Why is it so important for us to pay attention to how we preserve printed and digital photo content? What are some good first steps towards curating a printed or digital photo collection? How can we make the task of organizing less overwhelming? These are just some of the questions we answer in this episode of Structure and Flow, with our special guest Bonnie Shay. How does this relate to your business? The answer is simple: you need to have the same organizational systems in place for your business assets (images, other digital assets) to be more productive. If you’re spending hours searching for that one image you downloaded once, that’s very inefficient!   Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the Quiz today and get your results!     You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Bio Bonnie Hillman Shay is a Certified Photo Organizer and founder of Mariposa Photo Organizing based in Highland Park, IL. Bonnie helps her clients organize, edit, and back-up their printed and digital photo and video collections as well as create photo books, online photo galleries and other ways of sharing their photos. She wants her clients to have access to their family photo treasures so that they can enjoy them, manage them and share them with generations to come. Bonnie has been featured in numerous publications and presents for live audiences, on teleseminars, and webinars. Bonnie is a member of NAPO (The National Association of Professional Organizers) and APPO (The Association of Personal Photo Organizers). Facebook Twitter  

In this episode, Minette and Brad dive into how important giving thanks is to our productivity. Gratitude can help you stay present in the moment, enjoy what’s happening now, and be less focused on worry over outcomes Gratitude can create a powerful ripple effect in the workplace (or at home – between the two of us) when we tell people how much we appreciate them they are happier, and happier people are more productive – go figure ! Keeping a gratitude journal is the best way to improve productivity: writing down what you’re thankful for increases happiness, and happiness increases productivity. Here’s a couple of great articles for you to dive into this topic: * Does Gratitude Make Us More Productive? * 20 Ways Gratitude Improves Productivity Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the Quiz today and get your results!     You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript  

In this week’s episode we talk with Lisa Pezik (another Canadian!) about how to get more productive and get more done without it really taking over your life. We go deep into how our different roles as a entrepreneurs affect our productivity. It’s all about blocking time and singular focus! Lisa shares her best productivity hacks, including power pockets 🙂 Bio In Lisa’s words, “In 2016, I was seconds away from being sideswiped by a transport truck. I was upset and distracted. “Enough is enough.” I swapped Netflix for personal development books, low calorie diets for whole foods, and learned from the best mentors in High Performance, Personal Story Power, and Online Marketing.  I still had a full time job. I was raising our little dude, and my business grew in the focused power pockets of my day. In two years, I released over 100lbs and built a six-figure online speaking, writing, 
and coaching business from my kitchen table. As a Registered Nurse, ACE Certified Trainer in Fitness, Nutrition, Youth Fitness, Seniors Fitness and Pain Free/ Function First Movement, I have a unique background and passion for freedom in families. Freedom of time, freedom of debt, freedom from suffering. I’ve been a featured expert on the Hamilton Life Show, published in Thrive Global and The Huffington Post, and I speak on stages all across the world. Be savage, and gritty, and eloquent, and resilient. The world needs YOU.”   Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the Quiz today and get your results! Links * https://www.instagram.com/lisa.pezik/ * https://www.facebook.com/LisaPezikCoach/ * https://twitter.com/lisa_pezik * https://lisa135.clickfunnels.com/free-gift-15ps   You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript  

We all see the world through our own eyes and the filters of our own experiences and environment &#8230; that&#8217;s natural But that&#8217;s not what our customers are seeing. Our customers are on their own journeys and they have their own reasons for behaving the way they do. If we are unable to understand, deeply, what drives our customers we will never create the connection with them necessary for them to trust that we are selling them products and services that are valuable to them. Jeffrey Shaw teaches businesses how to connect more deeply with their customers. He tells us some great stories that show what it is we can do to use the language that our clients understand. Bio Jeffrey Shaw is host of the popular business podcast Creative Warriors, a featured storyteller on The Moth, and a nationally acclaimed keynote speaker at creative and business conferences. For more than three decades, Jeffrey has been one of the most sought-after portrait photographers in the U.S. His portraits have appeared on the Oprah Show, in People magazine, O Magazine, and others. Having a keen eye isn’t just for what one sees, but also for what one senses. Jeffrey Shaw, a.k.a. the Lingo Guy, uses this honed intuition developed as a photographer to teach entrepreneurs how to attract their ideal customers by speaking their Secret Language. He’s the author of the book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible. Jeffrey is the father of three adult children and resides with his two dogs in Miami Beach. Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the Quiz today and get your results! IN THIS EPISODE YOU&#8217;LL LEARN: The 5 emotional triggers that will help your ideal client know that you are speaking their lingo: * You have to understand their Perspective  * Familiarity &#8211; We are innately drawn to things that are familiar to us * Style &#8211; we choose art, products, and services based on the style that we like * Pricing Psychology &#8211; pricing creates perception. Are you high-end or affordable? * Words &#8211; speak to them using their words Links * LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible * Jeffrey&#8217;s quick website review http://jeffreyshaw.pages.ontraport.net/websitereviewapplication &nbsp; You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript &nbsp; <a class="a2a_button_google_plus" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/google_plus?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpathtoprofitacademy.com%2Fepisode-125-speaking-customers-language%2F&amp;linkname=Episode%20125%3A%20Are%20You%20Speak...

