What if one of the most powerful things you could do for your productivity had nothing to do with your calendar or your to-do list?

In this conversation with Anna Folsom — writer, coach, and someone in the middle of a very real decluttering journey — we explore the surprising connection between physical clutter, emotional clutter, and your ability to protect your energy and do meaningful work.

Anna shares what inspired her to start decluttering — not just her own home, but her father's 13-year-accumulated workshop, tools, and lifetime of memories — and how that process led her to write a full three-month newsletter series on the subject. We talk about the concept of Swedish Deathcleaning, why starting before you have to is an act of compassion for the people you love, and how to approach the emotionally heavy pieces without rushing yourself or shutting down.

But this episode goes beyond boxes and junk drawers. Anna introduces a beautifully simple tool she uses with her clients: an energy audit on paper, drawing a line down the centre and listing what gives you energy on one side, and what drains it on the other. It sounds simple. It is. And that's exactly the point.

We also get into the mental load that so many women carry — the invisible coordination work of managing home, family, and business — and how reducing work stress often starts not with a new system, but with letting something go. Anna's approach to sustainable energy in work and life is grounded, warm, and wonderfully practical. Whether you're a high achiever staring at a pile of accumulated stuff or just feeling like your mind is full of tabs you can't close, this episode will give you a place to start.

🔗 Connect with Anna Folsom: annafolsom.com

📖 Curious about the Swedish Decluttering book Anna mentioned, find it here.

Ready to take action?

👭Find out more about the book project I had the privilege of contributing to. This collection of real stories from women in business and their turning points, will inspire, uplift and empower. >> https://risingbychoice.com/beyond-success/

🕰️ Want to go deeper on where your own energy is going? Start with my Time & Energy Audit — a gentle but powerful way to see what's really taking up space in your day. Start here: annerajoo.com/time-audit

📩 Subscribe to The Productivity Sweet Spot for more conversations rooted in sustainable productivity, team wellbeing, and entrepreneurship.

💛 Enjoying the podcast? A quick review helps more women find the show — and it truly means the world to me. Thank you for being here.

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• Tap Search and type The Productivity Sweet Spot.
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Thanks for listening!

What's really stealing your CEO time? Every entrepreneur has a dominant productivity pattern — a way of working that feels normal, even productive. But when you're the CEO, that pattern has a cost.

It shows up as full days with no real progress. As never having time to sell, to build, to think. As always being busy but never feeling ahead.

You might recognise yourself in one of four patterns: The Overloaded Operator, The Momentum Chaser, The Preparation Loop, or The Capable Bottleneck.

Find out which one is your dominant pattern 👉 Take my quiz: https://annerajoo.com/quiz

Or book a complimentary productivity assessment with me and start reshaping your approach to productivity and success.

Don’t forget to connect with me on Instagram @_annerajoo_ and share your key takeaways from this episode! Your insights mean a lot to me!

Have you ever had a team member go quiet, get short, or seem suddenly distant — and had no idea what to do with that? Most of us have been taught that emotions belong outside the workplace. But the truth is, our nervous systems, our emotional needs, and our capacity to feel safe all come to work with us, whether we invite them in or not.

In this conversation, I'm joined by Laziena Hodge, a certified coach and creator of the Repair Language framework. Together we explore what repair language really is and why building a shared emotional vocabulary in your team might be one of the most practical and productive habits you can adopt. This isn't about therapy at work. It's about giving people a way to name what they need so that when things get hard, the team doesn't fracture — it reconnects.

Laziena walks us through her six repair languages: soothing, accountable, affirming, empathic, spacious, and presence — and how understanding your own repair style (and your team's) reduces miscommunication, protects your energy, and creates the kind of psychological safety that allows people to actually do their best work. We also explore how leaders often don't realise how their own activation affects the team, and why naming what you need is a leadership skill, not a weakness.

If you've been navigating team dynamics that feel sticky, or you're a founder managing people while juggling your own full life, this episode offers a fresh and deeply human framework for how to stay in work life integration without abandoning the people around you — or yourself.

🔗 Connect with Laziena and take her free Repair Language Quiz at https://laziena.com/quizzes & download the free team resource here.

Ready to Take Action?

