IAM1288- CEO Shares the Biggest Productivity Hack

A Chief Marketing Officer turned Productivity Coach, Speaker & Trainer – Sarah Ohanesian is on a mission to fight burnout and increase happiness at work. Through her programs, she helps people clarify their thoughts, organize their work, and take meaningful action. Because when you are efficient with what you need to do you have more time and energy for what you want to do and the people you love. Sarah is the founder of SO Productive and a co-host of The Heroic Council podcast.

• CEO Story: Sarah was the CMO of a company when the turning point happened in an airport where she realized that she was missing the fun of having the day-to-day journey of life – she was burned out. She then created a productivity system, tested it with her team, and worked. And that was when her business of helping people was born.
• Business Service: Coaching one on one. Individuals who are feeling stuck. Corporate training on productivity, time management, and setting priorities. Set up their Asana system. Digital Course.
• Secret Sauce: Ability to understand people and meet them where they are. Framework and systems based on experience. Productivity system tool that will work in real life.
• CEO Hack: Have a one-trusted location – a system where you store all your to-do systems in one location. So they can easily view all their priorities and what they need to focus on.
• CEO Nugget: One of the productivity systems is to take time – the easiest piece but it’s the piece that people miss over and over. Take time for yourself, and your calendar, and celebrate the wins and the people you love. “That moment of recharging, that’s what's gonna make you productive tomorrow.”
• CEO Defined: Cast a vision with purpose. Somebody who is in place to provide clear direction and explain why it does matter. Calm force, consistent, constant, and steady.

Website: www.so-productive.com

Linkedin: @sarahohanesian , @so.productive

Facebook: @soproductivellc

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Transcription

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00:17 – Intro 

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:44 – Gresham Harkless 

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Sarah Ohanesian of SO Productive. Sarah, it's great to have you on the show.

00:54 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Great to be here. Thanks for having me.

00:55 – Gresham Harkless 

Yeah. Super excited to have you on and hear about all the awesome things that you're doing.

And before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Sarah so you can hear about some of those awesome things.

As the Chief Marketing Officer turned Productivity Coach, Speaker, and Trainer, Sarah is on a mission to fight burnout and increase happiness at work. Through her program, she helps people clarify their thoughts, organize their work, and take meaningful action.

Because when you are efficient with what you need to do, you have more time and energy for what you want to do and the people you love. Sarah is the founder of SO Productive and a co-host of The Heroic Council podcast.

Sarah, great to have another podcaster on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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01:34 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Absolutely. Let's do it.

01:36 – Gresham Harkless 

Let's make it happen then. So to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more about how you got started, and what I like to call your CEO story.

01:43 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Yeah. So as you mentioned in the bio, I was a Chief Marketing Officer. And, really, I was on top of my game. I had a great career. I loved what I was doing. I loved the people that I was working with, but I realized that I was facing burnout.

And if I could, I'll share a real quick story of when this moment happened for me I was sitting at the airport, and I'm just sitting at the airport lounge getting ready for my flight. And the woman next to me says, where are you going? And I look at her and I go, I have no idea.

02:16 – Gresham Harkless

Oh, wow.

02:17 – Sarah Ohanesian 

And this lady is like, okay. Like, maybe we need to get you some help. Yeah. Start with looking at your boarding pass. But it was at that moment that I was like, I am at this airport so much. I don't know if I'm going on vacation and a great trip here or if I'm on a work trip or what's going on.

And it was really then that moment and that subsequent flight that I thought something's gotta give.

I'm going through the day. I'm living from calendar appointment to calendar appointment. I'm getting there. I'm showing up. I'm being great, but I'm missing the journey.

Like, I'm missing the day-to-day. I'm missing some of the fun stuff that's meant to happen. So anyways, get back to the office, and I'm thinking there's gotta be a better way. I started talking to my peers. I started talking to people on my team, and it's like everybody's in the same boat. You know, it's not that it's a bad company or a bad job or a bad line of work that we're in.

We're just burned out. We're doing way too much. And so fast forward, I created a productivity system that I didn't know at the time what it was gonna turn into, but little things started to work for me. And then I started to do that with my team, and it was working.

And I started leaving the office during daylight, running a sustainable race toward success. And I thought this is it. This is something that I can teach to other people, and there it was. My business was born.

03:36 – Gresham Harkless 

So I definitely appreciate the the burnout you stopped. It sounds like you stopped what could have been a really bad situation because you hear so many times that when people reach burnout and hit burnout, it could take them forever.

There's no, like, set time it takes to get back out of that.

03:53 – Sarah Ohanesian 

A hundred percent. I talk often about the road to burnout. It's not that one day we wake up as if we have a cold or COVID and say, oh, I've got a scratchy throat. I'm sick. This is gonna pass quickly. COVID is really the epidemic that we had before COVID.

