In this conversation, John Kozicki (Michigan Rock School and RockSchoolProprietor.com) and Mandy York (Music Time of Milford) explore the intricacies of productivity, focusing on the importance of mindset, planning, and routines. They discuss how self-accountability plays a crucial role in maintaining productivity without a traditional boss. The dialogue delves into personal strategies for effective time management, the impact of morning routines, and the challenges of transitioning between different roles in their professional lives. They also touch on the pitfalls of social media and procrastination, emphasizing the need for preparation and consistency in both personal and professional settings.
In this episode:
- Self-accountability is essential for productivity without a boss.
- Mindset significantly influences daily productivity.
- Planning ahead can alleviate stress and enhance focus.
- Morning routines set the tone for a productive day.
- Avoiding social media can lead to greater presence and focus.
- Understanding personal productive times can optimize task management.
- Consistency can simplify decision-making and enhance energy levels.
- Procrastination often stems from fear of imperfection.
The connection between mindset and physical activity, and how a clear mind can inspire creativity.
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Episode Transcript:
John Kozicki (00:01.452)
Welcome to Rock School Proprietor Podcast. My name is John Kozicki.
Mandy (00:05.878)
and I’m Mandi York.
John Kozicki (00:07.632)
Mandy, we’re gonna talk about productivity, well, kind of productivity today. I pitched the idea to you about, I guess, more routines in our lives that help to promote productivity, which, you know, we were just chatting a little bit before we started the recording, and I’m interested to hear how you approached this topic.
compared to how I approached it because you were saying something about, well, based on the different hats that you wear in your business, you focus on things differently. I sort of looked at it more as like this broad picture, like myself as a human being, how do I maintain a routine that leads to like productivity? And it’s a weird thing, I think, when…
Mandy (00:53.454)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (01:06.182)
Like, you know, we don’t have bosses.
Mandy (01:09.486)
Hmm.
John Kozicki (01:11.61)
which is both, I mean, I think it’s great. But it comes with this thing where like no one necessarily is going like, hey, did finish your TPS report? Like get that on my desk by the end of the day. You know, we have to get ourselves to finish those TPS reports. So it’s this, like there’s this self accountability thing, which then means,
Mandy (01:15.372)
Yes, yep, it is great.
Mandy (01:28.716)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mandy (01:40.472)
Yes.
John Kozicki (01:41.658)
we have to stay productive, because if we don’t, then things can just kind of fall by the wayside.
Mandy (01:49.035)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that doesn’t feel good ever. And it, for me, you know, it’s ebbed and flowed before where I do. I haven’t, if you don’t stay on top of things, you have to play catch up. It doesn’t feel good. You know, it, it affects, and because these are our businesses, we don’t have, these are our own small businesses. We don’t have a boss. It bleeds into the rest of your life too. Right? You don’t want that. Yeah.
John Kozicki (02:01.692)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (02:13.276)
Totally yes Yeah and so much so that it I was thinking about how Like yesterday it was really sunny here And I just felt lighter, you know It’s still freezing cold. I mean it was still like what 14 degrees but just seeing the sunshine kind of boosted my mood a little bit and it got me thinking about how funny it is when
Mandy (02:24.504)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm, yes.
John Kozicki (02:41.372)
Some mornings I wake up and I’m just like not feeling it, whether it’s because I didn’t get a good night’s sleep or whatever it is. And I have to figure out how am I going to, how am I going to fix this so that I can approach the day and the tasks that I need to handle in a way that the entire day doesn’t feel like a challenge versus some days you just, you wake up and you’re like, all right, let’s go.
Mandy (02:47.79)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (03:11.246)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (03:11.484)
And it’s funny how much of that I think is maintaining a healthy mindset to ensure a productive day. At least that’s the way I look at it.
Mandy (03:24.12)
Yeah. No mindset is a lot of it. Yes. And I, so I take a lot of kind of practical approaches, right? We approach this a little bit differently. talking about this, but, I look at it as a teacher, the things that I need to do to have, a good day, good teaching day to stay productive and focused is like, I have to have the classroom ready when I walk in. I teach.
