How to Knock Out Your To-Do List - Featuring Sarah Bonham

Owning a business is a challenge. Knowing how to keep innovating in your business is an even bigger one. Join restaurant owner, motivational speaker, and innovation expert Sara Frasca each week as she guides fellow business owners in taking the next step to level up their business. If you've ever pondered hiring a business coach but want a sample first, come along for the adventure!

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Sara Frasca is the founder and owner of Trasca & Co Eatery in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, an experienced and engaging motivational speaker, and the CEO of global business coaching firm Point NorthEast.

Transcript

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You're listening to level up your business, the podcast where we talk to hardworking business owners and leaders and help them solve real issues in real time. I'm your host, Sarah Frasca restaurant owner, keynote speaker and business coach. I've spent my career not only in corporate America, but also as an entrepreneur, carrying on my family's legacy through my restaurant. Now a business coach and consultant. I'm helping other businesses to use creative problem solving and innovative thinking to drive lasting change. Stay tuned to hear some inspiring guidance that will help you to level up your business. And that's really great. Okay, well, let's go ahead and get started. Welcome Sarah Barnum. Hello, Mike. Hello to you. And, you know, today's kind of a special day because Sara and I are, I mean, like, love, love, love Sara, everything about her spirit and the way that she drives business and connections, and just with so much heart. So, really excited for our podcast today. And of course, I like Mike to just get the warm welcome. I don't know. So Mike and I are kind of tag team partners in this, we have so much fun talking to entrepreneurs, business leaders, business owners, like yourself on this podcast. And you know, what we're really trying to do, as I mentioned to you, Sarah, is have a business owner, a business leader, tell us kind of what is what are their challenges, what are they grappling with? And I usually say what's keeping you up at night. And then we want to dive in in the moment and really help those through those questions, asking our own questions, and really trying to figure out some solutions that maybe you wouldn't have thought of. So before I do that, you know, you and I go back aways, we are in the same community. So we even have kind of like, you know, a network of folks that we know. But why don't you just kind of set up for our listeners, you know, what your background is and what you're doing now? Yeah, absolutely. So I feel like I'm, I'm a serial entrepreneur, I am all about creating multiple streams of passive income. I believe in me just a little tiny bit about my background, I grew up in a very poor family growing up, my mom worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day, my dad left, I think going I was just going into high school, left her with a debt left with a payments, took the family car. And I remember, you know, looking at her and her telling me, you know, because I resented her growing up, like she was never there for the events. She wasn't really here for the recitals, the PTOs, the the award ceremonies, and I was that kid that was at school alone. You know, and so she told me, though, one day when you grew up, you will have to decide, build and raise your family, or make a career. And I remember looking at her in the eyes and saying, I'm gonna do both. And it didn't hit me until two years ago, when I was up on stage in Arizona. And I was speaking to this group of women and I'm like, it just like tears came down my face. And I was like, this is this is was the moment that I realized that I had achieved both, I had achieved both being able to create income for my family. So I could do from anywhere. So I could be that present parent, but also create that income. So for me, I am very intentional about what I say yes to what I say no to can it be passive? Is it in my wheelhouse? can I provide value? And if it's something that I can add to my day into my schedule into my life, and it's going to create residual income? I'm like, it's a yes for me. So. So yeah, so kind of my main focus. Now I was diagnosed with Bell's palsy back in March. And it led me to living this whole anti inflammatory lifestyle, which led me to several companies that loved what I was doing, talking about, we need the space. And so long story short, I ended up partnering with a company out in California. And it's been amazing. And I get to help people find products that are gonna help them live an anti inflammatory lifestyle, while also making money when they want to make money. So I always say get paid to be healthy. Right. So it's been awesome. So that's what I do right now. Great. It's amazing. And I mean, you've done so well. I mean, I think, you know, again, I was there before the Bell's palsy onset, you know, right at the beginning and your not only your commitment to living a very, very clean, you know, light, but also your attitude has been just super inspirational and I just I I know how challenging not personally but I mean, I guess you know, my empathy and just going through other things, but gosh, you've you've worked so hard and you've had Such a great attitude. So, and you look great. Lever set like we're so it's working. We're getting there one step at a time. So absolutely, absolutely. Well, you know, Mike and I are also kind of in that entrepreneurial world. And I would say we get a lot of energy personally and professionally through helping folks like yourself. And so I would say, let's just dive right in to the question of the hour, what is keeping you up at night, Sarah Barnum, and