Ep. 31 Decision Fatigue, Time Blocking + Netflix and Chill

Decision Fatigue, Time Blocking + Netflix and Chill

Ask any entrepreneur their biggest challenge and it probably has to do with time. That one limited resource we all have to work with.

So how do you manage your time, get it all done, and not run yourself into the ground?

Torie Mathis and her cohost Sean discuss how they manage multiple businesses and kids while still finding time and energy to work out, eat well, and not burn out.

We’ll Cover:
Decision Fatigue
Why Torie wears a black shirt daily
Good Habits + Routines vs. Defaulting
Time Blocking
How to be More Productive
Non-negotiables
How to not Netflix and Chill your life away Strategies to Organize your Day

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION –

(transcription is auto-generated)

SAF 31

[00:00:00] Torie: My whole life, like every second, I feel like I’m like one on the left. One on the right. I don’t know.

Hey, Hey, welcome to Smart AF I’m your host Torie Mathis. We’ve got a great show for you today. So let’s get started. So I work out with a trainer at the gym and Sean does not. And I think it’s funny because we both have such a different mentality about when we go to the gym like Sean wants to be by himself. He does not want to work out with anybody at all.

Right? 

[00:00:38] Sean: Right. 

[00:00:39] Torie: Like you have your own thing. You don’t want to be messed with, you want to talk to anybody. 

[00:00:43] Sean: I need to have the gym speak to me and just lead me on the path of what’s going to make me see. 

[00:00:50] Torie: So I, that is not how I feel about the gym though. You know, when we first started, like we’ve gone to the gym and we’ve gone and gone, not gone and everything, but this last time that we’ve gone like we have a really, I think it’s been, oh my gosh, are we at almost?

I think we’re over. It’s been a while since we started to go. And we, I mean, we go like four days a week. Sometimes we were going five days a week. Very, very consistently. And I really thought I was always like that too. I would go to the gym, do my own thing. I never did classes. I hated classes. I did some boot camp stuff for a while and they were okay.

But I always thought that I would be that same way, like get in there and get done what I want to, but I have discovered that the gym does a whole different thing. I go to my class and I work out with my trainer and you are just the greatest thing, because I never have to make it. I make notice he tells me to do, and I do.

I get a great workout. I am totally exhausted. I’m sore at the end. Like it is the best thing ever. And like, sometimes he will say like like that’s enough or did you do 10? And I’m like, I’m not counting. I’m in, I’m in no decision mode. Which also means like, I’m not even counting. Like I get so in the zone, like I have no idea what’s going on. I don’t look at anybody else. Like I am in, in this perfect zone of working out. I don’t think about anything. So many things like I’ll be doing, like driving. I’m thinking about all these other things I have to do. Do you know what I mean? Like I’m making my grocery list and I’m thinking about this. Like I have made it this total no decision time because I totally believe in decisions.

[00:02:33] Sean: That’s why you wear nothing. 

[00:02:35] Torie: That is why I wear a black shirt every single day. Like I have a couple other, other shirts like I have other stuff, but like, I love that whole like Zuckerberg, Steve jobs, like put on a black shirt, the same pants. Like I’m totally cool to do that. I’ll change my earrings. And then I will just wear the exact same shirt.

I mean, it’s a different black shirt than I wear yesterday but it is a black shirt and I don’t have to decide like I’m tired of making decisions. I got like all of these big decisions and plans and things. I got to do that. It’s nice to have this time that at all, you know, believe in that

[00:03:15] Sean: I find like I have to, there’s gotta be something specific that I need to make a decision. I don’t really find myself in a position too often where it’s gotta be like the one on the left is the one on the right turn. 

[00:03:35] Torie: My whole life. Like every second, I feel like I’m like bling on the left one on the right Torie what are we having for dinner? We’ll shit. I’ve got to decide, where are we eating lunch? What are we going to have for breakfast? You know what we’re having for breakfast. We’re having the exact same things as we had yesterday. And it’s going to be in between breakfast time and less time. And it’s called a green smoothie. And what is it going to have in it? It’s the same thing.

[00:04:01] Sean: Your whole, your whole career is based on your decisions are mine they don’t really matter. Like I, I live my life being told what I need to get done and now I get to do it in the order I want. And, but for the most part, I don’t have the same issues with having to make the decisions. Although I do if I, man, if I was in your shoes, I would struggle with it because I don’t like making decisions. I’m more of like, I, I, I don’t know. You tell me, I’m like start with the idea and then get all the, get it done. 

[00:04:37] Torie: And you want somebody else to deal with all the details, but you won’t even make the big overall idea for dinner. I have to make that decision. 

[00:04:48] Sean: Big ideas.

[00:04:53] Torie: At the big idea is the fact that if we don’t eat we’ll die, I made that decision. 

