Ep164 Jones Loflin - Navigate the Storm of Overload and Reclaim Your Time

00:00:00:04 - 00:00:31:19
Mike O'Neill
Joining me is Jones Loflin. Jones is a speaker, a trainer and an author. He helps individuals and organizations find their way forward when they're struggling with too much to do. In his 30 plus years as a speaker, he's helped countless people make better choices with their time so they can thrive in their work and life. Jones is the author or coauthor of four books, including Always Growing, Juggling Elephants, and Getting to It.

00:00:31:21 - 00:00:38:15
Mike O'Neill
And it's that topic of struggling with too much to do that will probably spend most of our time on Welcome, Jones.

00:00:38:15 - 00:00:57:05
Jones Loflin
Mike, what an honor to be a part of the podcast with you today. I enjoy what you do, how you do it, and looking forward to a lively conversation day where we give your listeners some tips and ideas on getting unstuck and figuring out how to handle too much to do.

00:00:57:07 - 00:01:20:08
Mike O'Neill
You know, I think this topic that we're going to be discussing is timely any time. But as folks probably know, we're recording this this podcast towards the end of December, but it really won't probably air until it may be close to March. And it just seems to me that, you know, January, we all kind of make our resolutions.

00:01:20:08 - 00:01:41:11
Mike O'Neill
February, we begin to, gosh, by the time March comes along, are in your work. You've been doing this for a long time, and we're talking about struggling with too much to do. What is it about us that we take on or feel that we're we're just overwhelmed? Why do we tend to do that to ourselves?

00:01:41:13 - 00:02:04:18
Jones Loflin
Yeah, Yeah. It's so common. Mike And I think the number one reason there's a number of reasons. I think the number one reason we live and work with the mindset, whether consciously or subconsciously, that we can get it all done. There's going to be enough hours in the day that technology is going to work perfectly, that that meeting is going to be efficient and take care of all the challenges that we have going on.

00:02:04:24 - 00:02:27:19
Jones Loflin
And so we are not as intentional. I don't believe in planning how we're going to use our time. And so then we just start getting overloaded because things aren't as efficient as we thought they were going to be. And then you start adding in our lack of clarity about the goals and the outcomes we want. I just think it creates a perfect storm where we just start going, Wow, what happened here?

00:02:27:19 - 00:02:49:05
Jones Loflin
And it didn't happen overnight. You know, it happened gradually, incrementally. We kept adding a little bit, adding a little bit, especially when you get to this time of year when you started out the year with really clear goals and and then you add a moment of emotion or something, grabbed on to something else and you added something else and then all of a sudden you're overloaded.

00:02:49:07 - 00:03:14:06
Mike O'Neill
You know, that notion of overloading. I want to go back to something that I picked up in your bio, and it reads Jones believes in the key. That key to success is being passionate about certain things in life, including family, spiritual beliefs, career and relationships. Could we start with with that passionate that word passion? You read it, you kind of go,

00:03:14:08 - 00:03:19:18
Mike O'Neill
So when you write being passionate about certain things, let's start there. What does that mean to you?

00:03:19:20 - 00:03:40:09
Jones Loflin
Yeah, if you're passionate about something, it's. It's front of mind for you. It it it. It's a filter for everything that that you do and every choice you make. And so when I say passion about certain things in life, like family, that means that every day when I start making choices, how I'm going to use my time, when I'm setting my goals.

00:03:40:15 - 00:04:04:00
Jones Loflin
Family is one of those elements and I'm going, okay, what do I want that to look like today, this week, this year? So I think you can take any of those elements, whether it's career relationships, If I'm passionate about it, then I'm going to figure out what are the the activities I want engage in, what are the things I'm going to say no to that are going to allow me to remain passionate about those those elements in my life.

00:04:04:02 - 00:04:13:04
Jones Loflin
It's not a checklist or just a matter of fact. There's energy. There's a motion behind choices that are made because, you know what's important to you?

00:04:13:06 - 00:04:35:00
Mike O'Neill
You just used the word choice. And what I have read and some of the material that you've made available is that this idea of the problem is not high management, it's choice management. I love that. Tell me, how have you come to that as being one of the bedrocks of what you do?

