Ep 53 Transcript: Why Rest is the Key to Real Business Growth

This transcript was auto-generated and may contain errors in spelling or inaccuracies in the spoken words.

Shauna Lynn Simon (00:04)

Hello and welcome to the Real Women Real Business podcast. I am your host, Shauna Lynn Simon. Thank you so much for joining me today. I want to talk about something. There's this dangerous myth in entrepreneurship that's probably actually costs you more than you even realize. it's success requires this constant hustle. We live in a stage of this constant hustle culture and that

You know, rest means you're being lazy and it's often associated with that laziness. And if you're not moving all the time, working all the time, if you're not completely exhausted, if you're not working hard enough, then you're lazy. And today I'm going to share why this mindset is actually potentially limiting your business's potential growth. And I know that sounds a little counterintuitive. think you're going to be really pleasantly surprised by some of the insights I'm going to be sharing with you today.

So have you ever noticed that some of your most groundbreaking business solutions or ideas come when you're not actually actively working on them? So they might hit you during, you know, when you're taking a shower. I know for me, that's probably one of my biggest ones. I feel like my mind just completely turns off of whatever, you it's, you're doing something that's very routine and sort of mundane.

and your brain is allowed to rest. And it's at that time that some of the most brilliant ideas tend to come to me. Or maybe when you're out for a walk or maybe when you're just waking up even, you know, a lot of people often say that they, they slept on it and they woke up and they had all the answers and maybe it even came in a dream. And there's actually really good reason for it. So I want you to stick around and learn why this happens and how you can actually tap into it to

be purposeful and intentional about maximizing your rest time. So back in 2017, my body literally forced me to stop. I was at an all time high in my business. I was running the top home stage and interior design company in my area and on paper, you know, everything looked absolutely amazing. And then BAM, I got hit with shingles and

I should mention I was only 39 years old, which is incredibly young to be getting shingles. And okay, so you might be thinking now great shingles, got a tough few weeks, know, feel sorry for me for that because it was incredibly painful. But then, you know, get back to normal, right? Well, that's what I thought too. But after the shingles had cleared up, my body wasn't quite bouncing back the way that I had expected that it would. And my energy was just

so drained, was rock bottom, was like, was all that I could do just to get out of bed each and every day. And I was battling a little bit of depression from this lack of energy and I was struggling just to keep up with regular day-to-day activities. And this is all while still trying to continue to oversee my ever-growing business and support my parents, my dad.

of course, require full-time care. so I did my best to support both him and my mom during this time. And so I was eventually diagnosed with what's called chronic adrenal fatigue. Once I had diagnosis, of course, I could start working to repair my body and my mind as well, both of which were definitely hurting quite a bit from this lack of energy and what I consider a severe lack of productivity.

because here I am, you know, I've got no energy to face the day, but I still have work that needs to get done. And I kept thinking, you know, each day, each week, each month that things were going to improve. And it took me a year to even get the diagnosis before I could even properly start working on the repair until I knew what was wrong. How am I supposed to fix it? Once I knew what was wrong and I could set out to fix it, in the end, it actually took me

three years to recover. That's how badly damaged my body was. So three full years, you heard that correctly. So that's how long it took for me to get back to my pre shingles energy levels. But kind of a plot twist here, this limitation actually ended up becoming my greatest feature. Because like I said, I only had a few hours of reserves in me each day of

energy in me each day. And so with only a few what I call productive hours each day, I had to completely reimagine how it worked. And you know, I discovered that actually having less time made me even more productive because I had to be so intentional with every single minute. You know how they say if you want to get something done, give it to the busiest person. That's not because

The busy person clearly knows how to get things done. But there's more to it than that. It's because that busy person, if they're someone who thrives off of, you know, having multiple tasks to do, also probably someone who has figured out how to really make the most of their time each and every day. And they're intentional with how they spend that time. So while I'm dealing with this lack of energy, again, three years that I spent dealing with

