Do you ever find yourself finishing a work day absolutely drained with energy? Do you sit on the couch, eat pizza and watch TV as your “prize” for working a 8/10/12 hour day? That certainly used to be me. So when I saw that Kate Hutson had tips on how to finish off the work day not drained but actually full of energy, I knew I had to have her on.
Kate is an executive life coach and speaker who helps women develop courage and leadership skills with her coaching practice, Shattered Glass Coaching. Her and I sit down and talk about what you can do to keep your energy high, regardless of how long or how hard you work. It certainly is possible, and it comes down to the decisions you make throughout the day.
From starting the day off with the right intention, to the importance of changing sceneries, Kate and I have a wonderful value-packed discussion you will absolutely love!
You can find Kate at www.shatteredglasscoaching.com
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WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER
How setting an intention dictates the rest of your day
Why you should eat away from your desk
The importance of having productive conversations
Why you should decrease your caffeine and increase your water
FEATURED ON THE SHOW
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Jennifer:
Hey, hey, welcome to the Happy Productive podcast. I’m Jennifer Dawn, a business coach and founder of the Best Planner Ever. Now if you’re ready to start winning big and business in life, you’re in the right place. The Happy Productive podcast is your go-to resource for learning how to bring awareness, clarity, some mental toughness, some determination, a little bit of like kick-assness into your daily productivity. So you can just knock those goals right out of the park, set yourself apart from the pack, and start succeeding on a whole new level.
And I’m super excited today because we’re gonna be talking to the beautiful Kate Hutson. She’s an executive life coach and speaker who helps women develop courage and leadership skills, who doesn’t need that. And what I love about Kate you guys is that she’s been helping others for many years. But now she has taken that and stepped out and launched her own coaching practice, the world needs more amazing coaches like this. And her new practices called Shattered Glass Coaching. So welcome, Kate.
Kate:
Thank you so much for having me on, Jennifer.
Jennifer:
I know I’m so excited to be here. And you have such wonderful energy. And I know that our listeners are just gonna love hearing what you have to say,
Kate:
Well, I’m excited to talk about all things happy and productivity.
Jennifer:
That’s awesome. You guys, one of the things that drew me to Kate was that she has a speaking topic, which is 4 tips for leaving the office bursting with energy. And what struck me about this is that when I was reading through her materials, and she was like, oh, do you find yourself leaving work, and then you sit on the couch, and you’re eating pizza and watching TV, and you’re drained, right? And that resonated with me because I can think of so many days where I did just that. I left the office after who knows how many hours a day. And I would say, well, Jennifer, you worked 10 hours today you work 12 hours today, you work 8 hours a day, whatever.
So you deserve to sit on a couch, order a pizza, not cooked dinner, watch some mindless TV like you deserve this. And part of it too was just I energetically was just drained, you know, after working so many hours. So when I saw that you had tips on not leaving the office drained, I’m like, hey, you gotta come on the show. I gotta know what this is all about. So I want to turn it over to you. And why don’t you, if you don’t mind, would you share one of your amazing tips for leaving the office like bursting with energy?
Kate:
Absolutely. And I love what you said about doing something that’s just totally mindless at the end of the day. Because I was finding myself in the exact same position where I wasn’t, I wasn’t physically tired. But I had, I was so drained of my mental and emotional energy. And finding myself sitting on the couch watching TV, doing anything that was mind-numbing, just because the day had been mentally straining.
And so I wanted to kind of reframe that and think about how can we go through our lives and go through our jobs, and maintain energy so that when we leave work, at the end of the day, we want to either cook a fun dinner or go to a workout class or spend time with our loved ones or friends or family. And doing a few of these things has really helped me out in some of my clients. So I’m excited to share them with you.
Number 1, and the way that I start every single day is before I get my day started when I’m prepping for work, I write down an intention or a purpose on either an index card or a post-it note near my desk, and I put it up on the wall next to me. And it’s just a few sentences. I mean, it can literally fit on a post-it note. And it might have something related to a project I’m working on. It might include what I want my mindset to be like for that day. But basically, just sum up what I want my purpose for the day to be somewhere where I can read it throughout the day. It’s visual, and I even read it out loud to myself.
Jennifer:
That’s awesome.
