Being a parent has always been a challenging role. There’s always a never-ending question of whys and how-to. Moreover, parents often feel stuck and unproductive managing everything all at once – from work to house and vice versa. However, it's not an issue of why you're feeling less productive but looking into how you are doing things. With the right approach, you can get things done efficiently! All you need are the right tools to help you get started.

Hilary Kinney is a project manager at a Fortune 500 company and a proud mother. Her 17 years of experience are placed in a book to help parents improve their family relationships. Today, she joins the podcast to talk more about the advantages of these frameworks through her book, Project Management for Parents. Specifically to engage the family, build teamwork, and succeed together.

When people hear project management, they worry that it's all processes and frameworks and spreadsheets. However, in both professional and personal life, you'd want to use the minimum amount of process needed to get more organized and the work done. And as a family, we're so busy. We don't want to do spreadsheets for the sake of spreadsheets. You need to just put processes in place that support your family so that you can get the stuff done that you need to get done and have more fun and quality time together. Because that's what it's all about - that time together as a family is important.

Another beauty of agile is that the people are involved. And that's so important with families and kids. You involve the kids in the process, talk with them, and get their ideas. You talk about the planning and start building those planning skills for them. By involving them in these conversations and principles, you're helping them develop these skills that will also serve them later in life.

In project management, we always manage projects to constraints, whereas in our personal lives, we tend to manage and max everything out. It would help if you thought about your limits (i.e., time, money, resources, efforts, etc.) and thought of them as a stop sign. There are certain things that every family has some capability of what they can get done. So, think through what those capabilities are - what you can and cannot do, and then sit down and talk about it in these different areas, be incredibly realistic about what you can't do, and then commit to it and put it on a piece of paper. Avoid getting overwhelmed like a water balloon bursting because it would strain your relationship with your family or result in health issues. And there are also resources you can add to help you with things. Like grocery delivery, to decrease that workload, so add those support systems. There are different ways to manage it, but be aware of your limits, and manage to those instead of unlimited time and resources. 

You can use a Kanban board at home if you want. It's a board that has "to do", "doing", and "done". And you can move sticky notes down the board. Like if your kids have different assignments, chores or homework. So you can visually see if they need help. You could do it on a whiteboard, on a bulletin board, on a chalkboard, or there are apps you can use that do this for you. You can go from simple to complex. And again, keep it as easy as possible. It is also important to keep in mind the age of your kids. Think about what works well for them and what's their learning style. Are they real tactile learners? Would they prefer to have a little mason jar of what their chores are for the day, and then when they're done, they move it to the completed mason jar? There are lots of fun ways to engage with the kids so they can see and understand it. And then there's a...

Note-taking has been extremely important in the past. Even today, people still find themselves taking notes to keep track of almost everything. But with the world always evolving, jotting down everything could be time-consuming or worse – keep you more confused as you get buried in a pile of papers! But the onset of the information age has made this a lot easier as various digital tools are openly accessible to be utilized and keep track of your day-to-day activities.

Frank Buck is a certified Evernote consultant and productivity expert. He started his career in the early 80s when digital fashion was not a trend. He realized it's important to create a single place to handle everything for now – a system that works! Now, he joins the podcast to share more about accomplishing significant goals and understanding your ability to organize your time and surroundings through digital tools.

An old quote goes, "If you read the New York Times for a week, you're going to come across as much information as someone in Shakespeare's time came across in their entire life." Information is all around us, but your information is only as good as your ability to put your hands on it when needed. So, to date, with so much that digitally comes to us, it makes sense to keep things digital. The ability to trap that information in notes has always been important. And it will be much easier if you do it digitally because it's so easy to search for later. For example, the computer started as the center of information, but today Google/Microsoft servers took its place. This is because it provides everyone with the accessibility to their information using phones just as easily as they're getting it from the computer. The only caveat is to utilize software that works well from anywhere is important.

