737: How To Take Back Your Time and Get Back Your Life

25:15And I'm not bullshitting. Sorry, I didn't mean to tease up, but it's the truth. Yeah. But it's like, you know me. I'm a Jersey girl. I do not blow smoke. I tell it like it is sometimes to a fault. There is this whole other possibility for you where you can get more done in less time and actually have the freedom that you crave as a highly creative, ambitious person. And you do not have to hit those walls where either your relationships crumble and you find yourself destroying something that you loved, or you destroy your health to a place where it's going to take you so much longer to recover than you could ever imagine.

25:51Yeah. You know, it's so interesting, Marie, because I actually literally just talked to my therapist about this because I was like, is something wrong with me when it comes to time? Because as a kid, I was a really serious gymnast. And so we practiced every day from 430 to 845. So there was no room for homework or things like that. So I would do my homework on the bus or during recess. Like I was, it was kind of just ingrained in it. That was my passion. Like there was no stopping me. Like it was, it was very intrinsic. but I basically learned that like every minute could be used and where am I going to put it?

26:26And I've had to kind of deconstruct that a bit as an adult because, you know, it's very easy when I'm on the floor playing with my kids. I'm like, Oh, maybe I could put, put the load of laundry in and fold the laundry with them on the floor or things like that. And I've had to kind of like bring that down. But one thing that I think is so interesting, especially as a business owner and someone who craves freedom and created this new reality, right? Is that when we think about where we invest in learning, somebody listening to this show, they probably love marketing, right? They love strategy. They want systems.

26:59They want the next step-by-step process. They want the shiny new website and they want to know what content to be posting and when to post it. And if I could teach anyone one thing and have this legacy of time is our currency passed down, then I also have to find a way to make learning about time shiny. Thank God you stepped into my life. Talk to an entrepreneur, a dreamer, a listener, a side hustler, a curious person who's listening about why time, why time has to be their investment. Where are we starting this year? time. Yes. Okay. Let's go there. So here's what I've learned. So I've been doing what I've been doing for over 22 years now.

27:44So I have a great perspective and I've also helped through our other program, B-School, over 80 ,000 people start and grow their businesses. So I'm saying that because I have a perspective on both experienced business owners, total newbies, multi-passionate people like me who have multiple side puzzles, you know, like I get it. I've seen it. I've been there. I've gone through the journey. When it comes to time, this is a general statement, And then we're going to go into some specific buckets. Your greatest resource in the world is your time. And if you understand how to become a Jedi with it in a way that is sustainable, it is like supercharging your battery where you can blast past what you ever even imagine you can accomplish in a fraction of the time because you're with the right operating system.

28:29So think about it this way in terms of technology. Could you imagine right now if you were trying to do all the different things like video editing and capturing content and creating TikToks or creating Instagram posts or whatever it is, and you had an operating system from 2003, what would happen? You couldn't do it. You would be so frustrated, right? You would be trying to do things and you would get the wheel of death. And it's like, wait, I don't even have the software for this. Like the operating system wouldn't be there. So for anyone listening right now, you have to get time is your foundation.

28:59Time is the thing upon which all of your financial dreams become reality, all of your creative dreams become reality, and all of your most important personal dreams, the trips that you want to take, those cozy times with your family, those outings, those adventures, those surprise trips where you blow people's mind. All of that requires time. And of course, it requires money. The way that you're going to be able to achieve all of that, and I've checked so many boxes of those in my life is if you get the time thing right. So when you get the time thing right, it is like upgrading your internal operating system.

29:34It's like giving yourself a firmware update that is so advanced that anything that you look at that you might want to tackle this year, oh, I want to master my content creation. I want my YouTube channel to take off. Well, guess what? That is a pretty intense endeavor. And if you don't understand how to structure your time so you can both learn and retain that information, but create the time blocks that you need to crush it, you're going to falter. There's no way that you can do all the things that you need to do. Keep the ship running in terms of your existing business or your career and your side hustle and the stuff that you need to do to just be a human, like eat and shower and interact with your family and get that done unless you have a fundamental firmware update around the most important currency, which is time.