Kate:
And then throughout the day when I find myself getting either distracted or that mid-afternoon slump when you start kind of losing that energy. I picked that index card up and I read it out loud. And I think to myself I made this promise to myself at the beginning of the day about what I wanted my focus to be and even just rereading it especially out loud, kind of clears that mental fog and helps me focus my emotional energy because there is so much emotion in the work that we’re all doing and setting that purpose of this is what I’m going to do today. And going back to it throughout the day really helps keep me emotionally energized.
Jennifer:
Oh, that’s such a great tip and it’s so in alignment I think with our audience because in the planner, the Best Planner Ever. At the top, there’s a space to set like your affirmation for the day and I will change this sometimes year to year. So like last year, it said, you know, my intention for the day this year, it says my affirmation for the day. But whether you write it on an index card, I love that. I have a client who uses index cards for everything. And I love it when I have coaching calls. And she’s like, I’m putting that on an index card. And then she shoves it up, you know, on her wall so that she can see it.
Sticky Notes, if you’re writing it in your planner, it’s that tapping into your power to say, wait a second, this is the kind of day that I want to have. And then when you start veering off track, having that right in front of you so that you can bring it back home to where you set the intention to be for the day.
Kate:
Exactly. And so many of us live our lives being reactive to the things that happen when we open up our inbox, and it’s just crammed full of emails. And doing this, setting a purpose at the beginning of the day allows us to be proactive so that we can run our days and not let our day run us.
Jennifer:
Oh, I love that. No more like tail wagging the dog.
Kate:
Right. Exactly.
Jennifer:
Yes, exactly. Oh, I love that so much. All right, what’s done tip number 2, lay it on me.
Kate:
Number 2, and I’m so guilty of this, but we gotta get away from our desks when it’s time to eat meals.
Jennifer:
When I missed when I read this, I was like, oh, I’m so guilty. I literally for those of you who are just listening, you won’t be able to see this. But for those of you on the video, like here’s my salad bowl. And what did I do today, I totally sat and ate at my desk. Now my breakfast, I did eat downstairs with my husband. But when I read this, I was like, damn, she’s got me on that one. Because you know, I’m eating my lunch at my desk. So tell me why is that not a good thing, as far as you know, draining our energy?
Kate:
Yeah, well, especially right now, with so many people working from home, it’s just so convenient to eat from your desk. But I know even in the office, this happens regularly too. But it is so important to have a change of scenery, you can quite literally play a trick on your brain just by changing locations. And even if it’s for 15-20 minutes, changing scenery is like hitting a big reset button on your mind. Which in turn affects your energy really positively.
If you can get outside in the sunshine for those 20 minutes during your lunch break, it’s even better. But it just clears away all that mental and emotional fog, and really sets you up for success for the rest of the day. Simply because of the change of scenery. And that that’s it. It’s simple, but it’s effective.
Jennifer:
It’s super effective. And I can’t do it as much right now because it’s winter and this time of year when we’re recording this. But when it’s a little warmer outside, I would do this. I would go outside and just take 10 or 15 minutes. I have this lovely little meditation music and I would just sit in a chair in the sun and just listen. And it’s amazing how just even getting outside and then just taking a short little break in the middle of the day can really just energize you and sort of revive everything.
Kate:
It’s such a mood booster.
Jennifer:
Yeah, it really really is. Well, it’s funny, because this morning I made my breakfast. My husband laughs because I literally like to prepare all my food for the day and then carry it up to the office because I’m working like back to back and I won’t get that much of a break. So it’s either like eat in between or don’t eat at all. But this morning, I had my breakfast and I was like I’m going upstairs to eat and work. And I was like no, listen to Kate. Don’t do it, Jennifer, don’t do it.
I totally sat at the table and ate breakfast with my husband. And I was like that was so nice. Now I blew all the salad for lunch. But for breakfast, it was really so nice not to just, and especially with so many people working from home. I think it’s really easy, right? If we’re not setting the boundary to just constantly be working, working, working because it’s like right there in our homes.
Kate:
And beyond just giving you a little energy boost I think it’s really important for your work boundaries as well as I’m not going to be bringing my food in my personal life to my desk and into my office. So I think it creates healthy work life boundaries as well on top of giving you good energy.
Jennifer:
I agree completely. I’m going to be better tomorrow now that we’ve recorded this, and I’m going to have a reminder and like tomorrow that will be my goal not to eat at my desk at all.
