The Morning Upgrade Podcast Featuring Valerie Hayes

Welcome to episode #123 of the Morning Upgrade Podcast. In this week’s episode I spoke with Valerie Hayes, a fractional COO that works with small businesses.

Top Talking Points

• Having lots of structure in your day to increase productivity.
• Avoiding stressors and work related things in the hour before bed.
• The meaning of life is creating joy rather than just providing a service.

Resources & Links

Connect With Valerie at valeriehayes.com.

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Episode Transcript

Announcer

Hey, welcome to the Morning upgrade podcast with Ryan cote, where we feature casual conversations with entrepreneurs about personal development and growth.

Ryan

Hey, Valerie, welcome to the Morning upgrade podcast. How are you?

Valerie

I’m great, Ryan, thanks so much for having me on the show.

Ryan

Yeah, I’m excited to talk to you. We’re having a nice conversation pre-recording. And so let’s, let’s keep it going. Why don’t you tell my audience and morning upgraders, who you are, what you do for a living, and then give us something that you’re grateful for right now?

Valerie

Well, my name is Valerie Hayes, the part time CEO, and I am what’s called a fractional CEO, which is just a fancy name for a part time CEO. Oh, and I work with entrepreneurs and small businesses that are on a fast growth path. But they’re not large enough yet to need a full time CEO. So I come in, and they benefit from my years of experience, you know, helping businesses grow. So it’s sort of like their buying speed, right? A fractional CEO is like buying speed, because I’m able to help them achieve their business growth goals faster. Something I’m really grateful for right now is that I have great clients that I work with. It’s challenging, the issues they’re facing are fun to solve and achieve the business goals. And then, you know, set even more aggressive, exciting business goals. And I think that liking the clients you’re working with, and believing in what they’re doing just makes the job that much more fun.

Ryan

How many clients can you work with at one time, realistically,

Valerie

I’d like to stick to about four clients at a time. Because first of all, I don’t want to make myself crazy by working 24/7. And secondly, you need to allow yourself enough time in a week, so that you’re able to focus on unexpected events, without cutting into your personal life, in my opinion. And so far it is sort of a really, really good number for me.

Ryan

I mean, it’s still I mean, think about all the details you’re managing even with four clients, that’s still a lot, how do you keep yourself organized time management any any time management tips that you rely on,

Valerie

You know, most fractional CEOs work with two to three. So obviously, to juggle for clients does take a little more organization. And over the years, I have sort of out of necessity, developed both a morning routine. And then I have an evening routine that sets up my morning routine, I put myself through college. And so I was working to put myself through college, I was totally out on my own, you know, paying my own rent, food, tuition, everything. And so I had to be really organized so that I could work enough to pay for everything. I didn’t do student loans, I paid for my tuition, I paid for my roundup and paid for everything. And so I had to learn to be really, really organized. And so I would carry around this little spiral notebook, you know, with the things I needed to do that week, and then the things I needed to do each day. And then I started using, you know, just basic planners. And sometimes I think people think that getting a planner or a notebook is going to solve the issue for you is just going to sort of automatically, you know, create more time in your schedule. But it’s really about sitting down and thinking about what you need to do, identifying the priorities, estimating how much time each thing is going to take, then adding in buffer time so that you have time to deal with the unexpected. And then you know, those are the things that you do that day. And so I have found that routines make it very, very easy to be disciplined, because I don’t think any of us are naturally disciplined. But having a standard routine that you just sort of automatically jump into in the morning makes it very, very easy to be disciplined. And so I’m able to realistically have almost half of half a day’s work done before my team members hit the office. All right, well, let’s talk

Ryan

About your morning, you mentioned you have an evening routine too. So that’s interesting. I want to hear about that. But let’s start with your morning. What does that look like?

Valerie

Yeah, generally speaking, I wake up around five o’clock. And I tend to know you’re not supposed to look at your email first. But I totally look at my email. And then I look at the news because I’m sort of a current events junkie. And then I feel like I’ve sort of set for the day and ready to jump in. And that’s when I create all of my content where I’m writing blog posts, or creating, maybe I’m developing some content for clients, maybe I’m working on something they’re gonna send to their clients or maybe I’m putting together a compensation plan for the sales team. Or I might be doing some copywriting. I do a lot of copywriting for my clients. And I do that for about 90 minutes because I find that after 90 minutes my attention span kind of needs a break. So that’s when I get dressed and have breakfast you know, come down and unload the dishwasher, the glamorous things of life. Take the dogs out to do all that stuff. I get dressed and come to work. And then I have about an hour in there before the team shows up. And during that period of time, I’m cleaning out my email box, I believe in a very clean email box. And noting anything that’s come in that I need to add to the task list for that day. And then I prioritize things. And I have a little stand by my computer where I can set my planner and then I can just, you know, go down the list of things. It’s so very simple to do them one after the other. And I find that that system works for me, I think the important thing is to find a system that works for you. Although there are some general concepts that are universal planning ahead, estimating time establishing priorities, you know, how you actually implement it can be personalized, and you’ll still achieve the goal.

