In another blog post, I talked about the power of being able to create any productive feeling, on demand. This is what gets your work done, and has you enjoying the process, too.

It may have caught your eye that I use the word “productive” instead of “positive” to describe feelings.

Productive feelings move you closer to your desired results; unproductive feelings keep you stagnant or move you further away from your desired results.

But productive feelings don’t always feel pleasant; and sometimes unproductive feelings feel damn good. This is why I don’t say “positive” or “negative.”

For example, justified can feel pretty great in the moment but not get you what you ultimately want, while acceptance can feel uncomfortable but fuel your progress. Processing grief feels awful but moves you forward, and craving relief can feel nice but leads to giving up on your dreams. Being absorbed in endless hours of social media scrolling feels pleasant but often has a net negative effect in your life, while nervousness feels unpleasant but keeps you stretching and growing.

All feelings are natural. First, we welcome and acknowledge them; then we separate the helpful ones from the unhelpful ones.

Here are some very common unproductive feelings, and how they likely show up throughout your week:

• Bored: “This is sooo tedious.”
• Resentful: “I don’t want to do it.”
• Inadequate: “I need to prove myself.”
• Helpless: “This is too hard.”
• Justified: “This can wait”
• Resigned: “I can’t make it work.”
• Lackadaisical: “I guess this is the best I can do.”
• Rigid: “It’s not going according to plan.”
• Overwhelmed: “There’s too much to do.”
• Ashamed: “I didn’t do it right.”
• Confused: “I have no idea where to start.”

How would your business change if you were able to halve the amount of time that it takes you to pinpoint and move through any unproductive feeling?

And in the process, we’ll get you creating more productive feelings, like adaptable, resilient, tenacious, determined, accepting, and trusting.

To get started, join the Pique email list below.You’ll receive invitations to future Monday Hour One 5-Day Challenges and free Monday Hour One workshops.

You’ll also get the free guide: 5 Reasons Your Projects are Half-Finished Yet.

Monday Hour One—the time management system that I teach my clients—is about cultivating the ability to generate any feeling on demand, in order to do what needs to be done.

It’s so easy to get caught in the weeds with a time blocking system like Monday Hour One; endlessly tinkering with your schedule and trying to get it “right.”

If you’re doing that, you’re missing out on the single biggest benefit: The relief that comes from knowing that you have the power to create any productive feeling that you need to get the task at hand done.

Let me give you some examples:

When I’m writing a blog post like this, the most productive feeling I can feel in that moment is connected. I can feel instantly connected to my community (that’s you!) by focusing on thoughts like “I know what they’re struggling with,” “If they’re here, they want my help,” and “I feel like I already know them.”

When I’m doing my weekly income and expenses report, the most productive feeling in that moment is committed. I can feel this instantly by thinking “I am committed to the profitable growth of my business, and that requires me to keep an eye on my finances.”

When I’m working on my new Ask a Coach booklet for my clients, the most productive feeling in that moment is confident. I can feel a boost of confidence by thinking “I know my shit; I’m a subject matter expert on procrastination.”

When things get uncomfortable on a consult, the most productive feeling in that moment is courageous. I feel courage when I think “I am willing to say the hard thing.”

When I’m babysitting my niece and nephew, the most productive feeling in that moment is present. Thinking “These days are limited” snaps me into presence on demand.

When I want to take every Wednesday off as planned, the most productive feelings that I can feel on the other days of the week are focused and relaxed. The thoughts “My only job is to work on what’s in front of me” and “I have time for everything I want to do this week” create a sense of relaxed focus for me.

Coaching? I want to feel bold.

Being coached? I want to feel receptive.

Creating content for social media? I want to feel inspired.

Running an intensive? I want to feel energized.

Taking a half-day to rest when I’m zapped, even when I need to rearrange my calendar? I want to feel accepting.

These on-demand feelings are possible for you, too (even if they feel far away right now).

To be clear, I’m not perfect at this, and I don’t feel lovely all of the time—far from it. I often forget that I even have this superpower, so I waste time wallowing. I’m not immune to addictive social media apps pulling my focus away from work or “Ugh, I don’t want to go to the grocery storeeeee” whining.

But once I remember that I have the ability to generate any feeling on demand, I relish the sheer delight and empowerment it brings me.

And I appreciate it even more, knowing that it wasn’t always like this for me. I used to feel totally out of control; at the whim of my emotions; and battered around by my own unpredictability.

So, if you’re where I used to be: Give yourself some grace; my guess is that nobody has ever even told you that this was possible, or you’ve tried but it still feels hard.

That’s totally okay; start where you are, and let your brain envision the magnitude of this skill rippling out in your life, long-term.

What if, over time, we could double your ability to produce any productive feeling on demand?

If you’re in, be sure to join the Pique email list below. You’ll receive invitations to future Monday Hour One 5-Day Challenges and free Monday Hour One workshops, where you’ll learn how to generate any feeling on demand. 

You’ll also get the free guide: 5 Reasons Your Projects are Half-Finished Yet.

