How to: Manage Your Energy as an Entrepreneur

AMY: Welcome to the Peaceful Entrepreneur podcast, where together we are finding peace in the process of everyday business ownership by improving one step at a time, how we think and what we do. I'm your host, Amy Stout.

How we use our energy as entrepreneurs is very different than how we would use our energy in any other job. And let's be honest, for most of us it probably doesn't come super easily to know how to use our energy effectively and efficiently as an entrepreneur.

So today I'm talking to someone who does know how to do that and has quite a few tips to help you figure out how to do it for yourself. My friend Katie is a young freelancer, wife to Ben, and mom to Delaney.

She received her bachelor's in marketing and management with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. Ever since she won an elevator pitch competition with her first business venture, she hasn't questioned her creative ability to bring ideas to life.

She is acutely attuned to doing things the right way and consciously choosing ethical practices. She started website design professionally in 2021 and thrives on making her clients her friends.

Katie was the very first subcontractor that I ever hired for Abide and it's true we became friends pretty much instantaneously and that hasn't stopped and it's been over a year.

So I'm super excited to have her on today to have this conversation about how we can figure out the right way to use our energy to run our businesses in the best way possible and ultimately provide ourselves more peace every single day. Let's get into it.

AMY: Here we are. We are finally here recording this episode, Katie. I'm so excited that you're on on the podcast.

KATIE: I'm so excited to be here and with all the peace and entrepreneurship friends.

AMY: I feel like you're probably the first person that I ever asked to be on the podcast, to be honest. Like back in December.

KATIE: Sorry about that.

AMY: Well, a very great reason for a brief pause because you added a member to your family.

KATIE: Yeah. We have a little girl. And I just, I just looked back.

AMY: Okay. So you people who don't know Katie yet, you will by the end of this episode. Um, Katie is just like a down for anything person. Like you just, you'll say yes to pretty much any anything, which is so fun.

Like we need those kinds people in our lives. And I kept telling her like, okay, I do want to record this episode, but if it ever gets to feel like too much, or if you ever like, cause she, you were like at the very end of your pregnancy, the very end.

And I know, yes, it was, so I was always had the like out of like, you can back out, uh, but you kept saying, no, it's fine. It's fine.

So we almost got to the point of recording and Katie, I just went back to our emails. You sent me the email that said, "Actually, let's wait till after baby on January 5th at 5pm." Oh my goodness. Literally four days before. Four days before you had her. I'm dead.

KATIE: That's exactly me. I'm an Enneagram 7. So like, that's me to a T.

AMY: Yeah, you were so close. And also the fact that you had her on her due date is just the most wild thing. Right?

KATIE: Yes.

AMY: So she's like getting close to two months old now.

KATIE: She's getting close to three months old now.

AMY: Wow.

KATIE: Yeah. She's like two and a half.

AMY: Such a sweet little girl.

KATIE: She's like 11 pounds. Like I can lift her as a weight. It's like she's my workout. (laughing)

AMY: I love that. Meanwhile, my cousin's wife just had a baby and he was born at 11 pounds.

KATIE: Oh my goodness.

AMY: I know. (laughing) I know.

KATIE: Props to her, that's some work.

AMY: Yes, once upon a time I started a birth story podcast and who knows if that might ever revive itself and if it does, I'll have you on.

KATIE: I know, I wanna see a comeback. My story's crazy too, so.

AMY: Yes, oh my gosh. Okay, we could go down a rabbit hole, but that's not why people are here.

KATIE: I know, that's another day, that's another day.

AMY: We are here. Katie was my very first contractor ever. Actually, your name has come up a couple times in the first season of the podcast. So people have already heard about you. But yeah, you're the first person I ever hired. And I mean, just feels magical to me. What's the word? Miraculous that like how amazingly we work together.

KATIE: We're soul sisters.

AMY: We're soul sisters. And like the Lord just led me to you on Instagram and the rest is history.

KATIE: Yeah, that will always blow my mind. It's like, you just casually found each other on Instagram.