00:04:35:02 - 00:04:56:09
Jones Loflin
Sure, I am. At first of all, that that whole idea I got started when I was reading a book by Charlie Guilt Guilty called Start Finishing. And he writes in the book that, you know, time cannot be managed, schedules can be managed, energy can be managed, meetings can be managed, but time can only be accounted for. I thought, wow, that's profound.

00:04:56:09 - 00:05:16:12
Jones Loflin
And so I thought, well, what is it that we could get better at? And I do believe it's about the choices we make every day. Mike, I'll give you a simple example. You know, many people start their day by making the choice to pick up their phone, to scroll through social media, look at text emails, different things like that.

00:05:16:16 - 00:05:37:00
Jones Loflin
And that's a choice that has allowed people with lots of different priorities and values to influence how you're looking at your day. On the other hand, if you made the choice to start your day, even while you're lying in bed and say, What's the outcome I want from today? You know what? What what are my goals? What is what is front of mind for me?

00:05:37:03 - 00:05:58:18
Jones Loflin
And starting your day from there, I think that's a much better choice to make and how to start your day. And then there's just so many choices we make throughout the day where I think if we take that moment to say what is it I want from this moment, this time that I have versus allow, I get to be so influenced by others who don't have a clear idea of your purpose or goals for priorities or values.

00:05:58:20 - 00:06:01:09
Jones Loflin
I think that's a great place to start.

00:06:01:11 - 00:06:26:20
Mike O'Neill
You know, you mentioned the kind of the intentionality, and it starts literally at your waking moment. For those who are watching this on YouTube, you will see in Jones's background some stuff on the wall. And one obviously catches my attention is what appears to be a light bulb. It's a lit up light bulb, and I'm making a connection that might not be there.

00:06:26:20 - 00:06:38:09
Mike O'Neill
You might just like light bulbs, but I'm mindful of you strike me as someone who's always learning. But tell me, what's the significance? Why did you choose the light bulb to be over your right shoulder?

00:06:38:11 - 00:06:55:03
Jones Loflin
Well, it really is just about ideas because, you know, light bulbs just give us. Hi, it's it's it's an idea. And so it's it's just a part of what I like to have is a reminder because I'm looking at it as well. Yeah. You know, it's about ideas of course, the map on the other side. I love to travel.

00:06:55:03 - 00:07:14:15
Jones Loflin
I think, you know, we've always traveled with our children and I think that's important to help them have a big world view about things. Going back to something you said a moment ago, Mike, you mentioned about learner and enjoying learning. I took strength spiders for the first time. Can you believe that I'm behind? Right. But I took strings.

00:07:14:15 - 00:07:37:16
Jones Loflin
Finders assessment probably four months ago, and lo and behold, my first number one strength is learner. You know, and I'd always wondered why I have this insatiable desire just to learn about things. I mean, whether it's, you know, noticing like you did something on somebody's background, whether it's a new book or whether it's a conversation, I just love learning.

00:07:37:22 - 00:07:59:11
Jones Loflin
And so that was an for me to go, okay, now I understand why I sometimes have to say, you know what, I've got to stop reading now because I could just read all day or I could go down a rabbit trail with this article I just found because it's fascinating. So that's one of the elephants that I have to manage in my world that that, you know, keeps me from getting too far in one direction or another.

00:07:59:13 - 00:08:18:10
Mike O'Neill
I don't get too far down this this rabbit hole, though. You mentioned the word elephants, But what kind of caught my attention, though, Is it your love for learning and new ideas? But you said something else that I'd love to follow up, and that is when you travel, you are forced to begin looking at the world through a new set of eyes.

00:08:18:12 - 00:08:54:13
Mike O'Neill
And I don't know if this has been your experience, but it seems as if with the way the information is coming at us, we have a tendency sometimes to choose how we get our information. And if we limit how we get information, we may be living, you know, limiting our perspectives. That's maybe not what you're trying to say there, but in your travels, in what ways have meeting people from all over the world, how has that changed who you are and how you do what you do for your clients and for your audiences?

00:08:54:15 - 00:09:18:06
Jones Loflin
Yeah, I think at its most basic level, I it's taught me to really try to make it a priority, to understand the perspective that the person's coming from. What are the what's the history, what's the, you know, the background that causes them to have this attitude or that attitude? You talk about? I'll give you an example. I kind of came to mind when you said that I guess about a year and a half ago.