we'll dive in to see if we can help you. Okay, what keeps me up at night 100% Is my to do list. I think as an entreprenuer, we don't turn off you know, when you are working for yourself, and you've got all these goals and things that you're doing, especially when you're creating multiple layers of income, the to do list is never ends, partially my fault, right? Like I'm the one that gets to do lists, and I'm the one that gets to decide what gets done it doesn't. But for someone that's always been a Sarah, you've been such a motivator to me thinking outside the box, being innovative, taking ownership and other areas of my life. I'm really just thinking outside of the box, and how I'm going to scale the things that I have. So with that being said, it is my to do list that keeps me up at night. That's that's not supposed to happen, your to do list is supposed to help you go to sleep. Keep adding to it, tell it to give me some more insight on the fact that like I have a to do list, I prioritize the things that are important for me and my must use my non negotiables. And I get those done. But then there's always these other things that like aren't top priority, but also need to get done that don't tend to get done due to, you know, the day not going exactly as planned, or meetings coming or meetings that are going longer than intended or whatever it may be. And so new things get added to the list while other things are getting knocked off, but not as quickly as they need to be getting knocked off. That makes sense. So um, I have a to do list I love to lose, but yeah, keeps me up. I wake up in the middle of the night, like three o'clock in the morning. Like, I gotta get this done. Well, Mike gets up at that time, too. So if you've ever Yeah, if you're bored, you know, just do this. Yeah. Just see what it's like. Okay. Mira, I want to hear a little bit about like tools that you're using, like, are you using post? Its are you using technology? Like, what? Where is what is your to do list live. I'm a little old fashion. But I've also learned that technology does help, right? So I do both. For me, I'm a visual learner, and I remember better, but I write so I have a physical calendar that I write in, being able to open it up and see my entire months in full is is helpful to me, but then also having the dailies and then also, I will say join Google accounts and alerts and automations and all those have been a game changer. For me for sure. So definitely. Technology is helpful for that, too. Um, but yeah, so I have a little bit of both. Kind of a question. What what are you creating this list? Is it just perpetually throughout the entire day? Or do you do right before you go to bed? Or like when when are you creating list? Great question. So I used to do it right before bed. And I don't do that anymore. So it's when as soon as something has to go on the list, it goes on the list right then and there. So to try to remember and then adding it in the evening. I've just gotten better at just okay, this is on the to do list. This is the next meeting. This is the next call. This is the next you know, whichever schedule appointment. So just getting those all in the books right in real time. And then having my projects so I have my to dues, my meetings, I scheduled them and then I have my projects to help elevate my businesses, automate them and push them forward. So those are the things that I think it's not working. In the business that's hard. As far as the To Do lists, it's the working on the business, that to do lists tends to be the one that keeps me up at night because I'm always excited. I'm always thinking of new things and ways to innovate and grow and scale what we were doing and also learning how to automate it. So that's my big passion is learning how to automate as much as I can. Sure I'd like to switch sides to be on I want to ask the same question by the way. Yeah. This you're gonna solve my problem is same time. So I you know, I struggle with the same city but the reason I'm up at three in the morning is for the same reason. So I've tried a host of things. I don't know that they're, they're all six testable. But um, so I don't know that I have, I feel stumped. Because I struggle with the, if you have a rapid thought process, it's just hard to turn that rapid thought process off because it just fires up. And you know, now you're, you know, it's like jump out of bed ready to go. Yeah. So, yeah, everyone thinks I'm crazy or knows. I will share things that have helped. I mean, so that's what keeps me up. And I'm very aware. But I also know the power of sleep. And it is so important right to our health to our bodies to how we focus. So some untraditional ways that maybe you haven't heard of the last one may throw you Olivia. Wait, wait, wait. So the first two not that crazy. Cold plunging and infrared saunas have been massively helpful for me to get that sleep, it just puts my body into like a super deep relaxation moment, my body feels amazing. All the I won't say stress. I think like as entrepreneurs, we are excited. Like, I don't like to call that stress. I like to call it like excitement, you know, tension. But that kind of gets me wired up. And it makes it hard for me to like go to sleep. So cold launching infrared sauna, very helpful to kind of just reduce all of that. Problem is I can always do it every single day. So that's where that comes in. Something else that I just started doing. And I had the best sleep of my life last night. Like I was texting my girlfriends this morning. I was like, I slept so good. Because something I really struggle with. I go to bed late to make it worse. And then I get that bolt of energy at like 3am And I'm like, I can't sleep. So it's like it's really bad, right? Mouth tape. Never heard of it for a while want that in my house? No. So I learned about this. My