120: How to Know Where to Focus Your Time with Pete Mockaitis

Welcome to Season 10 of Productivity Paradox with Tanya Dalton, a  podcast focused on helping you achieve your best life. Join Tanya this season  as she explores the concept of bending time so you could stay focused on  what matters most.  

 To get her free checklist, Five Minutes to Peak Productivity, simply go  to inkWELLpress.com/podcast.  

 And now, here’s your host, Tanya Dalton.  

Tanya: Hello, hello everyone. Welcome to Productivity Paradox. I’m your   host, Tanya Dalton, and this is episode 120.  

Tanya: Today, I have a great episode in store for you because I have  special guest Pete Mockaitis here to talk about how to know  where to focus where to focus your time.  

Tanya: Now, all season long we are talking about bending time. Changing  our relationship with how we feel about time, making sure we  don’t think that the time owns us but instead we own our time.  

Tanya: So I’m really excited to have Pete on the show to talk about some  ideas and some tips on how you can really clarify where you want  to focus that time.  

Tanya: So before I give an introduction of Pete, I want to give a quick  shout out to today’s sponsor. Gusto is a great resource for small  businesses that not only offers easy to run payroll services, but  also HR support. Stay tuned because a little later in today’s  episode, I’ll be sharing how you can get three months free when  you run your first payroll through Gusto. I’ll share some details  about that a little later on today’s episode.  

Tanya: But first let’s go ahead and introduce you to Pete Mockaitis. He is  an award-winning coach who helps professionals perform  

optimally at work. Now his work has been featured in the New  York Times, in Forbes and in Inc. Pete has delivered one-on-one  coaching to over 700 leaders hailing from world class  

organization such as Google, FedEx, Amazon, Apple, Anheuser Busch, and even the United Nations.  

Tanya: He’s worked with people in 50 countries and has worked with  every single ivy league university. He began his career at Bain &  Company and currently hosts the How to be Awesome at Your  

©Productivity Paradox Page 1 of 16

Job podcast. The show has been downloaded over six million  times and consistently ranks as a top business show in Apple  podcasts.  

Tanya: Pete lives in Chicago with this wife and two little babies. Let me  introduce you to Pete.  

Tanya: Well Pete, I am so excited to have you on the show today.  Pete: Oh, Tanya, I’m so excited to be here. Thank you.  

Tanya: Well great. You know, Pete and I actually met because he had me  as a guest on his amazing podcast, which is called How to be  Awesome at Your Job.  

Tanya: So here’s my question, Pete. In all the interviews that you’ve done  throughout the course of your podcast, what do you think is the  secret to being awesome at your job?  

Pete: You got to start with the hard one, huh?  

Tanya: I know right. I’m not letting you off easy.  

Pete: We’ve got 420-ish episodes to distill it into just one.  

Pete: Well, it’s funny. I spent a lot of time actually thinking through you  know, “Hey, what would be a nice opening selection of episodes  for new listeners to hit?” And I looked at from a data-driven  perspective high levels of engagement and high numbers of index  downloads. And so, I put those at the very front or top or  

beginning of the feed episodes A, B, C, D, E, F in between zero  and one.  

Pete: And so, I guess I’ll just steal it from the data.  

Tanya: Yeah.  

Pete: One of our highest performing episodes was Carter Cast and he  talked about the five derailers of a career and how not to do that.  

Tanya: Yes, yes.  

Pete: And what was really great was he talked about how, you know, a  lot people have a really great sense of their strengths, you know,  in terms of, “Okay. I’m good at this. I’m good at that.” And they try  to, you know, build things around their strengths.  

©Productivity Paradox Page 2 of 16

Pete: But he said that in talking to a lot of really sharp career folks,  many people had a much harder time identifying, “Hey, what is it  about you that could hurt you?” Or, “What’s maybe the shadow  side to some of these strengths?” The dark side that can emerge  when you’re relying too heavily on that one thing.  

Pete: So if you’re great at analysis maybe you are slow with decision  making because you always want more data, for example. So I  thought that that was pretty compelling in terms of listening.  

Pete: And if I could steal one more, I’m going to go with Mary Abbajah  talked about how to manage up and how to get just really clear  on what does winning mean for your organization, for your team,  for your manager and just have that conversation. It’s like what is  most important to you? What annoys you? What delights you?  What does quality mean here? Some of those fundamental things.  It’s shocking how often we’re quite on the same page there.  