🎯 Ready to plan Q3 with clarity? Join Anne's Q3 Planning Session on 7 July — 90 focused minutes to stop drifting and start moving forward. Book your spot here. Use code PODCASTLOVE and get access for only $9 (instead of $29)

📩 Subscribe to The Productivity Sweet Spot for more conversations rooted in sustainable productivity, team wellbeing, and entrepreneurship.

💛 Enjoying the podcast? A quick review helps more women find the show — and it truly means the world to me. Thank you for being here.

How to leave an Apple Podcasts review on iPhone or iPad:

• Open the Apple Podcasts app.
• Tap Search and type The Productivity Sweet Spot.
• Tap the show (not an episode) to open the show page.
• Scroll down past 4 or 5 episodes to Ratings and Reviews.
• Tap Write a Review.
• Choose a star rating, add a title and a short review.
• Tap Send.

Thanks for listening!

What's really stealing your CEO time? Every entrepreneur has a dominant productivity pattern — a way of working that feels normal, even productive. But when you're the CEO, that pattern has a cost.

It shows up as full days with no real progress. As never having time to sell, to build, to think. As always being busy but never feeling ahead.

You might recognise yourself in one of four patterns: The Overloaded Operator, The Momentum Chaser, The Preparation Loop, or The Capable Bottleneck.

Find out which one is your dominant pattern 👉 Take my quiz: https://annerajoo.com/quiz

Or book a complimentary productivity assessment with me and start reshaping your approach to productivity and success.

Don’t forget to connect with me on Instagram @_annerajoo_ and share your key takeaways from this episode! Your insights mean a lot to me!

You plan your week. You protect your calendar. You have the productive habits in place.

And then someone asks you for something and even though every part of you wants to say no, you say yes. And you carry the weight of it in silence.

That pattern has a name. And it is quietly costing you more than you realise — in your business, in your relationships, and in your energy.

In this deeply honest conversation, I sat down with Lisa Haydon-Bennett, a therapist who works with women navigating the invisible weight of who they’ve been told to be. What started as a conversation about sustainable energy in work and building an entrepreneur mindset that actually lasts... turned into something much more real. Because we followed the thread all the way back to good girl conditioning — the deep-rooted pattern that teaches women to earn their place through accommodation, compliance, and over-giving. And what that pattern costs us, not just emotionally, but structurally, in how we work and lead.

We explore the parts of us that are still trying to earn approval — the teenage version that comes out when we feel unheard, the compliant self that says yes to avoid conflict, and the shame spiral that happens when we dare to want something different.

We also talk about intent versus impact — why the people around us may not mean to dismiss our needs, but why the impact still lands hard. And what it means to come back to yourself before you respond, rather than either reacting or going quiet.

This conversation will feel familiar if you’ve ever questioned whether you’re allowed to want what you want. It is not a quick fix. But it is an honest, compassionate look at what’s underneath the busy loop and why sustainable productivity has to start inside.

Connect with Lisa Haydon-Bennett

✨ Ready to Take Action?

If this conversation made you think about how much you’re carrying — in your business, your relationships, and the roles you hold — take two minutes and do the CEO Time Quiz. It’s a quick, clear lens on how you’re really spending your energy, not just how you think you are.

➡ Take the quiz: annerajoo.com/quiz

📲 Subscribe to the podcast for more conversations on peaceful productivity, sustainable energy in work, and building a business that doesn’t cost you your wellbeing.

How to leave an Apple Podcasts review

1. Open the Apple Podcasts app.
2. Tap Search and type The Productivity Sweet Spot.
3. Tap the show (not an episode) to open the show page.
4. Scroll down past 4 or 5 episodes to Ratings and Reviews.
5. Tap Write a Review.
6. Choose a star rating, add a title and a short review.
7. Tap Send.

Thanks for listening!

What's really stealing your CEO time? Every entrepreneur has a dominant productivity pattern — a way of working that feels normal, even productive. But when you're the CEO, that pattern has a cost.

It shows up as full days with no real progress. As never having time to sell, to build, to think. As always being busy but never feeling ahead.

You might recognise yourself in one of four patterns: The Overloaded Operator, The Momentum Chaser, The Preparation Loop, or The Capable Bottleneck.

Find out which one is your dominant pattern 👉 Take my quiz: https://annerajoo.com/quiz

Or book a complimentary productivity assessment with me and start reshaping your approach to productivity and success.

Don’t forget to connect with me on Instagram @_annerajoo_ and share your key takeaways from this episode! Your insights mean a lot to me!