Ep 51: 'Sewing the Pockets Shut' for Better Presence, Productivity, and Results

EPISODE 51

Are we the masters of our digital devices? Or, have they masterfully ensnared us into a relentless cycle of mindless scrolling? 

 
 
 

Challenge your relationship with technology as we unravel the intriguing concept of "Sewing the Pockets Shut," a practice inspired by a spa resort in Arizona. This episode delves into the heart of our digital obsession and how a simple change can impact our ability to truly be present in the moment. We dissect an idea that may seem radical, but holds the potential to alter our very perception of our interaction with the digital world.

“We want to give people exactly what they need and remove as much friction as possible.”
— Christina Edwards

We don't stop at just the devices in our pockets, though. We leap further, examining how this principle can be applied to enhance personal and professional results, emphasizing the importance of optimizing processes to prevent burnout and make optimum use of time. 

We shine a spotlight on the role a life coach can play in implementing these changes, offering a unique opportunity to book a free discovery call. Buckle up and join us on this enlightening journey, and keep your ears open for an exciting announcement about our next episode!

Think you’ve reached out to “everyone” in your network? Out of ideas to get noticed and get funded?  Generate leads for your nonprofit or social impact business: https://www.splendidcourses.com/prospect

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TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to the Purpose and Profit Club podcast for nonprofit leaders, mission-driven creatives and social entrepreneurs. Get ready to stop dreaming and start doing. Here, ideas become action. We prioritize purpose and profit. You ready, let's go. I recently had an email go out to my list that resonated with a lot of people. So much, though, that I got this notification on LinkedIn that an organization that was on my email list was going live and they were mentioning me in their live stream. So I clicked on the notification and it was called. The title of their live stream was Sewing the Pockets Shut. I was like Sewing the Pockets Shut. I know about Sewing the Pockets Shut because I had just written an email about that concept, so I'm going to share that concept with you today, and I just want to give a special shout-out to Nashville-based Corner to Corner. They're the ones that are inspiring this podcast, because they did a couple things. One, they read the email and they were inspired to take action, which is my most favorite thing is not consumption, but action. So it really resonated with them and they were inspired to take action. Two, they put themselves in the arena. They're on this live stream. It looks like they're doing a live stream series over on LinkedIn, which I just love, and they were able to use the concept of Sewing the Pockets Shut and relate it back to their programs, which was really, really cool to hear about in action. So a special shout-out to y'all. It was a full circle moment and inspired this conversation for today. So in June I went to what I call my third annual solo retreat in the desert. So it's kind of the cadence tends to be around my birthday, which is in June, and this year I took my third annual trip to this lovely resort in Arizona. It's super hot, I don't mind it, I like the dry heat. There's pool, there's all the things I would need, air conditioning and it's a place where I can just disconnect, I can read, I can meander, I can take a nap, I sign up for these very like woo wellness classes and do some spa treatments too. So I go on that retreat and I go to the same resort each year. I just really like it there, and now it's just become like, just almost like, yeah, this is where I go. Well, this year I noticed something really different. So it's really interesting year over year to notice the change. Like one the first year to the second year I noticed that one of the cafes they have on site just became one of like a grab and go place instead of a full service restaurant. So sometimes there's like these changes year over year. Well, this year there weren't really any changes to anything. There were some new classes offered but, like, overall it was very, very similar to the previous two years. But then I went for a spa treatment. The first thing they do is they take you to the locker room and you pick out a locker to get changed and put on your little they have little spa slides and just get ready for your spa treatment. And I noticed that and I tend to like so I'm based in Atlanta and this is in Arizona, so I'm like three hours back and so I might be like messaging with my kids or something like that, and they're like oh hey, I'm about to go into a treatment. You know I might like leave my phone in the locker room. Well, I noticed this year that that wasn't an option, that I was gonna leave my phone in the locker room, and that is because the spa robes you know little white kind of waffle knit spa robes that you change into the pockets had been sewn shut. So if you think about it like getting changed or putting on your spa robe, you've got your slides and the last thing that you do is usually you stash your cell phone Not everybody, but a lot of people stash their cell phone in that robe pocket and then what happens is they take you upstairs. There's this really pretty waiting area with like really plush couches, and then it's glass windows that overlooks