30:16For my business owners, so that's for like our kind of, let's talk about especially like the multi-passionate people, the side hustle people, and the new folks. There is a bigger learning curve when you haven't done something before. It is so crucial for you to get this right. Otherwise, here's what you run the risk of. Thinking that you're not cut out for this. Thinking that you're just not made to be successful or you're not meant to be successful because you can't keep up or you can't seem to get the things done that you know should get done. It's not that you can't do it. It's that we need to give you a firmware update, we need to update your technology from a time perspective.

30:52Now, can we talk about the bucket of existing entrepreneurs, right? So those of us who've been in the game for a while, you've been doing this for five years, for 10 years, for 15 or 20 years or more, you know more than anyone else, a couple of things. One is that you have to be able to expand your capacity for what you get done if you want to grow. What got you here is not going to get you there, right? So all of the different tricks and tools and techniques that used to get you to this level, if you want to either grow your team, you want to grow your effectiveness, you actually want to grow your impact, but you want to start scaling back and taking more time off.

31:29You have to become more masterful with your time, with your energy and with your attention. I see that in my own business. That's why I still like with time genius, we'll talk more about that. I go back to our tools because A, they're all rooted in science and B, it's like, oh, what do I need? Oh, great. I'm constantly finding these little time genius optimizations that are opening up more and more capability for me as a mature business owner to make a bigger impact and to carve out more of that freedom, which is what my soul is craving. But if you don't update that firmware, it's not gonna happen.

32:08You know, it's so interesting. So I have to paint the picture of when I first took time genius, because I think it's a seasonal life a lot of people can relate to. And Marie, I had been in a room with you and you had been talking about this program and you were just like, Jen, I really think this would be good for you. And I was super pregnant about to give birth. And, and you know, everything in me was like, oh, I can circle back on this. You know, I can circle back. And I literally, the other day I was looking up pictures in my phone. And I found these pictures of me taking time genius with a six week old on my chest.

32:46And I want to hug and kiss that version of me who saw that value of spending five days learning about time so that I didn't waste five years. And it made me cry because I'm like, you know, this time in my life, I'm never going to get back, you know, and I don't like, It's so special to me because I have zero regrets. I think so many people can look at me and be like, how are you the type of mom you want to be while running this business? This is a big business. My business has not gone down or decreased since becoming a mom. It's only grown. And yet my capacity for it is so much greater. And even my therapist the other day at the end of our session, she said, give me a break.

33:33And I said, I'm a really good mom. I never questioned that. And I think it's because I've learned how to harness the power of time. I know that the time spent in my business is worth it. And I also know the time away from my business is needed. And so it's just amazing to me to think about some of the tools. So let's, people are like, okay, what is so life-changing that you have Jenna sobbing on her podcast, but let's walk through some of these tactics. And one thing that I love, and even one of my team members, because guess what? My entire team has taken this program and there's some new members of my team.

34:07And I'm like, you have to take this. This needs to be a prerequisite to be on our team to be working here. And one of my team members called out yesterday. She said, they're not hacks, they're habits. And I thought this was very powerful because in the world of efficiency hacks, where we want to hack our way through things, a habit has a very different feeling. And it's a reminder too, that you got to flex your muscles. So let's go there. Yeah. And I also want to say too, how smart you are, like for our business owners that are listening, it's like, you have to have people around you operating at their very best.

34:40I think in terms of habits versus hacks, it is a new operating system, right? So it is a completely new way of engaging with the world and it will impact every part of what you do. So when we first begin in Time Genius, we're really in module one, which is giving people the tools and the techniques and the mindset shifts to escape the world of time stress. And here's what's genius about the program. It's comes from the inside out. So it's really about understanding, you know, what is your specific relationship with time? What's your narrative around time? What are your beliefs around time? Because whatever you believe is the truth.

35:12If you say to yourself, right, we have to start there. If you say, I never have time for anything. I can't get it all done. There's never, it's not, it's impossible. It's like, well, that's going to be true. But when you start really embedding like, oh, there's always time for what's most important. That is actually a really key sentence because what's embedded in there is this notion that you know what's important. And this is where we start to get into some tactics and habits. So module one is about escaping time stress. This is like it will blow your mind with how quickly we can help you change your beliefs.

