What if I told you that you could get more done without having to do more? "Sure, and maybe I could ride my magical unicorn to space while I'm at it."
It's possible and easier than you think. We're a little obsessed with productivity in our society, but the key to getting more done is creating momentum and prioritizing the order in which you do things. Having a domino area in your routines is how you accomplish both of those things.
Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode:
What a “domino area” is
The problem with traditional time blocking
How this simple hack can save you hours of time and lots of energy
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Hey there, mama. All right. Before we jump into this episode, I want to talk about the struggle that I hear the most about. No, it's not homemaking. No, it's not cleaning the bathroom. No, it's not teaching kids how to do chores. You know what it is? Consistency.
Nothing feels more difficult than wanting to start a new habit, especially in the new year, get things going, going all in and then not sticking with. Here's the thing I struggled with consistency for years, I didn't even realize that I struggled with consistency. I thought that I was the problem. I thought that I was broken.
I thought that I just couldn't handle new habits and that I couldn't be successful. But what I realized is, is it's because I was looking at it all wrong. We've been sold this idea that we need to have tons of self discipline and motivation for years, we've been told that, but motherhood is just. And it's not that we lack self-discipline, it's not that we lack motivation it's that we really lack the understanding of what consistency really is.
And we don't understand how to track ourselves. So that is exactly why in 2021, I've created a free. It's called let's get consistent tracker. And again, it's totally free. So you can download it@motherlikeaboss.com forward slash get consistent. So in this simple guide, I'm going to walk you through what I call the consistency core four, and you're going to get a simple tracker that goes along with it.
You'll even get a bonus video immediately that walks you through the entire tracker and guide. I'm giving you some big tips to get started as well in that. Even if you're a perfectionist. So even if you've ever said, like, I need to know all the stuff I can't get started today. I need to wait until Monday.
I'm looking at you. All of my perfectionist mamas out there. I've made this so simple that you can go to mother like boss.com forward slash get consistent. You can sign up, download it. Get started. Track your progress and get some of that time back because that's the thing. Inconsistency is a time-waster every time you have to start over, we are wasting time.
And I spent years doing that. I don't want that for you. I want this to be the year that you stay consistent and keep those micro promises to yourself. Okay. So again, mother, like a boss.com forward slash get consistent. It's completely free. So head over there, right after this podcast, where maybe you just pause this right now, go over there.
Download. Print it out if you'd like to, and then come back and listen to this episode. Okay. So again, let's get consistent tracker. Let's do this in the new year mother, like a boss.com forward slash get consistent. All right. Let's get into the episode. Well, Hey there friends. Welcome back to another episode of the mother.
Like a boss podcast. It's your host here again? Kendra Hennessy as if it would be anyone else say that at the beginning of every episode, because I know we have new listeners, but really who else would it be? We don't have any. So, hello again, thank you for being here, whether you've been listening for a long time or a brand new, I appreciate you being here so much, so let's get right into it.
As we do every episode, we do not spend a whole lot of time with extra chit-chat because your time is valuable. My time is valuable. Let's get into it. We are going to talk about the domino area today, a domino task, a domino routine, and how it can save you time in your. And if you started listening to this, because you were wondering what the heck does the domino area mean?
What does the domino task, what is the domino routine? We are going to talk all about that. This is one of my favorite concepts. When I teach routines to my students. Um, I talk about this a lot in my course homemaker issue, which. All the details on that. You can go to homemaker, Rish, ew.com. That's homemaker.
It's the letter u.com. Uh, we talk about it a lot in there. I've discussed it in workshops that I've done. I've talked about it on Instagram, and I realized I have never actually done a podcast episode on this. So that's why we're doing it. It's really one of my favorite concepts about routines, because it's something that is so highly overlooked.
When we think about creating routines. Our minds immediately go to the, the mechanism by which we are going to keep track of our routines. Many of us don't think of our routines as being something that isn't necessarily testing. We don't think about how we're going to get those things done each day, how we're going to be more consistent, how we're going to set our environment up for success.
We tend to think of the mechanism. That's why things like charts are so popular. It's why things like planners are so popular. It's why if you go on Pinterest right now in search, you know, the best morning routine for a working mom, you're going to get like 90 billion results and you're going to get charts and check.
And, you know, you're going to get everyone giving you the blog post to tell you about their perfect routine. That's what we often think of with routines. What I like to do is instead think of how am I going to actually get this done? How is my routine saving me time? Because if my routine isn't saving me time, what's.