Tanya: Oh, I think that’s so true. It’s really defining what these different  things mean to you, right?  

Pete: Right.  

Tanya: Because it’s different for everyone and how you perceive let’s say  productive, you know, is different from what other people  

perceive it as. Or how you perceive good work being done is  different for each person. So, taking the time to really define what  that means I think is really powerful.  

Tanya: And I like what you said there about the shadow side of some of  our strengths. I always say it’s really important to embrace not just  our strengths but really kind of celebrate our weaknesses too,  right? I really think that helps us to really understand ourselves.  

Pete: Well, you know, I like that word celebrate with regard to the  weaknesses and the first thing that came to mind for me is we can  celebrate them in that they can provide opportunities for others  to collaborate and fill in. And enhance your appreciation. Like,  “Thank you so much, accountant. I really, really don’t like doing  this and you are making it happen for me is why I’m so grateful to  you.” And that’s just great for, you know, good relations.  

Tanya: Yeah. And that includes the relationship with ourselves, right …  Pete: Mm-hmm (affirmative).  

Tanya: … to really understanding who we are?  

©Productivity Paradox Page 3 of 16

Tanya: So this season of the podcast, we are talking about bending time.  So how to not feel powerless when it comes to owning our time.  But rather flipping that relationship on its head and feeling better  about how we’re spending our time. That kind of builds off that  idea of really defining what feels good too, right?  

Pete: Yeah.  

Tanya: So, what is your favorite tip for feeling good about the time that  we’re spending?  

Pete: Oh, for feeling good.  

Tanya: I think there’s a lot to be said for feeling good.  

Pete: I’ll tell you what. I’ll just give you my recent, how’s that, when it  comes to feeling good.  

Tanya: That sounds good.  

Pete: And I recently interviewed Michael Hyatt on my podcast. I love his  work, he’s got a great show himself. And when it comes to feeling  good, he really recommended … and I’ve done this, and I’ve fallen  away, and I’ve gotten back, and it does make me feel so good … is  to just identify sort of the three things that are most important to  accomplish in a given day. And then to check them off and then  just celebrate that you’ve checked them off.  

Pete: And that sounds like, “Okay, we’ve heard that before maybe.”  Tanya: Yeah, the rule of three. Yeah.  

Pete: The hard part is deciding what those things are and not just lazily  shoving 12 things. Like, no, no, no, you know. Prioritization  

happens now. These are the three things.  

Pete: And I try to have them add up to roughly three hours. So  sometimes there’s like three bundles of things, you know, that  amount to almost three hours because I want to feel like a winner.  And that’s the idea is, “Hey, you took the time to think through  what is really, really, really most important for the day and then  you put those down. And then you did them. And now you can  feel like a winner no matter whatever else happens.”  

Pete: And so, it’s only three things, it’s only three hours. It’s the minority  of a workday for most of us. But, boy, if you get in that habit and  get that momentum in terms of, “Boy, I did that. I’m a winner. I  won the day.” And again, and again, and again …  

©Productivity Paradox Page 4 of 16

Tanya: Yeah.  

Pete: … that just makes you feel great.  

Tanya: Yeah. I think winning the day is all about bending time, right? It’s  really looking at our time and saying, “Okay, I feel good about  what I accomplished.” I think there’s a lot to be said for really  feeling like we have that ownership over our time.  

Tanya: And I think you are so right when you say, “We’ve heard the rule  of three.” But how do you decide what is really most important to  tackle in your day?  

Pete: Now that’s a great question. And the way I like to think about it  most often in terms of the most helpful tools for me in terms of  getting there are the one thing question. We had Jay Papasan on  the show, co-author of that book The One Thing, which is so  good. As well as the Pareto’s 80/20 rule. And, boy, Tanya I could  talk to you for hours about these.  

Tanya: I know right.  

Pete: So I’ll let you drive or guide a little bit here.  

Tanya: Okay, yeah. Well, let’s dive into each of those separately. Let’s  start by talking about the 80/20 rule because that’s one of my  favorites too.  