35:42And then module two is all about knowing what's important so you can ignore what's not. I mean, how many people listening right now, like if you were to talk about this upcoming year, what is your primary project? What is the number one thing that you want to focus on and achieve, whether it's in your business, your side hustle, your career, or even your personal life, if that is most appropriate to the stage and season that you're at? How many people would have with crystal clear clarity, the one project that if they could accomplish that and nothing else would move the needle hugely? And you would feel comfortable when all of the other opportunities come in, when all the shiny objects, when all the new trainings and the tools and the shiny thing.

36:19and then, oh my God, this is going to totally revolution, you'd be able to say, no, thank you, because I know my primary project and I've already thought it through. I've already evaluated it. I have a reverse calendar set up. So I know that I have the likelihood of achieving it. If you're not able to say yes right now, we can help you. Having that primary project, even if you're a multi-passionate entrepreneur like me, what it helps you do, it helps you filter. It helps you set your day up for success. It helps you know exactly what you should be working on first, second, third, and so on, and exactly what you should not be working on in order to get that done in the most fast and effective and efficient way possible.

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38:08Can you believe that we're already wrapping up 2025? This year was packed with travel and so many new memories. One of my favorite moments was our team retreat in Arizona with the incredible women who helped me keep this business running. I also recently took the kids to Nashville during fall break and somewhere in between I squeezed in a trip to Puerto Rico with friends. We booked some of our most memorable stays this year on Airbnb. There's something special about finding a place that doesn't just look great in the photos, but actually feels welcoming the moment you walk in. That this feels right kind of feeling.

38:41If you've got trips coming up, whether it's a family vacation, a retreat, or a work trip, your house will probably be sitting empty while you're gone. Have you considered hosting your home on Airbnb and letting it work for you? It's a simple way to earn some extra income that can be put towards a future trip or home improvement projects. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com forward slash host. One thing, it's so funny because as you're talking about these things, I can remember exactly where I was when I learned them. I would go on walks with Quinn in the stroller and I would tune in every day.

39:19And one of the tools that even I think about, and it's so interesting too, Marie, because the first time I took the program, I had not been diagnosed with ADHD. And then by the time I took it again, I had been diagnosed. So I had a very different experience, right? Just a different lens that I was looking at it through. One of the things that has always stuck with me, and even to this day, I can see it right now in my peripherals is mise en place. And we've talked about this on the podcast, but let's give our listeners just kind of a little glimpse as to one, one of the strategies that is very simple that you could literally implement today and you could just start to lower your cortisol when you think about all the things you gotta do.

40:00So this is one of the favorite things. So early on in my career, I spent a lot of time bartending and waiting tables. Years and years and years. That was part of how I put a roof over my head and kept food on the table while I was figuring out how to grow my business. And one of the most awesome lessons that you learn when you're in the service industry is this notion of mise en place, of setting things up in advance so that when you walk in to get your work done, everything is set to exactly how you need it. For me as a bartender, it was like, oh, my mise en place was all of my cut lemons, all of my cut limes, all of my oranges, all of the kind of different little accoutrements that I needed to create the most extraordinary cocktails in New York City.

40:41I set them up before so that when there's five, six people deep, I've got my wine bottles behind me. I know my whites are over here. I know my reds are over here. I know where everything is so that I can roll. We can do this same thing with ourselves in a really simple way. So I don't know how you work, Jenna, but for me, I love walking down stairs in the morning and knowing like, oh, my coffee is set perfectly. I know exactly where I'm going to be doing my morning pages and my meditation. My notebook is there. My favorite pen is there. There's a little candle, you know, like everything is set up, even to the point where, you know, if Josh and I were watching TV on the couch the night before we were watching a movie that I'm not coming down and like the pillows are all strewn all over the place.

41:26And you know what I mean? There's blankets or whatever. And it just looks like what the hell happened in here? It was a little tornado. And so mise en place is this idea that you take five to 10 minutes at the end of, let's say, your workday or your evening to set up your home slash work environment so that when you walk in in the morning, it is perfectly set for you to win. Now, that'll look different for everyone. It doesn't have to take forever. Again, you could just take five minutes. It could be about setting up your coffee and having your computers charged and having your success plan for the day laid out so that you're not thinking to yourself, well, what the hell should I work on first?

42:03You know exactly what the game plan is to get your most important projects done in a way that feels good to you. If you're someone like me who has issue with visual clutter, who that can take me off, right? Even in my morning go, oh, now I got to go fold the laundry or now I got to go straighten up the couches and now I got to go do this and do that. And it puts me off my game. Can you take five or six minutes in the evening, even if you're a little sleepy, even if you're a little tired to do the mise en place, to set up your visual environment so that it's pleasing for you? You are stacking the deck in your favor.

42:35You are removing the chance that silly, stupid little things that could take you off track won't take you off track. And this is for my folks who have not yet mastered the art of your notifications. What you're also doing with your mise en place is making sure that any do not disturbs, focus, any of the very easy levers that you can pull with your digital devices are set up so that in the morning you are doing your most important work and that you are not getting taken off track by texts, emails or social notifications. Yes. Oh my gosh. I'm going to skim the surface on a few of the things that I'm literally still applying two years later, just so people can start to understand like how powerful this is.

43:19So one thing that Marie teaches is about how long in a day as a person really made to work and focus that shifted every, like when I say everything, it shifts how I stack my schedule. It shifts how I create my week. It shifts how I plan my time. Now I just stack a few hours a day of very focused work. And then I leave room for flexibility in my afternoon. So like I will never schedule something after one o 'clock. That was one thing. Another thing is really creating tomorrow's to-do list before you're frazzled, before you feel behind, before you're already questioning, what did I get done today?

43:57And what can I still get done? And taking time in your afternoon when you're still fresh and you're still feeling optimistic about the day. There are just so many little things that aren't little because they become the big things. And it's so funny, even with me some plus, this is so funny, Marie, but I put my kids to bed at seven. I will go and get my bedroom ready for bedtime at 7 PM. Now where I'll get my humidifier filled, I'll remove throw pillows. And like drew laughs at me, I closed the curtains and I'm like, it just makes my experience of getting into bed so much better because I'm in a different type of energy at that time of day.

44:35And so it's really, you know, it's this coming home to yourself, but it's also this feeling of like, I'm not out of control. And I think so many people are moving through life and especially business white knuckling it. Right. And it's what you teach is this softening, this loosening the grip, but in a way where you don't feel out of control. And I think that - Let's talk about that. Yeah, let's go there. Yeah, because I think that for all of us, there are times in our lives where we look around and we're like, how the hell did I get here? Like everything is so hard and you almost feel like you're the victim of your life, right?

45:11There's no way I can change. This is like, I created this, but it's just like, I'm exhausted. I can't get off this merry-go-round. This is too much. Like it's, you're just, you start to lose hope. And so for anyone listening right now, if you feel that way, I just want you to know, not only can you make a change with how you're experiencing your business and your life, but it can happen fast. It does not take months. It doesn't even take weeks. If you're willing to just experiment and spend five days with me, not even full days, like just give me a few hours a day and it's entertaining and it's enjoyable.

45:44Jenna can tell that it's all rooted in science, the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience and neurobiology and behavioral science. So it's backed up by evidence-based studies. You will notice that this thing that feels so out of control, all of a sudden you're back in the driver's seat. All of a sudden you recognize at every moment that there is choice. You create this spaciousness, like the you that you knew before who was patient and kind and creative and hopeful and playful. Jenna, that's probably one of the most amazing things that it like, it makes me so emotional because I have literally thousands of letters from mostly women like us who were suffering and many who were going to their doctors because they couldn't take it anymore.

46:32And all different stories of different versions of not knowing why am I breaking? What can I do? I don't wanna give up. I don't wanna quit, but I can't do this anymore. And so many of them have written to us and they're like, Marie, my husband's like, what did you do? I got the you back that I fell in love with. Like people are like, what's going on with you? Why are you so different? And people coming home to themselves and finding that playful, spacious, patient, loving, open person that they've known themselves to be again. The one that has energy, the one that feels absolutely confident being able, like when a request comes in, you'll be like, you know what?