[00:05:00] Sean: Like, do we need plates or bowls?

[00:05:06] Torie: You know? Okay. So this whole decision thing though, like it goes, I think. Because everybody does have to make decisions. Like you still had to decide what shirt to wear. You still have to like, and you, every person I think gets to this cap, as you can only do so much in a day. So I think if you do like make a lot of these decisions, like having routines, having these times when you don’t have to make anything, any decisions at all, I think are super positive.

And so we were talking about that and some people choose to have that like mellow, no decision time. Like the gym is my time. Like that is my time that I am like, just totally chilled out. Even though I’m working really hard, like my mind is off, like, I’m not thinking about what I have to do. I don’t think about anything else other than what I’m doing.

So if you don’t set yourself up for these non-decision times, then it’s really easy to default into shitty that no decision to. 

[00:06:07] Sean: Yeah. And I think like the fact that you have the trainer like you don’t have to make decisions when you’re actually working out, which is obviously what you want, but the fact that you have something that you have to go do on a daily basis. That happens to be at the gym. Makes it that much easier for us to like, you don’t have, well, she would go to the gym or not today. It’s Monday where we go. 

[00:06:32] Torie: It’s a twofer. Okay. So it is, we have the class, I have my class I go to and I wouldn’t miss it because like, when I do miss it, it was like, Tori, where were you? Are you okay? But like, I am always there. Like, I am like a stable one there that if I’m not there like it’s definitely noticed. And then I do my weekly training. So like, again, you have to go. So it’s become such a part of our routine it’s a non-negotiable like, we’re going, no matter what dropped off at school, kids stay home from school for some reason, like we’re going anyway.

Like it is what we do, we are going. So it’s a twofer, it’s my, I don’t have to make decisions. And it’s also like instituting a super good routine and habit because if you don’t Institute super good routines and habits, you will default to shitty routines and habits. I have some. So, like I said, I really do think you need that time that you need to, to, to not have to make decisions, but you can’t, or I don’t know.

I don’t, I don’t want to Netflix and chill my life. Sure. It’s a good way to vege out and not think about anything, but if that’s like the only thing you do for like your non-decision time, I don’t think that. That’s not where I want to go. I want to like, at least move forward during my non-decision time, we do watch some TV, but it’s not like that’s, the mainstay of our chill out.

[00:07:56] Sean: Well, I think everybody, like when you’re a business owner like time is one of the main, the main things that you seem to run low on because there’s tons of stuff that you either need to be doing or could be doing both. Right. And so even. Not having to make that decision to go to the gym. It’s just, it’s part of the schedule, you know?

So if you’re, you’ve got X amount of time that you need to do specifically for whatever it is that you’re doing work well. You know, you’ve got other times as well. You know you sleep for seven, eight hours a night. That’s that scheduled? You go to the gym, it’s all scheduled. These are the things that you don’t have to make the decisions on.

Don’t make them even something that you can make a decision on. That’s just what gets done. You don’t make the decision to go to sleep every night. You’re going to go to sleep every night. 

[00:08:47] Torie: You don’t make the decision that you’re are going to eat dinner.

[00:08:51] Sean: It has to happen. So. Use that, that free chill time wisely and, and make it a habit, make change the pattern. You know, if your habit is to sit on the couch and watch Netflix for eight hours on, you know, Sunday, instead of, you know, doing something a little bit more productive or healthier, or with the family or whatever the case may be, just choose that time a little bit wiser. 

[00:09:21] Torie: You know, and I think that’s important too because I always feel like, like, and I still, I have to like step back every once in a while on this, because I feel like I have to be doing something productive all the time.

And so I think there is that balance of, you know, don’t Netflix and chill eight hours every single Saturday and Sunday. But then there is like, you do need to have something that is your time. Especially if you’re a business owner that you’re not working, that you’re not on all the time like that switching that time off is going to make when you are on so. 

[00:09:57] Sean: Well, and for us, I think that’s like getting away from the laptop screen. Like that’s the hardest thing to do, but once, once we can change that pattern and get away from that then you can plug something else into it. 

[00:10:12] Torie: Well, when you use. When you worked nights and things like that, like a long time ago, and the kids were really little, I worked late, I worked every day. I just, you know, because kids were napping, our kids were up that I just, I had to get in my work time whenever I could.

And then once the kids got older and stuff, I was still on that same pattern. Or once you stopped working nights, I was still on that pattern. And so I got to this like I’m working in the evenings and I’m working on the weekends and I’m working at work and I’m working. And so now. Stepping back. Like, I really try not to work past like six o’clock seven at the, like, if I have a special project than you, I get it.