Pete: Okay, sure thing. Well so, the 80/20 rule … and we used this a ton  in strategy consulting, which is what my career was before I was  doing the, you know, trainer/speaker/podcaster/guru you know  

Pete: And so, the 80/20 rule, it was discovered by Vilfredo Pareto, who  was an Italian economist, boy, maybe 500-ish years ago I think. In  that ballpark.  

Tanya: A long time ago, yeah.  

Pete: And he noticed that an interesting ratio was popping up again and  again. And it seemed that often 80% of results or outputs came  from 20% of causes or inputs.  

Pete: So for example, 80% of the land owned in Italy was owned by 20%  of the people. And the remaining 20% of land was owned by 80%  of people who all owned a lot less land per person.  

Tanya: Yeah.  

©Productivity Paradox Page 5 of 16

Pete: And likewise, 80% of the fruit or output of a farm, or bush, or tree,  or garden, was coming from 20% of the plants. And so forth and  so forth. He saw this again and again. And so that’s kind of  

interesting. Like, “Okay. Yeah, cool.” But the implications can just  be staggering in terms of productivity.  

Tanya: It really is because what I find so fascinating about the 80/20 rule  is that it permeates everything. You know? 20% of your clients  account for 80% of your income a lot of times.  

Pete: Right.  

Tanya: Or 20% of your wardrobe in your closet is what you wear 80% of  the time. We see this appearing again, and again, and again, right?  This idea of … And it’s not always perfect. It’s not always 80/20  but it’s this idea that few items create the largest impact in your  day.  

Pete: Exactly yes. And Pareto called them the vital few … you know, the  20% of causes that make all the difference … versus the trivial  many. And that just really gets me thinking in terms of putting  down the to-do list. Okay, what are the vital few items?  

Pete: And I don’t want to get too dorky mathematically but I think it’s  important to go here for a moment that the implication of this  80/20 rule is not that some things are a smidgen more important  than other things …  

Tanya: Right.  

Pete: … and so maybe you should do those. But rather some things are  in fact 16 times as important as those other things. And I could dig  into the math if you wanted to but that’s the implication.  

Pete: If 20% of things account for 80% of the results and then it’s  flipped for the others, then that ratio of results to thing, maybe it’s  output per minute, you know, would be like 16 times that of the  vital few and the trivial many.  

Pete: And I think that really does bear out in terms of what I’m thinking  about maybe a vital few item might be, “How could I automate, or  outsource, or systematize, or process this thing?” Right?  

Tanya: Mm-hmm (affirmative).  

Pete: Like maybe podcast pitches. I get, you know, tons of them. Well, it  took me a few hours but I kind of said, “Okay, this is what we’re  after. A guest needs to be relevant, authoritative and engaging.  

©Productivity Paradox Page 6 of 16

This is how I define relevant. This is how I define authoritative. This  is how I define engaging.” Wrote it all up. Made some videos and  had my, you know, extremely talented colleagues in the  

Philippines … that’s a whole other topic … go ahead and get that  pretty much automated for me in the sense that I can now look at  just a few finalists as opposed to just the thousands, you know,  that were coming …  

Tanya: Right.  

Pete: … in and taking up a lot of time.  

Pete: So, indeed, that process of putting that together is yielding 16  times the output as was me reading each one of those emails  individually.  

Tanya: Yeah, that makes absolute sense. Because you’re right. It’s not that  one is slightly increased in impact. There’s a very large difference.  So when we take the time to really figure out and understand  what are the most important … the vital few … and then we really  apply our time on those vital few, that’s when we really begin to  bend time because we really begin to see a larger impact just by  focusing on fewer items.  

Pete: Absolutely. What I’ve often, though, is that the reason we don’t do  those is because it’s kind of hard. It’s like, “How do I articulate  what is a good guest versus a not good guest?” And so, that takes  some real thinking, you know. And sort of, “How do I put that  down.” And then to train and give examples such that it really  connects.  

Pete: And then to find some courage like, “I hope we don’t accidentally  say no to a superstar.” It’s like, “Oh, sorry. Simon sent in Malcolm  Gladwell.”  

Tanya: Yes.  

Pete: “You can’t be on the show.”  

Tanya: Right. “You didn’t fit the system, sorry.” Yeah.  

Pete: So that’s often what I find is that these vital few tasks are ones  that take a significant amount of thought and attention and  mental energy and effort. A deep work as Kyle Newport would say  it. And it is all too easy to not do it because you don’t quite feel  up to it in the moment. But, boy, the rewards are huge if you go  there.  