00:09:18:06 - 00:09:34:21
Jones Loflin
My family and I traveled to the Y and we were there on the North Shore. We're visiting. We were resort. My daughter was wanting to learn to surf and those things. And somebody who's a local construction worker see us there. And you can tell I love strike up conversations people. And so I just said hello and different things.

00:09:34:21 - 00:09:58:07
Jones Loflin
And so he started talking and it was amazing as I listen to him talk about the pressures that many of the locals in Hawaii face because of of development, you know, and he was talking about the side of the island. They have to live all and different things. He was a complaining because he says, hey, if you all weren't here, you know, we wouldn't be able to to have the livelihoods that we have for many of us.

00:09:58:09 - 00:10:20:07
Jones Loflin
But that was one of those examples where just having a conversation with someone really opened my eyes to kind of what's happening there or what's happening with someone. And we may have one picture, but when you start talk to somebody who's local, you get another picture. I could tell you about stories. When I've been to Poland and talking to factory workers there and their view of America.

00:10:20:09 - 00:10:37:04
Jones Loflin
I was in Quebec City, Canada last week and one of our tour guides was talking about history. And she was saying, Did you know this happened in the U.S. during this date? And I, I looked at her and before I could even answer you, Yes. No, you don't, because you don't know your own history. We know more about your history than you do now.

00:10:37:06 - 00:11:11:11
Jones Loflin
I pushed back a little, but she was right. You know, Is that. And so so again, I think it goes back to what are you engaging in that opens you to new ideas? What are you are you are you listening to the counter viewpoint? I mean, I'll take you this as down a rabbit hole, a different one. My is that I think when it comes even to news I am not you know aligned with any one particular I mean I listen to different viewpoints and then from all of those I think I kind of get a more robust picture of what's going on in the situation.

00:11:11:11 - 00:11:23:06
Jones Loflin
So I think it's important, whether it's travel or reading or whatever it is you're doing, not just to find things that affirm what you already know with a challenge, what you know, because I think it's how we grow.

00:11:23:08 - 00:11:56:03
Mike O'Neill
You know, I introduced you as a speaker, a trainer and author. Let's talk about your role kind of as a coach. And that is, at least from my perspective, an effective coach is going to be able to offer fresh perspectives. But the recurring theme of what you do is what do you do when you sense that you're struggling with too much to do when you're working with either individuals or teams on that very issue?

00:11:56:05 - 00:12:03:23
Mike O'Neill
How does one start? What's that first thing that you try to do? Get the get the conversation and get the process going.

00:12:04:00 - 00:12:24:23
Jones Loflin
you're going to love this, Mike. And it's something all of your listeners can use any time they want, whether I'm starting a keynote or whether it's a coaching session or a training session. I always start with this question in your drive to get it all done. What's not getting done or getting done? Well? Head I got it.

00:12:24:23 - 00:12:45:21
Jones Loflin
If I'm in a keynote environment, I'll actually have people, you know, break up into groups of three or four and have them talk about it for 90 seconds or 2 minutes. If it's a coaching session, I'll allow the person to give me some some thoughts and ideas on that. But it's fascinating how people, when they're stopped, when they have no choice but to go, what is it getting done?

00:12:45:23 - 00:13:11:01
Jones Loflin
And then, in fact, you notice I said or done. Well, I used just ask question. You drive to get it all done. What's not getting done? And then somebody challenged me one time, said, Well, I'm doing it. It's just not good enough. Like, all right, let's add to that question. But that's the starting off point. And, you know, when I talk with clients who come to me, who are overloaded or overwhelmed, struggle too much to do, it feels so generic because I'll say, well, what's what's feeling heavy to you right now?

00:13:11:02 - 00:13:28:07
Jones Loflin
Everything. I'm like, Well, I can't help with everything. I said, Let's start with one at a time. Let's get to the foundation and that question helps them to get there, because for some people might say, you know, Jones, I'm not getting the strategy stuff at work. I'm just kind of putting out fires all day for some people, they'll say, you know.

00:13:28:07 - 00:13:46:01
Jones Loflin
Jones I'm just not building relationships with my family or coworkers. I'd like to because I'm so busy. And as some will say, you know. JONES I'm not not taking care of myself. I had one person who told me some time back, they said, I'd like to be able to sit on the couch for 30 minutes and not feel guilty about it.