John Kozicki (03:42.768)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (03:53.73)
Tuesday through Saturday mornings, okay? So every morning, and if I left things the day before, like the afternoon before to do later, that’s not a good way to start the day. So I walk in and my classroom is just ready to go. And then that allows me just to focus on the students, the parents, the having fun piece of it. And I’m not like…
John Kozicki (03:56.038)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (04:04.529)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (04:07.9)
Mmm.
John Kozicki (04:21.968)
Yeah.
Mandy (04:22.274)
worried about forgetting something or scrambling to get a task done before families start arriving. So stuff like that. Yeah, I’m like, I’m in a good mindset when I walk in. I got my coffee already, had a little breakfast and like that’s how I take care of me by making sure there’s not tasks waiting for me when I walk into the room. No.
John Kozicki (04:29.798)
That makes sense. Yeah.
John Kozicki (04:40.891)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (04:44.932)
Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Well, so how are we going to do this? I mean, I’ve got I’ve got kind of three things that I wanted to talk about with with myself on how I try and maintain that healthy mindset for productivity. It sounds like you’ve got two categories that are more based on Mandy, the teacher and Mandy, the business owner. Yeah.
Mandy (04:55.982)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (05:06.595)
Yes.
Mandy (05:11.502)
Yes. Yep. Yeah.
John Kozicki (05:14.708)
is there overlap with, with those things?
Mandy (05:19.886)
Yeah, yeah, just a little bit, I guess, like the ideas of like pre-planning and being prepared. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
John Kozicki (05:29.284)
Okay. well, do you want to start? Okay. All right.
Mandy (05:33.314)
Yeah, let’s go. Like I said, I take care of myself and start off with a good mindset in the mornings by having everything ready. So that means the day before all the tasks are done. My classroom is ready. I lesson plan once a week. I do all of my planning and I get that done like.
John Kozicki (05:56.732)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (06:03.192)
probably four days. Yeah, I usually do it on Thursdays before the new week starts so that I can kind of sit with my plan. You know, that’s just how I do things. I like to get it all on paper. It’s ready to go. But then I can sit with it, play with different ideas, stuff like that. It’s not rushed. See my theme here? Like it’s ready to go.
John Kozicki (06:09.125)
Okay.
John Kozicki (06:14.012)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (06:22.513)
Yeah.
Yes. huh.
Mandy (06:30.478)
And I guess lastly, as a teacher too, part of the planning process, also, I prep like my parent education pieces too. Like what? That’s, that’s part of my lesson plan too. Yeah. And I utilize some technology in my studio. have a TV monitor that I use. there’s lots of windows in the studio. So I just have a slideshow running for, you know, when we’re not in session, but then I use it for the, for the classroom too.
John Kozicki (06:39.74)
yes, we’ve talked about that. Yeah.
John Kozicki (06:49.145)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (06:54.342)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (07:00.302)
putting up some tips for parents that I will reinforce through things that I tell them during the class. So as a teacher, that’s pretty much the gist.
John Kozicki (07:00.604)
Okay.
John Kozicki (07:09.798)
Okay.
So make just, yeah, so it sounds like just making sure that you have a clear plan for basically the entire week, right? And you’re planning it days ahead of time. Okay.
Mandy (07:21.464)
Yes.
Mandy (07:24.846)
Yep. And we’ve talked about this before. Like, we’re seasoned teachers. You can do, you can teach on the fly. there’s, you know, we know how to adjust in the moment and all of that. But really, like, if we’re talking about our own personal wellbeing, this is what’s good for me, is going in and everything’s ready. Yep.
John Kozicki (07:33.03)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (07:44.828)
Mmm.
Okay, all right. Well, let’s do it like this. Because I feel like mine are gonna kind of take a big left turn when I start talking about mine. So let’s talk about your like Mandy as the business owner. What are the things that you do to maintain a productive routine as a business owner?
Mandy (08:00.076)
Yeah, I know, yeah.
