EP 87: Emotional Eating & Body Acceptance with Kara Hackleman | Part 1

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Hello, hello.

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Welcome back to the Think Happy podcast. I am your host, Kaitlyn Cuevas. I am so happy and so thankful that you are here with me today. And today's episode is jam packed with so much goodness. So we're just going to dive right on in. It's no surprise that one of the topics I talked about about and coach on most frequently is time and task management. You've probably heard me talk about these things very regularly. So I thought it would be fun to go back through questions from the Think Happy community and then pick three that highlight themes I get asked about pretty frequently, specific to time and task management. So that is exactly what we are doing today. But first, I am so excited. And when I say so excited, I mean so with so many Os, excited to tell you about the Christmas and July sale that is going on all month. I have a huge smile on my face right now because as far as I'm concerned, Christmas is the best time of year. So growing up, I loved when my favorite TV channels would do Christmas in July and play Christmas movies for the month of July.

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Do you remember that? So I thought, you know, think Happy should do Christmas in July too. So here we are, Merry Merry. For the month of July, you can join the becoming your best you group program for an extremely merry 30 % off. BYBY is an eight week group program that has been designed to take you from overwhelmed, stressed, running in circles, unproductive with your time, distracted, on empty, to being in control of your life and everything on your to do list, to having a plan for each day, to consistently having enough time for yourself, and ultimately to being in the driver's seat of your own life. In the words of my client Sarah, through becoming your best you, I have been able to work on myself in ways that I would have never imagined. I'm a better person, mother, wife, and professional. Now, let me tell you what you are going to learn inside of becoming your best you. You will learn how to identify time you waste and use unproductively and how to reallocate that time back to yourself. You'll learn time management practices that you can start incorporating into your life immediately so you can start optimizing your time right away.

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You'll learn how to manage and prioritize your tasks so you're able to efficiently get them done. You'll learn how to identify tasks that can be delegated and how to start delegating them. And you'll learn how to build a routine that is sustainable and fosters being your best you. Included in this group program are loads and loads of self paced educational videos. And by loads and loads, I mean, around 15, maybe even more than that. Also included are weekly live group coaching calls with me to support your learning and growth and to add additional insight to the weekly videos. And of course, to answer all of your specific questions to brainstorm specifically what the things you're learning would look like in your life. And also included in the program is daily communication with me and the other group members inside of a private community to provide support and ongoing guidance throughout the program. So to jump in to BY BY with the Christmas in July 30 % discount, DM me on Instagram, DM me the words BY BY Christmas, and I will get you all set up. And for more information on BY BY, head to thinkhappyco.com/byby. If you didn't guess, BY BY is short for becoming your best you. All right, now, let's get into question number one surrounding time and task management. Okay? So this first question, I have the most energy in the morning but have trouble getting motivated and focused to start tackling work. What are good tips on getting and staying motivated to work through the to do list without getting overwhelmed by the amount of items on that list? Okay, so that was the question. I love this question because it's something that many of us can relate to. So I am like you, not you necessarily listening, you to the person who in the past submitted this question. I'm like you. I also have the most energy in the morning. So I have a couple of suggestions to specifically answer this question. But before I get to those, I want to talk to the people who might not feel like they have the most energy and motivation in the morning because that is okay too. Being able to identify which time of of day is your, quote unquote, time to shine is very important when it comes to task and time management and productivity.

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It's also really important when you're setting attainable goals, when you're creating sustainable habits. So there's no right or wrong here. If you're on your A game in the morning, awesome. If you're not on your A game until lunchtime, that is awesome too. The key is to identify your A game day part. So back to this specific question. So tips on getting and staying motivated to get through your to do list without getting overwhelmed by how many tasks are on it. So my first tip, make your to do list before you're ready to start tackling it. I've gotten in the habit of making my to do list at the end of my work day. And if I don't have time to do it during my normal working hours, I'll sit down and make it after both kids are in bed, but before I go bed. And then my double backup plan is if I don't do it in the evening, then I'll do it first thing in the morning while I'm drinking my coffee before I'm actually starting to dive into work. So pre making your to do list accomplishes a few things. First, you're not using up some of your A game time to make your to do list.

