Why I’m Aiming for Effectiveness Over Efficiency This Season

Why I’m Aiming for Effectiveness Over Efficiency This Season

School’s out for summer…which means it’s finally time to pick up those projects you’ve been dreaming of starting (or avoiding entirely, whoops). Before you develop a 9-to-5 bootcamp or timeblock your days into oblivion, take a deep breath and consider what an effective approach to productivity could look like for you this season. On today’s solo episode of Honing In, Dr. Kate Henry walks listeners through her process for setting summer goals by referencing her free workshop “How to Effectively Reach Your Goals this Season.” [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/freegoalsworkshop] Kate shares that when we aim for effectiveness over efficiency, we make a plan that acknowledges our individual needs around time, energy, and focus. In doing so, we  strategically chip away at our tasks with intention, versus racing to finish, which may cause overwhelm and burnout. Join Kate for her reflections and a-ha moments, then try out the workshop prompts yourself [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/freegoalsworkshop] to plan truly effective goals in this season of your life! Kate hones in on: * The benefits of using the framework of a “season” for project planning  * How Kate defined effectiveness this season and set criteria that supports her relaxation * The predicament of balancing personal, creative, and professional goals * An invitation to bring more compassion to our productivity approach  * How Kate would update the workshop in 2026 Mentioned in today’s episode: * FREE WORKSHOP: “How to Effectively Reach Your Goals this Season”  [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/freegoalsworkshop] * Honing In Episode: “How to Set More Realistic Goals” [https://katehenry.com/honingin/howtosetmorerealisticgoals/]  * Honing In Episode: “Bringing Our Humanness to the Table with Jen Carrington” [https://katehenry.com/honingin/jencarrington/]  * Blog post: Jen Carrington’s “The Eight Seasons of Business” [https://www.jencarrington.com/blog/2019/5/6/the-eight-seasons-of-business] * Newsletter: “What to Share and What to Keep: Reflections on the Creative Process”  [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/archive/what-to-share-and-what-to-keep/] * Newsletter: “Is Your To-Do List Clear Enough: It’s all in the Verbs”  [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/archive/is-your-to-do-list-clear-enough/] * Newsletter: “I Need to Just Do It! Exploring Aversive Tasks”  [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/archive/i-need-to-just-do-it/] More from Kate: ⭐ Productivity Coaching with Dr. Kate Henry [https://katehenry.com/coaching/] 💌 Sign up for Kate's free newsletter [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/] 📚 Download Kate's free Sustainable Productivity Planner [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/links] Podcast editing and support by Softer Sounds Studio [https://www.softersounds.studio/]. Theme song by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter [https://www.melissakaitlyncarter.com/].

Building a Portfolio Career and Advocating for Change Leadership with Taylor Elyse Morrison

Navigating multiple career paths simultaneously may seem fragmented, stressful, and a nightmare for calendar scheduling, but Taylor Elyse Morrison [https://taylorelyse.com/], a portfolio careerist and PhD student who believes people build identity through action and interaction, is here to show us that it’s quite the opposite. As a neurodivergent, multi-passionate person, the challenge of balancing various projects creates the precise level of interest that Taylor needs to stay fully engaged in her work. Plus, the flexibility of being a portfolio careerist allows for designing a life that supports self-exploration and self-care…both of which Taylor is deeply passionate about. In today’s episode, we explore what it means to build a portfolio career, and how diversifying both income streams and skillsets has created the room for Taylor to pursue multiple degrees and dive deep into what it means to be a leader in today’s social climate. Together, we hone in on: * What a Portfolio Career is and how Taylor has intentionally configured hers  * How building a portfolio career has supported Taylor’s neurodivergence  * Multical as a solution for overlapping schedules and how Taylor created it * The importance of leaving behind archives as a portfolio careerist  * What Change Leadership is and why Taylor pursued a PhD in the field  More From Taylor: * Taylor’s Website [https://taylorelyse.com/] * Taylor’s Newsletter [https://taylorelyse.com/newsletter] * Taylor’s LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorelysemorrison] * On Portfolio Careers [https://taylorelyse.com/post/portfolio-career] * Multical [https://www.usemultical.com/] (scheduling tool) * Women Facilitating [https://www.womenfacilitating.com/]  More from Kate: ⭐ Productivity Coaching with Dr. Kate Henry [https://katehenry.com/coaching/] 💌 Sign up for Kate's free newsletter [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/] 📚 Download Kate's free Sustainable Productivity Planner [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/links] Podcast editing and support by Softer Sounds Studio [https://www.softersounds.studio/]. Theme song by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter [https://www.melissakaitlyncarter.com/].

Liberating Yoga and Mindfulness with Harpinder Mann

Welcome back to Honing In and to my interview with Harpinder Mann. Harpinder Mann, RYT-500, SEP (she/her), is a trauma-informed yoga teacher, Bhakti student, and author based on Tongva land (Los Angeles). Rooted in her Sikh spiritual background and Panjabi ancestry, she shares yoga as a sacred path of remembrance and liberation. Practicing since 2013 and teaching since 2018, she guides students in weaving sādhana and the eight limbs of yoga into daily life to cultivate resilience, meaning, and connection. Her work bridges social justice and healing, honoring collective liberation. Her book, Liberating Yoga: From Appropriation to Healing, invites readers to reclaim yoga as a practice of integrity and wholeness. Here are some of the things Harpinder and I discuss: * Challenging the packaging of yoga and mindfulness as relentless self improvement * Why working with students and clients doesn’t feel like a project to Harpinder * Decolonizing yoga through honoring where practices have come from * Harpinder’s book journey and the sense of responsibility she felt while writing Liberating Yoga * Giving yourself space between projects to allow ideas to come to you * The many ways we can deepen and practice yoga Resources & Links: * Harpinder’s website [https://www.harpindermann.com/] * Events with Harpinder [https://www.harpindermann.com/events] * Harpinder’s book, Liberating Yoga: From Appropriation to Healing [https://www.harpindermann.com/book] * Harpinder’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/harpindermannyoga] * Harpinder’s Podcast [https://www.harpindermann.com/podcast] (we referenced Episode 3: Understanding Yoga Exclusion, Fatphobia + Racial Trauma with Leah Saliter [https://www.harpindermann.com/liberating-yoga-episodes/leah-saliter]) * Books mentioned: Edward Said’s Orientalism [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism_(book)] and Bessel Van Der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Keeps_the_Score]. SUPPORT FOR CREATIVE THINKERS ⭐ Productivity Coaching with Dr. Kate Henry [https://katehenry.com/coaching/] 💌 Sign up for Dr. Kate's free newsletter [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/] 📚 Download Dr. Kate's free Sustainable Productivity Planner [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/links] Podcast editing and support by Softer Sounds Studio [https://www.softersounds.studio/]. Theme song by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter [https://www.melissakaitlyncarter.com/].

How to Take a Sabbatical and Prioritize Projects that Resonate with Amelia Hruby

Welcome back to Honing In and to my interview with Amelia Hruby. Amelia Hruby is a feminist writer, educator, and podcaster with a PhD in philosophy. She is the founder of Softer Sounds podcast studio, and the host of Off the Grid, a podcast about leaving social media. Her new book, Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media is out now. Here are some of the things Amelia and I discuss: * Amelia’s 2026 sabbatical as a way to set boundaries with her work and spark creative energy * How our academic training affects the way we think and make sense of things * Valuing theoretical and embodied knowledge when it comes to business and marketing  * Big questions folks are asking about social media, big tech, and AI * Amelia tells us all about "COME TO CLASS: How to teach & sell online with confidence & care" (see you there!) Resources & Links: * Amelia’s website [https://www.ameliahruby.com/] * Amelia’s book [https://offthegrid.fun/attention] * Amelia's interview with the APA about feminist public philosophy [https://blog.apaonline.org/2021/11/01/feminist-public-philosophy-beyond-the-academy-an-interview-with-amelia-hruby/] * Off the Grid podcast [https://offthegrid.fun/podcast] * Off the Grid AI series [https://offthegrid.fun/ai-series] * Off the Grid business predictions: Predictions for Social Media [https://offthegridclubhouse.substack.com/p/6-predictions-for-2026-social-media] and Predictions for Marketing Trends [https://offthegrid.fun/shownotes/2026-marketing-trends]  * Softer Sounds podcast studio [https://www.softersounds.studio/] * Come to Class info + waitlist [https://amelia.myflodesk.com/cometoclass] SUPPORT FOR CREATIVE THINKERS ⭐ Productivity Coaching with Dr. Kate Henry [https://katehenry.com/coaching/] 💌 Sign up for Dr. Kate's free newsletter [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/] 📚 Download Dr. Kate's free Sustainable Productivity Planner [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/links] Podcast editing and support by Softer Sounds Studio [https://www.softersounds.studio/]. Theme song by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter [https://www.melissakaitlyncarter.com/].

Building a Generative Culture Around Conflict with Shivani Mehta Bhatia

Welcome back to Honing In and to my interview with Shivani Mehta Bhatia. Shivani Mehta Bhatia is a facilitator, advisor, and writer based in New York City. She works with senior leaders at justice-rooted organizations -- especially queer folks and women of color -- helping them use conflict as diagnostic information about power, culture, and what needs to change. She came to this work after a decade inside public health, crisis response, and community-based care, where she kept noticing the same pattern: the most persistent strategy problems were almost always relational ones, rooted in power, story, and unaddressed conflict. She is also the writer and host of Intimate Practice, an ongoing research project on tending, thresholding, and what it means to move through transition. Here are some of the things Shivani and I discuss: * Shivani’s background as a facilitator in public health focused on birth, sex, and death * Why learning to disagree better is key to building the world we deserve * Accountability as an invitation into deeper relationship, not moral judgment * How systemic dimensions of privilege and oppression live in our intimate interactions * Claiming agency and making meaningful change in this political moment Resources & Links: * Shivani’s website [https://www.shivani.co/] * Cody Cook-Parrott’s class, Quilt in a Weekend [https://greendoorfolkschool.com/class/quilt-in-a-weekend-2/] * Shivani’s essay, How Conflict Becomes a Design Input [https://www.shivani.co/essays/how-conflict-becomes-a-design-input] * Sign up for Shivani's newsletter, Intimate Practice [https://shivanimehtabhatia.kit.com/] SUPPORT FOR CREATIVE THINKERS ⭐ Productivity Coaching with Dr. Kate Henry [https://katehenry.com/coaching/] 💌 Sign up for Dr. Kate's free newsletter [https://buttondown.com/KateHenryPhD/] 📚 Download Dr. Kate's free Sustainable Productivity Planner [https://katehenry.myflodesk.com/links] Podcast editing and support by Softer Sounds Studio [https://www.softersounds.studio/]. Theme song by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter [https://www.melissakaitlyncarter.com/].