47:09I can easily say no. And I don't have to bark at someone. you're just in control of your calendar and feeling like you're consistently making progress towards the things that are most important to you and actually seeing wins and results. Like that life, I'm not BSing you. That can be yours and it should be yours. And that's why we get so passionate about this because I can't stand seeing people suffer. I mean, I was in so much pain and I know what that feels like to wake up in the morning going like, I just, can I press the pause button? Like, I just want to disappear. I don't think I can do this.

47:40And there is another way. One thing that I think is so interesting is as you're sharing this, Marie, is like when I think about all of the different pivots, both you and I, you and I are so multi-packed. We are so alike in so many ways. But when I think about all the different places I've been able to explore through business and all the different levels that I've been able to reach that I didn't even know where possible. The one common denominator for all of it is time. And every significant shift in my business has happened when I actually treat time as my currency. It was the year where I said, screw six figures.

48:20I want to go back to making 50 K and I booked half of the weddings. And now suddenly I have time again. It is the time where I say, I'm going to write a book and not tell anyone about it because I have the capacity to do this and still run the business. and nobody even knew I was writing the book because I had the time. Right. And so every single big shift in my life, and I sense another one coming is all coming back to time. And so many people don't even have the time to be curious or to ask themselves, am I in alignment or to ask myself what's next or to ask myself, am I even enjoying my life?

48:56And so it's like time is the one common denominator in all of this. And one thing I want for you to think about that I think is just so powerful is that you can learn something once and reap the rewards of that learning for the rest of your life. And we forget that, don't we? We forget that knowledge compounds and knowledge put to action compounds with crazy, crazy benefits. And so I just think it's so powerful that as, you know, we're coming out of this season where we're investing in all these new things and, you know, new technology and new slippers and new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new.

49:33It's like, what is the tale as old as time, right? Yeah. It's time. It's the foundation. It really is the foundation of everything. If you look at the dreams and the goals that you've set for yourself for this year, really ask yourself, do I have the time right now? Do I have the systems? Do I have the energy? Do I have the capacity to knock this out of the park and to do it in a way that doesn't destroy my health? Can I do it in a way that's joyful? And one of the things that I realized when any of us, when any human being is existing in survival, you can't be as creative as you're meant to be.

50:03You can't, right? If you're in survival every day and you're behind the moment you open your eyes and you crash, you know, the moment that the day is done and it's just like you're in Groundhog's Day doing this again and again and again, I guarantee you are leaving potential and joy and money on the table. There is no way that you're getting the most out of this gorgeous life and that's what you deserve. And it's like, to your point of compounding interest, I think it's often attributed to Albert Einstein, you know, compounding interest is like the eighth wonder of the world. And in the notion of investing in our abilities, right?

50:37So in my mind, learners are earners. That's like one of my little mantras. And I consider myself a lifelong learner. And every time I go back in and I dip back into our time genius tools, I'm like, oh, yeah, what, where am I falling off the wagon a little bit? Like, where have I gotten a little bit sloppy. And I go, I'm like, oh, and I noticed this instant, it's like an instant breakthrough. I'm like, of course, now I feel better. Of course, now there's more spaciousness. I was just doing it before we got on this call. I was like, oh, I get to go take my dance class and see my dear friend and go do this meeting with this team member.

51:10And it like all fits in, in this magical way where there was this time in my life where I was just trying to hit it. And in the world of time stress, none of that would happen. It wouldn't happen joyfully. And it certainly, I would just, I was a big no because I was so overwhelmed all the time. You have an amazing free training that everyone can sign up for Jenna Kutcher.com slash time. Tell us about why people need to continue this conversation over there. It is so good. Yes. Okay. So if any of this resonates for you, if you've been suspecting for yourself, like I can't keep going this way and I need to make a change, come take the free class.