It's a long time coming. It takes a long time for people to get there, but, boy, when it hits, it hits, and it hits hard. And I really am on a mission to help people prevent that from happening to them.

04:17 – Gresham Harkless 

Yeah. Absolutely love that. And I think so many times as you were telling your story, I often say that sometimes we forget why we do what it is that we do.

And I love how you said missing the journey because sometimes we don't realize what journey we're on, and we're missing the time with our loved ones.

We're missing all those things of why we're sacrificing doing all the things. So I love that you said that because I think so many times we can forget even what journey we're on, let alone miss it.

04:43 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Yeah. Definitely.

04:46 – Gresham Harkless 

Nice. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more about how you work with your clients and how you serve them, and, of course, a little bit more about your podcast and everything you're doing to help serve the clients you're working with.

04:55 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Yeah. Many things. And the reason why I have so many different ways that people can work with me is honestly that productivity is not one size fits all, right? I think we think of productivity as a, I'm gonna check the box and I'm done and I'm productive now.

It's not that. As we mentioned before, it's a journey. So I can work with people one-on-one coaching, which is great for individuals. You know, people who have tried other things, they've read books, they've listened to some wonderful podcasts, but they're still feeling stuck.

And that's really because they're learning all these things, but they don't know how to apply it to their real life in real-time. So that's what one-on-one coaching can really help with that personalized implementation.

The other way and I love this is corporate training and speaking engagements, speaking at conferences, and training large teams. So I talk about productivity, time management, meeting management is a really big one and setting companies priorities.

So that's kind of the second way I work with clients. The third is system implementation. So I'm an Asana certified pro. Asana is a task management software. And so I help teams to set up their Asana systems and then we train their teams on how to use it, which is awesome because it makes them more productive.

They're on a great fluid tool there. And then the fourth is I have a digital course coming out in Q1 here of 2022. So that will be for people who really enjoy more of a DIY learning experience.

06:21 – Gresham Harkless 

Nice. I love each of the different levels and for lack of a better term, it sounds like you meet people where they are. Like you said, if they're at a conference or they have a team, they want you to implement it or they just need that one-on-one.

I think that, again, we as you said so well, we look at productivity as something that, oh, you have to do it this way. You have to do it that way, but it's really something that needs to be exactly where people are because I imagine different people have different strengths, different frustrations, and probably different stressors. So it's so important to meet them where they are.

06:49 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Yeah. And, also, our brains work very differently. So I work with all kinds of different clients, and that's one of the most fascinating parts of my work. I need people who are morning people, night owls, people whose brains, work in a very linear fashion, and people who can't handle a list, they need a mind map.

So how do our brains work and how can we fix the work that we need to do to really align with how our brains actually function?

07:14 – Gresham Harkless 

Yeah, absolutely. So would you consider that to be what I like to call your secret sauce? And this could be for yourself individually, the business, or a combination of both, but is it your ability to be able to understand, the brain, understand that people are different and need to be met where they are?

Do you think that sets you apart and makes you unique?

07:31 – Sarah Ohanesian 

It's definitely one of the things. I like to think I have a couple of things, but that's certainly one of them. I think people have a real ability to relate to me because what I teach, wasn't built in a lab, Right?

There's wonderful research being done at wonderful universities, and I reference that in my material all the time. I learn from that too. But I was a busy professional working at a job with a boss, with a team, with demanding clients, and I have a really spontaneous husband.

So this stuff isn't theory or something that I'm wondering if it will work, right? It works because I did this in real life, and I think that's what sets me apart I can reference having that same experience myself, having that time in my career.

So these frameworks and systems that I've created, they're from real life, right? So I think that's a big thing. And then holistically, I came up with my coat productivity system. And I love these tools because they work in real life and like I said, they're easy to implement, which is huge.

I don't want you to have to spend the next six months trying to figure out how to get your productivity in order. We gotta get some quick wins that'll work immediately for you. So I'm all about helping people with that. But I think, again, the secret sauce is just I've done this in real life. I've been exactly where you are.

08:49 – Gresham Harkless 

Yeah. It sounds so rewarding. So I absolutely appreciate that. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack.

You might have already touched on this, but this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have. But what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

09:03 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Yeah. One of the biggest things that I recommend to people, and I love this myself, is to have one trusted location. And here's what I mean by one trusted location.

I work with a lot of CEOs and business executives who are truly busy. Like, there's no denying it, right? These people are busy. They have a lot on their plate and things are coming at them truly from all directions, right?

So they've got various emails, there's notes and notebooks, they've got like reminders on the phone, post-its, text messages, God help you if you're using Slack also, right? So there's, like, stuff all over the place, and it just feels really, chaotic.

So one of the, like, early things I teach clients is to get a system for getting this all into one trusted location. And sure, right, people say, well, it's gonna take me time to do that when I could just finish that that task in the meantime. Sure. That's a short-term play.