People would like to have the ability to get things in quickly, where you don't have to go from folder to folder to retrieve them. In other words, the search is very good, and you can easily share it with other people. The nice thing with digital notes is when you're thinking of something you're trying to find - not only do you find that easily. But you also find some other notes you had taken on the same subject that you forgot you even had. All those come up in the search quickly.

Evernote offers a free plan, so you can get it anytime in a few easy steps (1) Go to Evernote.com (2) Look and Download Evernote Web Clipper (3) Download the App to your phone.

The whole idea of Evernote is that you would be able to get your note wherever you are. All those little bits of information in small index cards and sticky notes scattered everywhere. With Evernote, you can create a little notebook to store your personal information, from insurance policy number, AARP number, driver's license, etc., in alphabetical order. You can also have a default inbox notebook with a.in front of it, so all incoming mail is sorted from the top of the list dot. So, when you check it later in the day, you can easily sort, review everything, clean, or add as necessary, which will be more helpful to you later.

David Allen was right on the money when he said, "where people mess up is when they start to try to do too much at the same time." For example, if you are in a meeting taking notes and it includes a few deadlines, you flip back to your to-do list and note them there. Essentially you are going back and forth between your to-do list and your calendar. But the principles taught there were, as you're taking notes when you have those two dues in those calendar appointments that come out of that meeting, go ahead and make it part of your...

Do you ever feel stuck? As if you can't seem to move forward despite doing what you have to do? Like there's an invisible wall you can't seem to cross? If so, you're not alone. Most people find themselves stuck in different aspects of their lives. It's nothing new! You can also get out of it, become more efficient, and see the progress you've always wanted.

ST Rappaport, a productivity coach. She coaches people, especially growing entrepreneurs, to rewire their brains and achieve results. Now, she joins the podcast to share more about the Feuerstein methods. Specifically, to take control of your lives, find focus and increase productivity professionally and personally.

If you have a cup inside and there are holes in your cup, whatever you pour inside the cup will come out of those holes. But as soon as you close those holes, pour any drink - it stays in the cup. Now, your brain is the same way. It has what's called cognitive deficiencies. And when you're trying all these hacks, tips, courses, reading books, or whatever you're doing to become more productive, improve a specific area of your life, or learn this new technique. And despite you putting in all the work and effort, it's just going right out of those holes. But when you close those holes and improve those cognitive functions, all those tips and hacks will now work for your brain.

The act of thinking is made up of what's called 28 cognitive functions. It means that there are 28 parts to this act of thinking. Now, we all have weaker and stronger ones. And different people have different areas. So when one of them is weak, it's like those holes. When one of them is weak, we have a hole in that aspect of our life, and things fall out. For example, if you're good at planning, you will eventually plan your day and organize everything to get things done. However, if you want everything to happen right now, let's say you need to go to the laundry today but know you'd also go there again tomorrow. You would still go to the laundry today because you want it to happen now even though there's no reason - but because it has to happen. Now your brain couldn't say, this has to go on the back burner for a while. It's fine if it goes to the cleaners tomorrow, so don't waste time going to the cleaners today and then going into the cleaners again tomorrow when there is no need for it now. But it won't because it's stupid. This cognitive function is called categorization, which is how your brain can categorize things. And that cognitive function in your brain is weak, and that's the hole in your brain. 

You want to work with your brain, not against your brain. Create a system to work together with your brain. For example, if you have a hole in your memory, you can think of a great idea but forget it after a while. You can have a piece of paper on your desk or notes on your phone. So as soon as you have an idea, something you know you have to do, it goes right down on that paper. And you could be in the middle of a session with a client, podcast recording, or anything. You have that paper, and you can write it down. Because that way, you don't forget it. However, every person's brain works differently. And you have to find the method that works for your brain. 

It doesn't happen overnight, it takes months, and you must create those new neural connections. But once they're there, they're forever because you created those new neural connections. Now, it's a bit difficult to say, to go and do this, instead of doing that, because that is almost like just giving you another hack, right? Specifically, it's harder because of those holes. So what you should do is a little bit less tangible, like go into this box - what's going to make the difference? You'll want to do it for the next couple of days, and it's going to take time, but you have to be conscious...