Do you ever find yourself saying… &#8220;Oh, I just don&#8217;t have a head for money,” or, &#8220;I&#8217;m really not good at this [money]?&#8221; Actually, our special guest, Ellen Rogin, has found that creatives (and yes, that means you) can be pretty darn awesome at it. Oftentimes, we’ve simply grown up learning that creative skills aren&#8217;t necessarily the ones that make you good at money. When you think about it, if you don&#8217;t create a vision of where you want to go or listen to your own intuition, you’re not going to be as successful with money as when focused solely on the analytical. For the past 30 years, Ellen has been helping people with their money as a financial advisor. During that time, she’s also written several books including New York Times bestseller, Picture Your Prosperity: Smart Money Moves to Turn Your Vision into Reality. Early in her career, she realized that it wasn&#8217;t just about doing all the smart money moves or having lots of money that made people successful and content. A lot had to do with their mindset and approach to money that really had the whole package work. According to Ellen, generosity is the new currency in business. People who are going to do well are the ones out there seeing how to add value to someone&#8217;s life, and be generous with not only your clients but your team. Consider what&#8217;s the most generous response you can have to somebody? Let’s find out how to bring in more prosperity and success in your business, and make you and everyone around you feel better! Join the Productivity for Creative Business Owners Facebook Group Interested in joining a growing online community of people like yourself? Join today and introduce yourself! IN THIS EPISODE YOU&#8217;LL LEARN: * How generosity and abundance leads to better profitability at the end of the day * What makes people successful and truly content with their money * Piece of lucky networking advice that Ellen learned early on * What&#8217;s an Abundance Activist * A beautiful and practical way to give from the heart Bio Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® and Abundance Activist® is the co-author of NY Times best-seller, Picture Your Prosperity: Smart Money Moves to Turn Your Vision into Reality. Ellen speaks across the globe on creating success and abundance. Chock full of “left-brain” credentials (MBA, CPA, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™), Ellen also walks on the “right” side, balancing values, big picture ideas, meditation and a sense of humor with her professional training. She’s as comfortable talking about the power of compound interest as she is the power of belief. Ellen is a TEDx presenter, and her work has been quoted in such national publications as The New York Times, Money, Time.com, Forbes.com, and The Huffington Post. Ellen is founder and president of a wealth management firm north of Chicago and serves on the Board of Directors for Metropolitan Capital Bank in Chicago and The Ghana Scholarship Fund. Links www.facebook.com/AbundanceActivist/ www.twitter.com/ellenrogin ellenrogin.com/goodies You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript &nbsp; <a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpathtoprofitacademy.

Think about the rush you receive on Facebook when receiving tons of smiley faces, hearts, and comments on a brilliant post that you created… Or when you used to receive gold stars or cash as rewards when you were in school. We, creators, are biologically wired to receive a dopamine hit and feel rewarded around activities that we may initial drag our feet around. Already studies are being done on employee engagement and really looking at how gamification can make us more productive. Earlier this year, I read this cool book called Reality is Broken, written by academic Jane McGonigal. All about how the workplace is broken and it needs to function more like a game. How we can bring gamification into our creative businesses to invite more play and productivity into the work that we’re doing in the world? Gamification is the use of game elements and game thinking in non-game environments to increase engagement and improve better targeting. This introduces game-like elements into what you&#8217;re already doing in order to get better at it and have way more fun doing it. Creatives, we definitely need the visual reminders and the gamification. What we wanted to share with you today was how you can gamify your own productivity, and how you can do it old school analog style or with the latest gamification apps. Join the Productivity for Creative Business Owners Facebook Group Interested in joining a growing online community of people like yourself? Join today and introduce yourself! IN THIS EPISODE YOU&#8217;LL LEARN: * How the neuroscience of gaming creates a powerful form of intrinsic motivation * Fun ways to gamify your own productivity and implement new habits consistently * Jerry Seinfield&#8217;s simple and effective productivity system * All about bullet journals, day designers, app gamified trackers, and more Links * Blog Post Get More Done Gamify Your Life * Blog Post How to Gamify Team Productivity * Blog Post 5 Apps to Gamify Your Personal and Work Lives * The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg * Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal &nbsp; You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript &nbsp; <a class="a2a_button_google_plus" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/google_plus?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpathtoprofitacademy.