I have a button-nosed angel of a niece (who also happens to have a rebellious, mischievous streak). She’s almost three, and I adore her.

I particularly love watching her navigate the world.

She used to point to something and, in her adorable little toddler voice, ask me “Titi, what is it?”

I used to give her an answer. But one day I paused and just said, “You tell me.”

And wouldn’t you know it, she could tell me exactly what it was.

I realized that she didn’t need me to give her an answer; I could “hold space” for her to find her own answers.

(Tell me you have an aunt for a life coach without telling me you have an aunt for a life coach 😂)

This increases her confidence, resourcefulness, and self-reliance way more than me telling her the answer.

It’s the same thing with coaching.

I can give you answers all day long, but you miss the opportunity to develop your own opinions, your own critical thinking, and your own strategies.

So, when you attend a Pique workshop or join Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, don’t expect me to give you an immediate answer. Expect me to help you find your own.

And warning: This process might annoy you; you might roll your eyes; you might insist to me that you truly don’t know the answer (in a very whiny voice, might I add). But I promise that we’ll have a good laugh about it.

As a client said to me recently, “…you never let up…”

She’s right; I don’t.

Trust it; this is 100 times more valuable for you in your life long-term than me spouting out the answer.

So, if you’d like to experience the breakthrough moments that come from learning to give yourself incredible answers to your own questions, be sure to join the Pique email list below.

You’ll receive invitations to future Monday Hour One 5-Day Challenges and free Monday Hour One workshops.

You’ll also get the free guide: 5 Reasons Your Projects are Half-Finished Yet.

The promise of Monday Hour One—the time blocking system that I teach—starts simply enough: Get more done, in less time.

You plan; you calendar; you do.

But then….? Shit gets real interesting, real fast.

Because anything you resist, don’t show up for, or settle on in your Monday Hour One schedule is like a neon arrow pointing us directly to your next breakthrough.

Monday Hour One is data collection—and we need data in order to solve problems.

We want to know that you’re:

…constantly giving yourself a ridiculous amount of work that you can’t possibly finish (and then feeling terrible about all you didn’t accomplish)

…saying yes to a whole bunch of shit that you don’t actually want to do

…underselling yourself by telling yourself that it’s “good enough” to put small, truly achievable goals on your calendar (even though you ache for more)

…overpacking your schedule because you’re afraid of being bored, lonely, and restless

…not showing up for your plans, because your out-of-control negative emotions are running the show

…feeling blindsided by predictable things, to avoid having to set tough boundaries

…constantly tinkering with your schedule, so you don’t have to do the work, put yourself out there, and risk rejection

…allowing other people’s requests to fill your calendar, so you can avoid thinking about the fact that your dream is to run your own show (and that terrifies you)

None of this means that Monday Hour One has gone wrong; it means that everything is right on schedule.

It means that we’ve found the real crux of the problem, and can finally solve it.

Without Monday Hour One, we wouldn’t know these things with such clarity.

So, once you’re using Monday Hour One, if things don’t go according to plan or you’re worried that you’re not doing it “right,” remind yourself: “This is data collection.”

And lucky for you, I’m trained at sorting through data, to get to the root of the problem with laser-like precision.

So, if you’d like to experience the same breakthrough moments that my clients experience, be sure to enter your email address below. You’ll join the Pique email list and receive invitations to future Monday Hour One 5-Day Challenges and free Monday Hour One workshops.

You’ll also receive the free guide: 5 Reasons Your Projects are Half-Finished Yet.

If you were to pull up your calendar right now, would you like what you see?

Would you feel in control, like you were the one who made this amazing schedule, and hot damn, it looks good?

Would you be pleased by the variety and quality of the opportunities that are available to you?

Would you be just the right amount of nervous, because you’ve committed to things that push you out of your comfort zone?

Would you feel connected to yourself, other people, and the greater good?

Would you feel confident, knowing it would all get done?

Would you feel relaxed, knowing there’s plenty of breathing room, especially if something unexpected happens?

When my clients express that they want to spend their time more intentionally, I recommend that they commit to only one of the following three options, at any given time:

• Things they want to do
• Things they’re willing to do
• Things they won’t do

But most of us love to slip in a secret fourth option: Wallow.

It sounds like: “Really, really don’t want to do but ugh, they’ll gonna be annoyed at me if I don’t, so I guess I’ll do it, even though I’m honestly not willing to, but whatever…”

Or “I mean, I said I would, and I definitely should, because I’ll just be a lazy procrastinator if I don’t, but I can’t make myself and now I feel worse.”

This fourth option is why so many people are not living the lives they want to live.

It breeds resentment, disempowerment, frustration, and helplessness—not empowerment, delight, confidence, relaxation, and connection.)

Breaking out of the “wallow” option is tough, and completely worth it.

After all, this is the quality of your daily life we’re talking about.

So ask yourself: What percent of the things in your life do you want to do? What percent are you willing to do? What percent won’t you do? And what percent do you need to take out of the secret fourth category, and put into one of the other three buckets?

