technology can help because technology can give you a way of jumping on a zoom call or a Google meetup or something else. And having other people on camera that you can hear them in your headphones. And that y'all are all working. Maybe once an hour, you unmute, you share what you're planning on getting done that day.

[00:04:47] And then at the end of the hour, you report out to everyone. What you've done. These co-working spaces, even in a virtual environment are possible to do. Technology can be powerful in [00:05:00] that it allows us to work in a coffee shop on the road, maybe even on a cruise ship, but technology can also be difficult because sometimes those coworking spaces.

[00:05:12] In physical space are for some of us more of a connection than just the virtual environment. The truth is all of this is important to recognize and realize and think about, but even more important is that you recognize what you need and then you work to get it because technology can get in the way technology can be an advantage.

[00:05:42] The community and having the noise and the connection and working in a coworking space can be powerful. Working at home alone can be powerful as well. It's not that any one of these things makes you more or less productive. That's one of the problems I have with a lot of the productivity [00:06:00] stuff out there.

[00:06:01] It all talks about it as if this is the one way to do it. And yet we're all different people and even more. Even as a single person with one sort of personality, one sort of outlook on life, you may need different things at different points in your life, or even when you're doing different kinds of tasks.

[00:06:24] There are some tasks that I simply cannot do if I'm in a crowded, noisy environment. And then there are other tasks where that actually helps me keep my concentration and be more productive. Sometimes I have to turn on noise when I'm home alone. And other times I need silence, but you need to recognize in yourself, what is it?

[00:06:46] You need to get the focus and the attention. Productivity that you really want. It's more about paying attention. I've actually kept logs of [00:07:00] how productive I am at different times with different kinds of input with just white noise with music, with lyrics, with music, without lyrics, with podcasts, with other things going on.

[00:07:12] How much does it help me to be on a co-working call and how many. Do I need to be on a call where nobody else is there in a room where nobody else is there. How productive was I? What I used to go into the office versus now, when I work from home paying attention to these things and keeping a log, it's almost like keeping a diet log to pay attention to how you eat only.

[00:07:36] It's a productivity log to pay attention to what around you affects, how much you get done, how quickly you get it done and with what kind of. And when you do that, you can begin to pay attention to what it is that you really need to get done. Not just more things, but the right things. [00:08:00] Thanks for this.

[00:08:01] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast, as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your life. If you liked this episode on the stewardship of time, be sure to sign up for our stewardship of time tips series by going to inspired stewardship.com/time or texting 4 4, 2, 2, 2 time tips, and that'll get you our best tips on stewarding your time until next time.

[00:08:45] Invest your time. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.