We&#8217;re Creatives. You, Minette, Brad &#8230; we just are. And with that comes what we like to term &#8220;Bright Shiny Idea Syndrome&#8221;. It&#8217;s both a blessing and a curse of creatives to have a wealth of great ideas. We have them because we see things differently. On the Blessings side of the equation, you&#8217;re never at a loss for something interesting and cool to work on. On the Curse side of the equation, people go into overwhelm and procrastination when they have too many ideas. Those same people have a tendency not to finish their work before they bounce to the next great idea: this is not the path to making money. That overwhelm and not finishing due to too many great ideas is what we term Bright Shiny Idea Syndrome. What do you do with these epic bursts of ideas? That&#8217;s what this episode is all about. Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the Quiz today and get your results! IN THIS EPISODE YOU&#8217;LL LEARN: The 5 steps to dealing with you bright shiny ideas: * Honor all your ideas &#8211; every one has value, you just don&#8217;t have to develop it now. Excitement about new ideas. Write them down, draw them out, put them in one place. Dump them out into a safe place where you won&#8217;t lose it. * Keep them in a safe place &#8211; it&#8217;s nice to have a fallback when you don&#8217;t have any new ideas * Allow to incubate &#8211; plant a seed in the garden and allow it to germinate. * Develop a few &#8211; see if people are interested, shine a light on a couple. Gently test a few. * Monetize one! &#8211; make sure it&#8217;s something that people really want and will pay you for. Links * Our Business Model Assessment &#8211; a great way to help you manage your ideas! &nbsp; You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript &nbsp;

Hey you &#8230; yeah you! With this episode we&#8217;re lighting a little tiny fire under you to spend an extra 10 minutes doing something active. Obviously that has health benefits, but it also improves your productivity How does exercise improve your productivity? * Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills &#8211; it actually physically changes your brain, increasing the size of parts of the brain the control thinking, learning, and memory. * Researchers at Stanford University found that there was a direct correlation between walking and creativity. * These brain changes resulted in an improved ability to * imagine the future and think creatively * concentrate * have sharper memories * learn faster * prolong mental stamina * lower stress Got your attention yet? With just a tiny investment of time and effort you could be more productive in your creative business. Aim to do 10 minutes more exercise per week. You don’t have to hit the gym like a madwoman &#8211; although that’s cool if you do &#8211; walking is great. Yard work is great. Just get your heart rate up, and keep adding more. Finally, if you need a cheerleader just ask &#8230; I&#8217;ll be that for you. Send me an email or comment below! Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the Quiz today and get your results! IN THIS EPISODE YOU&#8217;LL LEARN: * how exercise impacts your brain * how businesses are considering exercise a crucial part of their employees&#8217; job * how little it takes to gain productivity benefits from exercise Links * Regular Exercise Is Part Of Your Job &#8211; https://hbr.org/2014/10/regular-exercise-is-part-of-your-job * Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills &#8211; https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110 * Get Moving: Working (Out) Your Way To Intense Productivity &#8211; https://www.business.com/articles/working-out-your-way-to-intense-productivity/ * Exercise might be more than good for your brain — it could make you more creative as well &#8211; https://www.businessinsider.com/exercise-benefits-brain-creativity-stress-2016-11 &nbsp; You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript &nbsp; <a class="a2a_button_google_plus" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/google_plus?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpathtoprofitacademy.com%2Fepisode-121-exercise-and-productivity%2F&am...