If my routine is not saving me energy, what's the point. If my routine is not fitting into my life and making my life run more smoothly again, I ask what is the point? And so while the mechanism by which we get things done, having a chart, put a note up on your fridge somewhere, having. A whiteboard or a chalkboard or a Trello board on your, uh, on your phone or something in your mudroom, that all those are great.
They're wonderful. I could talk forever about those, a calendar, a planner. We love them, but they're just tools. They're not actually going to help you. If you don't know how you're going to get these things done. If we're not creating momentum, if we're sitting around waiting to be motivated every day to do things.
And stuff's not going to get done because I hate to tell you, but you're never going to be motivated to do crap. You don't want to do, none of us are. That's why we're all about momentum over motivation here. So the idea of having a, a domino area is one that helps us to create more momentum in our life, because if you, so let's get into what the domino is.
If you know what Domino's are and you've ever played with them. I used to love them as a kid. I used to love actually I loved playing Domino's there's actually Domino's is a game that you play. And I learned how to play it when I was like 12. I always thought Domino's were just something you set up and into these like cool patterns and the knock down.
I thought that's what they were. I didn't know. You could actually play games with them, you know, with the dots on them that are. I never knew that until I was about 12 or so learned how to play it. It was lots of fun, but really how I love to play dominoes. And even to this day with my kids is you set them up and align and you zigzag them.
And it's this great fun to see how long you can get, how elaborate you can make it. And then you do what you knock over the first domino. And then because of momentum than one domino domino knocks over the next, which knocks over the next and so on. And now we all know how that works. So when we think about it in our life, the domino area task routine, we're going to talk about how all of those words can fit together.
I'm just saying domino area, um, w how that works in our routine is that it's the. The thing that's going to knock over the most other things for you. Okay. It's like, what could I do that is going to knock over the most other things for me so that I don't have to expend as much of my energy or so that I create a lot of momentum for myself.
So there is a really great book called the one thing by Gary Keller. I believe that you can look up, it's a great book. And he talks about this in the sense of like creating your goals, um, where it's this idea of what is the one thing you could do? That thereby doing it would make all these other things like you wouldn't need to do them.
Okay. Uh, Shalene Johnson talks about it with goals. Again, it's the push goal. It's like, what is the goal you could have that would push all of the rest of them over? Um, lots of people I've heard talk about it in many different ways when it comes to many different things, I am a visual person. And so when.
Was first starting to create my, uh, all of my curriculum and what I taught to students when it came to routines, the idea of the domino was what stuck out to me because that's how I perceive things in my own life. I have looked, especially as a mom at how can I say. One thing really well, that's going to knock over everything else and get things done faster or easier or more efficient, uh, kind of like they talk about in the one thing and push goals and all that.
But when it comes to routines, so that each day. I'm getting things done without having to do more work. Many of us again are creating routines based on what we think needs to get done, but we're not actually giving much thought to how much time and energy we're spending doing. And we're ending up doing like more work than we need to.
So the whole purpose of the domino is to say, what could I do? That's going to actually help me to get more done. Um, because you know, routines are also what I've seen a lot of teaching around routines doing is that it's teaching people. Here's how to squeeze everything into time blocks. Like here's how to take everything you need to do in squeeze it into less time, but that's not actually helping any of us because as I've talked about on the podcast, actually just a few weeks ago, you can go back and listen.
There is a difference between time and energy. And just because you have the time doesn't mean you have the energy and what the domino takes into account is it takes into account. Your, uh, specific season, you know, where you are in your life right now, what is realistic for you? It also takes into account your energy, because what we're trying to do is do one thing.
That's going to make other things much easier for us. And don't worry because I do have examples. So if this all feels very theoretical to you, I get it. And I'm going to give you some examples in just a minute, but instead what, yeah. Instead of this idea of time blocking, which is still. And still great.
The domino instead says, how can I create that momentum and not sit around waiting for motivation. So I'm going to give you some examples. The great thing about this is that it can be a task that you. It can be an area of your life that you focus on. It can be an area of your home that you focus on. It can be a small routine that leads to other routines.
There's really no end to what your domino can be and what I really encourage you to do. Is sit with this idea after you listen to this episode, sit with this idea and brainstorm out, and maybe even come back to this episode later, if you need to, I'm going to make this episode shorter. Um, I'm just going to talk for a few more minutes and then I want you to actually go out and do some brainstorming and, and do some thinking about it and maybe come back to it if you need to.
