What is your relationship to information? Scattered and chaotic, or clear and navigable? Do you have streamlined systems for saving, distilling, and crafting original thought-leadership from what you encounter and store, or are you stuck when it comes time to create order from the chaos?

Our guest this week, Tiago Forte, is here to teach you how to develop a second brain—a mindset that transcends toolset—through information-wrangling habits that will change the way you think and create.

This episode originally aired on July 19, 2022.

More About Tiago: Tiago Forte is a leading productivity expert who has taught thousands of people around the world how timeless principles and the latest technology can revolutionize their productivity, creativity, and personal effectiveness. Today we’re talking about his new book, Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential. Learn more at Fortelabs.co, and subscribe to his Building a Second Brain podcast.

🌟 3 Key Takeaways:

📝 Permission: Not to be everywhere on all channels. Pick just one place that best fits your personality and style. Treat that channel as a place for your unique artistic expression.

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next: What do people ask you about most? Build out an FAQ by answering that question thoroughly, and posting it somewhere on your website, in Google Docs, or Notion. Then send future inquirers the link instead of one-off email messages.

📘Books Mentioned:

🔗Resources Mentioned: 

🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe »

🌟Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review.

❤️Consider joining Jenny’s private BFF community, where you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call, a private podcast feed with bonus content, and a community forum to exchange ideas and feedback with fellow Heart-Based Business owners.

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/toolkit 

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📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/111

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This best of episode is a replay of the 100th episode of this show since launching on March 21, 2021. I gave myself the tricky task of pairing down the top ten lessons learned this last year and a half. I wish I could’ve pulled an excerpt from every single guest, but alas! These are the lessons that stuck most, sparking new insights and ahas. 

This episode originally aired June 10, 2022.

🎁 We're bringing back BOGOGO! Give the gift of free time to yourself and others in the new year by participating in our Buy One, Get One, Give One bonus—back for a limited time. Here's how it works:

✨ Top Ten Lessons from 💯 Episodes ✨

#1: See yourself as a star performer, and challenge yourself to delegate ever-more of the rest. [01:54]

#2: Focus on building process, not reactive replies, to reduce incoming noise. [04:39]

• 002: Eliminate Email with Cal Newport

#3: An abundance mindset is bigger than money; remember, we are “Funded by Source.” [07:27]

• 029: Funded By Source with Ksenia Avdulova

#4: Zoom out to see brand as an investment, not a cost. [09:53]

#5: Build redundancy by stepping back from being the bottleneck; if you’re running a “body shop” find ways to leverage your IP to create greater scale and reach. [14:24]

#6: Say no to people-pleasing and invitations that don’t spark joy. [19:57]

#7: Go beyond a launch project (after which energy inevitably fizzles) to create a more sustainable sales system. [24:59]

• 012: Generating Personal MBA Momentum with Josh Kaufman

#8: Buyer’s remorse is inevitable; create a strategic plan and supporting processes to address it. [26:43]

• 083: Breaking through Buyer’s Remorse—Never Lose a Customer Again with Joey Coleman

#9: You’re doing extra work if you’re not creating evergreen email sequences! Save your best newsletters as part of an ongoing welcome series for new subscribers. [29:45]

• 069: Epic Evergreen Email Sequences with Allan Dib

#10: When it comes to taking risks and taking on new projects, don’t worry about competition: ask what’s safe to try, and remember that there is room for you. [33:05]

📝 Permission: To keep hitting publish on your projects and ongoing public original thinking, no matter how awkward or imperfect. 

📘 Books Mentioned: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One 

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe » 

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/tools

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

🗣 Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/100

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How has Alexandra Franzen built two thriving businesses without social media? By delivering work with a quality I like to call “exquisite greatness.” She treats every marketing initiative like a tiny art project, something to get excited about rather than a draining chore to dread—and no, it doesn’t require social media. As Alex shares, according to a Nielsen study, 92% of customers purchase products or services because of a recommendation from someone they know.

This episode originally aired on June 14, 2022.

More About Alex: Alexandra Franzen is a bestselling author, award-winning editor, and entrepreneur based in Hawaii. She’s the co-founder of Get It Done, a company providing writing coaching, editing, proofreading, cover design, publishing, and distribution services for clients who want to write a book. She writes one of my favorite newsletters at AlexandraFranzen.com, and runs her popular Tiny Book Course. Alex deleted all of her social media accounts eight years ago as she describes in her forthcoming book, Marketing Without Social Media.

🌟 3 Key Takeaways:

📝 Permission: Give yourself a raise! If you are excellent at what you do, significantly increase what you charge. 

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next: If you’re stressed by social media, take a break; stop for a week and see how it feels. It’ll be fine. It might even be great, allowing you to focus on creating tiny art with your business communications instead. 

📘 Books Mentioned:

🔗 Resources Mentioned:  

Related Podcast Episodes: 

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe »

❤️ Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review. Consider becoming a podcast BFF and you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call with Jenny, a private feed, and access to a community forum with fellow Heart-Based Business Owners.