I learned something that completely contradicts. So something that we've always been taught or led to believe when it comes to business success. So let's talk neuroscience just for a moment, because I want to talk about this really cool brain hack that neuroscientists know about. When your brain is in a relaxed state, it activates a scientist called the default mode network. Basically brains creative super highway. So this is why you are

ideas often come when you're taking a shower, out for a walk, or just waking up. Maybe you're driving a routine route home or something. You know, doing those mindless tasks. Maybe washing the dishes. Whatever it is that puts your mind at rest. Even if you're not physically resting, you want to make sure that your mind is resting. And don't get me wrong, we still want to make sure we are physically resting. Just to be clear here.

but there are ways to allow both your body and your mind to rest and recover. And so it's not a coincidence that this is when you get your greatest ideas and your greatest innovations. This is actual science. And here's what's really interesting. Studies of our historically highly successful leaders show they typically worked in focus bursts of maybe four to five hours per day.

not a 12 or 16 hour day like we've been somewhat led to believe is necessary in order to be successful. Now don't get me wrong. I do want to add one small caveat here that there is going to be said for resilience. There is something to be said for having grit and determination to keep going. But that keep going isn't about pushing your daily boundaries so much as it is about just not giving up and continuing to take steps forward.

But a step forward might actually look like rest. It might be giving yourself some of that space. History actually backs this up. This isn't just me coming up with this. This is history here. Charles Darwin, one of history's most influential scientists, wrote more than 19 books while working only 390 minute periods per day. He actually spent the rest of the time taking long walks, taking maps, or just simply lost in thought.

How much do you enjoy those moments where you are just doing nothing and just allowing your mind to wander? Imagine it's like to give yourself that space on a regular basis. Winston Churchill is another example. He led Britain through World War II and was famous for his afternoon naps. Even during the height of the war, he maintained this habit, believing that gave him the mental clarity needed in order to make the crucial decisions that he needed to make as a leader.

every day. And of course, as the saying goes, we all know who won World War II, don't we? And this wasn't just political leaders. It wasn't just scientists. Many of history's most accomplished individuals worked far fewer hours than we might expect. And they understood something that we seem to have forgotten. And that is that rest isn't the opposite of productivity. It's the foundation of it. So as technology continues to evolve, we keep trying to these hacks. I mean,

It's all over your social media feeds, all these different hacks for how are you going to trick your mind into thinking that it could work longer than it actually needs to, or that you actually wanted to, or maybe it's finding this latest productivity hack to be able to allow you to do more. But what if it wasn't about doing more, but just about doing the right things? You don't need another productivity hack. You need a strategy and you need

rest. You need the space in your mind to be able to dream, to be able to breathe and to be able to rest. So we recently worked with a client. We're going to call her Madison. She was a real estate agent and she was doing everything in the industry. Of course, you know, told her to, but she should be doing, you know, she's working seven days a week and she was always available for clients and she was constantly networking and she was responding to emails all into the late night hours. And on paper, she was doing everything right, of course. And

Frankly, business was going well, but when we first spoke, she said something that just broke my heart. still, when I think back to this, I still love serving my clients. I love what I do. And you could see this passion in her when she spoke about the way that she served her clients. But she's like, I don't know, just bored. The fire's just kind of gone. She said she wasn't really sure.

what she was supposed to be doing next. And so we started asking some pretty specific questions about some of the things that she was feeling and she was experiencing. And I said, Madison, I don't think you're bored. I think you're depressed. And there it was clear as day. It hadn't actually occurred to her, but we took a closer look at it. It all fit. And when she reflected inwards, she realized that that's exactly what it was. She was in a bit of a state of depression.

And I think it's common for us to associate depression with the big heavy state of it. But depression often can present in many different forms. And the problem is that this is just one of the many ways that burnout actually presents itself. think I speak about burnout. I can almost hear people tuning me out, turning off the podcast, clicking to something else because you're thinking to yourself, that's not me.

You can't associate, like we all like to be able to find something relatable, right? And when we hear the word burnout, if you're thinking, well, I'm not really experiencing burnout, so this isn't going to apply to me. But the problem is that we're not in tune enough to see and recognize signs of burnout. They sneak in and they can be pretty darn sneaky, let me tell you. And this boredom she was feeling, this depression she was feeling was actually burnout starting to take its hold on her. So when we finally gave Madison

permission to rest and to think and to dream. Something magical happened. All these brilliant ideas that she had had buried underneath these layers of exhaustion and hustle and all the work and tedious tasks and things that just, you know, kept her busy every day. Underneath all of that were all these amazing ideas that started emerging and she identified an untapped niche in real estate that she was already serving.