girlfriends are super big into studying their sleep habits. And they like it's like a whole big thing. It's a whole world like tracking your sleep. Knowing how much sleep you're getting and all the things that you can be at your optimal best each day. And Mel tape, oddly enough, came up my started off actually from my daughter. She's a mouth breather, she soars really bad at night. We've been trying to and she's getting really bad sleep. So we're like, well, let's try this melty. We've heard good things about it. Yeah, on Amazon. It's really inexpensive. Give it a shot. And I thought why as I was looking into it, I thought, well, it does say that it helps a lot of people with sleep studies, and then they're getting better sleep. So I'm like, I'll try it. Tried it last night had the best sleep of my night life could have been a combination of all three things. But oddly enough mouth tape? Well, that is amazing. I've never heard of it. And like, I mean, it's a wake up. It's a good data point. But it's only that is what I would say at this moment. Right? Like the moment, I guess moment. Yes, data points. I think that will help at this moment. Okay. So I just want to tell you both that I do not have this issue, I have rapid thought process. I sleep great at night, knowing that I've captured everything, I have some tools and some ideas for you. But it's kind of an individualized journey, and in my opinion on this topic. And so, you know, what keeps you up at night is your to do list for both of you. Like I just I may have some ideas. I want to ask a couple of clarifying questions though like before and maybe Mike you can write down your answers to because now I'm gonna throw this back at both of you. But what are the things on your, like big picture roles and responsibilities that you love doing and are great at like, you wake up in the morning and you tell your significant other and you think to yourself like you kick off the sheet and you're like I'm so excited I get to do this today? Versus what are the things that now you really wish you couldn't you didn't have to do that? You know, like you might tell your significant other the opposite like oh, I have to go do this today. And so if you write them down I'm kind of curious I'll ask Sarah first what what are your answers to that Sarah? So I would say in the current moment what I love is working with our sales team I love helping them win I love being on calls with them. I love coaching them I live to celebrate their victories and when that's the part for me where it's like those are what I love to do and I spend a lot of time doing the other things that I don't get to write and then those are things that wake me up so the yeah watching but those are the conversations I can't quite control right like they might go a little longer meetings like says it's gonna happen. So I think it is crazy. and boundaries around those calls and that coaching, right, that would be helpful. But then the things I have, I do have I don't love. I don't love emails, okay, I don't love knows this like, I'm terrible getting I, I hate sitting down and we need out, what are the important ones we don't need to actually go through but the ones that are spam and garbage, what are the ones that are wasting my time? And then just spending time there in that space? I don't enjoy to do. Okay. Yeah. Okay, that's, that's really helpful. And, you know, I'm kind of coming at this from a couple of different areas. Because when I first opened the restaurant, I was in a pickle, like I literally, I even though I slept great like to do listening was also a disaster. And I had this fear of missing something, because everything landed on my shoulder. So you said, you know, kind of the, you need to set better boundaries with these folks. And I would say, Sarah, it's really important, because it's just like, you know, at a doctor's office or wherever, like, you have to stay on schedule, or your back, and you're saying to the next person, you're not important to me. And so you have to be really, in my opinion, really. I would say, Mike, actually maybe feel mute for just a second. I don't know if there's like a bad. There's like, but anyways, um, you have to be pretty disciplined about this. But this is something where they've done studies, your meeting will last as long as your meeting is scheduled, right. And so I would say, I also have learned over the years, like, there are like bio breaks that need to happen, like, I might need to grab lunch or whatever, like, no one's doing that for you, you have to do that for yourself. Today, okay, guys, it's 430, I have a hard stop at 520, I can almost guarantee you that meeting will be done at 520. Because the people on the other end are getting your coaching, they are getting your time, attention, etc. And you are so loving. And I know you could talk to them all night, but they respect you, you have helped them. They owe it to you to say, Gosh, it's 520 We know you have a hard stop. Let's follow up tomorrow with another 15 minutes. I mean, that is like, again, just a really kind of like have the confidence to set those boundaries. You can't go beyond them, Sarah, or you will be sacrificing your own sanity. Totally makes sense. That's such a valid point to just give yourself permission to have the heartbreak. Yeah. I mean, if I met with you, and I said, like, Hey, Sarah, we can meet today from you know, noon to 1255. But I've got a hard stop at 1255 you would never think bad of me. You'd be like, Oh, it's so great that Sarah is like giving us the you know, and I think again, like put yourself on the other side. Like, you would never feel bad if someone did that. And what was my other point on that? Well, I just I again, think you will prioritize better. I mean, you might say like, well, how are your kids and everything like that. And you might have a little