Dear Podcaster, we are not gonna tell you what to eat. It says right here in our notes. We are not nutritionists or dieticians, but we are going to share with you what&#8217;s working for us. Today’s podcast is all about four surprising ways your diet impacts your productivity. Last week we shared how to bring mindfulness practices into our daily lives in Episode 119. In a past life, Brad spent a lot of time eating bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, beer, sugary stuff, cookies, and everything like that. And guess what happened? Not so fun giant insulin spikes, which led to big crashes, and clearly that&#8217;s a major productivity loss. While growing up in San Antonio, Texas, I had my fair share of eating the wrong (and now, right) foods for me. I would go through my day feeling foggy and totally drag on my productivity. Poor diet can also affect mental effectiveness, irritability, low energy levels, reduced ability to think clearly, even higher levels of stress and depression. So as creative business owners, we understand how important it is to pay attention to what we put into our body. Here are four ways your diet impacts your productivity: 1. Eating the wrong food for you. For example, you may be somebody that thrives on carbohydrates, but maybe there&#8217;s something else that doesn’t sit well with you. In Texas, I had one friend that was allergic to pinto beans, which we ate all of the time. So, I couldn&#8217;t even imagine not being able to eat refried beans with my Mexican Food. And what I found was that when I eat wheat-filled products, especially in combination with dairy, I woke up with a massive hangover the next morning. So I’ve been gluten-free since the early 90’s. 2. Not eating enough food. This causes your blood sugar to get really low, and really impacts your ability to focus and to make decisions. There have been some amazing studies done in companies. When people weren&#8217;t eating breakfast or a healthy lunch, they completely lost their ability to focus became super unproductive. Since that impacts their bottom line, they&#8217;re really willing to do something about it. So, a lot of companies, like one of our favorite companies, Ontraport provides healthy meals to their employees on a regular basis. As entrepreneurs, we can prepare our food ahead of time even when we work from home. 3. Irregular sleep cycles. This is one that Brad&#8217;s been working on a lot, it&#8217;s not one I struggle with as much. Food and sleep go hand in hand, in terms of supporting each other. Brad puts sleep higher than diet on the list of things you need to get right for productivity, but diet is just a close second. Caffeine in the afternoon is a tough one, especially for folks like me where that caffeine takes a long time to metabolize in my body. Eating the wrong food at night can just do craziness with your sleep patterns, from digestion, from mental things, stress levels, all that type of stuff. 4. How often you’re getting sick. Look at how often you get sick, and how long you&#8217;re sick for. I think to a certain extent, especially if you have kids, you&#8217;re always being exposed to new and wonderful things. There&#8217;s a huge difference between you feeling bad for two days and knocking it out, or that cold that gets its way into your system, and sticks with you for three weeks.  Fascinated and want to dig more into diet and productivity? Check out the full podcast on YouTube! Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the <a href="http://pathtoprofitacademy.

How do we bring more mindfulness, purpose, and ultimately more productivity into our creative businesses? That is the question Brad and I are exploring today. If you’re just now tuning in, we’re in the midst of exploring aspects of our life that can influence and improve productivity in ways you may not immediately think about&#8230; It&#8217;s about bringing mindfulness practices into our daily lives So that we&#8217;re in a place where we have a choice over our actions, feelings,  responses. We&#8217;re not in a state of constant reaction. I think that when we get crazy and too busy, we&#8217;re in that opposite space of mindfulness where we&#8217;re constantly reacting rather than proactively choosing what we&#8217;re doing. We recently finished a book called Mind Time that introduces the approach called AIM &#8211; allowing, inquiry, and meta-awareness. A really fantastic read! Especially for those of you interested in mindfulness without the attachment to religion. In it, they quoted a great study from insurance giant, Aetna, who offered mindfulness-based training to their team members. They found the team members who participated in simple training exercises added roughly 60 minutes of productivity per week, which they calculated was worth about $3,000 annually per team member. They were able to achieve a better quality of work through improved attention and reduced distractions, so you can easily understand how this increases your velocity. Improved attention means better quality work. Better quality work means less rework. Whatever you&#8217;re doing &#8211; whether it&#8217;s painting, videography, writing &#8211; better attention to your craft is going to result in better work. To create a better quality of work and learn how to use AIM, check out the full podcast. See you on YouTube! Take the Unique Productivity Style Quiz Once You Know Your Productivity Style You Can Learn The Best Way To Become More Productive In Your Creative Business. Take the Quiz today and get your results! IN THIS EPISODE YOU&#8217;LL LEARN: * A simple 10-minute a day mindfulness practice that improves quality decision-making * How mindfulness can bring more grace, ease, and productivity into your creative work * Suggestions on detaching from work and coming home * To be proactive instead of reactive in feelings, thoughts, and choices &nbsp; Links 28 Incredibly Motivating Quotes to Start Your Week 4 Ways Mindfulness Improves Your Productivity Mind Time by Michael Chaskalson &nbsp; You can also subscribe to this podcast on our Youtube channel. Transcript &nbsp; <a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpathtoprofitacademy.com%2Fepisode-119-how-mindfulness-helps-productivity%2F&amp;linkname=Episode%20119%3A%20How%20Mindfulness%20Helps%20Productivity" title="Twitter" rel=...