Mandy (08:15.17)
Yeah, this is challenging for me because I do teach five mornings a week and then I have to, you know, I teach until noon, 12, 15. And then I have to shift, right? And put the other hat on. Like I said, it’s challenging for me to make that shift kind of so quickly.
John Kozicki (08:22.562)
Yeah, yeah.
John Kozicki (08:36.443)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (08:44.098)
I feel like you’re someone that’s really good at that, John. You can just like, your blocks of time, you can go from this to this to this. I don’t know. I feel like in conversations from the past that you are good at that.
John Kozicki (08:52.024)
You know, it’s, you know, it’s funny though. Like I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been called out by like students or anyone who just kind of peeks over my shoulder and sees my laptop and how many tabs I have open on my, on Google Chrome. And I’m like, well, that is like what you’re saying about how I jumped from task to task.
Mandy (09:11.918)
You
John Kozicki (09:20.814)
I do, but that’s, don’t know if that’s necessarily the best thing. You know, if I’ve got, if I’ve got 15 tabs open and I’m jumping from like one to the other throughout the day, yeah, I don’t know if that’s good or not, but yeah, guilty.
Mandy (09:20.856)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (09:34.318)
Yes. Well, yeah. I, it, my shift is also during lunchtime, right? So I finish up, got to clean up and then have something to eat. And then I found that I get to my desk and I’m like, okay, what now? What am I supposed to do? You know, this year has been a change for me because I have two kids.
John Kozicki (09:43.236)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (09:54.67)
Yeah.
Mandy (10:03.672)
They’re both in middle school now. And so they’re getting out of the house earlier in the morning. This so fantastic. And I’m utilizing those early morning hours now. So I’m up with the kids. They’re old enough. I don’t really need to do anything. I’m just overseeing, making sure that everyone’s got what they need, you know?
John Kozicki (10:09.318)
Yeah.
Hahaha!
John Kozicki (10:28.764)
right.
Mandy (10:30.998)
So I can sit at the table or the couch and start knocking out a few emails, right? Like I’m really into that. Like, even if it’s just a bite size of something, man, you’ve gotten something done before you’ve even got into the studio. You know, that’s, that’s good. So those early morning hours answer a few emails. I mentally and even just mentally prep. I look at my weekly planner.
John Kozicki (10:36.943)
Yep.
John Kozicki (10:48.956)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mandy (10:59.874)
right? And look at what I’m going to accomplish in the afternoon. You’re, you’re really good with your weekly planner. And I have, I love my, my like magic paper notebook, you know, I use like the remarkable pad. I love that thing. that’s where I keep my weekly planner. And so I will, I’ll add to it. I’ll move things from day to day really easily. And that morning time is when I’ll take a look at that and see.
John Kozicki (11:03.696)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (11:28.954)
Okay.
Mandy (11:29.738)
what am I going to be doing this afternoon? I’ll also take a look at my admin weekly planner too. So because this, my gadget is electronic, it’s shared with her, I can just jot things down. And then when I see her in the afternoon, all of that is updated and ready to go. Delegating takes time. If I like…
John Kozicki (11:45.72)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mandy (11:55.872)
If I just kind of finished three hours of teaching and my head’s kind of spinning to have to like delegate, figure out what I need to do, figure out what I need to do, and then delegate to the admin at the same time. Like, no, it’s, it’s gotta be done ahead of time. And even just that, like going through the mental prep of what, what’s going to happen in the afternoon is helpful. Yeah.
John Kozicki (12:07.612)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (12:18.628)
Okay, so the theme that I’m picking up from you is that if you don’t plan at least what a few hours a day, a day ahead of time, then then you have you struggle. This is so funny because I took a completely different approach to this topic. And for our listeners. Yeah, we like oftentimes when we discuss what our topics are going to be.
Mandy (12:28.288)
At least a few hours. Sure. Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (12:40.59)
But this is what’s so great.
John Kozicki (12:48.592)
We it’s like a sentence. If even that hey, how about we talk about this and then we separately will plan and come up with our points and. Like oftentimes we barely even discuss it before we start the actual recording and and it’s funny how. Alright, well. You’re about to enter my Zen studio. Well.