AMY: Always. And it's been over a year now. And my business has grown and changed, your business has grown and changed, but we've made those changes work. So like we're able to still work together, which is awesome.

And hopefully by the time this airs or getting a lot closer, the new abide website that you refresh will be live.

KATIE: Oh, I'm so excited. You guys don't even know what you're in for.

AMY: So good. So I'm super excited about that.

But Katie and I are talking today about how we use our energy as entrepreneurs and how that's so different than how you use your energy in basically any other job.

And this conversation is something that I touched on in my episode with Madalyn about not feeling guilty when you don't work a full 40 hours a week on your business. But Katie and I really just wanted to dive deep because I know you have some thoughts on this and I certainly do too.

KATIE: Oh yeah, for sure.

AMY: So let's jump in. Let's jump into just in general your analysis, Katie, of how we use our energy so differently and what are some things that we need to just get out on the table to start this conversation.

KATIE: Yeah. Well, first of all, I just come from a big place of like, you know, having a Christian background, like being very strong in that I am always like rest first, you know.

And if you've ever heard the book Garden City, which I know in my email, I mentioned to you, I wanted to bring it up. And that book is so like essential, I think, to anyone who is a Christian and works because it talks about just like what we do flows from who we are, but we cannot have that kind flow if we don't start from a place of rest.

So when we talk about the kind of energy that we use, even just having energy, you have to start from rest. And that's so cool to me because as business owners, as entrepreneurs, we get to create that rest.

We have to create that rest because easily we could work 80 hours a week. It's so easy when you're passionate about something, but it's so important to stop and take a moment and be like, "Okay, how am I going to use that energy like where are we spending this? Where's our priority? Are we resting? Um, so just kind of starting from that I think is, is very valuable to me.

The whole concept of like, you can't pour from an empty cup. So you have to fill yourself up first and you have to rest well too. I feel like that's a whole different podcast episode of like how to effectively rest because I've been through seasons of like, maybe it looks on the outside like I'm resting, but in my brain, I'm actually not.

So we need to have like intentional, healthy, productive rest.

AMY: Absolutely. It makes all the difference in the world.

So that's a great jumping off point is we need to have energy to use energy, but let's jump into two, how we use our energy and what we're using our energy on differently when running a business than say a nine to five retail customer service food industry all the above. What are your thoughts on that?

KATIE: Yes okay I'm excited for this because I do have a little bit of corporate experience and that to me is a super interesting juxtaposition from working a nine to five honestly and then running your own business. But what I find so fascinating is even though nine to fives on big corporate jobs are like very intense about, you need to work, you need to be here the whole time, you need to come early, you need to stay late, like hustle culture.

Half the time the people are sitting there doing nothing, pretending like they're working, waiting for someone to tell them what to do, or waiting for someone else to get their work done so they can get their work done.

Personally, I spent so much time making a graphic and then it had to be approved by like five different people and then I had to do revisions and I had to be approved by 10 different people. And it's just the most chaotic process and it's exhausting to do the simplest thing that should not take 15 people to complete.

But when you have your own business, it's like, "All right, you can make a graphic, cool, "do it in two minutes and have someone look over it." Like, it's just, it gives us so much more ability to be excited about the tasks that we're doing, but then also have energy for more important tasks and things like relationships, which, you know, 100%, the top of the list for me is like, everything in my business, my energy goes towards the relationships.

I can build a website in an hour and a half if we're being honest, and I'm like, really putting in the work.

AMY: Yeah, I always tell people how speedy you are.

KATIE: Yeah, it's one of my favorite things.

Okay, so. (laughing) It's crazy to me how an agency will literally take two months, five months, name it, to create a website. And I'm like, you know, first draft done in two weeks, I'll probably get it to you at the end of the first week, but let's just extend that.

Because I save my energy for making things the most effective that they can be. And I think that that is how everyone who is an entrepreneur tries to structure their time. And so I think we intentionally do that. So that way we can put effort where we need to put the effort.