But the one piece of advice I want to give you is to not get too precious about this. Don't overthink this idea. The whole point is to save yourself time and energy. It's not distant around and go, what is the perfect domino that defeats the purpose? We want to just find something that's going to create momentum and it's going to be different for every person.
Okay. So for example, taking a shower in the morning is my domino. It's one of mine. I have different ones that happen at different times of the day or the week or the season, depending on. I'm uh, what other Domino's I'm trying to knock over in my life, but taking a shower in the morning for me is a huge domino because when I take a shower, I'm this again, this is speaking for me.
Everyone is going to be different. When I take a shower in the. Once I take a shower, I'm like, well, I already took shower. I might as well get dressed. Well, I'm dressed. I mean, I'm going to do my hair. I'm getting, you know, I washed my hair. I'm going to blow dry it. Okay. I'm going to do it. I'll throw in a little bit of makeup depending on the day.
Some days I'm like, mm, no, no makeup for me, but you know, I'm, I I'm getting myself ready, which when I get ready, I feel more prepared to do work. I don't feel like I just want to sit on the couch and lounge. I don't feel like I just want to scroll. I'm like ready to do work. Even if I'm still in my PJP. I still am ready to like, do some work.
I also, because I have a business, I am more likely to show up on camera because now I'm actually like made, made up somewhat, even if it's just in a small way. It's I, I'm not just sitting in like last night's makeup because I forgot to actually take off my makeup and I don't have a messy bun. Not that there's anything wrong with any of those things by the way, but I feel more prepared to get things done.
So now just by doing this one, Taking the shower I have now been able to get more done. It's knocked over the other dominoes for me because now I've created momentum for myself. Instead of now here's the. When I don't take a shower in the morning, I noticed there, there is a noticeable difference in the amount of productivity.
I feel the amount of energy that I have. So I know for myself that taking a shower in the morning is that domino. Now here's the great thing. Someone else's domino may be the exact opposite and it may be taking a shower at night because maybe you have very young kids. And, you know, if you just take a shower, Put your hair in a braid.
You don't even blow dry. It you're just like, I just put my hair in a braid. I take my shower, I wash my face. I get all spoliated. I do what I need to do. Maybe you also have more time at night to take a shower. So you do it right before bed, and then you braid your hair and you'd go to bed. And that actually creates a domino in the morning because now you don't have to take a shower.
And so now you get to get up and get going. And now all of a sudden you get more done in the morning, just from that domino. See two different things, same concept. There is no one domino thing out there. We all have to decide what it is for us. Another one of mine is cleaning the kitchen at night when I have a clean kitchen.
I feel the next morning that I am set up with more success, because again, I've done it the other way. I've said. Hmm, no, just wait until tomorrow. You know, tomorrow, tomorrow morning, Kendra is going to want to do this way more. Uh, guess what? Tomorrow, when tomorrow morning, Kendra, not only doesn't want to do it, but she's mad at last night, Kendra, but like not doing it and now I'm behind already.
So even if it only takes me a few minutes to do something in the morning, If I do it the night before, my energy level is different and this is what we have to take into account about routines. This isn't just about time on a clock. It's about the energy you have for something. And when I do it at night, domino knocks over the next day, Domino's Domino's, I feel momentum.
I feel like, Hmm, I'm already set up for success for myself. And this feels really good. For some people, it also may be an entire evening routine that sets you up for the morning. Maybe you just have like a 10 to 15 minute nighttime routine. Yeah, cleaning up the kitchen. Maybe your kids get their stuff ready for the next day.
That's all stuff we do as well, but it's not just me doing it. You know, my kids, like we're, we're a team in our home and everybody has a job that they need to do. And so being able to do that sets us up. For success the next day, Domino's over throwing laundry. And before the day starts, I've noticed that's another one for me, not every single day, but many days.
And that's something I've had students say as well. Is that just the act of putting laundry in right when they wake up is a domino for them, because now all of a sudden they're a ahead. They feel like they're. Okay. Having a space for things in the mudroom or the entryway here is a great example of it.
Not necessarily being a task, it's a system, a domino could be a system. It could be something that you have set up in or something that's organized in a specific way, because if you have a space for things in the mudroom, here's where that domino kind of knocks things over. If I have a place for everything and we have hooks and we have gotten into the habit and I've shown my kids.