©Productivity Paradox Page 7 of 16

Tanya: Right. Just taking that time of spending on fewer items … or like in  your case, fewer email pitches that you’re getting … really allows  you to dive deeper into who you really want on the podcast.  Who’s going to be a good fit on the podcast. And all of those  things. And I think that applies in so many different ways.  

Tanya: When we think about this 80/20 principle, because when we treat  all things like they should be equals, you know, we don’t know  where to really begin. And to me, it’s not just about making  money. Or it’s not just about where to spend your time at work.  But it’s also outside of the workplace when we think about the  time we spend with our families and our loved ones.  

Pete: Absolutely. And I think it’s so helpful to think about it. A lot of  times this is used for money purposes like customers or  

marketing. But I think you can totally, even though it’s a little  tricky to put a number or a specific quantified unit on it, you could  think about this in terms of relationships as well in terms of what  are the vital few things that really make my spouse/partner feel  loved and appreciated? What are the vital few things that just  really tick them off and that you can say, “Hey, what the heck, you  know. Taking four seconds to take my towel from the floor back to  the towel hook is so quick and easy and yet it does wonders for  making my partner feel not angry.”  

Tanya: Yeah.  

Pete: Hey, that’s a vital few thing you can do is put your towel away.  And it varies person by person but it really pays off to learn those  and prioritize them because, you know, I’m thinking I might spend  hours with power tools. That’s more of your forte than mine  actually, Tanya.  

Tanya: Yeah. I do like to spend a lot of time on power tools. That’s true.  

Pete: I might spend hours with power tools and do a decent job of  putting something together. But what makes a much bigger  impact for my wife feeling appreciated is, I don’t know, putting a  towel away or getting all of the baby bottles clean. Whatever it  may be.  

Pete: And then it’s like, “Well, shucks, if I think about the appreciation  and good vibes generated per minute sure enough the power  tools are failing. And they’re one sixteenth as impactful as the  others.”  

©Productivity Paradox Page 8 of 16

Tanya: We’re really able to pour ourselves into those things that make the  bigger impact, right?  

Pete: Absolutely.  

Tanya: In our relationships, in our work, really in every area of our lives.  

Tanya: So I want to talk a little bit more about this. And I know you’ve a …  You’ve kind of created a system that helps you walk through that.  And I want to talk about that in just a minute. But first I want to do  a quick word from today’s sponsor.  

Tanya: This episode is sponsored by Gusto. For all of your small business  owners out there, Gusto is a fabulous tool that can help you with  your payroll, your benefits and even your HR needs. Gusto makes  it super simple to organize, sign and store your employee  

documents all in the cloud so it’s available with just a few clicks.  And they offer expert HR support that’s just a phone call away.  

Tanya: Gusto also automatically files and pays all state, local and federal  payroll taxes. So that’s one less hassle you have to deal with.  

Tanya: Right now, my listeners get three months free just by setting up  and running your first payroll. Simply go to Gusto.com/paradox so  you can take advantage of this easy to use small business tool.  

Tanya: So, Pete, I want to get back into this idea of how do we identify  our vital few? How do we really figure out what is, you know, the  tasks that we really want to spend our time doing?  

Pete: Sure thing. Well, you know, I think that there’s … I’m going to point  to a couple tools here. And one is pretty quantitative and I’ve  shared a spreadsheet with you, Tanya, which you can give to  listeners. But I’d like to put a little bit of a number on it, if you can,  in terms of like business context.  

Pete: I am thinking about sort of what I really want to produce  financially is profit. So that’s kind of what I would like for business  activities to generate.  

Tanya: That is a good goal. I have to agree.  

Pete: So that’s how I would define sort of the output or result that I’m  after. And then really my limiting constraint I find is my own time,  you know?  

Pete: And so, from that, you know, my strategy consulting-ness … I can’t  escape it … I think, “Well, what would be a great metric to get  

©Productivity Paradox Page 9 of 16

after prioritizing?” And that would be the expected profit created  per hour required. Or dollars per hour.  

Pete: And what’s wild is … not to go into crazy detail on this  spreadsheet … I have this tool I use to input just a few things. Like,  “Okay. Roughly how long do I think the key three activities of this  initiative are going to be? How much cost do I expect it to sort of  incur? And then what benefits do I see in terms of savings or  revenue generation and for how many years? And what  

probability of success would I put on that?”  

