How To: Setting Boundaries

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

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When was the last time you did something because you didn’t want to let someone down? Whether your boss or friend or family member, so many of us have given in to people pleasing at one time or another.

And it just feels yucky.

Setting boundaries is something that should be covered in college — high school even! — because it takes a lot of practice to get good at it.

It’s not (yet) a universal skill.

Well, I want to help you out. I created a whole course on LinkedIn Learning about setting boundaries and today I’m spilling the beans.

I go into detail about How to Set Boundaries to Protect Your Time so you can get a preview of what you’ll be learning.

When LinkedIn approached me about making a course on boundaries I was so excited. I know this is something that people can struggle with, and over the years as a journalist and producer, and now as a media trainer and author, I’ve found so many benefits to setting boundaries. 

So in this episode of Inside Scoop I want to share some of the strategies I talk about in my How to Set Boundaries and Protect Your Time course.

The Case for Protecting Your Time

Think about how your time is best spent. When you start protecting your time, how will you spend it?

Years ago when I worked in a newsroom I was invited to a wedding along with all of my colleagues. Sure, I wanted to go and support my colleague, even though we weren’t that close.

So instead of instantly responding “yes” I paused and thought about how else I could spend that time.

Instead of the wedding I went to a Broadway show with my mom and loved it! We had the best time.

When you start thinking about time as yours it can be easier to put your needs first.

Time Tracking 101

How long do you spend scrolling through Instagram every day. Seriously, you should check.

Or the last time you attended a meeting that was scheduled for 30 minutes and ran for 52?

Before you can protect your time, you need to know where your time is going. How it’s being spent. You can do this by chunking out your time. List what you did today and how long it really took you (not the idealized time!). Think about which things were most rewarding and which were most soul-sucking.

List these out on two separate lists – the rewarding activities and the time sucks.

Setting Your Own Personal Boundaries

This is something I talk about often in my books, Listful Thinking and Listful Living. How do you work best?

For instance, I block out my days in a specific ways. Mondays are for writing and getting ready for the week. I don’t take meetings on Mondays. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are business focused. I produce Inside Scoop, meet with media training clients, speak to groups, and get business admin stuff done. Then Fridays are for creativity. I’m working on a novel and that’s when I’ve written most of it – on Fridays.

Make some rules for yourself. And stick to them.

Strategies to Stay On Track

In this LinkedIn Learning course I share a few scripts on how to say no, what to say instead, and how to feel good about it while staying accountable to your rules.

It’s easy to think about making changes and setting healthy boundaries, but it can be hard to do in practice.

So, as you journey off to set your own boundaries remember that just because you can does not mean you should.

There’s, of course, much more to learn in the full course, you’ll find it on LinkedIn Learning here.

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

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More Productive Business Trips

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BONUS FREEBIE: Travel is BACK! Click here to grab my “Trip Checklist” to be sure yours goes off without a hitch despite possible speed bumps!

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I love traveling. For vacations AND for business. But business trips take extra preparation and planning, which means…

More Lists!

I know all about this from traveling to launch events for my books Listful Living and Listful Thinking. And from speaking engagements, like LinkedIn Talent Connect 2022.

Here are five travel lists you can use to be more organized and productive on your next business trip. I talked all about them on a recent episode of Inside Scoop here.

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Reduce Stress and Unlock Your Most Productive Workday

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

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Finding new ways to motivate yourself, stay focused, and be productive throughout the day can be tricky. Between working from home, hybrid work, and stress, there’s a lot that can hold you and your employees back.

I was interviewed for two free seminars at Entrepreneur.com by their Digital Editorial Director Dan Bova. We chatted about common workplace stressors and solutions to decrease stress and get the right things done throughout the day.

Here are four tips from my Entrepreneur webinars.

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Revamp Your Legal Mindset

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

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Starting a business is hard! So once you get to the point where you need to protect what you’ve built, figuring out the legal steps you need to take can feel overwhelming.

And learning legalese can feel like learning another language. But it doesn’t have to be scary and confusing!

I spoke with Legal Coach & Attorney, Author of Easy Legal Steps, Podcast Host & Speaker, Lisa Fraley, to learn how to revamp our legal mindset to protect your business and be most productive.

Here are Lisa’s top tips from our conversation.

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Stress Solutions for Every Situation

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

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As much as we want it to, stress will never disappear permanently.

Whether it’s a presentation you’re giving for work or going out to lunch with somebody for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, stress is there whether it’s chronic or just in the moment.  According to a study done by the American Psychological Association, Americans are more stressed than ever.

So it’s important to know how to prevent stress and how to deal with stress when it’s unavoidable.

I spoke with expert energy trainer, Lara Riggio, on my live-streaming show Inside Scoop, who taught us some Stress Solutions.

Here are four ways to help you address your stress.

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