Kate:
Yes, I love it. We start with breakfast and then we go to lunch.
Jennifer:
That’s right, exactly. I love that. All right, share tip number 3. And these are awesome.
Kate:
Numbers 3 is having productive conversations with your work allies. And this doesn’t just mean chatting with people at work, or calling your coworker just to visit. This means talking to people who can really help you with things that you want to achieve at work and making an effort to talk to them throughout the day. I like to say at least 3 people 3 times throughout the day.
So as an extrovert, this is really useful because I get energy talking to other people. But even for introverts, this is super helpful. Think about the project you’re working on at work, or think about something you want to accomplish, or just even if it’s an idea in your head, and think about who are the people at work, who can help me with this, there might be many, but just pick a few.
Pick the people who can help you with whatever it is you want to accomplish, and start having intentional conversation, conversations with them throughout the day, about whatever that project is, or whatever your hopes are, or bouncing ideas off of each other. And when you start to have these conversations regularly, and you nurture these relationships with the people who can help you, you’ll find yourself more energized, and more excited and enthusiastic about whatever it is you’re working on.
Because it’s not just you working on it, you’re not alone, you have other people who are also invested. And when you continue working on those relationships and nurturing them, you’re going to find that your energy and excitement about everything you’re doing is just amplified, it’s on steroids
Jennifer:
Oh nice. I love that. That’s so wonderful. And it’s so true when you think about it when obviously we do a lot with time management because this is Happy Productive. So I love that you said a productive conversation. We’re not talking about a gripe session, a complaint session, let’s waste a bunch of time, we’re talking about a productive session. And I know when I have a call with my coach, like, even if it’s just like a 30-minute call like I show up. And it’s like, let’s get some stuff done. And sometimes in those 30 minutes, you can feel so energized because you just feel everything moving forward, you feel, you know, problems are being solved and, and things like that.
And so whatever project you’re working on, like being able to just have that productive conversation throughout the day. Instead of a gripe session, guys, like seriously, pay attention to who you’re spending your time with every day, because these folks that are bringing you down are always whining and are always complaining are always pointing out all the negative, ra ra ra. You know, that can be an energy drainer, too.
Kate:
Oh, absolutely. When we talk about emotional energy, especially, I mean, those negative gripe sessions can rob you of your energy. And I think there’s so many opportunities for these positive energy-boosting conversations. I mean, next time a coworker comes into your office, or gives you a call and says, what are you working on? How’s it going? That’s such an easy opportunity for you to say, I’m excited about this, or I’m working on this or I want to be a part of the team that’s working on XYZ project. And express those hopes to your coworker and, and use them as somebody to not just bounce ideas off of but to keep that momentum going, as you were saying and keep the energy flowing.
Jennifer:
Oh, I love that so much. This is also why we recommend that when you create your vision statement. And I think I’m going to change the name I’m going to call it like a dream statement or something like this, because people will confuse like a mission and vision statement for a company like the one liner with what we create, which is like, you know, several paragraphs of this is what I want my dream life, my ideal life and business to look like.
But this is part of why we also recommend that you read it every morning because you’re right, you’re setting the attention, you’re getting in alignment with where you’re going, what you want to do. And when you like read that and you’re like, wait a second, I am on a mission here I have purpose, like big things that I’m working on in my life like that, in itself can be such a motivator and an energy booster when you kind of like, remember why you’re working so hard, like hey, this right.
Kate:
And especially when you can build them as habits continuously throughout the day, throughout the weeks throughout the month. And it just continues to grow on itself. These habits become really, really valuable to getting results. And next thing you know, you’ll be having a few conversations every single day that are productive and also keeping you excited. And imagine that over months how much you can accomplish.
Jennifer:
Oh, it’s so true, productive conversations, people. That’s awesome. All right, we’re on 4 right number 4, tip number 4.
Kate:
And I think this is going to be the one that most people here and they’re like, mm no. Tip number 4 is less caffeine and more water.