Pete: So, I can do it in like five minutes to roughly estimate an initiative  and what it could mean. Should I do marketing in this way? Should  I switch my process or add software in this way? And what I’m  often shocked, Tanya … this 80/20 rule is so real … is that two  initiatives might seem roughly equivalent before I spend five  minutes trying to quantify them a bit. And then I am blown away  to discover, “Oh wow. One of these looks like it’s going to produce  $800 an hour. And the other one looks like it’s going to generate  $50 an hour.” Hey, well you know, 16X, 80/20 in action.  

Tanya: Right.  

Pete: It’s like, “Well, I guess I’ll let the $50 an hour one hang out for a  while and hurriedly go after that $800 an hour initiative.  

Tanya: Right. And that makes so much sense to me because it really …  When we can quantify our time and we can really understand the  benefit of spending our time on these vital few, it really makes a  huge impact.  

Tanya: So I love that you … First of all, I love that you are so data-driven.  That totally just makes me happy because I feel like we could geek  out and talk about quantitative data all day long. I love that about  you.  

Tanya: And Pete has really very graciously shared this Excel spreadsheet  with us. So I will make sure and have a link to download that in the  show notes for today. So I’ll make sure to give you that link at the  end of the show. Because I do feel like it’s a great tool and I love  that you’re so open and willing to share that. Because when  people do understand that vital few, it really is so empowering.  

Pete: Oh yes. Thank you.  

Tanya: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for sharing that with us.  ©Productivity Paradox Page 10 of 16

Tanya: I want to get into that idea of the one thing that I know Jay  Papasan has talked with you about and how do you apply that. So  let’s dive into that idea of what is the one thing question?  

Pete: Oh yeah. It’s so good and I recommend the book a lot. It’s called  The One Thing.  

Tanya: It is a really good book.  

Pete: And it has great graphics too. I was like, “Man, note to self. When I  write my next book, I’m going to try to do it like this.”  

Tanya: Yeah.  

Pete: Well done in all respects. But the magic question is: What is the  one thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else becomes  easier or unnecessary?  

Pete: So I think you can maybe chew or process that for a bit there.  What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else  becomes easier or unnecessary? And I think examples are great  here.  

Pete: So, in the early days of baby … which I’m in right now. I’ve got two  kids under two at home.  

Tanya: You are in the trenches, my friend.  

Pete: That’s right.  

Tanya: Two kids under two. Yes, you are definitely in the throws of that  stage.  

Pete: Well, with our first child, Johnathan, you know he wasn’t sleeping  the greatest. It was okay. It was maybe month eight or nine. And  so, it’s like, “You know what. He should be kind of in the groove a  little bit more than he is.” So that was sort of top of mind. What’s  one thing we can do such that everything else would be easier or  unnecessary if we did it? And it was like, “Boy, it’d be great if he  slept more.”  

Pete: And so, I think it’s great if you can even apply this in layers  multiple times. It was like, “Okay, so I asked the one thing  

question. What would make everything easier or unnecessary?” It  was like, “Well, if Johnathan slept better.” It’s like, “Okay, well  what’s the one thing we could do such that everything else would  become easier or unnecessary for Johnathan sleeping better.” It’s  like, “Well, maybe the rooms a little bit dry. Maybe he’s kind of  

©Productivity Paradox Page 11 of 16

waking up sort of thirsty. That seems to be the thing. That he  wants a bottle.” So maybe we could put a humidifier action in  there a bit.  

Pete: And so by going through these layers of, “Boy, what should be in  life to let’s sleep better.” To, “let’s help Johnathan sleep better.” To,  “Let’s get a humidifier going.”  

Pete: It’s wild how sure enough, it made a real big impact. It wasn’t like  the miracle cure for all child sleep ailments. But it made …  

Tanya: Boy, if you had that that’d be a whole different show.  

Pete: Literally, I would say in terms of I was probably getting another  hour of rest a night as a result of spending maybe three minutes  filling up and utilizing a humidifier. That’s like 16X right there, you  know or better.  

Tanya: Right there, yeah.  