Mandy (12:51.884)
Yeah.
Mandy (13:04.768)
Yes.
Mandy (13:14.314)
Yes, and I want to hear this. Yes.
John Kozicki (13:18.3)
There was like a, thought where you were going, you started talking about your kids and you have that morning time that you’re working with now. And I thought, okay, this is where we’re the same. This is where we have crossover. My first point with how I maintain a routine that leads to a productive day, 100 % starts with what I do in the morning.
And it’s not even about planning lessons or what I’m going to do with this band or how I’m going to talk with my employees. It has nothing to do with that. It’s like so, like it’s personal, you know?
I go for morning walks or I have to have some sort of morning exercise. And like what it does is number one, and ideally, like it’s been really cold here in Michigan, like really cold. And so even just earlier this week, I tried to go for a walk and it was outside and it was brief. was like 20 minutes. My toes were starting to freeze and I was like, my gosh, this is not good.
I’ve got a treadmill, but it’s just not the same as when I go outside, walk in the woods, because it clears my head.
Mandy (14:40.974)
But no.
John Kozicki (14:48.568)
So after I get the kids to school and do our morning stuff, that’s one of the first things I do. I go hike in the woods and disappear for an hour. I think it’s that the physical aspect of that paired with the emotional aspect just really allows me to put
Mandy (15:00.984)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (15:17.317)
It allows me to get my head in like a clear frame of mind. Does that make sense?
Mandy (15:22.638)
yeah, I love walking. I do. And we have a lot of great places around here, around us, you and I, to walk. I’m not a morning walker, but I, my husband and I both are into a really good evening walk. You’re right. It’s about, it’s the fresh air. It’s the, it’s the nature. And do you listen to books when you walk or podcasts?
John Kozicki (15:31.056)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (15:47.962)
Well, yeah, so I yeah, and I used to run and I still do sometimes but like something about the walk just works better because it’s less strenuous. So but yeah, sometimes I will listen to audiobooks. Sometimes I’ll listen to a podcast, sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s like total silence. But almost always.
Mandy (16:00.206)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (16:18.548)
Even if I’m listening to an audiobook or something, almost all the ways I’ll pause it because I’ll have a thought about, what if we did this? What if we tried this at the school? What if I did this thing for like what? What if we talked about this for the podcast? I’m almost always taking notes, voiced text on my phone, on those walks. I like some of the best ideas and
That’s where I do some of my best thinking is in the morning on those walks.
Mandy (16:52.398)
Mm-hmm. Yep. That’s really cool. I love that. I think there’s something about moving your body too. Moving your body, being alone, and it, your brain is working. You’re giving your brain time, I don’t know, to work through these things. Love it.
John Kozicki (17:00.326)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
John Kozicki (17:07.802)
Right, right. Now, like the flip side of that is another thing that I found really impacts me in a negative way in the morning is if I look at social media.
Mm hmm. It’s it’s like this massive mental black hole. So I mean, I can look briefly, but you know how the algorithm sucks you in and go on for it, you know what you intend to be like five minutes. And if you’re not careful, can suck you in and that can ruin my day.
Mandy (17:43.043)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (17:56.316)
can absolutely ruin my day and it has ruined my day. yeah, yeah. So I definitely try to avoid the social media early in the
Mandy (17:59.49)
Yep, I’ve been there.
Mandy (18:10.478)
That’s really good. We’ve, we were just recently talking about this. I’ve stopped using social media, like just a little over a month ago, completely. And I love it. It’s great. I don’t get sucked in anymore to those things. there’s
John Kozicki (18:17.648)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (18:28.4)
Have you noticed anything like any changes in, I don’t know, since you stopped?
Mandy (18:36.526)
Yeah, I do. feel like I’m just more present at home. And then, but at work, things are going really well right now. And I have to think that this is part of it. Like I’m just, I’m, my morning routine is like spot on right now. I feel good when I get to work. you’re talking about the morning, but I think evenings were worse for me, you know?
John Kozicki (18:41.777)
Okay.