Jennifer:
Oh, I actually love this tip because I don’t do caffeine. I’ve never been a coffee drinker so it’s kind of easy. For me. I’ve never liked it. I just don’t like the smell. I love tea herbal teas. But this is one of the things that I have made the shift over is I didn’t have to cut out coffee but like I drink a lot of water throughout the day. And it made a big difference in my energy level and all that. So you tell us though, why is this important to lose caffeine
Kate:
So I’m a big coffee drinker. So coming, coming from a full blown caffeine addict who loves her cup of coffee in the morning. This tip doesn’t mean that you need to cut caffeine entirely.. However, it does mean that if you continue drinking caffeine, throughout the day, if you’re drinking it every couple of hours throughout your entire workday, your energy levels are on a roller coaster, and they are going up and down, up and down. And then by the end of the workday, you’re on a downward trend with your energy.
And so I like to recommend stop drinking caffeine around 11 o’clock in the morning, in order to keep your energy stabilized. And at that point, start focusing on hydration. And when you start drinking water and hydrating, it really does stabilize your energy, it stabilizes your blood sugar, it keeps you in a better mood, it curbs cravings, it works wonders just as far as keeping you energized and in turn productive for the rest of your workday. And your body in time will adjust and not feel like it needs to go to caffeine for a little pick me up.
Jennifer:
Yeah, it’s so true. And it’s interesting when I first started upping my water because I’m not that great at it. And I went like a big water bottle. And it’s right here you can see my video. I have my it’s a one gallon water bottle, I don’t fill it up completely, but I fill it out most of the way. And the first couple of days I was committing to drink more water. Like it was, it was awful. It was just terrible. And then I didn’t get my water done early enough. So then I was like up peeing all night long. And I’m like, not going to work.
So now I’m like, got to get that water done by 7 or you’re going to be up all night. So I get the water. But here’s the funny thing. Like, even after drinking that much water every day, like at night, sometimes I’m a little thirsty. I’m like, oh, I could drink a little more water. It’s like it’s almost like the body has kind of acclimated to it. And now I don’t feel good if I don’t really hydrate and get that water in each day. Like I wake up in the morning and I’m ready to start like drinking some water.
Kate:
And you’re right, your body absolutely does adjust. And at first when you start drinking more water and less caffeine, your body is doing exactly what you said like I need to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes. But you do adjust and then your body starts craving it and wanting it more and you just feel so much better in every way. But I think energy and mood are the biggest impacts of drinking more water and stabilizing that blood sugar level.
Jennifer:
I agree completely. And here’s the thing when I set the goal for I’m going to drink this water every day, I cut out all the other stuff because it’s a large amount of water and I’m like I don’t have room for you know, sodas I don’t have room for you know anything else I might want to drink that might be a little unhealthy because I like like a vanilla chai, you know, with all the sugar and stuff like I taste amazing kills my energy kills it.
And I’ve learned this now if I’m going to like performing all day long, I can’t eat the junk food that I used to eat. And I can’t drink the crap I used to drink like I have to do that water. And that’s the thing that gives me the energy I need to get through the day and to still have something left in the tank at the end of the day.
Kate:
Yeah, it’s those highs and lows where you have the sugary drink or that candy bar and you feel great for 30 minutes. And then your energy is just wiped.
Jennifer:
Nosedive
Kate:
This tip is all about just like keeping your energy stable throughout the day. And if you can do that, you’ll have a lot more reserve energy at the end of the day. So you can leave the office bursting with energy and not somewhere on the roller coaster who knows where.
Jennifer:
It’s so true. And you know, this was a hard habit for me to break. And it was actually I was watching a David Letterman episode where he was talking about his alcoholism. And he said at the end of a long day, he felt like he deserved a drink. And for me that was such a huge lightbulb moment. I don’t drink but I like to wait a second at the end of every day, what do I do? I deserve you know, to eat some junk food and to sit on the couch and watch mindless TV.
Now and that was so big for me because I realized I was in this habit almost of working, I wasn’t eating as well as I am now. So I just didn’t have the energy and then sat on the couch. And so the changes that I made were exactly in alignment with what you’re talking about today. You know, setting a different intention. Adding the water you know, for me filtering out some of the other junk food that was really killing my energy.
And those things. I’ve also noticed that my husband, he tends to not sleep that great, but he’s a big coffee drinker. And so he’s also drinking more water and he’s been sleeping like a baby. He actually likes to wake up In the morning now, and he could never wake up before. So I think the energy works both ways, you know, at night and in the morning.