But the long-term play is to have a place that you really trust to store all of your to-do items. So I teach the system because then when it's time for people to work, they can easily view all of their priorities in one spot, and they can easily see what they need to focus on really, really quickly.

So it's a yes. It's a little bit of an investment in time, but it is gonna pay dividends on the other side when it's time for you to sit down and get your high priorities accomplished.

10:25 – Gresham Harkless 

Yeah, absolutely. So, I wanted to ask you now for what I call CEO nuggets. So this is a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice.

I like to say it might be something you would tell your favorite client, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

10:38 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Yeah. It's a really great question. I mean, oh my gosh. I wish we could all tell ourselves things from many, many years before. Boy, would that be an amazing gift? But I think the great nugget to share is that so I mentioned my co-productivity system, which is C-O-A-T. And I'll tell you the T is for take time.

This piece of this puzzle is technically the easiest one, but it's the piece that people miss over and over again, and busy professionals just breeze right through this. And what I mean by take time is take time for yourself, take time on the calendar, take time to celebrate the wins and the victories that you've had, and obviously take time with the people that you love.

I see this set missed so often, right? We land a new client. We finish a big proposal. We do wonderful work on a project and we don't acknowledge it at all. We're not patting ourselves on the back. We're like, okay, great. What's next? And we've just done something amazing.

So I want people to honor that. I want people to say, you know what? I'm awesome. I did a really cool thing today. I helped another person. I advanced my career today. Like, let's celebrate ourselves and also celebrate each other.

It's a great time to write an email to someone to say, hey. You helped me with this, and I'm really appreciative of that. Like, this goodwill and sharing and celebrating one another goes such a long way. And then, of course, in terms of scheduling, I want you to take time for yourself.

There everybody needs time to rest and recharge and be with people that are in their family or friends that they love to be with because that moment of recharging, is what's gonna make you more productive tomorrow.

You cannot burn the midnight oil and be burning the candle at both ends. This is what the biggest productivity hack is. You gotta rest. You gotta be ready for what's coming the next day.

12:30 – Gresham Harkless 

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping for a different quote, unquote CEO on this show.

So, Sarah, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:40 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Yeah. I think it's really important for the leader to cast a vision with purpose, right? Because it's somebody who needs to steer the team, right? We have so many things that we could do, right?

There's, I would say, nobody lacks ideas. We have so many ideas and so many things as organizations and individuals on teams that we could spend our time doing. So the good leader is really somebody who's in place to provide clear direction on what we should be working on and how we should be spending our precious time.

But also, why does that matter? Like, clear direction, but I also wanna know as a team member, why should I be spending my time doing this. Why is this so important? And then the other thing I think that's really important for a CEO is to be calm.

And I know that sounds kind of funny, but we all know people who are they're scatterbrained, they're running late, they're all over the place, or just frazzled when you see them. That person's, like, literally hard to follow. You can't keep track of them.

And I think a good leader is someone who really portrays this calm force. They're consistent.

They're constant, and they're steady. And I think that really means that they're and they're real people, right? They can have moments of struggle too and confusion, but when they show up to lead, they're on, right? They are leading from a wonderful place of powerful purpose.

And it's just really a privilege to be a leader, and I think it's one that should be really taken seriously and gone into with confidence. So I think the leaders just gotta be casting that vision with purpose.

14:17 – Gresham Harkless 

Appreciate that. Of course, appreciate your definition, and your perspective even more. What I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they could get a hold of you, find out about all the awesome things that you're working on, and, of course, listen to your podcast.

14:33 – Sarah Ohanesian 

Oh, sure. Yes. That's great. And as I mentioned before, productivity is this wonderful journey that we're on. So just ride the wave, right? It ebbs and flows and there's a season and, like, you can't get an A in productivity or a C- right? It's just some days are better than others.

And so I just really encourage people to if you have a bad day or you didn't sleep well the night before and you're not feeling it today, give yourself some grace. Like, sometimes we're just not in the zone and that's okay. Like, I'm not productive all the time. But when I'm on, I'm on.

And when I'm not feeling it, I give myself that space to rest and recharge. So I think that's just really important and we're still figuring this whole COVID thing out and working remotely. So let's give ourselves a little space and grace in this time to really realize that we're on a productivity journey and every day is not gonna be perfect, but it's about making those small improvements along the way.

How can people connect with me? So I have a download for people because one thing I hear more than anything else is I have so much to do and I can't get it all done. So if you have too many things to do, I have a guide for people that's really helpful, 10 Questions to Ask When Setting Priorities.

So you can get that on my website, which is so-productive.com/priorities. I'm also on Instagram, SO.productive, and on LinkedIn, Sarah Ohanesian.

15:57 – Gresham Harkless 

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Sarah. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too so that everybody can get a hold of you and listen to your podcast.

Thank you so much for doing that, helping so many people do that as well too, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:11 – Outro 

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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