the desert, and I'm remembering a couple of treatments where it was like sun setting time, and so it's always this beautiful view. Now I tend to not take my phone and the reason why I remember this is because I'm always up on the second floor looking at this beautiful view. There's like mountains and cactus and it's just pretty and my thought is crap, I can't take a picture Like my phone's not, I don't have my phone because I was just go up there. You know the point is to disconnect, right? So it would crack me up. In the past three years of waiting in this waiting room I would see couples, I would see girls on like a girls weekend trip and then I would see solo folks like me in the waiting room scrolling their phones and it would irritate me because I would think you guys are missing this this sunset. Oh my God, you're missing it, stop it. Like. You can scroll on your phone anywhere, right, you can scroll. You can do this anywhere, right, don't do scroll, look, look up. And so this year, that simple change of like zip, zip to sew those pockets shut prevented, I would say at least 80% of the people, because then you would have to physically carry your phone and you're like carrying your phone and it's just an awkward thing to like and also it's just like you can't do it sneakily. It's a whole thing. I bet they had so many more people actually show up and disconnect in that downtime, in that waiting space, than in years past and I noticed it. So I was sitting in the waiting room, having experienced this change, and it felt like couples were talking. It felt like people were just standing there's like a balcony and just leaning on the balcony and just breathing, just looking right. Or me, like I tend to like choose a cozy chair and just like think, just think or not think, right, we're just kind of like just, just just space. So this idea made me think about how, even though we're adults, sometimes we need people to guide us and add guardrails right To sew the pocket shut. And especially if you're a mission driven organization, a nonprofit, there are probably ways that your programs or services are already doing this. Right. The idea is, where are you putting in systems, guardrails, anything to sew the pocket shut so that people have the best or most optimal experience? Right? I will tell you personally one of the ways that I do it. It just popped into my head. If I'm teaching something live, or even some of my courses right, my courses too, any, any sort of training with me, one of the things that I do on purpose, by design, is have a limited time, a spacious but limited time for you to consume that content. Why? Because if I give you forever, most people not all people, but lots of people will take forever. I know that that's true of me. Right, we just kick the can further down, but if we know that something is time sensitive, we're more likely to take it and implement it. Okay, another way that I might get people to implement it and I'm talking about this in a future broadcast is this idea of like what do I need you to do? What nudges do you need? How can I best support you to help you implement it. So maybe it's a coaching call, maybe it's a template, right? Or maybe it's a hyper specific Training, right or system? Here's an idea for a lot of organizations is the pockets being open and not sewn shut is friction. So a lot of times when I onboard a client or somebody comes to me and joins, amplify Social Impact, for example, one of the things that we'll look at is how, what tool they're using for donations, to accept donations, and it will be a very clunky experience. So, for example, if you have an Instagram post that is asking for donations, literally how many clicks does it take for me until I'm completed and I'm on the thank you page of the experience? And second to that, how was the experience? Was it? Was it clunky, was it friction? Was it hard to understand? Was it accessible, right? So we want to create one way you can sew the pocket shut is creating a frictionless using a frictionless donation tool. If you need a recommendation for that, I feel like I've tried them all and I definitely have some favorites, so I'm happy to help you with that. But this idea of if we're asking somebody, think about it this way If you're asking somebody to make a gift, okay, or become a monthly donor. Let's make it specific You're asking somebody to become a monthly donor and the link that you take them to, the link they click, has an option to donate once, has an option lower down on the page to volunteer, has something that links to your Rosarito blog post. You guys, I have decision fatigue Maybe I'm like, oh, that looks interesting, I've clicked, before I know it I'm off the page. We want to give people exactly what they need to make the exact decision they want. Let's use another example of how you could help sew the pocket shut. This would be just updating your bio, your website and any above the fold messaging on your website. So here's what I mean, Like, let's say, on the landing page of your website. You'd be surprised how many times I will land on your website and there may be either outdated messaging, like something promoting something that has happened in the past, or just it's not clear. It is not clear. I've had many discovery calls with organizations where I'm unclear if you are hyper local you serve Atlanta only, or if you're serving across the United States, like it's unclear. So making sure that above the fold, meaning before I hit the scroll, that I am very clear who you are who you're