00:13:46:03 - 00:14:08:09
Jones Loflin
And so I think that's where you jump off. You've got to stop and assess what's not getting done. You say you want a better life. You say you want to be more successful at work. You know, you can say, what does that look like? I'm your coach. You know, that's a powerful question to ask. I think another way to get into it is asking that question about what's not getting done.

00:14:08:11 - 00:14:34:13
Mike O'Neill
Is there a pattern that you see kind of emerges when you ask that question and they do break out or like, do you find it one, they're thinking about it maybe for the first time or for the first time in a while. Do they from a clarity standpoint, does it come clear or do they sometimes have to work on figuring out what really is way them the most?

00:14:34:15 - 00:14:35:13
Mike O'Neill
that's a great question.

00:14:35:13 - 00:14:59:05
Jones Loflin
I think what I see most often is that there's always something that's front of mind for them and then as they hear other people talk, they kind of start making their list longer of a commonplace that people will start when they say, What's that getting done? They'll look and they'll go, Time for me, time for me, you know, time for my own personal wellness self-care, you know.

00:14:59:05 - 00:15:20:20
Jones Loflin
But I think that's where I see most people immediately connect with because they're just so hungry for it. They've been taking care of everybody else and they've just not been taking care of their own needs. And you see that as a, you know, your executive coach. You see that with leaders. They're they're so mentally and emotionally drained because they just mean take your prompt problem and helping other people who are struggling too much to do.

00:15:21:01 - 00:15:46:22
Jones Loflin
And they've never or rarely do they stop and go, You know, what do I need right now to be at my best? So that's where I see people start. And then it just blossoms as they hear other people say, Yeah, I'm not get to that either. I'm not getting that either. In fact, I'll say this. There's a fun moment about 15 minutes into my keynote where I say, you know, we need to do something different to change the energy in this room, because I go through his list of ways they might be overloaded and I go through things are not getting done.

00:15:46:23 - 00:16:08:09
Jones Loflin
And I always joke. I say, yeah, you're you're looking at the meeting planner going, Why did we bring this guy in? You know? And I'll say, Let's just change it for a moment. And I said, I want you to turn to the person next to you and tell them someone on who's pleased with the work you're doing, the relationship you have with them, or the life you're living.

00:16:08:11 - 00:16:30:24
Jones Loflin
And I said, I want you to tell them who that person is. And you hear this. You just feel this amazing change in the room as people start talking about, you know, my boss, my supervisor, my colleague, my kids, my spouse, my son, people who say my dog, I'm like, hey, we'll take that, You know? And the reason I think that's important is because I think way too often we beat ourselves up for what's not getting done.

00:16:31:01 - 00:16:51:17
Jones Loflin
Instead of taking that moment to celebrate what is getting done, you know, the good stuff, because there's there's always good stuff happening. But we're so focused on what's not getting done that we're not taking a moment to celebrate that. And that's energizing. And once you start that, yeah, yeah. So all of those places, the work I'm doing, so those really okay, I can handle this, I could do that.

00:16:51:17 - 00:17:02:21
Jones Loflin
So I think it's a great first step to then launching into, you know, improving your routines, taking more control where you can, working with people differently, those types of things.

00:17:02:23 - 00:17:26:21
Mike O'Neill
I know you detailed these in your books. I like to go back to your keynote for a moment because they and it's so funny that you mentioned that because what was I was about to ask you is you've got to audience some type of event planner vetted. You brought you in and you are given excited by what your typical keynote lasts about how long.

00:17:26:23 - 00:17:49:15
Jones Loflin
Usually is 60 to 90. I know a lot of people like you know, not a lot of people might have a 45, but I really like a 60 to 90 because I do want people to talk to each other. One of the that one of the most amazing things that happens in a presentation is when people are talking is they look across to the person, go, what you two, I thought I was the only one who struggled with that.

00:17:49:15 - 00:18:00:03
Jones Loflin
And so it's very affirming to them that they're normal and it gives them the opportunity to to talk more in-depth about it. So. So yeah, about 60 to 90 minutes.

00:18:00:05 - 00:18:29:14
Mike O'Neill
So you have 90 minutes. You have a captive audience. You have fine tuned based on what you learned from your audience, what works where I guess I'm going with this is this notion of overwhelm. They may have a positive experience in that 60 the 90 minutes. They might learn something. But what have you found that when you challenge your audience to go and do helps these things that you shared how it can make it stick?