AMY: Yes, I feel like you're really good at that, at figuring out how you need to use your energy. But I think that on its own is a challenge. Even though we might, as entrepreneurs, we might want to use our time effectively, it takes time to sit down and figure out how to actually do that. So can you share how that works for you and how you create your system of using your time well?

KATIE: Yes, that's so funny to me that you say that, thank you.

AMY: It's a compliment.

KATIE: But Ben, my husband and I were just chatting last night about, he thinks the same thing. And I was like, what? Like, you're crazy. No, like I'm just a normal person. But I think what it is, is I genuinely am not a very distracted person.

Like when it comes to technology, I'm not always on my phone. not like distracting myself with texting random people during the day. I'm very intentional with like when I talk to people how I talk to people even on my laptop like when I'm doing a website I'm in that website I'm not switching tasks and which I think kind of can trace back to the book Deep Work by Cal Newport if you've ever read that just like I've heard of it yeah just really taking these chunks focusing on the same thing because if you're constantly switching I think the statistics, it takes like 15 to 17 minutes to like actually get focused on that new task if you're constantly switching.

Which is crazy because it's like a lot of tasks might only take us 10 minutes, but if we keep switching back and forth, they're going to take us, you know, at least 30 minutes to get done. So I think part of that is like a really good practice to have is just focus on one thing at a time. your distractions, which with the newborn is kind of hard. So my deep work time looks a little bit more like maybe 30 minutes here in an hour here.

But still same concept is focused on one thing that you need to get done. Make a priority list. You know, we could go on about how to prioritize, you know.

AMY: I feel like it's really cool that you're naturally good at that because I feel like I'm having to retrain my brain. I got rid of TikTok and I'm going to have a whole episode about that. But I, and I don't watch like, I don't scroll on reels or YouTube shorts. Like I've, I've gotten rid of consuming all short form video content.

KATIE: That's awesome.

AMY: Because I was like, I need to heal my attention span.

KATIE: Yeah, truly.

AMY: And it translates over into your work. Like, and another piece too is like, I'll literally physically put my phone out of my reach so that I can't grab it and do whatever. And I'm also, I'm trying to new thing in my day where I have three check in points, where I check into Voxer, email and Instagram only during those three times a day, because normally I'm just popping on whenever I just like throughout, like I'm not being intentional at all. I'm just like popping on whenever.

And I know just that is going to pull my attention away from whatever else I'm working on.

KATIE: Yeah, that's brilliant.

AMY: Thanks. I'm just trying.

KATIE: Hey, we're all just trying.

AMY: So yeah, I'm definitely working on that. And it's not, it's not, it's not easy when you first try to start doing that habit, but if you just pick one at a time, it's like, take TikTok away first and then take reels away and then start putting your phone, you know, like in stages and it's definitely doable if you do it in stages.

KATIE: What I think is so interesting is that it's not like natural for us to be able to drop those habits really quickly, but whenever you do drop them, you're living a more natural way of life because your attention is back to where it's supposed to be, your focus is back to where it would be if we didn't have all these distractions to begin with.

So I think that's It's so interesting because it's like, you know, what we're doing feels natural, but it's really not, but we have to work to get it back to be so it's crazy. It's wild, but totally does. It just clutters up your brain and totally messes up your productivity.

And if you are literally trying to run and grow a business, you have to fight so hard, like more than anybody who's in a, you know, a job that they're working for somebody, you have to fight that much harder because you're the only person who can move your business forward.

AMY: Exactly.

KATIE: So investing in your own mindset is, that's part of the energy that you need to use during your day is truly investing. And yeah. Cause you know, we live in the attention economy, you know, that's going around a lot and it's so true. Everyone is fighting for our attention and now we have to fight for our own attention.

It affects our energy so much.

AMY: Oh my gosh. I need to write that quote down. So good.

KATIE: Absolutely.

AMY: Okay. Another question for you because weren't you working in the corporate environment and running your business at the same time?

KATIE: I was. Yeah.

AMY: How, like what was going on in your brain? What were the feelings that you were feeling during that time? Cause I'm sure it was like a war, like a tug of war.