Pete: And so, I think it’s so cool is if you spend some quiet time drilling  down with that question for whatever outcome you want it’s like,  “What’s the one thing that I can do just so that everything else will  be easier or unnecessary for making my spouse feel loved?” Or,  “What’s the one thing for making more money?” Or, “What’s the  one thing for feeling more energized or more in shape?” Whatever.  

Pete: You pick your goal outcome and then you drill down a couple  times at the one thing question and you’ll be amazed. We have a  big old salad container in our fridge. And, you know, it probably  took me 40 minutes of internet research on Amazon to find the  perfect size salad container.  

Tanya: Yes. I’m familiar with a lot of Amazon research myself.  Pete: Oh, yeah. Because if it’s too big, you know, it won’t fit in there.  Tanya: Yeah.  

Pete: And if it’s too small it’s like, okay, what am I going to do? Have it  fit like half a romaine heart there.  

Tanya: Right.  

Pete: And I tell you what. That has been transformational in terms of I  am probably eating five times as much in the way of vegetables  because of this one thing has made eating salads so much easier,  finding the perfect container.  

©Productivity Paradox Page 12 of 16

Pete: And so, I think there’s all sorts of little points of leverage in life to  bend time and get bigger outcomes if you just take that quiet  thoughtful time to zero in on it.  

Tanya: I think that’s so true. It’s an investment in time. And I think when  you look at your time as an investment of how you’re spending  your time, how you’re investing it in different areas.  

Tanya: Like when you talk about that three minute investment resulted in  an hour of extra sleep, that is significant. That is completely  bending time. Having a three minute activity result in so much  more sleep. I mean, and when you have more sleep you do  

everything better. I do.  

Pete: Oh agreed. Agreed.  

Tanya: Right. So I like what you said there though because I think that  one thing that people get tripped up on with the one thing  

questions is they think it’s a one question deal, right? You ask that  question one time.  

Tanya: And I like what you said there in those examples of how it is  peeling back those layers of the onion. Dive a little deeper, dive a  little deeper. What is the one thing here? And then I go a little bit  further into it. Because honestly, it is … like you said with the  Tupperware refrigerator … it’s the little things that really result in  the biggest impact in our lives. Whether that’s eating well, or  getting more sleep, or making more money at work, or getting the  promotion you really want. Whatever it is. A lot of times it is these  very small decisions or these very small movements that can really  impact your life in such a giant way.  

Pete: Absolutely it’s true. And it’s funny with those little things that  sometimes it takes some real effort to finish them off. Because I  guess I’ve had the thought numerous times, like, “Oh, it’d be kind  of nice to have a salad container.” But then it drifts away and it  becomes unclear that, no, in fact this is a massively leveraged  thing that will make a world of difference. And therefore, it’s worth  the time to actually get out a tape measurer and measure the  precise dimensions of where we think this thing will go. And sift  through dozens of Amazon options to find, ah, yes, this one is  perfection in terms of the clasps, in terms of the size. You know, et  cetera.  

Pete: Because a lot of times it seems like, “Well, you know, a salad  container whatever. No big deal.”  

©Productivity Paradox Page 13 of 16

Tanya: Right.  

Pete: “I mean if I bump into one, sure, I’ll pick it up and that’ll be nice.  But no need to halt my entire life and give this intense matter of  focus.”  

Pete: But once you go through the one thing question a few times  though it’s like, “Well, no. This is in fact critical to nail this salad  container.” And then away you go.  

Tanya: Well, I think too it changes … And that right there we’re talking  about changing our relationship with time because you could  easily look at 40 minutes spent on Amazon research as a  

complete time waster.  

Pete: Yeah.  

Tanya: But it’s not. It’s not when it’s tied to the one thing. It’s not when  it’s tied to this 80/20 rule of this is going to make a huge impact  overall in my life by investing this, you know, 40 minutes on  Amazon. Because otherwise, you might have felt guilty spending  40 minutes, right?  

Pete: And 40 minutes on Amazon can just be idle entertainment sort of  just clicking to get dopamine hits of random stimulation like, “Oh,  that’s cool. Oh, that’s cool. Oh, that’s cool.” Or it could be finding  the product that unleashes tremendous time bending.  

Pete: So it’s pretty wild to think about the implications and how upfront  thought leverages that time all the better.  

