You don’t have to force yourself to be productive.

You know the difference.

When you’re doing what you WANT to do, you feel good — competent, purposeful and relaxed.

BUT . . . there are certain tasks that make you feel overwhelmed and at odds with your usual capable self.

They’re things that you know would move the needle on your goals.

Sitting down to write the first pages of a book, getting to paperwork that weighs on your mind, getting into the art studio, regularly marketing your work, reaching out to propose a project, . . .

You start feeling stressed just thinking about it.

You say, “I just have to do it” . . . but it’s not happening.

You say, “I’ve been busy” even though you’ve been scrolling on socials.

You begin to think you’re not motivated or ambitious or disciplined enough.

You wonder why you feel so anxious doing what other people seem to have no trouble doing.

Dear Friend, here’s what I want you to know:

No matter what your brain is telling you, there’s nothing wrong with you. 

There are things going on that are making you feel this way.

(hello culture, hello brain)

 

Perfection pressure.

Systemic sexism, racism, classism, ableism and other biases create structures and attitudes that work against you. For many of us, money and the power that goes with it have historically been kept out of reach.

GENERATIONS have been on the receiving end of these attitudes. So it’s not surprising that you’ve internalized messages that money isn’t something you should feel comfortable around.

Hyper-productivity pressure.

Expectations of having to get so. much. done. create overwhelm and guilt, leaving you feeling drained and unfocused.

Hyper-productivity pressure makes you believe you’re lacking discipline or motivation, when trying harder just leads to more stress. We say Nope to that!

The brain’s negativity bias.

It’s not just you. Over thousands of years, our human brains have developed the ability to seek negativity as a survival mechanism. Fear, nervousness, and the reactions that come from those emotions like fight, flight, freeze and fawn are designed to keep you safe from harm.

Except . . . in many cases, you may not actually be in danger. But because of your past experiences, you may be conditioned to expect a bad situation when faced with money tasks.

The result of this cultural and deeply ingrained neurological programming is that you can get anxious when it comes to doing things that you really want to do.

You might even think that because of your past experiences, you need stress to motivate yourself to get them done. (You don’t.)

Friend, . . . you’re not lacking discipline or motivation. You’re not flawed.

You’ve simply internalized the messages about what makes someone worthy in our culture (super-efficient, “on top of things”).

Internalizing this messaging can be downright exhausting.

It can cause you to procrastinate, avoid and freeze up.

How do I know this?

 

Hi there, I’m Erica Ando, PhD.

I’m a Coach.

 

I help people with their money. I love working with people on the practical side of money but also on the emotional and social sides of money.

I have a big place in my heart for people with different and marginalized identities because so often, they haven’t been given the tools to manage their money. And very, very few of us have been taught to address the emotional aspect of money.

I’ve worked with people who have doubled and tripled their incomes, and have created sustainable careers, but what REALLY gets me going is seeing people have a handle on their money emotions when they’ve spent their lives not feeling that way. 

 

I’ve seen too many folks go through money programs and consume financial advice — only to walk away with loads of information and no implementation strategies.

There’s an assumption that you haven’t had stressful past experiences with money and you’ll just be able to do what you’re told to do.

Well, I haven’t met anyone who hasn’t had stress around money.

The reality is that those past experiences are wearing you down so that you feel incapable of sitting down and handling your money.

If this sounds familiar to you, I’ve made a course just for you.

Introducing

Peaceful Productivity

An 8-week live, experiential course designed to help you get things done — with calm.

  • You’ll work on tasks instead of thinking about doing them

  • You’ll learn foundational skills that you can apply to any project

  • You’ll understand the neuroscience and cultural underpinnings of how you relate to tasks that feel important

  • You’ll create systems of accountability that work for you

This is for you if you know what you’re supposed to do but can’t seem to get it done without stress.

 
 

Once I'm able to be more attentive to myself, and to understand where the old money narratives are coming from, I can work better. I can understand why the discomfort and anxiety are happening. I can do some of the exercises that we do in our sessions with breath. I’ve practiced the tools when I've been stressed out and they’re helpful.