00:18:29:17 - 00:18:46:16
Jones Loflin
Yeah, I was waiting for that. Make it stick because that's what that's what we want. I have a meeting planners tell me that, you know, is that I will, you know. Jones I want them to walk away with stuff. I don't want them just to feel good or to feel I want them to walk away with stuff. So I'll give you example of a couple strategies from from a typical keynote.

00:18:46:19 - 00:19:11:18
Jones Loflin
Of course, I wrap this around managing your work in life like it's a circus. And so one of the elements of that is that you're the ringmaster of your circus. That doesn't mean you're control of everything, but it is recognizing where do you have the opportunity to have control or influence that you're not taking? And what I mean by that is is for them to begin assessing, you know, where am I not using my time as wisely as I could?

00:19:11:20 - 00:19:28:09
Jones Loflin
And so I think that's a good starting point for me because you can do that any time, you know, where am I not being a good ringmaster of my circus is one of the questions I ask. Another one is, is a strategy that I developed a few years ago to help people remember in those moments when they're overloaded, how do I create that 15 minutes?

00:19:28:09 - 00:19:47:18
Jones Loflin
How do I create that 30 minutes? How how do I create that space to get to those longer term things? And it's a strategy called tad t a B, And so I'll look and say, we're going to help you find a tad great Southern term there. I use that a lot growing up, you know, where where could you find a tad more time to t stands for transfer.

00:19:47:20 - 00:20:15:13
Jones Loflin
What could you transfer to someone else all or in part to create some space. Now some people are going that sounds like delegate. Well, it is, but then the acronym would make no sense. You know, in that way it's all like transfer but B day. Yeah that or you can add a tad more time A is automates. One of the things that I find with people feeling overloaded, there's so many choices they're trying to make going back to my, you know, foundation of that.

00:20:15:19 - 00:20:33:03
Jones Loflin
And there's so many that they're making what I call an analog they're having to think about what are those things you could automate in your day or in your week? So they happen at a predetermined time or a chronological part of your day. So you're not thinking about that could be exercise, it could be manage email, whatever it might be.

00:20:33:09 - 00:20:50:14
Jones Loflin
The D is drop and what's something you could stop, do or something you drop. And then after I introduce that concept, I'll say, okay, I want you to turn to the person next to you and I want you to share something that you could transfer, automate or drop that would create 15 minutes a day or 30 minutes a week of space for you.

00:20:50:20 - 00:21:12:07
Jones Loflin
And Mike, I got to tell you, I have never had anyone look at me and go, I can't think of a thing that they might even think in that. But but when I get response from the audience, it's fascinating because we all have those things that we're doing that aren't efficient uses of our time or too somebody else should be doing in some way.

00:21:12:09 - 00:21:38:05
Mike O'Neill
I made reference to what's in your background. I've recently made a change, but if you had pulled the camera back, what I would have over my shoulder, out of camera range and I do this for a number of years is I actually had a Lego circus and the ringmaster I did I did not know this, but the ringmaster.

00:21:38:05 - 00:21:58:03
Mike O'Neill
I kind of put my own company logo on it because it was a way to reinforce that I have to fulfill that. Can you just go ahead, elaborate for those who have not read your book yet? A little bit about that notion and how ringmaster factors so prominently in your teaching?

00:21:58:05 - 00:22:15:15
Jones Loflin
Yeah. Yeah. I got to tell you a funny story. I was talking to a group and I asked one things I'll ask people I'll just look at. They ask, How many of you would say you are the ringmaster of your circus and you know, you get a certain number of people, raise their hand. Never forget one conference I was speaking out, husband, wife on the front row.

00:22:15:17 - 00:22:32:21
Jones Loflin
I asked that question, How many of you say you're the ringmaster of your circus? The husband raised his hand, his wife looked at him and he put it down. And so, you know, I don't think that's the challenge for for most of us. I think for most of us, we just have this this desire to have control of everything.

00:22:32:23 - 00:22:48:17
Jones Loflin
You know, when we feel so out of control, if we're not in control of everything. And so I always like to start there with that idea of control, as I mentioned a moment ago, because in the circus, a ringmaster would never go to the animal trainer said, Hey, mister, this animal trainer, you take the day off, I'll work with the animals.