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If your to do list is already done, you can kick off your A game time by immediately tackling your list. It also gives you time to digest and mentally prepare for what the day holds for you. So that's the first tip to pre make your to do list. My second tip, after you make your to do list, highlight the top three most important things on it. So a good way to think about this is if all hell breaks loose tomorrow and I'm only able to get three things checked off of this list, what are those three things? Identifying your top three highest priorities helps you to prepare for the unexpected curveballs that life likes to throw. Some days we're going to be able to be more productive than others. That's just the nature of being human. If you're unknowingly embarking on a day that's going to become unproductive due to unforeseen circumstances, you'll know that if you get nothing else checked off of your list for that day, at least you have your three highest priorities identified and you're able to tackle them first. Now, that's the second tip to identify your top three highest priorities.

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Now, my third tip is to work in batches of three or five tasks at a time. Now, this is separate from identifying your top three priorities. When you sit down to start tackling your to do list, number the first three or five items that you're going to check off. Once you get those finished, do it again. Renumber what's left in batches of either three or five. This is a tip that I use weekly. I use this tip, this strategy very regularly. This tip is what will help you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of tasks on your list. It breaks your list down into bite sized pieces. It also helps preserve your mental energy. So when you inevitably get pulled away from your task at hand or your train of thought, when you're getting back to it, all you have to do is look to see which number you were on, then pick back up where you left off. So tip number three, work in batches of three or five tasks at a time. Okay, wow, we've already hit the ground running. This is fun. We should do more of these episodes. Okay, question two.

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I feel like so many of my days are busy, but I don't really feel like I get anything checked off my list. And sometimes I don't even really know what productive things I accomplished. Why is this? And how can I become more productive? Okay, so let's break this question down into a couple of different parts. So we'll start with the why. Why is this? So one tricky form of procrastination is by doing work or by doing tasks that aren't as time sensitive or critical as other things on your list, but that might feel like a quick win or easier or faster or more enjoyable to accomplish. And the tricky thing is that when we're able to tell ourselves that, while I'm getting things done, while in reality you are getting things done, but you just might not be getting the right things done. So I would bet that if you're feeling like you're busy during the day but are not accomplishing anything productive, that this tricky form of procrastination is at play. Now, second part of this, what to do about it. So one thing you could do is audit your days. This is not fun, but it is very enlightening.

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So for one whole week, keep a log of everything you do during the day and about how much time it takes you. The key here is to be honest with yourself. If you fudge the numbers, you'll actually lessen your opportunities for change. Then at the end of the week, review your daily logs. On a separate sheet of paper, make a note of each task and tally up the total amount of time you spend on that task during the week. Start with identifying the low hanging fruit, scrolling on your phone, unnecessary spur of the moment purchases, mindless TV time. Next are going to be the items on your list that can benefit from a time saving technique such as delegating, task pairing, creating a boundary. So you could delegate weekly grocery shopping to a grocery drop off service, or you could pair catching up on on the bachelor while doing laundry, or you could create a boundary of no screen time in bed. Okay? As I'm.

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Sitting here, I'm drinking the most delicious cup of Kirbeans Coffee. Kirbeans is a wife and husband duo who turn their passion for coffee into a business. They are so sweet and it makes me so happy seeing their business thrive. Now, let me tell you why Kerbese is thriving. To put it simply, it's because their coffee is amazing. Think Happy has had the honor of getting to pick a Think Happy Signature Roast. These dark roasted Mexico beans smell like a good day waiting to happen. When brewed, they create the smoothest cup of coffee you have ever tasted.

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And it is.

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Even still good after being reheated. If you're like me and frequently get pulled away from your coffee, you know that's important. And I have a special treat for you. Think Happy listeners receive 15 % off their order of Kirbeans. Head to Kirbeans Coffee. Kirbeans is spelled K, I. R, B, E. A, N, S. And use code Think Happy at checkout for your 15 % discount. Again, that's Kirbeans Coffee, code Think Happy for 15 % off.