This is where stuff goes. And we get into that habit. Now, all of a sudden stuff doesn't end up in the rest of the house. It doesn't end up cluttering up the rest of the house, which means that. It's easier to find things. It's easier to find our shoes when we need them, because we know where they are. It's actually knocking over the domino of, um, not having to take as much time to find things when we need them.
Okay. So it's like, it's like a proactive domino. We're being more proactive about it. Um, this is another really great one that I talk about when it comes to meal planning, where people will say that they want to get in a better meal planning routine, because they want to sit down to dinner together. They don't want to have.
The five o'clock, you know, running around, trying to figure out what's for dinner. They also just want to be able to interact as a family and sit down together and converse and have family time. But the thing that's actually holding them back is not the meal plan. They're they're fine. With meal planning, they plan out the meals.
It's that the dining room table is never clear. It's always cluttered up with stuff. Well, then the domino isn't necessarily getting your meals planned. The domino is. Clearing off the table having a routine for clearing off the table or keeping it clear, or maybe it's that you have to backtrack even further and say, well, the stuff is on the table because there is no other place for it.
Great. The domino could be having a home for all the stuff that ends up on the dining room table, but we don't think that. We ended up thinking the real problem is that I just can't get my ish together when it comes to meal planning, you know, I just can't get it together. I don't have a place to organize.
I never know what we're going to eat. So then they spend their time doing that and they're like, I still can't get it together. Why it's because of. The actual domino was not the meal plan itself. That was just, that's just a routine they're getting into the domino. That's going to help is having the table cleared off.
And if we backtrack even further, maybe it's heavily. A place for everything so that it doesn't end up on the table. Right. Or maybe it's having a five minute sprint before dinner time. Like, Hey, everybody dining room table is, you know, a mess and you know what time it is? It's five o'clock and we're doing our five minutes sprint while mom's finishing dinner or dad's finishing dinner and.
Uh, everybody grabs something and we go put it away. That could be at two, but that's the domino. That's going to knock everything else, not everything, but many other things over for you. And what it's doing is it saving you time and it's setting you up for success. And also creating momentum. So a domino really is a different way to approach your routines instead of looking at it, like, how can I get the most done with my time, ask how can I do the things that are going to make doing the other things much easier and take less of my time and my energy.
That's what this is all about. It's about creating momentum so that it works for you so that you don't have to sit around and waiting for motivation. So, as I said, a great thing to do is to just sit with this a little bit, write some things down. Brainstorm it out, taking a look at just one routine in your life.
Like maybe your mornings just getting out of the house on time. It's really difficult. Maybe look at what could be the domino. That's going to set you up for success. Maybe it's doing things the night before setting things out. Um, maybe it's setting up some kind of layered accountability for yourself, like putting the alarm clock on the other side of the room.
So you don't hit the snooze button. There could be something, a domino that's again, going to knock other things over for you and make it much easier. And if you have to relisten to this, that's okay too. We talk about this a lot. As I said, inside my signature program, Homemakerish U™ this is just one. Of an amazing module where we walk you through step-by-step how to create the routines for your life, how to maintain them, how to troubleshoot them when they're not working, no matter what season you're in. And even if your schedule is always changing. So, as I said, you can go to homemakerishu.com.
Thank you so much for listening. If you are enjoying these episodes, if you're getting a lot of value, I'd ask you, just please do to. One of two things, if you can't do both, it's totally okay. Share these out with your friends and your family. Send this to a friend that you think would really enjoy it.
That's how we reach more people with this podcast. And especially since it's free, like it doesn't cost anyone, anything to listen. So it's such a great resource to send out to your. Your momma friends out there. And then number two, leave us a review. We would love to get a five star rating and a review from you.
If you're really enjoying this podcast, this just means so much to us. Uh, especially again, as it being a completely free platform and something free for you. Um, you know, uh, myself and my team puts in a ton of effort behind the scenes and we just like to know. It's being well received. So that's something that you can do as just a thank you.
Um, if you feel so inclined here, it would just mean the world to me. I appreciate all of you listening. We are coming up on 300 episodes. We're going to be hitting 300 episodes zone and I just, that. To me. And it's all made possible because of you and your support and sharing, and just always being here and lifting me up so that I can encourage all of you as well.
Thank you again. And as always go forth and mother like a boss.