KATIE: Yeah.

AMY: Can you like, can you describe how that made you feel?

KATIE: It was frustrating, honestly, especially so little backstory. It was a very like unethical company. They had a hard time keeping people. So the people who were there were there all night because they needed you to work, whether that work was productive or not.

And so I was there until like nine to 10 PM most nights and I was newly married. And so I was already frustrated. I was like, this is not what my first job should look like. This is not a company I want to work for, which I quickly learned and took action based on that.

But at the same time, I was doing this business, which I had started in school. And it was hard to get back at 9 PM and then have deadlines for websites that I wanted to get done. And I would stay up late, and I would work till 11 PM. Because I was so passionate about getting those websites done for my clients who I consider every client my friend.

So I'm like, I'm not gonna let my friend down. Like we are gonna knock this out. But I was excited to work on it. So it gave me the energy to do that.

But while I was at this nine to five corporate job, I was like, okay, like, it's 5 p.m. Can I go home because we're not doing anything. Like really, we're gonna be more productive if we go home and rest and get some sleep.

AMY: Exactly.

KATIE: But it just doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to them because it doesn't, that looks like you're not being productive, which is so contrary to how humans operate.

AMY: It's icky.

KATIE: It's icky.

AMY: Our culture is like, at least what you're describing is just based on how things look and not how things actually are. I think that could be applied to a lot of different realms of culture.

KATIE: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it's just the exact opposite of what we need as humans to thrive. And so that just kind of blew my mind on its own. And so I had this frustration of like, why am I here? I could literally go home and knock out so much work for my own business.

Like it worked and I'm excited about this work. I'm not excited about like, what are we doing? It's a tax company. That's not exciting. We're just charging people a fee to do things that someone for free could do.

You know, it's just, it's all just gross. I just don't like it. But hello, that's why we're entrepreneurs. We want to build a world that is good for us, is good for other people.

AMY: Yes, I feel like I'm having this realization moment of in the Christian sphere, it's a common concept to be encouraged to be counter-cultural, to go against what the normal culture is doing.

But I almost feel like I need to adopt that in entrepreneurship too, is to be proud and radical about going against what all the values of the culture are. And I think that in itself can go back to like the not having guilt conversation, because it's like, well, I'm feeling guilty because I'm not fitting into a societal standard.

But if my intention is to break the societal standard, then I should feel proud and excited about what I'm doing.

KATIE: Yeah.

AMY: And that was kind of the moral of the story of that episode was like, pick what's best for you, be confident in it.

KATIE: Yeah, for sure.

AMY: Just live your life, how you need to live your life.

KATIE: Yeah, well, especially as entrepreneurs, it's not just your life that you're affecting with that choice. By making the choice to live a counter-cultural, entrepreneurial life, you are affecting people who work for you, like me.

I'm able to have a super flexible schedule because we work together. I know Beth and everybody else is too. It trickles down the line and it makes bigger changes than just you changing how you work, you know? And so I think that's super important.

AMY: That's good, that's really good.

Okay, what was your, when you were feeling all these negative feelings towards your corporate job and all the positive feelings and inspire, you know, excitement feelings towards your business, can you describe some of the things that were like pulling you that direction other than like the passion, excitement, inspiration? Like what was pulling you towards entrepreneur life? And why is that a good fit for you as a person?

KATIE: Yeah, that's a great question.

AMY: Thank you.

KATIE: I would say a huge part is just how I grew up. I didn't realize this until college when I went into college with my own business actually, it was a different business.

AMY: That's right.

KATIE: Yes, I made medical masks before COVID funny enough.

AMY: So funny.

KATIE: So strange. Definitely the Lord, but so I realized when I got to college and started competing in competitions for my businesses and like doing really well, I was like, this is so weird. Like, why am I, why am I good at this? Like, I'm not trying very hard. It just kind of happens truthfully.

And I reflected a little bit and I was like, oh, like my parents always had their own business, literally since they were married. And then I thought more about it. And I was like, their parents always had their own businesses. And I just started thinking like, okay, Like this genuinely runs in the family.