I’ve been able to stay with the discomfort and the anxiety that comes with doing my taxes or working on anything money related.

— mayfield brooks

 

Here’s my Somatic-Social Process (SoS) for creating peace productivity

  • Somatic Mindfulness Tools

    Calm your nervous system and create safety using tested somatic tools.

    Increase your awareness about your habits so you can change them.

  • Rewrite Old Stories About Yourself

    Understand why you feel the way you do from the point of view of culture and neuroscience (hint: it’s not your fault).

    You’ll write new stories about yourself and money.

  • Small Steps

    Allow your brain to register that you know how to get things done by taking small, manageable steps.

    Gain confidence by getting things done.

  • A Personalized System of Accountability

    Create a schedule and support system that works for you and your life.

*You’ll be able to repeat this process for any future projects*

 

I learned to take very small steps and then celebrate them. I realized that taking those small steps builds self trust and creates a foundation for success.

I also learned to flip the scripts that we’re taught. There’re so many things that come up when you're being creative and trying to go out into the world. And a lot of these scripts are inherited, and cultural, and they were freezing me, stopping me from moving forward. Erica helped me realize it’s not just me. 

These old scripts bring up emotional disregulation and trauma and layers of things that I couldn't even name, but it was having a huge impact on my creativity and was actually at the source of why I was stuck. 

— Jennifer Davey

 
 

How it breaks down

 

WEEKLY CALLS

 

You’ll get 8 live, weekly workshops over Zoom.

Get personalized coaching from me on the calls.

 
 

CALL RECORDINGS AND WORKSHEETS

 

Use them to keep yourself on track and to refresh your memory about the call content.

Download them and use them for future projects.

 

*BONUS*

 

Join extra drop-in Co-Working Sessions on Zoom so you can do the work with others in the course for added accountability.

Peaceful Productivity

  • 8 weekly Zoom calls

  • Call recordings and worksheets

  • BONUS co-working sessions

 


My nervous system is more regulated on a more consistent basis. I don’t have to force myself.

I don’t need the urgency, like it’s life or death, to make something happen.

— Kim Heise

 
 

You don’t have to figure it out on your own

You probably weren’t taught how to get things done except through deadlines and external pressure (at least, that’s how I learned).

After time, your mind rebels.

If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting the same results. There’s no need to do that!

You can learn new tools, create new patterns and get my personalized guidance along the way.

 
 

I could not have done this alone. I guess it's possible I could have, but it would have taken much, much longer.

It was invaluable just knowing that I had someone rooting for me and genuinely concerned about my abilities and capacities for growth. And who believed in me and could see it before I did. 

— Michelle A.M. Miller

 
 
 
 

You’ve got to find a coach, someone to work with. It's like getting a chiropractic adjustment. You can't do that on your own. It's so vital to have another person to unpack these things with you to give you a different perspective.

— Geoffrey Solomon

 

Do the work with peers who also want to feel peacefully productive

It’s easy to feel like you’re alone when trying to get something done that you “should” be able to do.

In this group, you’ll get support for your challenges and be celebrated for your wins with others like you.

 

You get to hear everybody’s story and know you’re not alone.

And with their questions, you always learn something. When someone asked a question, I’d remember, “Oh, yes, I wanted to ask that, too.” You don’t feel so alone. 

— Annick Duvivier

 

Peaceful Productivity

  • 8 weekly Zoom calls

  • Call recordings

  • BONUS co-working sessions

Learn foundational skills

Learn how to calm your nervous system, break your project down into actionable pieces and create systems of accountability

You’ll walk away with a process and tools that you can apply to future projects.

Most importantly, you’ll know, in your bones, that being overwhelmed is optional.

 
 

I used to get overwhelmed with things. I realized that I’m fully capable of doing them.

— Weatherly Stroh

 

Peaceful Productivity

  • 4 weekly Zoom calls

  • Call recordings and worksheets

  • BONUS co-working sessions