bit of small talk, but you're really going to be succinct and crystal clear. Because again, you've got the time in your day. You're just choosing to allow people to take it from you. So if you're if you're making it like this is you know, you don't get any more time. Yeah, so valid. Yeah. Okay, I don't want to jump right to the hate Mike, did you have anything else on the love area? No, I think it's I think it was good. Well, I want to hear Mike's love and hates to know this so while I love making espresso that's the first that's what gets jumps me out of bed is to make my espresso in the morning. No, I really liked the I get excited about finding creative solutions. That's really what drives me and so usually my 3am What jumped me out of bed was something I was working with a client and then I you know for some reason at three I was able to formulate what I consider to be like oh my god, this is this is it. And my hate I would say is going to the gym. I don't like coming to the gym. I know so many people I wish I loved it. I know I love it so much it's my it's my sanity and break it's that's where I've created my best boundary is saying I'm not taking calls I'm not doing these things from this window. I am hyper focused on me and my health and I used to not be like that though. My my Bell's palsy led me to a lot of enjoying these things that make it better for me. Yeah, Oh, okay, so I'm gonna go to Sara's hate for a minute because I also hate emails, I would say that has been the bane of my existence since I started. And Mike teases me because he's like, Did you read my emails, and I hate emails. And so I put a solution in place a little over a year ago, you both know this, I have a kind of coo slash. I mean, he's like, everything for me, like, head of everything I do. I don't know what his exact title is CEO of my life. And so, I mean, it's, we have such a, in my opinion, such an incredible connection, like, I will send him things at night where I'm like, Oh, my gosh, we should try this. Or he and I will send each other stuff if we're like, out and about, or looking on Instagram, or on, you know, the internet or whatever. And so we both have, I think ideas swirling at any moment, and neither of us feels bad. I think I should ask him again, but that we're like, pinging each other constantly. So my rapid thought process is met with his rapid thought process. And I never have, I never feel like there's any tension or resentment. So that's one component of that part. The other thing is, he does assist me with my emails. So everything that comes through, and I will say, you know, the fact that I have a couple of businesses, I have my business card, you know, on the counter at the restaurant, I do get signed up for a lot of spam. And so he filters that and is able to say, like, oh, no, she doesn't need new shoes, you know, get all that junk out. And then like, I know exactly, but he'll say to me, if I have an all day meeting, you have three important emails, you've got to get back to these three people. And so I feel like, I know, when I have an important client thing that i He's got me covered, he's got my back. And so he lives up in Hudson Valley. So he is not with me here, physically. And so I think that there are some really good tools out there for an executive assistant for someone, even if it's a remote base, if it's a virtual assistant, in fact, I'm just going to look on Instagram, because, again, I found this the other day, and I thought it was fantastic. And I'm gonna give you the name of it. Okay, hold hold. I apparently sent him a lot of things. slips. Wonderful. By the way. I love working. He's just great. Yeah, no. Okay, so it's called Johanna, yo, H, A, N A, and they their little thing on Instagram, tackling your to do list is a challenge, even on your most productive days, learn how we can help you get things done. So I haven't done it. So I can't like speak to their services, or their quality or any of those things. But it piqued my interest because a lot of working professional, especially moms and dads have a lot on their plate. And so you said a very big tension point for me, and I'm gonna call kind of call you out on this. You said, I do. You know, like, I'm really proud of being a present parent and an entrepreneur. And I think you're probably like Not, not separating it as well as you hope to do it. Because when I was at General Mills, I had this funny realization one time of like, oh my gosh, every time I'm at work, I'm stressed about my kids. And every time I'm with my kids, I'm stressed about my work. And I was like, I am not present like I am not delineating. And so I think it's a little bit of practicing that I've done through the years. But I would say, I really think you should focus on that. I really think you should. When you go to bed at night, like rest easy like you got a full day's work. And Sarah, I know how much you want to like, there's nothing more a person can accomplish than what the two of you accomplish in a day. Like, there's no question. There's no way on earth, a human being can get more done than either of you. So like go to bed and then get back up in the morning and do the rest. Yeah. I have more for you. Okay. So you got to turn off, right, like you have to have like a turn off switch. And so whatever is turning that off, my husband calls it changing the channel. Like, physically, I mean, we all had old old TVs right where you'd like literally flip the knob. Like you got to put it on a different channel. Because if you have that static running in the background all night, and like it is taxing. Yeah. And you're not going to be your best self either in any of your worlds, right? Like you've got to have that like sharpening the tools, time where you're sleeping, resting, all of those sorts of things. So I really, really believe in in that Like, I would