Tanya: I think that’s so true. I really think that talking about the 80/20  rule and the one thing really can shift our mindset. And I think that  when we shift our mindset and we understand that it is these  small seemingly perhaps insignificant tasks or items in our day  can make that difference in our lives. It really does shift the way  that we feel about time.  

Tanya: And I think that’s really what’s important here. Is we want to  change how we feel about how we’re spending the time. It’s not  about managing our time. It’s about really taking the time that we  have and using it the best way possible.  

Pete: Yeah. When you talk about how you feel, I think that’s a great  perspective because sure enough each time I refill that humidifier  or when I beheld the salad container loaded up, I did. I felt like a  winner.  

©Productivity Paradox Page 14 of 16

Tanya: Yeah.  

Pete: Again, and again, and again.  

Tanya: I bet every time you open up that fridge and you see that salad  container, you’re like, “Winning.” Right?  

Pete: Absolutely yes. Sometimes I will just grasp it between my two  hands and just go, “Ah,” because I’m weird. I’ve done that before.  

Tanya: It was kind of like when he’s created fire, right. He’s running  around.  

Pete: Yeah, it’s like I’m some sort of champion.  

Tanya: Yeah. We don’t have nearly enough of those moments in our lives.  We should have more of those moments where we feel like  beating our chest feeling solid with how we’re spending our days,  with how we’re spending our time and understanding that  

sometimes it is small things. A salad container, a humidifier. Those  things can be chest beating worthy, you know, to make us really  feel good.  

Pete: Yeah. I love what you’ve said there and it’s so true. You know, we  had BJ Fogg on the show who’s just a super genius in user  behavior and such. He’s been called the millionaire maker in  Silicon Valley.  

Pete: But he makes a great point that it’s important to celebrate … and  even in the tiniest of ways … if you can just take in a breath and  smile and it’s like, “That is a beautiful salad container.” Or it’s just,  “I’m awesome.” Or, “Hurray.” Or give yourself a high five. Like  whatever it is for a couple seconds what you celebrate gets  reinforced in terms of building habits and just kind of putting you  in a good mood throughout the day.  

Pete: So I’m all about sort of finding your personal, unique, dorky  celebration ritual.  

Tanya: Yeah. The dorkier the better. Because really when we are excited  about something like a salad container or these little things, that  really is getting to the heart of what makes us us. That’s what  makes us happy.  

Tanya: So, Pete, I have absolutely loved having you on the show. And I  cannot say enough great things about Pete’s podcast. I mean you  can hear he has the most amazing guests … well, including  

myself … on the show. And so, I really would encourage all of you  ©Productivity Paradox Page 15 of 16

to give his show a listen. I’ll make sure to put a link to How to be  Awesome at Your Job in the show notes for today.  

Tanya: Definitely, I mean, Pete, you’ve shared so many words of wisdom  today. I really just appreciate having you on the show.  

Pete: Well, thank you, Tanya. It was a lot of fun. And if folks do go on  over, episode 364 is where the tables are turned with Tanya being  the guest. And it’s been a lot of fun. Thank you.  

Tanya: Thank you. Well, I knew we’d have fun because I had fun being on  your show. So thank you so much.  

Tanya: I just loved having Pete on the show. He’s such a great resource  because he’s so well read and he’s met so many different  

productivity experts and lifestyle experts and coaches that he has  so many pearls of wisdom to share. And I felt like he did such a  great job talking to us about our relationship with time and where  we want to focus.  

Tanya: And as he mentioned, I was on his show several months ago so I’ll  be sure to put a link to that in the show notes. I’ll also make sure  to include a link so you can download his free tool that he  

mentioned on the podcast. Simply go to inkWELLpress.com/ podcast and then head to episode 120. I’ll have that resource  available for you there. I’ll also have links so you can listen to  Pete’s podcast and connect with him on social media.  

Tanya: Now next week, we are going to be continuing to talk about  bending time because we will be talking about making the most  of your mornings. I have a really good episode headed your way,  so I hope to see you next week.  

Tanya: And in the meantime, I’d love for you to connect with me in my  Facebook group. Simply go to inkWELLpress.com/group and  request an invitation to join.  

Tanya: All right. Until next time, have a beautiful and productive week.  

Thanks for listening to Productivity Paradox. To get free access to Tanya’s  valuable checklist, Five Minutes To Peak Productivity, simply go to  inkWELLpress.com/podcast.