But she hadn't allowed herself to fully lean into that because people were telling her different things about how to build her business and leaning into this. She wasn't necessarily one of them because no one was doing it. No one else was serving this part of the market. So instead of now being just another agent that's fighting for attention, she actually became a go-to expert in this specific area. What were the results of all of this in the end? Not only

Did she have her energy back? Her business began to thrive. It wasn't just surviving anymore. She was just five anymore. She was driving, but more importantly, her health improved. Her sleep got better. Her creativity flourish. She's got some big plans. Let me tell you, we're going to be watching her as she continues to move forward with some of these big dreams. And she felt energized again. She fell back in love with.

what it was that she loved about real estate in the first place. think, I'll be honest, I've worked with a lot of real estate agents over the years and I think that a lot of people tend to look at it as a career that's just a money grab. But I gotta tell you, most real estate agents that I know, they're not in it for money. Trust me when I say this. It is a whole lot of hard work. They're in it for the joy and the pride that they get in being able to help and serve others and do it in a way that is authentic to themselves.

by doing it that way, by doing it the way that Madison wanted to do it, by serving the way that she wanted to serve. She got to show up authentically every single day and her business just absolutely thrived from this. And here's the best part. She was actually working fewer hours than she had before and her business was booming. And so I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking I need more hours in the day in order just to get enough rest, right? How am I supposed to find the time for the rest? How am I supposed to

How am I supposed to incorporate this into my day? And I can understand that you're probably a little bit skeptical as to whether or not this is actually going to make you more productive. Are you actually, you you're probably just thinking to yourself, are you actually trying to tell me that I can work fewer hours, but be more productive? Because that definitely sounds like I'm trying to throw you another hack here. And that's, that's not what I'm trying to do, but well, yeah, I, I'm telling you that you can work less hours and be more productive.

So we cover this further in my Real Women, Real Business Mastery program. We provide the complete framework for reducing your workload on average by about 40%, I would say. And I can't cover all of that here, but I do want to share with you one of my methods, which is called the Task Triage Method. So here's the thing. Most of us find ourselves stuck in what I call the productivity paradox. And you've probably found yourself here. Have you ever looked up at the end of the day and thought, wow, that was a really busy day, but what did I actually

get done? Did I get anything done? You you feel you're busy all day, but then when you're looking up at the end of it, you're not actually sure you accomplished anything. And unfortunately, this is true for many people. And one the reasons why you're not feeling productive is because you're basically just accomplishing some tasks, but that may not be moving you close to goals. It may not be on the right things. It may not actually be productive. So using the task triage method helps you to ensure that you're working on the right things.

really focusing your energy. So just like emergency room, not everything can actually be a priority. It does mean that it doesn't all hold some sort of value. But in my experience, there's a whole lot of it that actually doesn't. Maybe it was a really great idea that had at one point that you hadn't fully fleshed out. And then when you think about it further, you're like, you know what, maybe that doesn't actually align with where I'm looking to go on things. Or maybe that doesn't actually need to be me who completes that particular task.

But here's what I would like you to do the next time, feeling like you just don't have enough hours in the day, or the next time you're feeling like you haven't had a very productive day, or even just on a day where you're like, I just really wanna be productive today. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to take a look at your to-do list. And I have my clients do this on a regular basis. I personally will do this usually in the evening, like before I fully shut down for the night.