Like every single person is entrepreneurial and they've been successful at it and they haven't shown any doubt whenever I've brought up my ideas, you know, it was like, oh, you know, I think I wanna do this. And they'd be like, okay, cool, go for it.

It was never like, no, you need to like get a job or, you know, it was just, there was so much more faith and belief in me because they went through it too, you know?

AMY: Yeah.

KATIE: Yeah, so I think that's a large part of like, it just came natural because of that.

AMY: That's really cool.

Do you think that your, what you were describing earlier about just like being able to focus and not being super distracted comes from that too? Like where did that come from? (both laughing)

KATIE: That's a great question. I think in general, I'm kind of a strange person when it comes down to it. (both laughing)

Like, you know, I look like your normal kitty girl on Instagram, but I'm pretty crunchy. Like a lot of my decisions are like, all right, you make your own what now?

Like, I'm just the personality who's always trying to do something new and doesn't have time for Instagram to distract me from my new craft that I wanna try. You know, like I'm always looking to learn something new and maybe it's that, maybe it's the life learner kind of heart that I have in me.

And that gets me excited and people who are around me that have that gets me excited and it helps me stay focused. I don't know. Yeah. I was also homeschooled. Maybe that has something to do with it.

AMY: That's part of it too. I'm sure you like learned how to govern your time and govern your energy and attention span.

KATIE: Yes. And know when I wanted to just go play outside instead of do school, you know?

AMY: Sounds like that's awesome.

KATIE: Yeah, no, it's good.

AMY: That's cool. Okay, well, I wanna talk on this concept that you brought up when we were like talking before this about how inspiration is what actually fuels your creativity and how you can kind of take that into your business.

So just talk to me about that, 'cause I love that. You said it a lot better than I just did. But tell me about that concept and what it means to you.

KATIE: Yes, this is exciting to me because it applies to literally every entrepreneur who does anything, service, product, whatever. So think about it as like, who's your dream client?

Whenever you're starting your business, that is typically something that someone says that you need to figure out. Who are you speaking to? What's your marketing going out to? Who do you want to buy this product? Who do you want to take on your service? What's going on here?

That matters, I think more than people even understand because if you're taking on the wrong clients, you're working on projects that feel more mundane, they feel more taskful. And it's not like, wow, I get to do this project for you. But it's like, man, like I wish you were in this industry because that's what's fun.

And so instead of being excited and inspired to create something for them, you're kind of forcing something that isn't there. An example I have is when we first got married and I was a couple months into my business, I took on a client and it was a boutique. And I live in Texas for the record. It was very Texan style. So like your boots, your hot pink, just like very, very Texas Christian mom, I think is how I would describe it.

Like genuinely that's a style. And that is very not me. I'm more your neutral's kind of modern gal, I guess. And so automatically I was like, okay, you like talk about your brand colors. And she was like teal. And I was like, okay. So just from the start, it was kind of like, you know, I was, we weren't the same vibe.

It wasn't going to be the most exciting project for me. And because of that, I don't feel like it was my best work. Like looking back at the website, I'm like, I don't, I didn't love it. I hope that she loved it because I really tried to do what she wanted, but it wasn't something I was excited about.

So it took me a lot longer to do. And in contrast, um, my husband needed a new website this last week. And I was like, oh my goodness, I had the vision. Like I had so many ideas. And so I like jumped on my computer that night and I made a website in an hour and a half and you know, from start to finish, like that's insane.

But it's because I had this inspiration behind it because I was aligned with the mission, first of all, of the person behind the website. And I was aligned with the style. I was aligned with just everything about it.

And so because of that, I was able to really dream about what I wanted it to look like and dream with that person. And that just changes the entire outcome, you know, because then it's something I'm proud of and it's something that I think looks amazing as opposed to if I'm not inspired, it's going to look like maybe a basic website or just maybe not good at all, truly.

AMY: Um, so yeah, so this means that you're going to have my website done by tomorrow morning, right?

KATIE: Absolutely. Pretty much. You're going to be like, Katie, did you sleep?