Ryan

What planner do you recommend? And why do you recommend it?

Valerie

You know, I’ve tried several different planners. And I think it’s good to try several different planners, because they all have a slightly different approach. But I landed on Michael Hyatt full focus planner, I like it, because I guess there’s a variety of features I really like about it, it’s small enough that it can sit fit in a tote bag or handbag, it’s not one of those giant ones that you feel like you know, is an apparatus that you’re carrying around. I also like that it asks you to evaluate your week at the end of the week and sort of think through what you want to do the same or differently to do more of the next week, you identify three things every day that you’re trying to accomplish. And then you have, you know, those are more project related things. And then you have more task related things. And then you also have a place for appointments, as well as notes. And I just find that it has the right balance of enough thought and enough information, but not too much. Some of the ones that have extensive journaling in them, I just found that a little overwhelming and time consuming. And I find that this is really efficient and really works for me.

Ryan

I’m familiar with Michael Hyatt, I know I know about his journal and for everyone listening, you know, we talk about journaling on this podcast a lot. And this is just kind of like, you know, journaling on steroids because I’m not familiar with Michael Hyatt ‘s journal, but I’m familiar with something similar called monk manual. Lavallette. If you’ve heard that monk manual, no, it’s along the same lines that there’s obviously differentiators. But it’s basically like a nice leather bound, journal night. It’s a morning and night thing that asks you certain questions about what you’re grateful for on the task list, and it creates an experience out of organizing your thoughts. And so I know one of the guys in my mastermind has been using the monk manual for two years now. And it’s for at least for him, it’s been life changing. He actually started coaching with the guy who created the monk manual. And so his whole the change, I’m seeing him I’m not saying just because of the journaling, but it’s it was a catalyst for change.

Valerie

I know it sounds really trite and cliche, but planning and thinking, you know, we’re so accustomed during the day just doing and acting and, you know, implementing and making decisions, that it’s almost hard to carve out time to be introspective and plan and, you know, think about okay, if this doesn’t go the way I want it to what are my options? Or what am I alternative, you know, approaches here, I think that goes a long way to helping you get to your goals faster. So even if you just take 1520 minutes a day, to set up the next day, and I take maybe half an hour, 45 minutes once a week to set up the next week. I think it really pays off.

Ryan

It does. I’ve used similar products and I journal every day, and it’s just yeah, you have to give yourself time to get into the groove for everyone listening, you may have to create a habit out of it. But you’ll find that once you get into the habit of doing it when you don’t do it, you feel like something’s missing. And it does help organize your thoughts and your day and something so simple, but so powerful. Exactly. So Valerie, in the beginning, you mentioned that you have a morning routine, which we covered and you have a nighttime routine, what does your nighttime routine look like?

Valerie

Right? So at the end of the day, I hang out with my two dogs and my husband have dinner, maybe do some things around the house or you know, watch a show or something like that. And at 730 Every night that I take 30 minutes usually doesn’t take me 30 minutes and I get myself you know, a soda, or maybe a little dessert treat and I sit down with my planner, and I go through what I’m planning to do tomorrow I carry over anything that I wasn’t able to get to today, maybe to carry it over to the next day or later in the week. I make notes about things that I don’t want to forget for the next day and I actually blackout time on my calendar for the things that I’m going to do the next day. I find that if I assign tasks to specific timeframes, that I’m more likely to get everything done. Otherwise I find it easy to sort of get stalled on a particular task and maybe spend too long on it. Yeah. And I find that this process really, really helps me. Because in the morning, when I wake up, I’m ready to go right away, I don’t have to stop and think what am I going to do? What am I supposed to do? What to order am I supposed to do it in, I already have it all mapped out. So I can just sort of jump right in and start the day without really even thinking about it.

Ryan

You’re making me think, because I set my priorities for the day and my morning routine. But it would be, it might make sense to change that flow a little bit. Because I’m thinking you’re making me think like the end of my work day, my mind is fresh with what I need to get done. Or when I didn’t get finished today, then just carry that over to the next day. While it’s fresh in my mind, I write it down on my to-do list as opposed to trying to think of it in the morning.