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/tools 

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

🗣 Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/101

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Just a few days after launch, Free Time topped many Amazon charts! Although "making the lists" is not something I lose sleep over, it does go a long way toward raising awareness and generating lasting launch momentum. Here are some early category stats—I couldn't do any of this without you!

Enormous thanks to all of you who have read the book and posted reviews on Amazon and Goodreads already! Every one has warmed my heart. ❤️

This episode originally aired on April 1, 2022.

🎁 We're bringing back BOGOGO! Give the gift of free time to yourself and others in the new year by participating in our Buy One, Get One, Give One bonus—back for a limited time. Here's how it works:

⭐️ Key Takeaways:

💌 Permission: Relinquish your role as all-seeing question answerer. Let someone else answer the questions (and maybe your email!) — you are juggling way too much to remember all of the little things.

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next:  Double it! Double how much you delegate. What is your comfort zone for allowing other people to take things over? Stretch it to accommodate more.

📘Books Mentioned:

🔗 Resources Mentioned: 

Related Podcast Episodes: 

❤️ Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review. Consider becoming a podcast BFF and you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call with Jenny, a private feed, and access to a community forum with fellow Heart-Based Business Owners.

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

🗣 Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/080

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“Stab the Hydra in the heart.” Cal Newport is not pulling any punches with his latest treatise on how we can combat Hyperactive Hive Mind with smarter systems for communication. Email has become a constant source of guilt and stress for so many of us — listen in for strategies to reclaim your peace and focus.

This episode originally aired on March 21, 2021.

About Cal Newport: Cal Newport is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. He is the author of six books, including Deep Work, which argues that focus is the new I.Q. in the modern workplace. His latest, A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload, is in many ways his magnum opus on the topic of technology and the workplace. Be sure to also check out his podcast, Deep Questions.

Key questions:

❤️ Enjoying the show? Please leave a rating or review. Free Time is listener supported—consider donating to become a podcast Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call:

📘 Books Mentioned: Pivot, A World Without Email, Digital Minimalism, Deep Work, So Good They Can’t Ignore You

🔗 Links Mentioned: Cal on the web...and he’s not on Twitter! Or Facebook.

🎙Related Podcasts: 122: Digital Minimalism with Cal Newport, 29: Deep Work: Ditch Cognitive Junk Food with Cal Newport

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

💸 Enroll in the complimentary Free-up Founder Time mini-course

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

🗣 Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts:

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! http://itsfreetime.com/episodes/002

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What steps can you take now to free your time far into the future? Long-time listeners know this is one of the central questions and strategies throughout Free Time, my book that helps you build the muscle of continually freeing more of your time. Today I’m sharing three strategies to set your time free in 2023. For added accountability in freeing your time in the year ahead, I encourage you to check out the Free Time Leader Kit—you can work through the sections of the book with your team or in a mastermind group (or join us in BFF!) for even more support.

🎁 Give the gift of Free Time! Buy the book for your team members and business besties. We’ve reopened our BOGOGO promo for the holidays: Buy One, Get One, Give One. 

🌟3 Key Takeaways:

• Set a Time Goal first, then work backward. How much is your time worth? Calculate it. What is your billable rate if you break down your income on an hourly basis? Here is how I estimate:

📝Permission: Aggressively block off time for the entire year ahead, only making exceptions in the moment for what’s joyful from week to week.

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Pick one area that’s important to you but where you’re experiencing friction. Fill out the Free Time Framework guide to work through improvements resulting in greater flow, joy, and ease. 

📘Books Mentioned:

🔗Resources Mentioned: 

🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe »

🌟 Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review.

❤️ Join Jenny’s private BFF community for access to a monthly Q&A call, a private podcast feed with bonus content, and a community forum to exchange ideas and feedback with fellow Heart-Based Business owners.

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/toolkit 

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

☎️ Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/150

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According to SignalFire, the fastest growing type of small business is one that revolves around content creation, also known as the creator economy. In this conversation, Kim Kaupe and I explore favorite tips and tools for designing our calendar to support creative work, strategies for staying consistent, paying for accountability, “fishing where your fish are,” batching to get more done in less time, and how Kim prepared for her successful Shark Tank pitch several years ago. Watch the full conversation via video (YouTube) and our previous conversation on Time Blocking.

🧰 If you want more help getting organized for the year ahead and freeing up dozens of hours each week, get your Free Time Operations Dashboard »

More About Kim: Kim Kaupe is an accidental entrepreneur, who at 24 years old researched how to start a company. Fast-forward ten years later, she’s worked with Oprah and secured 4 out of 5 sharks on Shark Tank. On her Coffee with Kim show, she has meaningful conversations with fascinating, thought-provoking and successful CEOs, celebrities & influential individuals in business. She is an educator, speaker, and chocolate chip cookie aficionado who believes in hard work, short emails, and showing others how to showcase their strengths.