AMY: Because, um, yeah, if you take one look at Katie's Instagram, you'll see that we have the exact same vibe. So that's hilarious.

Okay. This is coming back to the very first point that we had of where does your energy come from? Rest. from inspiration.

KATIE: Yeah.

AMY: That's another place 'cause I'm thinking about that. It's wild. It's like, you don't just have this predetermined amount of energy in your day. Like you, the things that you do and how you choose to spend your time is going to directly affect how much energy you have to give.

KATIE: Absolutely.

AMY: Case in point, yesterday I did my amazing new morning routine. I went on a walk, like a fast walk, so I was like panting by the time I got home. I did all the healthy things that I knew that I should do for myself, and I had so much inspiration and energy all day long.

Today, I didn't, and I about, like I was kind of sluggish with my morning, and then I like randomly got hangry and was in a horrible mood.

KATIE: Oh no.

AMY: And just like, and now I'm fine 'cause I got food. But, yeah, it was just like such a clear difference. I was like, oh my gosh, I felt so good yesterday and I'm immediately back to feeling like crap again.

Like, and it's so, I have to stop thinking about it, like the finite predetermined amount of energy. And I'm sure that somebody else has to resonate with that.

KATIE: Oh, for sure.

AMY: But it's like, how can you create, oh, how can you create more energy for yourself?

KATIE: Yeah, and it's possible.

AMY: Through healthy routines, like outside of business, but also through how you function in your business and what kind of work you choose to take on and how you choose to like function within your business too.

KATIE: For sure. And I think a lot of that, it sounds easier than it is because that requires you to really know yourself. And I think people struggle with that. Yeah, it takes us, and we never fully know ourselves, you know, we're always learning, we're always changing. And so that's hard, But it's so worth figuring out like, okay, going outside and doing yoga in the morning makes me feel good. And starting with something small like that, you know?

AMY: Yeah, and another thing too is you keep your business fairly simple. Like in the past, you did a lot more. But since having the baby, I feel like you're like, I'm doing websites and that's it.

KATIE: Yeah.

AMY: And I've even asked you about things that you were gonna continue doing probably pre-baby. you maybe thought you were going to keep doing them and you've said no, which good for you for saying that it's not normal.

I think I've asked you about two separate things and you're like, yeah, no, I'm just going to do websites. First of all, completely respect that. Like I, I don't have a problem with that. Um, but to like, that helps you function better in your business because your attention isn't in five different areas.

And that's what ultimately brought me more peace is when I was like, no, I am managing, I'm not doing any of this work. I am the manager. Instead of like trying to also do the client work, I was going crazy.

KATIE: Yeah. No, it makes the biggest difference. It's just like creating a role for yourself. Like for me, I've created a role for myself that I'm a website designer, you know? I'm no longer a virtual assistant, which I know we both made that shift.

But I think that's really good for me because even if I need to glance back and forth at another website to this website, it's within the same realm. So it affects my energy very differently than if I go from creating an email to creating a website.

It's still like, you know, I prefer to stay on the same task, but it still affects it very differently.

AMY: Absolutely.

And I think for people who don't have the luxury of just having that singular or just one or two things that they need to focus on, a tip that I am using, because I still, they're still managing a business. There's still quite a few things that I have to focus on. So something that I spent yesterday sketching out for myself was batch days.

So I've designated each day of the week that I'm gonna do a certain kind of task. So Mondays now are my admin days. And Tuesdays are my marketing and sales days. Wednesdays are my phone call meeting day and Thursdays are my brainstorm creation, business development, that kind of thing, day. And then Friday is just like a catch up on anything that's still an open loop from the week.

And obviously, thanks, that's not me. I have to shout out Jess Massey from Hustle Sanely. She's also got a podcast and she's got this whole like method of how to do this and she's so amazing.

But I basically just took a bunch of her stuff and sat down all day and analyzed every single task, every single commitment that I had and categorized everything and figured out kind of the best flow for my week personally.

And everybody's is gonna look different, but I think taking some intentional time to think ahead and pre-determine how you're going to use your energy is such a game changer because if you're not intentional about it, like I think I was kind of lying to myself and thinking that I was more free by letting myself be intuitive and just do whatever I felt like I wanted to do that day.

Like I had a to-do list, but I would still kind of pick what I felt was doable and then push off the rest, which in what world is that productive? I I don't know what I was thinking. Like it's actually she always just always says our routines are tools, not chains.

So the structure, even though it looks, it might look scary. It's like, no, this is providing you with a prethought out system that will actually help you be more productive.

And if life is life, like it will always go perfect perfectly every single week. but at least there's intention behind what you're doing. And you are putting the thought in now. So you're saving yourself mental energy later of, so you don't have to use as much of your energy planning. Cause you've already figured it all out.

KATIE: Exactly. Yeah. I think that's very important. You truly have to put in the work if you're going to have the kind of energy that you desire, you know?

AMY: Yeah.

KATIE: That's awesome. Go off. I'm glad you worked so hard on that.

AMY: Thanks. I am working. I am working hard.

KATIE: Yes, you are.

AMY: So I guess this is also a good time to just talk about how nothing is a one size fits all. A nine to five isn't a one size fits all.

Entrepreneur life certainly is not a one size fits all. So, yeah, let's share your thoughts, Katie, on just how. How you feel about that one size fits all.

KATIE: Yes. Well, personally, I believe I operate probably very different than a lot of people do just because the way I get energy is very different like and it's not always the same.

I'm not very predictable to myself I think so like some days you know it requires being outside first thing in the morning. Some days it requires getting a special drink um to fuel myself. It's just like that I differ day to day hour to hour it's always different which I think is a serious thing that you we should consider when we're talking about this is like, yeah, everyone's personality is different, their preferences are different. You can't look at someone and be like, Oh, that's a great routine.

Like, I know you just mentioned this because you can't like it's, you're totally different than that person.

Yeah. Um, so I think that that is very interesting.

So with having a newborn, having family that lives far away and we're often traveling to see them, um, working with different clients, different days, different hours. My schedule is very like all over the place. Like maybe I don't work in the mornings at all some days and I work a little later in the day.

For me that's fun for me because I'm like, oh yeah, like now I get to work on the things that I get to work on. But that's also because I have those boundaries in the morning maybe or I have those boundaries at night. It's like kind of depending on where I want the energy, where I need the energy, where my boundaries are for that day.

And it's just, it's all, it's all very family focused and you know like how can I spend the the most time with my family, but also I'm really excited for these projects. How can I get them done?

And that looks very different for me than it will for someone else because I work from home with my husband and you know it's just a very different life than a lot of people live, which I'm glad we get to share that and that's really exciting.

AMY: Yes, it is. It's so good. Yes, that's the most beautiful part of being an entrepreneur is we just we get to decide what we want our life to look like.

KATIE: Exactly. Yeah, it's super sweet and a privilege for sure. I think that goes without mentioning like I am so thankful every day. Like this is the life we live. It's so good. Yes, I feel exactly the same way and it's easy to kind of get chained to your business if you're not intentional about it.

And you know caught up in your tasks and reactive to your tasks rather than proactive. So I think doing these things that we're talking about, all these little pieces. And again, like I said at the beginning, it's step by step. You don't have to put every single piece in place at one time.

But it's a journey to get there.

AMY: That's the entire premise of this podcast is just changing bit by bit, day by day, you know, and getting incrementally better.

But I wanted to, I think it'd be cool to wrap up this conversation by kind of giving people a couple of questions to ask themselves or just things to think about as they are figuring out how to use their time and energy. Really their energy. Let's focus on that. Like how to use their energy well.

And because you really do kind of have to sit down and analyze yourself. Like you said, you have to know yourself. And so what are some questions that we can toss out that are going to help people figure out what they need.