John Kozicki (18:49.147)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (18:56.475)
Nice.
John Kozicki (19:06.126)
yeah.
Mandy (19:06.594)
like coming down at the end of the day and picking up my phone as the kids are doing their thing and getting ready for bed. my gosh. I don’t, it’s not there anymore. In fact, I even set my phone so that it, I’ve got like a time limit or something or a downtime. Yeah. So I don’t, yeah, I don’t check my email after nine.
John Kozicki (19:24.186)
No way. So it’s so funny. I have on mine. Yeah, I have honorable mention. I have honorable mention that, yeah, when I wind down in the evening, I feel best if like if I’m, if I’m like watching TV, that’s something like story based, right? And instead of mindless scrolling, but like I do the same thing. I have an alarm on my phone that
Mandy (19:43.712)
Yes, different.
John Kozicki (19:53.776)
like reminds me, okay, in the evening, time to put it away.
Mandy (19:57.42)
Yeah, yeah. Well, I figured like I’m using these kind of controls for my teenager. And that’s when I decided like, I’m going to put it on my phone too. Yeah.
John Kozicki (20:02.83)
Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. That’s that’s so smart. That’s so smart. So one of my other points, so I’ve got the my morning routine, avoiding social media. And this is a big one for me. And it’s, it’s hard to it’s hard to articulate truly, like, but it’s more about awareness of
my most productive times. So I know that between about 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
I, my brain is most productive in areas of like creativity, problem solving. So what I try and do is I try and plan tasks for those times versus other tasks like in the afternoon or when I’m at the studio that are like, I don’t know if I have to create a song chart or something for
one of the bands at the rock school. I shouldn’t do that from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. I should do that later, you know, in the day, because I feel like it’s, I’m working my brain in different ways. Yeah, I don’t know, is that weird?
Mandy (21:27.116)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mandy (21:36.622)
I think it’s really cool. haven’t, I haven’t, I mean, I know that I am most productive in the mornings. And so it’s kind of a bummer that that’s when I’m teaching. Cause like on a Sunday or Monday morning when I’m not teaching, mean, I’m like unstoppable in the morning. I can get so much done, but so I kind of understand what you’re saying. I’ve never thought about like assigning specific tasks for different times of the day. You get really.
John Kozicki (21:43.164)
Mm-hmm.
yeah.
Yeah.
John Kozicki (21:53.82)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (22:04.418)
really specific there about being creative in the morning.
John Kozicki (22:05.968)
Well, yeah, it’s less about assigning and just over time knowing.
this thing that I have to do might be better for this afternoon. And so I kind of think about it like that. I also make this, I can make decisions quicker in the morning. I think it’s less, there’s second guessing. I just feel more confident like, yeah, let’s do this. We’re gonna do this. So if I’m able to make those decisions in the mornings,
put it to bed and then it’s it’s done. So yeah, but you know, mean, when I get to the studio, it’s it’s busier, it’s noisier. And I think part of it is that. But I also think it’s something about those early morning hours. My brain is fresh and yeah, I can function better with those creative tasks.
Mandy (22:49.71)
All right.
Mandy (23:08.494)
Yeah, makes sense.
John Kozicki (23:12.28)
I’ve got some honorable mentions too. And these, these are all like a little bit silly, maybe. I mentioned the alarm on my phone, like that you have to the for downtime. What I watch on TV. This one’s gonna make me sound so boring, but I eat the same thing or almost the same thing for lunch, like pretty much every day. Yes.
Mandy (23:14.712)
Let’s hear it.
Mandy (23:38.926)
Yeah. I have lunch on my honorable mention. yeah, I want to hear. I do. Yes. Why do you eat the same thing every day?
John Kozicki (23:41.212)
You do? Well, for one, I feel like
I don’t want to have to make that decision. Right? That’s not that’s not like if I know what I’m going to have for lunch. This sounds so silly when I say it out loud. If I know what I’m going to have for lunch, then like I don’t even think about it. And I can I can get lunch done in 15 minutes. You know?