for and that there is a compelling call to action that sounds like you, not an ominous robotic brand. And let's talk about another way. You could sew the pockets shut and this may be like ooh, a little sticky, but it sometimes looks like sunsetting or ending a program offering marketing channel that doesn't have a lot of ROI and is a bandwidth eater. So that's like helping yourself in that process. So if you look at all of your social networks and there is one that's clearly just not a maybe no longer aligns with you or is not high ROI, meaning you're just not getting much traction or engagement on it, you know that you can end that right. You know you can sunset it and, for my for profits, if there is just something that you offer that is no longer aligned, that is no longer the work you want to do or is just not the right you know offering, you know you can, you can sunset it Like this can happen. Just because you've always had it doesn't mean you have to keep doing it. Idea of this concept is accountability. Right, sometimes we need accountability from like, literally a mentor, a coach, and that helps us create an environment to make better choices. Right, and, I bet a lot of your programs do just that, right? Sometimes we need to create these guardrails and systems internally, right, and that's how we do it by streamlining, by cutting out gosh the amount of posts that I've seen where people are saying, you know, before I send out an email or before I can schedule content, it has to go through, you know, these seven people for approval. No, it doesn't right. And really making sure that you're streamlining your process so you can do a couple things One, avoid burnout. Two, get out in the arena, create content. And three, use your time. Get your time back when you have a workflow that is working for you and not against you, right? So pushing back on some of those constructs of this is how we've always done it, or this is the only way to do it. And instead saying, where do we need internally, to sew the pocket shut? And maybe externally, where can we guide our most perfect fit clients or donors or fans right? Where can we guide them to connect with us, to deepen our relationship in a way that is actually like, scalable and sustainable? That is the entire point of this and if you think about it, if we go back to the spa example from the beginning. Sewing the pocket shut in the robes wasn't just about not being on your phone, if you think about it, right, that is. The immediate effect of sewing the pocket shut is that most people aren't going to carry around their phone or whatever, whatever else they were putting in those pockets, right? The actual, more lasting and long term effect is their experience of the resort, their experience of their spa service, their experience of their surroundings. Maybe instead they actually talk with somebody else in the waiting room and, if you're like me, sometimes a single conversation, like a five minute conversation, just to connect with somebody, it like makes your day right. Or maybe instead they actually have a moment of just peace and relaxation and they are way more prompted to leave an amazing review of their experience or of your resort or whatever the thing is right, because you gave them, like you opened the door to give them an experience that they didn't think to give themselves by putting the phone in the locker or felt a little sticky. They're like, well, I kind of want my phone. What if I want to take a picture? And that may be true that sewing the pocket shut means that I can't take a picture of the beautiful view while I'm waiting for a massage. But it also means that if I really, really really want to take a picture after my massage and go grab my phone, go back upstairs and take the picture, right, like it's just optimizing the experience in a way that is just going to pay off. It's going to pay off for the client or customer, it's going to pay off For the provider, for the organization, right, it's, it's symbiotic, it works together in that way. So After this little homework, ask yourself I would do it internally and externally. Where can we internally do this in our organization or in my business that maybe I need to add some tweaks to remove some friction In, streamline my processes? That would be the first thing. Where can I so the pocket shut internally and then think about your core audience, your core, whatever it is you offer, maybe even the kind of core way you fundraise right, and think about what in that process is Sticky, what in that process is distracting, what in that process isn't helping people to connect and nurture and develop a longer relationship with you, and write down a list and start working through that list. Remove the friction and yeah, I have an amazing episode coming up for you next week that will relate back to this process and even have a very budget friendly way that you can get some help to implement. So stay tuned for next week's episode and I will see you next time. If you ask me, everyone should have a coach, especially you. I want to invite you to schedule a free discovery call with me. Go to splendid atlcom, forward slash contact. You'll see my calendar there. Book a call with me. You'll learn about my smart growth method, where we can grow your business or organization sustainably, with ease and massive impact.

You Get To Have Purpose And Profit. I’ll Show You How.

 
 
PodcastChristina Edwardspurpose and profit, marketing, entrepreneurship, purpose driven, nonprofit, social impact, mindsetComment