🌟3 Key Takeaways:

📝Permission: Pivot away from projects that are no longer a fit. People do business with people, not any one product.

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Open your calendar and block off the time you want to be unavailable before during and after holidays and other annual events. Make those blocks recurring so that your rest and relaxation time will be built in next year.

📘Books Mentioned:

🔗Resources Mentioned:

🎧Related Podcast Episodes:

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe »

🌟 Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review.

❤️ Join Jenny’s private BFF community for access to a monthly Q&A call, a private podcast feed with bonus content, and a community forum to exchange ideas and feedback with fellow Heart-Based Business owners.

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/toolkit 

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

☎️ Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/149

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Your creativity and entrepreneurial spirit got you here. Smarter systems will take you there.

There is less friction in your operations and a greater focus on joyful work.

There is a spacious calendar where you are free to dedicate time to your most compelling, strategic projects — the ones that best express your unique talents, powered by a Delightfully Tiny Team.

It’s time to stop working full time and start working free time: by applying agile operating principles toward building smarter systems, starting with a centralized business operations dashboard if you don’t already have one.

Today I’m sharing the key elements that a strong dashboard has; you’ll know because it makes running your business much easier—to the point where you may even find that you don’t need as many team members to power your operations. 

You and your team will know exactly how to find what you need and run the business smoothly, reducing pressure, removing yourself as Chief Everything Officer, and preventing “death by a thousand question cuts.”

🌟3 Key Takeaways:

📝Permission: Not to build this dashboard yourself! It’s already done for you :) Check!

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Learn more and start freeing your time today » Apply promo code PODCAST for 10% off

📘Books Mentioned:

🔗Resources Mentioned:

🎧Related Podcast Episodes:

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe » 

🌟Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review.

❤️Consider joining Jenny’s private BFF community, where you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call, a private podcast feed with bonus content, and a community forum to exchange ideas and feedback with fellow Heart-Based Business owners. 

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/toolkit

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

☎️ Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/148

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If you’re a business owner thinking, “My platform is too small to land sponsors,” today’s guest will encourage you to think again. Instead of counting yourself out purely because of the numbers—consider shifting your mindset from how you can help brands to how you can serve your audience best. 

In this conversation, sponsorship coach Justin Moore shares his hard-earned wisdom on forming mutually beneficial partnerships between brands and creators. He shares tons of tactics on the power of specificity, creative partnership approaches, why you shouldn’t put prices in your media kit, the halo effect, and so much more. As Justin says when it comes to working with brand partners, “You’re not just a creator, you are a consultant.”

More About Justin: Justin Moore is a Sponsorship Coach and founder of @CreatorWizard, a school and community dedicated to teaching others how to find and negotiate dream brand deals. He has a unique perspective on how brands choose which influencers they will partner with and those they will not. Justin is on a mission to enable creators to land 1 million paid brand partnerships by 2032.

🌟 Key Takeaways:

📝Permission: Take a breath and think about the present moment. Celebrate the business success you have already achieved.

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Conduct a survey or run a poll on IG to ask your audience about their lives: What is keeping them up at night? Where are they consuming your content? What brands and products are you using and loving right now that might help your audience with where they’re at? 

📘Books Mentioned: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

🔗Resources Mentioned:

🎧Related Podcast Episodes:

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe »

🌟Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review.

❤️Consider joining Jenny’s private BFF community, where you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call, a private podcast feed with bonus content, and a community forum to exchange ideas and feedback with fellow Heart-Based Business owners.

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/toolkit 

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

☎️ Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/147

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There’s a missing chapter in Free Time that, over the course of editing, got condensed down into a single bullet point. When someone new joins your team, even part-time, those first few days, weeks, and months have potential to transform your manager manual—in ways that you would otherwise miss. I encourage you to share this episode with your new team members as they join!

🌟Key Takeaways for New Team Members: The business owner is up to their ears in responsibility. Improving onboarding documentation is a huge gift (and quick win) you can give to your new team. Make sure your questions “live three lives.” 1. The first time you ask (if you’ve already checked all internal documentation and external help centers first), 2. Capturing the reply internally, and 3. On any public-facing pages to help clients or community.

📝Permission: Business owners, not to have everything buttoned up and perfect before bringing someone into your business. Team members, you have permission to take the reins of the onboarding process, whether or not you’re being asked.

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: New? Help us welcome the next you: Look for ways to improve our onboarding documentation as you get up to speed. With fresh eyes, you are best equipped to update processes that are out-of-date and add new FAQs and answers to questions that we didn’t previously think to include. What else would the next new person find helpful?

📘Books Mentioned:

🔗Resources Mentioned: Done-for-you Free Time Operations Dashboard, Free Time Toolkit

🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe » 

🌟Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review.

❤️Consider joining Jenny’s private BFF community, where you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call, a private podcast feed with bonus content, and a community forum to exchange ideas and feedback with fellow Heart-Based Business owners. 

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join

🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/toolkit

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

☎️ Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/146

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices