Go Hog Wild: Boost Your Productivity and Well-Being with Piggybacking

from the Time Freedom | Escape the Entrepreneurial Time Trap Free Workshop

That's right, Wellpreneur Women! It's time to go hog wild activating the piggybacking Entrepreneurial Time Trap Escape Mechanism in your life! 

You'll be pleasantly surprised to see how much more you’re going to get done with this time-saving escape mechanism.

Piggybacking is one of the easiest strategies you can leverage to optimize your time on a daily basis. The strategy is based on the idea of taking two separate tasks or activities that when paired deliver an exponential impact while saving you time, so you get more done for yourself and your well-being in less time. 

If you’re thinking, isn’t that just multitasking or traditional habit stacking...Nope!

Unlike multi-tasking, at least one of the activities must be a well-being-enhancing activity. In addition, you will be pairing a max of only two things together to leverage your time, get more done in less time, and enhance your well-being in the process. 

The key is to have one of the activities be your anchor. The anchor is the foundational activity—an activity or task you regularly do in your day-to-day life— upon which you will gracefully piggyback the wellness activity.

For example, your weekly grocery shopping is an anchor activity because you do it regularly in your day-to-day life. If you were to piggyback your grocery shopping with a session of gratitude for the items you buy, the gratitude session would be your wellness activity. Make sense?

Why do I call it piggybacking and why do I use such as silly graphic? Because it stands out as a little bit silly, it causes a disruption in your usual thinking pattern making it easier to remember. The concept of the anchor and the piggy will stick with you longer.

Be intentional.

Don't leave it up to chance or remembering to piggyback. Use the workbook in this lesson to identify your anchor activities throughout the day and then add your piggyback action or activity. 

Since this is a new habit you are creating, remind yourself of the piggyback action by adding a sticky note or an audible Google Assistant or Siri reminder at the time and place you usually execute your foundational anchor activity. 

Take it one step at a time. Start with one piggybacked activity, get that going for a week and then add another piggybacked activity. 

Here are some examples to get things started. 

• Hold a walking meeting outdoors instead of inside your office. The anchor is the meeting.The wellness activity—walking outdoors—piggybacks on the meeting.

• Doing affirmations while running or working out. The anchor is the run or the walk. The wellness activity is doing affirmations. 

• Setting your intention for the day when you make or pour your morning coffee. The anchor is making or pouring your morning coffee. The wellness activity is setting your intention for the day.

• Listening to a personal growth audiobook while driving, cleaning, tidying up, etc. The anchor is the drive or cleaning session, while the wellness activity is listening to an audiobook. You get the picture. (Sign up for a 30-Day Free Trial of Audible here.)

Other examples: 

• Doing affirmations while putting on body cream, makeup, or getting dressed every morning. 

• Automatically saving money by rounding up your purchases or using a cash-back app. That money can be deposited into an account for donation or used for savings for travel, pampering, retirement, a product purchase, etc. 

• Use a walking pad/treadmill or under your standup desk to get low-impact exercise throughout your working day.

• Walking as a family once a week or daily to spend quality time with the kids or your partner.

• Functional activities such as gardening, painting the house, washing your car. All of these activities are functional, in that you are getting something done, but they are also contributing to your wellness by incorporating movement into your day. Who would've thought, right? You get two things done with one activity! Want to double up? Listen to an audio book, have your partner or kids join you, or put on some music and have fun.

• Place your cash reserves in high-yielding checking and savings accounts. 

• Listen to a meditation while getting your monthly massage.

• Running with your dog to get your run in while exercising your dog. 

  
  

  

  
  

• Volunteering with a friend or friends to walk dogs at a local shelter. 

• Adding some fun music and dance moves to your housecleaning repertoire.

• Volunteering as a family to enjoy quality time together. 

Some of the ways I use piggybacking are:

• Holding multiple outdoor walking meetings. I add about 2.5 to 3 miles per hourly meeting. Note I only do this on days I don’t have long runs or my HIIT classes. 

• Listening to audiobooks while driving and tidying up at the end of the night. (Sign up for a 30-Day Free Trial of Audible here.)

• Taking all of my calls while standing up and walking around my office or house. 

• Using a cash-back and rounding up card for purchases when shopping. 

• Going on walks with my mom and nephew to spend quality time together and catch up.

• Doing affirmations while running and working out.

• Deep conditioning my hair when I go for my run. I apply a hair mask, pop my hair up in bun, or put on a ballcap and let it do its deep conditioning magic while I run.

• Meditate during my monthly massage sessions.

What daily or weekly foundational tasks could you piggyback some wellness activities on?

• Can you add some affirmations to your workout?

• Could you go for a run with your dog?

• Could you schedule all of your weekly team meetings as walking meetings. You could do this even if everyone is on Zoom!

Register for the Time Freedom | Escape the Entrepreneurial Time Trap free workshop to download the workbook, or grab a notebook to get your piggybacking list going. Get creative! Next thing you'll know, after a 1-hr weekly call, you'll have banked a two-to-three-mile walk or enjoyed a chapter of a new book on your drive to pick up your kids.

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