Mandy (24:07.032)
Hahaha
Mandy (24:18.648)
John, I am right with you. have no idea. But that’s breakfast for me. Like I, like for years actually, I’ve been having the same thing for breakfast. Breakfast is really important to me because I mean, I’m like, I’m, I’m doing three shows in a row. I’m like, Miss Mandy jumping around and having fun and being silly, right? Like my, my
John Kozicki (24:24.988)
Okay.
John Kozicki (24:39.834)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (24:47.392)
a stage presence comes out that, you know, my character. So if I don’t have a good breakfast, I’m just like, I’m dying by the end of it. So I have like a vegan protein, peanut butter, cinnamon, kale, spinach, like every single morning, because I don’t have to think about it. And I know it works. Lunch is different for me, though. And lunch is when because yes.
John Kozicki (24:49.146)
Right, yeah.
John Kozicki (25:07.204)
Yeah.
Okay. because you’re depleted. You’re emotionally depleted.
Mandy (25:16.302)
And, and my husband teases me a lot that like, if I didn’t have him, I wouldn’t know how to feed myself. Cause he, he makes dinner and everything. He does all that. And I never know. I can’t decide what to eat for lunch, John. And I don’t like cold lunch. I don’t like cold lunch. I like hot lunch. I want like a cup of soup or so. So my honorable mention is that if I’m able to get like a nice little cup of soup.
John Kozicki (25:23.953)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (25:27.377)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (25:32.73)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (25:37.851)
Right?
Mandy (25:46.098)
or like some leftover pasta from dinner. Like I said, my husband’s an amazing chef, so something leftover from dinner. And have that prepped. Again, there’s my theme. And have that ready to go after I’m done teaching. I’ll have a really good afternoon. Yes.
John Kozicki (25:50.224)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (25:56.602)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (26:06.778)
You know what is so what’s so wild about this? I because I even like I put this in my notes just on the off chance. I mean, I was thinking about maybe mentioning it related to my lunch thing, but I just heard about this last week. There was a British experiment in the late 90s at Leeds University. It was called the candy bar or Apple experiment. And the concept was they said, OK, you can choose one now.
But you pick it up in a week candy bar or Apple and When they said pick it up in a week 50-50 split 50 % of the people chose the candy bar 50 % of the people chose the Apple if if they said Oh, sorry Did I get that wrong? I think I got that wrong Choose oh no. No, I got that right Choose one choose one and take it now
Mandy (27:00.332)
Yeah, yeah.
John Kozicki (27:05.052)
81 % of the people chose the candy bar and only 19 % chose the apple. So the finding suggests that like if you are making a decision for yourself in the future, you’re going to choose what you think is the better choice versus if you’re making that decision in the moment. So that’s part of why I eat the same lunch every single day.
Mandy (27:21.516)
Yes!
Mandy (27:26.606)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (27:34.796)
Yes. No, it’s brilliant. Yeah. Because when I’m not prepared for lunch and I will just eat like, here’s some, old candy in the desk drawer. And how about like a granola bar? I just, I, if it’s in the moment, I make terrible decisions. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Yeah. I hate feeding myself. It takes too much effort. Yes.
John Kozicki (27:35.1)
Isn’t that weird?
John Kozicki (27:53.104)
Yeah, it’s so funny. It’s so funny.
John Kozicki (28:02.3)
Okay, so question, question will shift gears. I also on my honorable mention is like, I have to get a good night’s sleep. Like I’m so routine there too. Like 11pm is my bedtime, 6am is my wake up and it’s almost without fail.
Mandy (28:05.005)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (28:12.098)
Yeah.
Mandy (28:22.316)
Yeah. Yeah. Mine changes week to week. I was just talking to somebody about this. I like last week I was doing really well going to bed early, but you know, the kids it’s not, I’m, it’s hard being consistent. You know, it’s been a busy week and if you’re not eating dinner until seven 30 and coming down from, you know, whatever game they had, the kids had, I have a hard time getting to bed early. So
John Kozicki (28:35.952)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (28:49.242)
bright. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (28:52.738)
But I know it when I do. Like, I feel it when I do.
