Last week, we went through five of our top 10 productivity hacks. Today, we’re going to go through the last five. If you just take one of these tips and really apply it in your life, you will see huge improvements and so much stress relief.

1. Get clarity
2. Priorities, not tasks
3. Manage your energy, not your time
4. Focus on habits, not discipline
5. Block time for planning
6. Get rid of unfinished loops
7. Productivity does not mean busy
8. Put white space into your calendar
9. Avoid excessive procrastination
10. Work less than 40 hours a week

Resources:

• Read: "Getting Things Done"
• Read: “The ONE Thing”
• Read: “The Power of Full Engagement”
• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

Our mission at Empire Builders is to help you lead big lives. And in order to lead big lives, you have to be productive. Even if productivity doesn’t come naturally, it is a skill that can be learned, and it’s essential that you do. We’re going to talk about the little things you can do every single day to be more efficient with your time with these 10 hacks:

1. Get clarity
2. Priorities, not tasks
3. Manage your energy, not your time
4. Focus on habits, not discipline
5. Block time for planning

In the next part, we’ll go over the last 5 productivity hacks that will help you make better use of your time.

Resources:

• Read: “The ONE Thing”
• Read: “The Power of Full Engagement”

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

The cat’s out of the bag! In our episode on forming your own tribe, we promised we would share the secret format of our tribe retreats. So, now that you know how to go about forming your own tribe, we’re going to outline exactly how we structure, organize, and run our own retreats.

• Start with a leader to spearhead the planning
• Finding the right location
• Deciding on the timing
• Bringing the right supplies
• Setting the agenda ahead of time
• Following up and staying engaged

Resources:

• amplifyevent.com

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

The relationship we have as co-hosts began long before the show ever did. We all come from a tribe of 11 women called The Dolls” — a group of like-minded women who are strong, fierce, loyal, positive, and unapologetically honest.

By being in each other’s lives over the past five years, we’ve seen careers take off, lives improve, net worths skyrocket, and relationships flourish (or unhealthy relationships end). And that’s just a few of the benefits of being part of a tribe.

Today, we’re going to take you behind the curtains and into the models we used to build our tribe:

• The Why, What, and Where
• The Core Values of your tribe
• Developing common rules and language
• Why you need a leader
• How to start finding your tribe

Resources:

• amplifyevent.com

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

Women make up 50.8% of the world’s population — but we make up only 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs. While we have made strides towards representation in business, we still have a long way to go. We’re going to cover the 6 things holding you back from building your empire—that men need to hear, too:

1. You can’t do it all
2. Mom guilt
3. Not building your tribe
4. Not acknowledging that sexism exists and that you need to deal with it
5. Not asking for help
6. Not going for it

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

Here’s a sobering truth: one in three Americans have saved nothing for retirement and 56% of Americans have saved less than $10,000. Most of us want it all right now — and we’re not willing to give up the small pleasures today to have what we want in the future. Today, we’re going to talk about all the things every millionaire knows but the rest of us don’t really have a clue about.

The Six Wealth-Building Habits:

• Say “no” to say “yes”
• Pay your investment fund first
• Focus on net worth over income
• Learn the rules of money
• Learn how to leverage your money and time
• Learn how to surround yourself with success.

Resources:

• Read: "Set For Life"
• Read: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"
• Read: "Tax Free Wealth"
• Read: “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor”
• Read: “HOLD”

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

This is Part 2 of our retention series, and we’re talking about what you can do in the first 90 days in order to retain your best talent.

Last week, we talked about the importance of building a 30, 60, and 90-day plan for your new hires. But what do you do to create these plans? You want to break down into the operational tasks that you no longer want to be fulfilling in your business and give them a plan to conquer those tasks over the first 90 days.

We also talk about the keys to retention: clarity of expectations, praising your employees in public while coaching in private, and the importance of buying into your employees goals.

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

Richard Branson famously said, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” So how do you create a business that employees love to work for?

Employee retention is important for four key reasons: Cost, Momentum, Clients, and Culture.

Today, we’re going to be discussing the importance of retention, what to do the first 90 days to ensure success, how to decide when it’s time to upgrade and how to do it, how to lead talented people who challenge you, and the importance of the right cultural fit.

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

You’re sitting in your office. It’s a busy week at work and you’re preparing for an important meeting. You receive word that two of your team members just submitted their two week notice. Your phone rings. It’s a client panicking about their social media campaign. A few minutes later, the phone rings again. It’s the nurse from your kid’s school, who got hurt on the playground. You look at the calendar for the rest of your week and you feel overwhelmed.

What do most of us usually do in this scenario? We skip workouts and meals. We cancel our plans to go out with friends and family. A week goes by like this, then two weeks, then two months — and some of us spend years putting ourselves on the back burner.

All of us have felt that overwhelm, and it took big wake-up calls to help us break the cycle. So, today, we’re going to share our stories — when we weren’t taking care of ourselves at all, how it affected our lives and businesses, and the incredible results we saw when we started prioritizing self-care.

You CAN have it all — but only if you prioritize filling your cup up first.

Resources:

• "Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success" by Shawn Stevenson

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media

Over the last two episodes, we’ve guided you through the first five steps of The Empire Building 8-Step Hiring Process. This week, we’re covering the last three phases of hiring, and as always, sharing stories about how we failed forward to become better versions of ourselves along the way.

The Empire Building 8-Step Hiring Process:

• Step 1 - Job Fit Verification
• Step 2 - Thought Process
• Step 3 - Life Story
• Step 4 - Motivational interview
• Step 5 - Group interview
• Step 6 - References
• Step 7 - Defense
• Step 8 - Expectations Dialogue and Offer

Connect on Instagram:

• Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevp
• Vija Williams: @viavija
• Sarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsoji
• Wendy Papasan: @wendypapasan

Empire Building is a production of Crate Media