I want to make sure I'm planning my next day. So I'm going to do the task triage method for my next day on my to-do list. So imagine you looked at your to-do list and you were told that you had only two hours to complete any sort of work. Okay. So maybe something's come up, maybe all of a sudden you've got to pick up a kid from school in a couple of hours or your in-laws are suddenly coming to town for dinner or whatever it might be, but you only got a couple of hours now to get things done. Which tasks are you going to select? Those.

are your true priorities. Those should be the tasks that identify as both important and urgent. Now there are some tasks that I want you to be ensured that you're incorporating into your regular routine that are important but are not as urgent. Those are things that are generally considered more business development things. And this means that they're going to move the needle in your business, but they don't necessarily provide you with that direct.

dopamine rush of, yes, I just landed a sale or I just helped or something massive. And so if you had to task triage your list on a daily basis, what are the things that wouldn't get done or perhaps would be delegated to someone else? Because that's where that productivity paradox lies is in all those extra tasks that you don't really need to be spending your attention on. That's why I this is not another hack because I want you to actually eliminate

the tasks that aren't bringing you any closer to your goals that aren't serving your clients. So I like to use a bit of a method with my clients often of, you know, come up with a couple of parameters that you want to use in order to evaluate which tasks get your attention. So we've got the Eisenhower matrix, of course, which has the level of importance versus the level of urgency and anything that is highly important and urgent all the same time, that should be your priority one.

And things that are important, but less urgent is your priority too. And so on. But aside from your Eisenhower matrix, it's nice when you have a little bit of some parameters in order to evaluate an individual task. And so when I'm looking at my tasks, I look at what's going to bring me in revenue, because as much as I would love to say that I am super altruistic and I do all of this simply out of the goodness of my heart. Yes, my why is to serve. Don't get me wrong. But my mortgage tells me I need to pay bills.

So as much as I would love to say that I do it all just for the joy of it, there certainly are a lot of things that I do simply for the joy of it. I also make money. So those are the two criteria that I actually use is what's going to bring in revenue and what brings me joy so that I ensure that I'm not running by money and being motivated by money and allowing myself to take on those tasks that maybe don't have the same direct financial return.

but give me joy. Now, of course, in a perfect world, the two are one and the same. Things that bring me money are all things that bring me joy. And that really is true most of the time as well. So this is essentially how you complete this task triage method. And so I want you to take a moment right now, even if you're driving or doing the dishes or whatever, be safe about this course, but if you're not driving, close your eyes for a moment and just think to yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, how often do you allow yourself

true rest. Like not just sleep, time to actually think and dream. Now imagine what it would be like to have the mental space to actually dream about business again. Like what innovations might you be missing out on because you're too exhausted to see them. So this is where that task triage method comes in. So I mentioned this as you know imagine that your mother-in-law is coming for dinner or that you've got to go pick up a kid from school. But what if your deadline was to rest?

So in a couple of hours, you need to rest. So what do you need to get done in order to allow yourself that rest? And think about that for a moment. What if we could do this every single day? So now listen, if you're resonating with this, if you're ready to take a break from that hustle culture mentality and you wanna build a business that really works for you, not against you, I wanna help you take that next step. So I've actually created

what I call the Accidental CEO Assessment. And this helps to understand where you are on your CEO journey. I've spoken about my Accidental CEOs previously. This is my affectionate name for the CEOs who are passion driven entrepreneurs. They started with more passion and plan. As the business grows, it can be difficult to sustain it without feeling like you're exhausted every single day. And then the joy of why you actually started in the first place starts to dissipate and you start to lose a bit of that passion.

I want to help you reclaim that. And the best way that I can do that is I need to understand where exactly you're at on your journey. And this assessment not only will tell us where you're at on your journey, but it will actually help you to identify and pinpoint the foundational areas that you need to focus on the most. So that will help you to direct your energy each day. The most productive time when you're doing your task triad, where you want to make sure that we are directing.

that energy. So it's a very simple but powerful tool that's going to help to identify exactly where you're adding your business journey, what needs to be seen first. you know, here's the truth. You can't build the penthouse before you've got the foundation solid, right? So we want to make sure we build that penthouse, but we've got to really reinforce that foundation so we can build this thing as high as we want to build it. So if you want to get that assessment, simply go to

AboutShaunaLynn.com/CEOQuiz That's AboutShaunaLynn.com/CEOQuiz q u i z. If you're in Canada, z if you're in the U.S. and you'll get that free assessment. It's my gift to you and just the first step in transforming your business from crisis mode to clarity. So head on over to the show notes and you can grab a link there. Okay, that's all the time we've got today. I hope you have a

fabulous week and remember rest isn't just a luxury, it's a business strategy. So let me know how you're doing with your rest this week and until next time keep thriving.