But man, if I work late, it screws me up so bad that I don’t sleep. I start thinking about it. And like I realized that I do this and it has taken a lot of effort to be like if you are going to sleep and you are going to lead a good life like the laptop has to turn. And don’t even pull out the phone and start doing shit on there either because I have to cap myself, otherwise it just it’s just non-stop. 

[00:11:16] Sean: Then, then the sleep gets disturbed. 

[00:11:18] Torie: Really does. 

[00:11:19] Sean: So the next day isn’t as good and snowballs in a negative way. 

[00:11:26] Torie: If you don’t like to make the good habits, the bad ones, we’ll just move in. And that. That routine of working late ended up that routine of not sleeping well, ended up that routine of like, yeah, it’s it just, it catches on and it’s hard to turn it back off. So being more intentional about, what we’re doing definitely has helped that working weekends too. Like if I have a special project or I have specific things that I’m doing like I’m not going to sit there on the weekend and do. But if we have a project that we’re doing, or like doing our podcast or YouTube channel or things that are for to move our stuff forward, like I will like if the kids are doing something already work on projects like that on the weekend, but you have to have that time of doing something else. I like your idea of your chill plus good habit is a good way to make that.

[00:12:25] Sean: Fill your calendar with all the stuff that is important to you and schedule that stuff, get rid of the decision-making. Just make them the habits. If there’s that time left for you to Netflix and chill use that time. But I doubt it’s going to be as, as much as, you know, spending a weekend, doing it every weekend. Like you, you should not have that much time to do nothing like that. 

[00:12:52] Torie: But if you’re not doing anything like that ever like you got to flip it back around. Cause I think it’s really easy to go too far to the side to side. Like if you kind of find that.

[00:13:05] Sean: I think for us it’s, we’re in bed right before asleep again, one, two hours of TV and that’s pretty much the only two we ever have. But that’s for us, you know, and it’s different. And again, we don’t make those decisions. That’s just literally what we do on a daily basis every day. It’s just a little bit at night, right before bed, and we’re, we’re trying to do the same thing every day. 

[00:13:37] Torie: I think it makes our house run better. It makes the kids run better. It definitely helps the business run better scheduling and getting these are what’s going to happen no matter what these are, the times Torie doesn’t have to make any decisions. 

[00:13:51] Sean: Well, and, and taking it even deeper too. Cause like, I, I don’t go to the museum on a daily basis, even though the museum is open seven days a week. But because we have, you know, the gym on certain days and kids do certain things on certain days and all these things that are all prescheduled, I pretty much know. I can go to the museum on Saturday because it’s the busiest day of the week. Unless we have something else that’s more important and there’s not really anything important going on at the museum.

I can make that decision call on that given Saturday. And then if there’s anything else that needs to get done, not like just going and hanging out, but like, I need to do something I know Wednesday of every week is my go-to day of a week. If it doesn’t work out on Wednesday, I know Monday is my fallback.

I’d rather not Monday. And I’d rather do a Wednesday, but like every week I know no matter what I can make it. 

[00:14:47] Torie: Chunks of, like, this is always happening, no decision time. Like this is what we’re doing. We’re, gyming where, you know, have whatever thing. 

[00:14:56] Sean: So even though I don’t make as many decisions as you I’ve been there, there’s still things that, because it, it does make it easier. Otherwise, it’s like, well, I go Thursday, do I do it Tuesday? It’s either Wednesday or nothing. And I mean, it usually stuck can get worked around a few days. To work on my day. Like it, like if Wednesday never works for whatever I’m dealing with and I have the fallback. 

[00:15:24] Torie: Well, I think you, and that’s part of like, going back onto that, like, non-negotiables that we’ve talked about when you have those things set and everything else will just work out, like going to the, it doesn’t matter that it’s not Tuesday. And if something is, somebody was like, well, I need you to be there Tuesday. Well, sorry, Tuesday doesn’t work. When you already have those things planned out, like then you don’t even have to, you don’t have to make those decisions or worry about like, oh, well, should I go or should I, Nope. It’s can’t happen that time is blocked and scheduled for something else.

[00:15:52] Sean: And also just makes it easier to remember everything that is going on, which is, I think takes the whole stress level down a little bit. Where if, what are we doing on this day, and what needs to get down here and all this. I don’t need that extra level of stress is no good. 

[00:16:13] Torie: If I could just figure out dinner, if I didn’t have to make decisions, you know, what’s funny though, if I’ve tried that whole like plan out your next month and like write down what you’re going to eat, and then you have your dinner plan and that way you don’t have to make the decision of dinner, doesn’t work.

I don’t feel like that. I don’t want to eat this today. I just blew the whole entire thing. I feel that those feelings get involved. I have a little bit of flexibility, so I guess dinner is my decision. I’ll make the decision.

Yeah, not eating tonight.