51:45So what I'm going to teach you in that free class is three specific mistakes that most stress make. I was making them all the time. And I'm going to show you how to turn those mistakes around instantly. So even if you don't wind up joining us for Time Genius, which is totally okay, you're going to get such a shift from the free training that you can start to apply and you'll start to see for yourself. I'm like, try it before you deny it, how much your life can change with a few simple tweaks that you can experiment with immediately. And just as a preview, if anyone listening right now, if you ever have woken up and when you go to start doing your work for the day and you say, oh, I'm going to get some of these easy things done first, I can promise you that you're making one of the most deadly productivity mistakes that any human can make.

52:28I'm going to show you how to turn it around and I'm going to show you the science of why you never want to do that again. Oh my gosh. JennaKutcher.com slash time. Marie, you changed my life. And as someone who has always been obsessed with time, I think you made me fall back in love with it. Instead of trying to beat it, I joined it, which is a really huge shift. And I really love that this stage and season of my life, I, you know, consider it coasting in a way, even though it's growing and beautiful and blossoming, but it doesn't feel urgent. And I think that that is one of the most beautiful gifts you could give somebody, especially in this stage where like, I will never get this time back to be able to say I have zero regrets for how I've navigated it is something that I think so many people want.

53:16Yeah. So just thank you. And, and I have to say too, for so many listeners, Marie lives this stuff out. Like if I text her, I don't expect a response until I know because she has a system, which she teaches about how she responds to message in my brain. I'm literally cataloging how Marie will approach my message and when I'll get a response. She has set these beautiful boundaries in her life that feel good from the friend standpoint where I respect, recognize and admire them. And in turn, it encourages me to instill even better boundaries in my own life. And so I just want to say she doesn't just talk the talk.

53:54She walks the walk. I adore you. And thank you for saying that, you know, because friendships, it's like our relationships are the most important aspect of our lives. And no one really teaches us in this modern world, how to do them in a way that feels good to you. And that feels good to the people that you admire and appreciate. So thank you for sharing that. And thanks for everyone for listening. And just know like anytime you feel in your heart, like something's not right here, like this is unsustainable. I feel like I'm behind and I can't ever get ahead or I can't win at this game. It's not you.

54:26It is not your fault. You're not bad. You're not stupid. You're not lazy, you're not broken. You're just caught in a dysfunctional, sadistic, unsustainable relationship with time and you don't have to live there anymore. Being a time genius is a choice, a choice that has always been within your control, a choice that you can always make at every moment of every day. And you've just got to know that it's waiting for you. It is possible and it can shift the entire feeling and emotion and trajectory of your life. I'm a proud time genius over here. Thank you for coming back on the show, Marie. Thanks for having me, Jenna.

54:59I can get very emotional on the topic of time. And you heard that happen today. That's nothing new. I think so many of us have this really complicated relationship with time and we often move through life feeling out of control. And I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, Marie's training and the way that she teaches about time transformed my life. I feel like so much of this season of my life is possible by utilizing the tools and the habits and the techniques that I learned from her and really changing the way that I look at time and how I spend it. It's shifted me from this space of overwhelm and stress to this place of peace and ease.

55:44I've told you so many times, my words of these years is that nothing is urgent and that I want it to be easy. And I feel like that's only possible when you really do upgrade your operating system to see time and life in a whole new way. Again, if you want to learn more from Marie, go to jennacutcher.com slash time. I would love for you to learn these things that have changed my life so that we can make this ripple effect so that all those around us can really feel our presence. I think our presence can really shift this world that we're living in. Again, that's JennaKutcher.com slash time to learn more about Marie and her teachings inside of Time Genius.

56:24And I hope that you learn something new today and that you leave feeling empowered and excited about how you're about to spend the rest of your day. Thank you so much for spending your time with us on the Gold Digger podcast. Of course, until next time, keep on digging your biggest goals. I'm over here giving you a virtual high five because you just finished another episode of the Gold Digger Podcast. Did that go by way too fast for anyone else? If you want more, head over to golddiggerpodcast.com for show notes and all the discount codes from today's sponsors. And if you're looking for a new crew of movers and shakers like you to bounce ideas and ask questions, be sure to join my exclusive community for Gold Diggers on Facebook.

57:03The link's waiting for you at golddiggerpodcast.com.