Once you’ve let this whole idea shake up your world, be sure to enter your email address below. You’ll join the Pique email list and receive invitations to future Monday Hour One 5-Day Challenges and free Monday Hour One workshops.

You’ll also receive the free guide: 5 Reasons Your Projects are Half-Finished Yet.

Do you ever compulsively consume information about productivity hacks, tricks, and systems (collectively, productivity porn, as we call it in the biz)—and then struggle to implement all of it long-term?

This one’s for you.

I’ve studied a lot of time management tools and systems, and they’re all brilliant. And yet, I always felt like something was missing until I learned about Monday Hour One.

But it would be a lie to make it seem like it was an immediate love affair. I could intellectually grasp the value of Monday Hour One, but that didn’t stop me from complaining to my coach about it. I was convinced that I “should” learn how to do Monday Hour One, but it sounded awful and constraining and rigid, so I resisted it for a long time.

But once I was hooked, I was hooked.

Now, every single time I coach a client on their Monday Hour One practice, I feel so damn appreciative to The Life Coach School, the creators of this system.

It addresses so much of what I was missing in the past:

✅ It helps you understand why you’re doing the things you’re doing, instead of just telling you not to do them and letting you suffer through white-knuckling

✅ It addresses your feelings, and how you’re unconsciously reacting to them all the time if you’re not aware

✅ It asks you to be fully responsible, instead of offloading responsibility to other people, deadlines, software, or apps

✅ It has a built-in self-evaluation mechanism, so perfectly following the system isn’t required or expected—but learning is

✅ Similarly, there’s a “bounce-back” process, so that you can come back to the system any time you fall off—no harm, no foul

✅ It’s built to fit with your life circumstances—it doesn’t ignore that your life has things you need to consider, like kids, a chronic illness, a spouse, a sick parent, or balancing a job with a side gig

✅ It not only takes into account your unique life circumstances, it helps you accurately forecast what your week will look like, anticipate what “unexpected” things might pop up, and plan for what you’ll do in the event that you need a contingency plan

✅ It’s actionable, meaning you know exactly what steps to take and when (5 simple steps, every Monday morning)

And best of all, Monday Hour One layers on top of all of the knowledge that you’ve already gleaned in the past about productivity. That means that none of that was a waste. (Isn’t that a relief?)

This is just the cherry on top, to bring it on home.

I’ve helped hundreds of people with their Monday Hour One practices, and it would be an honor to help you with yours.

When you join the Pique email list below, you’ll get invitations to future Monday Hour One 5-Day Challenges and free Monday Hour One workshops.

You’ll also receive the free guide: 5 Reasons Your Projects are Half-Finished Yet.

One of the biggest reasons that people are reluctant to adopt a new time management system like Monday Hour One or a practice like deep work is because they’re worried that it won’t stick—and they’re sure that they’ll beat themselves up if it doesn’t.

Notice that this assumes three things:

• If it doesn’t stick, it was a waste
• If it doesn’t stick, you’ll make it mean bad things about you
• You don’t have control over whether or not it “sticks”

I want you to make a pact with yourself that addresses the first two points: Promise yourself that you’ll get value from the experience and that you’ll support yourself along the way. 

Take a bold stance and tell yourself that you’re no longer available for shaming yourself or writing off entire processes as failures. No matter what happens, you’ll learn valuable things about yourself, your desires, and your preferences.  

With your new mindset, let’s dig into the last piece: The idea that you don’t have control over whether or not it “sticks.”

Start by trying on the thought: “It’s my job to make it stick.” 

I’m going to show you how. 

The only reason that processes and tools “don’t stick” for people is that they start focusing on what’s not working and stop doing what is working.

You choose to focus on and believe your own self-sabotaging stories, so when you feel discouraged or embarrassed, you give up on the system altogether, instead of digging in and problem solving.

This is very normal, and it requires practice to unwind. 

Ask yourself to commit to “100 reps”: 100 times that you’ll work the system or process; be willing to fail hard without beating yourself up; intentionally pull your attention away from what’s not working; and refocus on what is working and why it’s working.

Here’s the most efficient way to look at what is working, and why: 

“What was I thinking, feeling, and doing when it was working?” 

Hold yourself to generating a thorough, informative answer.

With this approach, you can’t not get better at making these systems and processes stick, long-term.

The thoughts on the left tend to create feelings of commitment, dedication, joy, energized, trusting, inspired, and excited; while the thoughts on the right tend to make you feel insecure, self-judgmental, justified, and uninspired.

Here’s the kicker: Neither of these lists is more true; they’re just what you’re currently practicing thinking. 

And when you look at the two lists side-by-side, it becomes crystal-clear why you think you need external accountability: You’re using it to solve for lackluster thoughts, instead of changing your thoughts.

I can teach you how to change your thoughts, so that you don’t need external accountability anymore.

From now on, it will be a fun bonus, not a necessity. How freeing will that feel?!