John Kozicki (28:56.828)
Do you have any tricks, like, cause we were talking about setting yourself up for a productive day and following a routine and what about when you get stuck? Do you have any, do you have any tricks for that?
Mandy (29:12.814)
getting unstuck.
John Kozicki (29:15.002)
Yeah, like when your productivity just sort of stalls, know, when you’re just like, okay, I know I need to do this, but why can’t I just do it?
Mandy (29:18.733)
Yeah.
Mandy (29:23.274)
Yeah, like I get every once in a while, like I procrastinate a bunch. I would, I would think that that’s how I define me being stuck is like procrastinating and putting stuff off, right? And it’s not a good feeling because I just, it’s, it sits on my shoulders and my shoulders get more and more tense. And I know all these things that need to be done.
John Kozicki (29:35.697)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (29:52.334)
Well, actually what has happened to me several times before is those Saturdays that I teach, I always try to get the job done, clean up, prep for Tuesday and get out of there. Cause it’s the weekend and the kids are home and whatever. so I suppose that’s my motivation to make sure I’m on track for the week. But if I am behind and if I’ve been procrastinating, sometimes there’s something a
John Kozicki (30:09.23)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (30:21.454)
about knowing like my husband’s home with the kids, they’re all home. Maybe they’ve got, maybe they’re doing something fun. Maybe the kids have a friend over there. You know, there’s something about that. Like everybody’s happy and taken care of that I can sit on a Saturday at the studio for a few hours and like go through all those things that I was procrastinating on. I’ve done that before.
John Kozicki (30:45.082)
Hmm. Yeah. Okay. So interestingly, interestingly, I think I’ve got, I mean, I’ve read a little bit about procrastination and like why we do it. And, I think it’s probably different for everyone in examining my own tendencies for either procrastination or like just feeling stuck. And most recently I’ve been working on a few projects and like, I just feel like I’ve hit a wall.
Mandy (30:49.57)
That’s the best I have though.
Mandy (30:57.88)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (31:01.574)
yeah.
John Kozicki (31:14.3)
Why can’t I get past this? I think sometimes I get stalled because everything feels so important in those next steps and so nothing happens. It’s like I do a lot of thinking to try and figure out, okay, well, what do I need to do next? Because this is a really crucial step. And so then I end up like,
Mandy (31:30.786)
Yeah, yeah.
Mandy (31:39.832)
Mm-hmm.
John Kozicki (31:42.574)
almost refining, refining, refining instead of making progress. Or similarly, there’s like an unspoken fear about whatever that next step is. Whether that is I’m just worried I’m going to do it wrong or worried about putting out the work that just doesn’t seem quite ready or not finished or I mean.
Mandy (31:56.909)
Yeah.
Mandy (32:08.27)
Yeah.
John Kozicki (32:11.834)
maybe some existential fear at times. But like I’ve got this Seth Godin quote that like hangs right above my desk. Because his thing is like, well, just ship it, just ship the work. And for me, I think there’s a little bit, well, I know there’s a bit of perfectionism for me as well, which kind of hinders that stuff. But the quote that I have hanging above my desk says,
Mandy (32:14.35)
You
John Kozicki (32:41.276)
your message doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to be delivered on time. And that’s just sort of a little reminder to me, like, okay, let it go. It doesn’t have to be great, but it does have to get done. So, yeah.
Mandy (32:54.178)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that’s a good one. That’s really good. Smart.
John Kozicki (33:00.956)
This was such a weird discussion. Hands down, my favorite part was how you eat the same breakfast every day and I eat the same lunch every day. And independently, we’ve never talked about that, but it sounds like we’ve both been doing it for years. Yeah. All right. Well, we’ll wrap this one up and we’ll see you next time.
Mandy (33:06.222)
I like it though. This is yeah.
Mandy (33:13.902)
Yes, every day.
Mandy (33:20.952)
Yes, years, yeah, I love that, so funny.
Mandy (33:30.52)
Sounds great. Thanks, John.
John Kozicki (33:31.452)
All right, bye.