00:22:48:19 - 00:23:10:01
Jones Loflin
They do that once and they're going to do ringmaster. The role of the ringmaster is to, you know, help plan. The lineup is to help the circus act with purpose. It's to identify where in the lineup things could improve, what needs to be changed, what could be different to to determine when the acts come into the lineup, if you will.

00:23:10:07 - 00:23:31:04
Jones Loflin
And so there's a whole host of things that I think when someone looks at their life situation goes, Yeah, I'm the ringmaster, my circus. There's a lot of practical tips that that they can begin to glean even to the standpoint of people who argue with me and say, Well, I don't think I'm the remastered circus. And I'll say, okay, who or what is?

00:23:31:06 - 00:23:42:14
Jones Loflin
And then they'll list some things. And I say, Do they know what your values are? Do they know what your goals are? Do they know what the outcomes you're looking for are? And they'll go, No,

00:23:42:14 - 00:23:44:20
Jones Loflin
what is that say?

00:23:44:20 - 00:23:55:05
Jones Loflin
are you comfortable allowing that thing or that person or that group of people to control, you know, your actions or reactions and the way you're planning your day?

00:23:55:05 - 00:24:10:08
Jones Loflin
And most of them, most people, when they're challenged to stop, will go, No, I want to be the ringmaster by search. Right. What does that look like? Yeah. And then that that leads us into the discussion about planning your lineup, the plan of the activities you're going to put into your day.

00:24:10:08 - 00:24:39:02
Mike O'Neill
You know, just said we've been kind of talking. I've been trying to think of examples, and you can probably fill that void far better than I can. And that is in your work. You've been doing this for quite some time. I suspect it resonates with just about everybody. But this idea of getting stuck, can you share an example where perhaps you got stuck a client or an organization you're working with got stuck, and when that happened, what did it take to get unstuck?

00:24:39:04 - 00:25:00:15
Jones Loflin
Yeah, yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll protect this person as coach. You know that. That's important. I will say his name's Doug. Okay. Doug came to me. Doug is a teacher and and is also got a lot of different things going on in his life. He's in that sandwich situation where he's got kids just reaching the age of adulthood, so he's really active.

00:25:00:15 - 00:25:27:17
Jones Loflin
Berry also is his is is mom is still alive and have health issues. He's also he was also pastoring part time, pastoring a church at same time. And Doug came to me after hearing my keynote. He gave me a list of his 13 elements and I appreciated that. And so it was it was interesting because he he felt stock, you know, he says, you know.

00:25:27:17 - 00:25:44:17
Jones Loflin
JONES I'm just I'm just burned out every day when I try to teach. I'm just have no energy for things in my life. And so it was really easy with Doug because I said, okay, Doug, let's look at these 30 Nelson's. Which one could you most immediately address to get some breathing room?

00:25:44:19 - 00:25:45:11
Mike O'Neill
Yeah.

00:25:45:13 - 00:25:52:19
Jones Loflin
And he could do that. But you know what? He hadn't been asked the question. He felt like he had to get it all.

00:25:52:19 - 00:25:54:09
Mike O'Neill
Done.

00:25:54:11 - 00:25:56:04
Jones Loflin
And nobody had stopped and said, Hey, you know what?

00:25:56:04 - 00:26:09:03
Jones Loflin
Doug, this is this is not happening for you. Now, then how do you how are you going to add more to your life? So you talk about other things you wanted to do. And so so Doug began to see that, you know, what do you need? You know what I need to do?

00:26:09:03 - 00:26:40:18
Jones Loflin
I need to learn to say no. And so we we even coached through some conversations he could have with certain responsibilities in his life. We also talked about some things that maybe he could hire out, have someone else to do. And it was it was rewarding after just a month that Doug was in a better place because somebody had stopped him and and helped him identify where the pressure was coming from and enabled him to take some steps to get to a better place.

00:26:40:23 - 00:27:14:24
Jones Loflin
And and, you know, as a coach, it wasn't about giving him answers. Doug knew what he wanted to do. He just didn't have anybody who would who would sit with him and help him say, okay, here's step number one or what is step number one? Because so many of us want the quick fix, right? We want that quick fix of saying, okay, if I just work five more hours, you know, three times a week, or if I lose some sleep or if I get a better, you know, electronic way of managing my time when the answer for many people is no need, stop and say you're trying to do too many things, aren't you?