say different organizational systems call it different things. EOS calls it clarity breaks, I would say, you know, lots of folks practice mindfulness, your plans of what you're doing with the coal plunging in the infrared sauna, the ISA sound Oh, because I'm from Minnesota, Finnish word of mouth tape, the gym, like you've got tools in your toolkit, you've got to use them. And you've got to use them in a way that allows you to have that mental break so that you can come back with fresh energy, just like a professional athlete. Yeah. So true, I love it, I think it's the boundaries is the biggest word right that I pull out of like just setting those, those boundaries in those spaces, and then being consistent about it. So setting boundaries for a day or a week isn't enough. So it's learning how to do that consistently. So true. I find that the something we do for our meetings that the mind wipe is a really neat tool as well, maybe you can talk about that. That was, you know, for me, when I asked why, what time do you write your list, I found that sometimes if I write the list right before I go to bed, I'm up, you know, I'm up the list just never ends, because read through the entire evening. But we have a process we do before some meetings, and Tara let you do you talk about it. But I think that's really helpful. I'm glad your mind wipe. So I mean, it's so simple. I mean, it's literally like just get a piece of paper and a pencil or a pen or whatever. And you just write everything down in, I usually use it a three minute timeframe. And so when we are working with a client, and I mean, our clients are just like us, right? Like they are battling kids issues, and they've got to take somebody to the doctor, and they've got a client call they have to do and they're supposed to do a strategic plan, like evidence, like it's a lot, right. And so we have to come to be present in the moment with the task we're working on. And so the mind wipe is intended to be a clearing out process. And so the idea is, you take a blank piece of paper, you take a pen, and you literally write down every single thing you can think of that you need to do or that's on your mind. So it might be like, I need to go to the grocery store. And I've got to change the air conditioning filter. And I need to get a birthday present for someone and I've got to get the Christmas cards done. I mean, literally every single thing that's on your mind. And now when that three minutes ends, you have your to do list. This is you know, and you could even add in of course a step of like, must do must do like those become your prioritized. I gotta get these done first and then the little things. Mike, did you write down the birthday present because it is coming up, just wait, your birthday is coming up. I didn't know. I thought to tell you wrote it down. But you know what it was someone else. But I will also figure out when your birthday is and then now now we will be getting you good chocolate this year since you were eating mock chocolate market. So um, okay, let's see, I had another couple of things. So I don't know if this is you, either of you. But at one point in my in this was in my General Mills days, I was utilizing a program called Getting Things Done, which is a great, great tool, and actually just made me think of another one. All right, but give me just a minute, I gotta write that one down. So I don't forget. So getting things done was a terrific system, I, you know, was able to go through it corporate training course. But they also have a book and they have online training courses and that sort of thing. But it just kind of helps you to be able to be really productive and efficient. And one of the things that I recognized in that course, was that I was making to do lists in multiple places. And so then I would end up making a to do list of all the things on my different to do lists. And I was repeating things or trying to consolidate and it was just, you know, not only inefficient, but it was also almost adding anxiety like where did that other list go and okay, I've got this list. And then I've got this list and then and it was like stop making lists and start doing the work. And so yeah, so I have no idea if either of you does that. I don't assume but that was something that I had to fix. years ago. Absolutely. That was I got to a point where I forget what book I was reading but was talking about energy. And it was talking about how we actually physically spend more physical energy thinking about our to do lists versus just doing it. And so I started putting that into practice. And I'm like, Wow, it really is so quick, right? It's not answering that email doesn't really take that long, you know, reaching out to that person or doing that follow up or sitting down to create that task doesn't actually take that much energy and you feel great afterwards. So what book was it was years ago that I started to do that. But I used to be that way. I was like, Oh, I've got this tool and this app and this thing. And I would create all the lists, I wouldn't forget. Now I'm just out to my one physical, one digital, that's shareable to my other audiences. And now it's just tackling the action piece each day, but it does feel good. I always tell people, chase the chase the feeling that you're going to have afterwards because it feels great to just get through it. Right. It's fantastic. I agree. The other tool that I thought of in the moment that I've used with certain folks is the Eisenhower matrix. And it was actually President Eisenhower that developed this. And it kind of lays out importance and urgency. But the most important is that it's do it, decide, delegate or delete. And so it's like, any single thing that comes through, you have four options, there's no other options, you're either going to do it now, you're going to decide on a time to do it