KATIE: Yeah. I'd say if you don't know where to start, start with where am I resting? How am I resting? Start from there because we can't work until we come from a place of rest and then sit down and think, okay, how do I operate? What excites me? What brings me energy? How can I change my either daily routine to reflect that or how can I change my work routine to reflect that? And then thinking about, okay, how am I working? am I switching back and forth between tasks or can I really sit down and do some deep work?

And I really do suggest the book, "Deep Work" by Cal Newport for that because he helps just give a structure for, if you don't know where to start, that's just a good starting place. So those are probably where I would start.

AMY: I think you summed it up.

KATIE: Cool.

AMY: I was gonna add some, but I think you hit it all.

KATIE: I think if we were to add anything, it would be the inspiration, you know, not just what excites me, but like, when do I get expired? How do I get expired? What kind of people inspire me?

AMY: Yes, and within like, how do I work? Like when do you actually naturally have the energy to work? 'Cause some people are morning and some people are night and some people are four. I had a friend who just said, I work the best at four o'clock in the afternoon. I'm like, I am snoring at that point.

KATIE: Especially afternoon slump.

AMY: Yeah, for real. So yeah, analyze these things about yourself. And now that we're talking about this, I am, I'm going to say this and commit to it right now. I'm going to make a worksheet that people can download when they listen to this episode and work through all those questions physically.

So I will have that in the description. If you want to take a half day or even just a couple hours out of work, just sit down and reflect and analyze. And if you are, If you feel like, "Oh my gosh, I just don't even have two hours." Just step back and think about how it's investing in your future and how much better it's going to make even next week if you stop and do this now.

And if you do it the first round and it takes you a long time, I think that's a good indicator of like your energy is scattered. Your brain is probably scattered. But if you come back and do it two months later after implementing some habits and strategies, you might find that like you're a lot quicker to answer those questions and it doesn't take as long for you to think about how you work because you've been focusing on that.

So that's really good. And that's a good point that Jess also brings up of anytime you have a change, whether it's a change in your business and your life in just anything or just like even a new quarter, it's important to sit down and rethink everything because life changes. I have to preach that to myself. We're never gonna arrive at this perfect state. Like things are always gonna be changing. So we always have to just be adapting and that's just the way of life.

KATIE: Exactly, and it's good. That's what makes life good.

AMY: You're right, it is.

KATIE: Yeah.

AMY: Very sweet. Well, Katie, this has been fantastic.

KATIE: I've had the best time.

AMY: Yes, I did too. Maybe one day we'll record a podcast in person together. How amazing.

KATIE: Yeah, I've been thinking about that. to talk to you after this about something. Really?

AMY: Okay, I like that. Before we go, would you share with everybody what is bringing you peace right now?

KATIE: Absolutely. So this week in my morning devotionals, I was reading through Psalms again, and Psalms 4.8 says, "In peace I lie down and sleep. For you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe."

That super resonates with me this week just because things have been chaotic with the newborn and you never know like, okay, there's outside factors. Am I going to have to move? Can I stay in the place that I, you know, I'm living? Um, those questions came up a lot this week and it was very hectic.

And I just find so much peace in remembering that God has carried us up to this point and he will continue to do so. And I don't have to worry because you know, he's never failed me once. He'll never fail me now.

AMY: Oh, I love that. Amen to that.

Well, again, this has just been fantastic. I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom and just all your different thoughts that you have on this because again this if people were to sit and like take this in and turn it into something is just it would just be a game changer for anybody.

KATIE: Yeah, for sure.

AMY: I think it's kind of funny because I do think I was all over the place with what I was talking about today. And at the same time, you know, people talk about me not being distracted.

So I find that very funny because I hope people can sort through things and find something useful.

KATIE: Absolutely.

AMY: I feel like that's just what a podcast is. We just chat and different people will get different things out of it. You know, so it's perfect.

KATIE: For sure.

AMY: All right. Thank you everybody for listening and we will see you next week. Bye.

Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. We look forward to connecting with you more, whether that's on Instagram, TikTok, or our email list. We'd love to hear what you thought of today's episode and if you have any additional tips to add.

We will see you next week with more tips and tools to becoming a peaceful entrepreneur. Bye for now!