00:27:15:01 - 00:27:28:13
Jones Loflin
Okay, what could we take out? What could we do differently? What could we make more efficient to get those quick wins, to get that motivation to address the bigger challenges they face? I know that's kind of a ramble. What is? You talk about an example that's one that comes to mind for me.

00:27:28:15 - 00:27:56:01
Mike O'Neill
Well, it's not a ramble at all because you just perfectly illustrate it. Definitely two of the three points of Ted you help Doug with transfer. Working through that automate you might have, but you did ask the question, what could you drop? Yeah. So that's a perfect example of how what you you write about you speak about you were able to use on a11 basis work with Doug, you know.

00:27:56:01 - 00:28:19:01
Mike O'Neill
Jones We've had an opportunity to kind of talk about a variety of things. There's so many things we actually could and I would love to do to have done. So but as as you reflect on not only what we have discuss, but kind of your life's work, what do you want those watching, those listening, what do you want them to really take away from this conversation?

00:28:19:03 - 00:28:20:15
Mike O'Neill
How?

00:28:20:17 - 00:28:45:06
Jones Loflin
Mike I think the first thing is I would encourage your listeners to invest some time in reflecting on what's important to them. I mean, I'm talking getting away from the noise, from the technology and just really be not doing but being and ask yourself. Some of those deeper questions, you know, what are my values? You know, how am I honoring my values in my life?

00:28:45:06 - 00:29:22:10
Jones Loflin
How am I not honoring my values? What what are some things that I'm not getting to that I want to get to that, you know, in your drive to get it all done type of thing, and then to to start asking themselves, how could I take a first step? What is something I could do? Jim What's that small routine, you know, that I could develop to be able to take that next step to address that point of pressure or something that's bothering me or frustrating because it's not happening as it should, because you know that it's those little habits that we do over time that will make the biggest difference.

00:29:22:12 - 00:29:47:22
Jones Loflin
You didn't get overwhelmed and overloaded overnight. We're not going to get out of it overnight either. It's going to take that intentional effort of the choices you make every day to get you to that better place that that that will relieve so much of the pressure in the frustration, help you to be more fully present with the people in front of you, do the longer term work and be happier with who you are as a as a human being.

00:29:47:24 - 00:29:56:07
Mike O'Neill
JONES For those who are listening and they want to learn more or maybe reach out to you directly, what's the best way for folks to do so?

00:29:56:09 - 00:30:14:04
Jones Loflin
Sure. Thanks for asking, Mike. Of course, I would encourage him to start with my website Jones Loughlin dot com. There you'll find a number of resources to be of value to you. Also have a weekly video series that I put out to my subscriber list. There's a place on the website there if you'd like to sign up for that.

00:30:14:06 - 00:30:38:15
Jones Loflin
I know many of your listeners are active on LinkedIn. I actually that's my social media platform of choice and so I post content there every day today. You know, I might post a book recommendation next week. It might be, you know, information about work life overload or something. I learned somewhere else. But I would love for your listeners to connect with me there so they could get a chance to see that content.

00:30:38:15 - 00:30:46:02
Jones Loflin
And also I can learn more about them and perhaps at some point in the future, our paths cross in some way.

00:30:46:04 - 00:31:02:08
Mike O'Neill
I've had a conversation with Jones Loflin and we will include that contact information in the show notes. So if you're driving, don't worry about it. It's in the show notes. You can actually kind of get it. Jones What a treat. Thank you.

00:31:02:10 - 00:31:09:10
Jones Loflin
You're welcome. Thank you, Mike. Appreciate the work you're doing and help people get unstuck and look forward to a future conversation.

00:31:09:12 - 00:31:34:13
Mike O'Neill
Well, I will wrap up this podcast by just asking our listeners a question, and that is, are people following you because they have to because they want to. You know, as a leadership coach, I work with executives who have a track record of success behind them, but they're now they're not feeling stuck. They're frustrated because they're finding out that with each level of success that follows the bar, it set even higher.

00:31:34:18 - 00:31:59:20
Mike O'Neill
And they get discouraged because what worked in the past is no longer working. Well, if Feeling stuck describes you or someone you know, let's talk. Just go to our website Bench dash builders dot com to schedule a call. So thank you again for joining us at I hope you have picked up some quick wins from Jones that will help you get unstuck and on target.