later, you're going to delegate to someone who can do it for you, or delete, literally eliminate it, right, not important. And so if you can choose in that instance of which of these 4am I going to do, you've taken the complicated process of thinking through who when am I going to do that? And should I have somebody else do it and your split second, and you you actually can practice this like a muscle and get better at it. And so, you know, an email comes in, and it's like, nope, delete, email comes in, delegate, email comes in, I'm going to do it now. And so that type of thought process can help you to become more, again, efficient, more effective. If you use the email in your in your analogy. I think you're very, very funny. But yes, I hate email it I really like Nope. Okay. Actually, on that note, I'm going to tell you something else. And this is maybe the right the wrong answer. But I'm going to be as real as possible. Yeah. Why would I let anyone else control my day? Like, I'm going to do the things that are most important to the things that I need to do. So if I need to make a client call, like, I'm not looking at my email, I'm gonna make the client call. And so again, I've got James in the background, looking at my email and texting me and saying, like, you have three emails you have to do today. And it's like, Great, I'll go look. And to be very honest, we made a folder of everything that has to do with my kids. I mean, having five kids like, a lot of it's all important, but I can then do that at night. And it's not clogging up my inbox because he doesn't have to worry about the test tomorrow or the whatever. But I you know, I want to do that, and I want to read it. But anyway, the point is, I forgot my point. Hmm, not letting people control your day. So yeah, thank you. I knew I had a point and it was a good one. See, Mike emails me and I'm not letting my take over my day. I'm in charge. I'm the I'm my own boss of my day. I just gotta find out how to get to be one of those three important emails. Okay. All right. So I have another urgent James. Already, number one email. He always tells me when you email me, I always read everything. It just happens that I don't read it instantly. Yeah, all the time. Okay, I have another comment for you. So I would say this is in line of delegating. I don't know if you have a team or not. Do you have anyone on your team? I have. So as far as delegating, I do have an amazing assistant. She. Yeah, she's she's wonderful. So we run I work really. So I really tried to it's, it's my projects that stressed me out, right. Like it's exciting tension, excitement, and but it's the those to do lists too. So it's like, but the cool thing is my projects, once they're done, they're automated and they're moving forward. But there's always something else to do. So I worked really closely with her to finish and wrap up the project. I think the hard part for me and I'm learning and I'm getting better is how much can I delegate how much of my knowledge needs to be coming from me? And what things that take up the most time can I again, I think for me as I feel like I have to be the one to do it. There has to be this level of me involved in the aspect of it. So I think it's my own mindset of like, no, no, no. So and so can do this. And they are capable of handling this and they can take my vision and my words Mmm personality and put this into this. So it's kind of like letting go of, I think when you're especially like a baby entrepreneur to like, you, I it was just me for so many years, for so many years, just in the last couple years I've been able to really delegate and pass things on. So for so long, I had to do all of it. It's still kind of breaking those habits of like, No, I don't have to do this all alone. So but it is a struggle. Yeah. Okay. So I want you to kind of flip the script for a moment and think about like, what if I was your manager? So you're in this scenario, you're your own assistant. And I'm Sarah Barnum, and I am not delegating to you. What am I telling you? Either you don't want to work for me. You don't trust me? That was kind of what I wanted to hear you say? Because I think what people don't realize in this, like delegation discussion is how empowering it is. Like, if I bring you in on the vision, and I say like, no, go at it, like, I trust you. Like, I need the help. I mean, again, I I need to check with James to make absolutely sure how he feels. But I'm like, Oh my gosh, we're like of the same mind. Like, you can do everything I can do, like just you take it and take it a run. And so you know, in not only like, I rely on Him for everything, but like, I think it's empowering for him because he knows that I trust him. And that goodness, as long as we're operating with integrity, and with kind of the values that we have kind of discussed and aligned on and those sorts of things. I really don't care if somebody makes a mistake. I mean, really, the worst thing that can happen, we're not operating on patients that could die. Like if we send the wrong email or the wrong name or the what, like there are things as human beings that we may get wrong, but better to delegate to him. He you know, anyway, so I just really want to like counsel you to try to maybe emails because that was what you said you hate the most. I know when you said that. I was like, gosh, even just a simple task of her dividing my kids emails out with I feel like feel so good. Because that tape. I mean, it's, you know, yeah, you have five I only have three, but my gosh, multiple emails, sports events, all the things it's like, yeah, totally. And how many times does the teacher tell you that there's going to be a holiday party on Friday, like, they tell you like four or five times like, hey, don't forget, we're having our holiday party tomorrow. Like you can get five emails read in very