Kate:
Absolutely. And I love that you were talking about caffeine and alcohol as well. Mel Robbins, another great life coach. She says that when you drink alcohol or caffeine, it’s like adding gasoline to anxiety.
Jennifer:
Oh, wow, that’s powerful.
Kate:
And so I think about any stress that any of us have. If we use caffeine for a boost, or we use alcohol to cope at the end of a long day, it’s really doing the opposite of what we want. It’s adding stress to our lives rather than energy and positivity and calming us down. So yeah, it’s all in alignment, and it’s throughout your entire day. And it’s these series of really small choices throughout the day that, like you said, will help you sleep better, will help with your energy, and just keep you going throughout the day at lot higher mood.
Jennifer:
Oh, I agree so much, Kate. And it really just helps you kind of like take some of these coping mechanisms like I don’t like those things having power over me. I don’t like feeling like I’m at the mercy of you know, a drink or alcohol or food or anything like that.
Kate:
I’m a slave to my Keurig!
Jennifer:
And I just love how when you can start to eliminate these coping, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have your cup of coffee, right? But you’re having it you know, for the right reasons. Or even if you’re having a drink, you’re having it for the right reasons, not because you’re just trying to like to cope and get through the day.
Kate:
Exactly, exactly.
Jennifer:
I love it. Well, when you get 2 coaches together, of course, we’re just going to be like, that’s a coping mechanism. Get rid of that right now. All right, okay, thank you so much for sharing these were all fantastic tips. Okay, we’re gonna end today, because it’s gonna be productive, I have no, do you have a productivity tip that you’d love to share with our audience that has changed the way that you work?
Kate:
I do. And it actually goes a little bit along with one of my tips for keeping high energy. But along with writing my purpose or intention for each day, I also want to write a few adjectives about who I want to be that day. So that could be confident, it could be enthusiastic, it could be patient, whatever it is I want to work on.
And then I keep that 1 word sometimes 2 also write on my desk. And throughout the day, when I do have those little obstacles that make me want to go take a coffee break or not get my work done. I look at those adjectives. And I think what would a confident Kate do? What would a patient Kate do? And I act like that Kate, so I can keep being productive, and I can keep the momentum going, and not get lost in the challenges of the day.
Jennifer:
Well, I love that one so much. I’m totally still on that. That is an awesome tip. And thank you so much for sharing, especially the patience one for me. Like I always am just wanting to do more to do more. And I have to constantly align with the energy of patience to just be like slow your roll Jennifer. You know, Rome was not built in a day. But that is so powerful to be like how would patient Jennifer react to this? Like, that’s, that’s a doozy. I love that.
Kate:
And I find myself sometimes repeating the same word over multiple days. And then other times it changes. Yeah, so it can be all about whatever you need your focus that day to be. But again, it takes me back to what do I need to be doing in order to actually accomplish the things I need to.
Jennifer:
I love it and it takes you out of that lower place, those lower emotions and really raises you up to a much higher place. Yeah, and that’s where we want to really work from so Oh, that’s beautiful. Thank you so much. All right, Kate, tell everybody where they can find you. And I just want to say, listeners if there are any, like amazing corporate gals out there and you’re struggling in your career at all. Shatter Glass Coaching, you know, Kate had the courage right to step out and start her own business. And so, you know, support her because it takes a lot of courage to start a business.
And I’m speaking from experience, and anyway, so if there’s any corporate women, if you’re just loving Kate’s energy, which is so awesome, and you need some help, definitely, you know, just just reach out and talk to her. Where can they find you, Kate?
Kate:
You can find me on my website, www.shatteredglasscoaching.com or you can find me on Instagram @shattered.glass.coaching
Jennifer:
Fantastic. And we will also of course, post all this information in the show notes so that you have access to it. Kate, thank you so much for being with us today.
Kate:
Thank you so much Jennifer
Jennifer:
You’re so welcome and everybody if you want to find out more about us and first thing I would love to ask you is to please share If you got something out of this episode and it helps you in some way our mission is to help as many people as possible. So definitely please share our podcast, leave us a review, show us a little love if you appreciate what you’re hearing today. And if you want to find out more about us, you can find us at bestplannerever.com or jenniferdawncoaching.com. All right, you guys, thank you so much and get out there and have a Happy Productive day!