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Finally, create a game plan. How are you going to put into action some of this information you unveiled? Start with baby steps and then slowly build. Auditing your days for a whole week is not a lot of fun to do, but like I said, it is very enlightening. The second thing that you could do about this is task prioritization. Prioritizing my tasks is something I do almost every single day, sometimes even on the weekends. This goes back to some of those tips that I was giving in the second question. So you could make a to do list, identify your top three priorities, work in batches of three or five. Those are all examples of task prioritization strategies that you can use. Okay, so yeah, that was question two. We talked about the why and the what to do about it. Now, question number three. Let's see here. Do you believe in a self reward system to help motivate you to complete tasks? My short answer here is yes, but this is a great question question because it opens up the topic of rewards in general, not just rewards specifically surrounding tasks. Okay? So because of that, I have a two part answer for you.

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First part will be specific to reward wards with getting through tasks. And then the second part will be about rewards with creating habits, routines, goals, etc. First part, I think that rewards are a great motivator to help you push through a long to do list as long as they are used as a quick refresh and not as a distraction. Here's what I mean. A good way to use rewards is to use the technique that we discussed earlier in the other questions about grouping tasks by three or five. So if you're using that technique, once you have completed a group of tasks, it's an appropriate time to reward yourself. But then here's the key. Post reward, you get back to your next batch of tasks. So a few things to keep in mind if you choose to implement rewards in this fashion, it's going to be helpful to identify your next batch of tasks before you pause for your reward. This will help you be able to get right back to work when the reward is finished. So second thing to keep in mind, the reward should be a quick refresh. Emphasis on quick. Think like 5, 10 minutes.

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Here are some examples. You can stand up to stretch, refill your water, grab a quick snack, heat up your coffee. Another example is doing a totally irrelevant task that will still help you feel productive during that time. So for example, if you're at work checking off work related tasks, but you know that you need to get a birthday present, present for your friend's birthday party next week, your reward could be hopping over to Amazon or her favorite boutique's website and spending 10 minutes picking out and ordering her present. That could be another reward. Now, another thing that I want you to keep in mind if you choose to implement rewards like this. Be intentional with your reward time to help prevent it from turning into a time sucking distraction. Your rewards should serve as a refresh to allow you to keep knocking things off of your to do list, not as something that prevents you from getting through your to do list. Now, next up, the last thing to keep in mind here is being mindful of your reward time will also help you to fully enjoy the reward and gain the most from it.

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If your reward is to scroll on your phone, set a Timer and adhere to that Timer. To do this, you're going to have to have a lot of self control, so fair warning. Or if your reward is to watch a TV show, break it up into 10 minute increments. Again, set a Timer, practice self control. You could get through a whole 30 minute episode of something if you break the show up into three different rewards. Do you see what I'm saying there? So the second part of this now lengthy answer is going to be about rewarding yourself when creating habits, routines, goals, things like that. I won't spend too much time here since this episode is intended to focus on time and task management, but I can't leave this conversation without at least touching on it. So I believe rewards are also a good tool to be used when working toward a goal or building a habit or routine. Again, when used appropriately. So in this scenario, a reward should be relevant and support your desired outcome. So let's say you're working on a goal to get back into an exercise routine. An example of a reward that is not relevant or does not support your desired outcome is to reward yourself by taking a whole week off or doing something that ditches your healthy eating or just randomly buying an iPad.

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However, a reward that is relevant and does support your desired outcome would be getting a new pair of running shoes or a new exercise outfit or splurging on your favorite expensive recovery drink or even mixing up your routine in a way that feels fresh and new, exciting. Do you see the difference between those rewards? Rewarding your sofa sticking with your exercise plan for two weeks by skipping your routine for a week does not support your desired outcome of building a habit. However, rewarding yourself by getting a new cute sports bra is relevant to your goal and will likely help motivate you to keep at your plan. Okay, wow, that was jam packed. So let's start wrapping up this episode. Today, I answered three questions that are about time and task management, one of my favorite topics. The first question we covered was how to stay motivated to work through a to do list without getting overwhelmed. The second question we covered is what to do about being busy but not productive. And finally, we talked about how to use a reward system to help motivate you to complete your tasks. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a friend.

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Word of mouth is such a great way to support the Think Happy podcast and all of your other favorite podcasts. So with that being said, thank you in advance. Thank you for tuning into this week's episode and I'll talk to you later. Thank you for joining me for this week's episode of the Think Happy podcast. I would so appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review. And if you just can't get enough, find me on Instagram @ thinkhappy co, that's C O, and online at thinkhappyco.com. I'll be back in your ears next week with another episode of the Think Happy podcast.