quick order when they're all bucketed together, right. So anyway, my point is, I think you should lean on your assistant a little more. It may work and it may not be nice. We'll try it. Yeah, I love it. And she's wonderful. I we we do connect. I feel like I love hearing yours in James's like relationship because I feel like it when you have that, like you hang on tight. And you don't ever want to let that go. Because it's so hard to find, right? And I'm excited because he is like, we get each other we work well together. And I'm like, okay, like this, this was a good this is moving in the direction I want. So it's exciting. But I don't do as much like I kind of have her in one bucket or one wheelhouse. And, yeah, I love the email aspects. That sounds awesome. I mean, otherwise, I think of emails is like death by paper cuts, right? Like, there's some junk in there. There's some stuff for that I like really need to look at and then there's like a lot that's like, FYI, or it's from the kids schools or whatever. So like, try to manage the paper cuts and it will like be way less painful. Yeah, I love it. I love the like five emails, Mike. I love it. Um, I had one other thing or another thing, because I may come up with more. But I will say that, you know, this, this may seem simple, but a lot of times when we've built a system, and we have like, you know, kind of our business and everything we are to kind of we are we are really rigid on like, well, we always do it this way. And then you just keep adding more things right? Like, oh, no, we always do a calendar. Oh, oh, no, we always do a meeting on the first Wednesday of every month. But we're going to add this you know, project and we're gonna add this thing and we're going to so like it's got to be at some point one in one out like you can't do everything. You can't expect yourself or your team to do all the same things. And keep adding more campaigns more projects more whatever. So you do have to really be willing to, to say goodbye to the old Yeah, I think I think on that, you know, it's where evolution is that always the most efficient way. So when you when you have a legacy business, I had a business that lasted, you know, I ran for over 30 years. And there were things that were still around that I, you know, were created in 1988, which maybe don't apply in 2021. So you do have to maybe tear down and rebuild resources as you go through. So it's, it's, it's always good to look at your processes and say, you know, is this still applicable today? Is there a better way to handle it? Yeah, I love that. That's a tricky, like, that's kind of what we're in the process of, we're tearing down these walls of these old traditional ways of doing my industry, and forgetting resistance, but we're also seeing a lot of fruit in what we're creating and what we're doing. And so it's like, Okay, guys, like, let's be open minded to, to this, and it allows you to work smarter, not harder. But it's also a shift and a change. And it's, you know, we're finding some resistance on adoption, but we're getting there. And that's the other PC right? When you when you do make a shift and the change. Is all that work going to be adopted, like, are people going to utilize it? Are they going to be? Are they going to jump in on it? And so it's like, it's all this work? Going to also right, so it's to do list, but it's also the fear of like is this work and produce what it was designed to produce? So think it's kind of that combination, but now I know super valuable tips. I love I love the delegating more. I love the organizing of the emails. I love being simplifying the to do list and just take the action. And Mike, I hope you try the mouth tape. Yeah, I hope my wife doesn't see this. And maybe she'll try duct tape and stuff. We'll see. We'll see. But no, I just I want to sleep more, I think, for us to be our most like optimal and best. We have to have that. So So I love that you get to just sleep by kids. You're just tired and you just sleep. That's wonderful. I'm really truly I'm like a labrador puppy. That's like my, like spirit animal, I guess you'd say. Like, I am like, go go go and like oh, hi. And you know, I'm so excited and so happy. And then when I lay down, I am out. I love that. So there you go. So I feel like I run it like a super high octane during the day. But when I hit the pillow, man, I am gone. I love it. Yeah, that we gotta get. We gotta get you to that. We got to get to that. So funny. My husband, usually I feel like guys don't struggle with it as much. But I'll be talking to my husband, and I'll look over and he's out like the second like his head hits the pillow. He's just gone. And I'm laying in bed for at least 40 minutes tossing and turning, trying to settle down my brain enough to like, get to sleep. And then I think there's an anxiety around, oh, I know, I need to be sleeping. So my body's like, pent up and it's like, stressed out. And so then it wakes up again. And I'm like, why am I laughing? Why are these emotions coming? I'm like, What is this? So well, it might do you good to talk, you know, even like, and I am not a physician, but like, truly like I also wonder, you know, there are states around the country that do you know, like micro dosing of things like even like an edible or, you know, I don't do anything like that. But I would say I also am open to anything because I mean, you get one shot at this, right? Like we've got one life, we've got one body, our body is our tool. It is how we will not only feed our families, but I mean, enjoy this one life were given. And so I think whatever works and under the care of a good physician, like there's probably lots of options to really help you disconnect that like treadmill that's just going going, going, going going change the channel, get the sleep because the exciting thing every morning. I mean, I