Valerie

It’s a system that works well for me. But I think the important part is, you know, everybody is different. Keep working on systems and planners and processes and find what works best for you. Because what works for me or what makes for you, why not work for someone else? I think the important thing is to have a system to plan. It doesn’t mean to be my system or your system or someone else’s system. But find a system that works for you and then stick with it.

Ryan

Do you monitor? Or do you turn your electronics off a certain time before bed or do not do that?

Valerie

I turn my electronics off at nine o’clock, I have a do not disturb. So of course I have that setting though where you know, family members, emergency situations can come through. I think it’s also fairly well known amongst my friends and families, that after eight o’clock, that’s sort of when I start winding down. At eight o’clock, I go upstairs, I sit in my sitting room and I read. I do about an hour of reading every night. And it’s just sort of whines helps me wind down and sort of you know, refresh. And then I go to bed at nine but I get up very early in the morning, which is what I do all my writing. So again, I think for some people turning off your electronics is very, very important. I don’t look at a screen after eight o’clock at night, because I’d like to have an hour of no blue screen contact, because I find that it helps me go to sleep faster. But there are lots of resources for different evening protocols or processes all over the internet. And again, it’s just a matter of finding the one that works best for you.

Ryan

Yeah, like I did I mean reading is the obvious choice for trying to get away from the screens. What book have you most recently read? Are you reading right now?

Valerie

Well, in the evenings, I do not read business books, because if I do read business books in the evening, I’m you know, I’ve got 100,000 ideas going through my head. So I am a historic history buff. I read historical biographies. And right now, I’m reading a very esoteric book about Philipa who hunted out who was Edward the third’s queen, and Edward, the third is considered, he was a British king. And he’s often referred to as the father of England. And, you know, although I’m sure that I would never match up with all the great historians, it’s really just a method to turn my brain off from business so that I’m not staying up all night thinking of ideas.

Ryan

Well, I’m gonna give a shout out to my brother Scott. Again, I don’t know if he still listens to the podcast. But if you do, hello, Scott, and I’m giving him a shout out because he likes to read the same kind of books. He listens to these 30 or 40 hour marathons and audible, like biographies of certain presidents and other figures. And so he probably would be, he would probably love what you’re reading right now.

Valerie

It would probably be totally simpatico.

Ryan

Whereas for me, I’d probably make it five minutes in and be just Stone Cold asleep.

Valerie

Well, again, you know, everybody has their thing, my husband sketches at night he likes to draw. So that’s his non screen time he gets out, you know, his sketch pad and various pencils and whip something up. So everybody’s got their thing.

Ryan

Very true. All right. So I’ve got one last question for you, Valerie. So and then we’ll wrap up with you and tell everyone how they can learn more about you. So my last question for you is, is it about the meaning of life, through your lens and experiences thus far? In your opinion? What is the meaning of life? You know,

Valerie

I think my thoughts and this has evolved over time. I think it’s very easy to get caught up into thinking that the meaning of life is to provide a certain service through your business, or to achieve, you know, milestone accomplishments. And for me, I’ve come to feel that the meaning of life is about creating joy, in my own life, and in the life of my family. And I do that through my business, my business gives me a lot of joy. I really enjoy what I do. I enjoy the clients that I work with, and it just makes me feel good and I really find joy through that. I also find joy in my dogs and my husband and my family. And so I guess for me, life has become less about measurable accomplishments and more about taking responsibility for creating joy in my life, doing things that create joy, and not looking for excuses or reasons to be miserable, and then blame it on everyone else.

Ryan

Like creating joy. I love that answer. It’s a great way to end the conversation. Thanks for everything you shared. Valerie, I must reach out to you. You’re welcome. If someone was to reach out to you, where should we send them?

Valerie

Well, my website is Valeriehayes.com. That’s Valerie v a l e r ie Hayes, ha y e s.com. I’m also very active on LinkedIn, Valerie Hayes. You can also find me on LinkedIn by searching fractional CEO. And then I’m also on Instagram and Facebook, but somewhat less active than LinkedIn. And I will tell you that if you send me a message on LinkedIn, through my website or anywhere else on social media, that I actually respond, it’s not someone else, because I really value when people reach out.

Ryan

Excellent. Well, thanks again for everything you shared.

Valerie

Thanks, Ryan. It was great being on the show.

Announcer

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