kick off my sheets every day, like I am like raring to go, I can't wait. I love my job. I have multiple as you know, I have so much fun. I have so much fun. So anyway, my point is, I sleep really well at night because I know I get to wake up and do it all over again. And everything I left last night is going to be there in the morning and I get a fresh start. So true. Ray, they're powerful. I love the idea of like, making the decision to like shift and change the channel to I think that that's powerful. Just I work late. And I think that I know that that's a problem too. It doesn't allow me to have time to turn channel because kids are in bed and then I go back to work because I enjoy it. I love what I do. And it's exciting and but I know that I'm thinking about it all night long, so I gotta find a way to unplug and unwind Do good stuff. Sara, do you do anything before bed? Or do you just have to? Yeah, do you? Is there anything that you carry, I don't have a pattern or a routine. But I will say I am the opposite. Like, I'm an early morning person. So I don't mind getting up early. But I start to kind of like fade when I'm when it's like, 9pm I can't really like, I'm not at my best. So I would say, I really do start to kind of wind down and, you know, I'll I'll do stuff with the kids last night, I was doing a puzzle with my daughter for you know, maybe an hour before bed, and then we all just kind of went to bed. But um, no, I do not have a I do not have like a routine. Okay, Carrie, I was interested. Do you tend to work late? No, no, it's better for Well, no, I stopped. I stopped working you usually unwind for a while. And I don't think I have a problem sleeping as much as I think I just need a smaller window of sleep. So I tend to, you know, tend to thread morning, I'm just, I'm kicking off the sheets ready to go. And I can take over the world before five. You shouldn't go to the gym at 3am. Why are you doing to do that? Why they have 24 hour gyms and it would like kill two birds with one stone because you're up and you don't like it. So you get it done. And then you wouldn't have to do in the day. It's true. It's true. It's true. Yeah. Like more energy to get the data in. Well, Sarah, I'm glad that some of these things were helpful. I mean, I think this is such a common issue for business leaders, business owners, that sort of thing. And it takes a lot of vulnerability to kind of like own up to these things that are I mean, truly, they're very personal. This is a very intimate discussion on what is, you know, literally and figuratively keeping you up at night. And I mean, I'm going to check back in with you because I really want to know, like, which ones helped. And how's that melt tape going? Oh, yeah. Um, no, I appreciate that. Like, no, it's, you know, I think, at the end of the day, I love what I do, and I'm passionate about what I do. And there is this piece of me that I thrive with in that excitement like I thrive when there's I am constantly adding new, which is a choice, but I also love that like I there's a piece of me, I've always said like I'm a sprinter. It's harder for me to be the marathon runner, which I know right, like the I love the energy of of a new chapter, a new beginning and the sprint that you have, and the momentum that's created like I love that. Me too. Yeah, I love him, like addicted to like new things. I'm like, let's go. I love I love the creation aspect of like relaunching and rebuilding. So yeah, it's good stuff, but it's great. It's great. Right? Well, zero. Last question. Do you have a favorite pizza anywhere in the world? Um, I wouldn't say I have a favorite place that makes my favorite pizza. But I do have a favorite that I love. Give me some mushrooms truffle oil, some arugula to meat like I love like a good white sauce, truffle oil, mushroom pizza. It's like my favorite. Cool. That's great. Yeah, that's really great. I actually had that pizza last at a little place called White House in Carbondale, Colorado. So Mike, we got to get that on our pizza list. So yeah, put that on the list. Yeah, there's a selfish little, what's not selfish. I have no affiliation with this company. But there is a brand new pizza place in Jacksonville. Actually all vegan vegan cheese all the whole nine yards that we have a truffle mushroom pizza. I haven't tried it yet. But a friends of ours in front of us are on it. And we were gonna go and support them at some point. But awesome. Do you have wild pie? The pie? The whole? They just opened a couple like not even a whole week ago. That's amazing. Yeah. So all gluten free. All clean? Yep. Good stuff. So cool. It's good. Yeah. That's awesome. Well, it has been an absolute pleasure as always to talk with you. And again, thank you for being willing to kind of bring your challenge to us and like, let us work through it with you in the moment. Mike, thank you. Thank you. So nice meeting you. Yeah, it was so nice. Mike, I have to tell you, I love your personality and your energy. I'm like such an energy person. And I love it. I think it's fun. So I think you're both of us here. I tell you this whole time you're just such a light in the community. And I love that I think the world needs more fun, energetic positive visionaries in the world. So you guys are awesome. Thank you. Thanks for being Hi. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. I feel the same. So thank you. I know I teach you a lot but you're one of my face. Oops. All right. Goodbye. You too. Have a great rest of the day, man. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of level up your business with me, Sarah Frasca. If you have a problem in your business that's keeping you up at night. Please join us in a future episode so we can help get you unstuck. Just clicking the link in the show notes and send us a message. Please remember, stay innovative friends