1. Discover how to design a business that fuels your creativity instead of draining it.
2. Learn why traditional “consistency and discipline” strategies don’t work for creatives and neurodivergent entrepreneurs.
3. Get practical tips to beat overwhelm, burnout, and the dreaded “idea graveyard.”
4. Find out how boundaries and energy rhythms can transform your productivity.
5. Walk away with free tools to burnout-proof your business.

Christi's Valuable Free Resource (VFR):

https://christijohnsoncreative.com/boundaries

Business strategist Christi Johnson reveals how creatives and neurodivergent entrepreneurs can escape burnout, set boundaries, and design joy-driven businesses that work with their brains, not against them. Packed with practical tips and a free toolkit, this 7-minute episode is a must-listen!

02:50 Ideal Client: Creative and neurodivergent entrepreneurs who struggle with traditional business strategies.
03:50 Problem Solved: Turning idea overload and burnout into sustainable execution without losing creativity.
05:15 Valuable Free Action: Set boundaries aligned with your energy rhythms to protect your time and creativity.
07:45 Valuable Productive Action: Use play, self-care, fun starting tasks, and co-working to boost productivity.
09:20 Bonus Material
11:10 Valuable Free Resource: Get the free Burnout Proof Your Business Planner & Boundaries Toolkit

(Note, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not fully reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Welcome to the Goalbusters Expert Peak Productivity Tips podcast, where top business experts get just seven minutes to answer five rapid fire questions about what they do and how they stay productive.

Each episode is packed with actionable insights to help boost your efficiency and achieve your goals. Let's dive in and unlock the secrets to peak performance.

00:22 ROBIN

Well, hello everyone. My name is Robin J. Emdon, and I'm an accountability coach and the author of GetResultsology® - The Science of Getting Stuff Done! I work with people who run their own business, no boss, distractions everywhere and never enough hours in the day. 

Together, we cut through the noise, sharpen their focus and follow through on the big ideas that actually move the needle.

That's what I call the Momentum Formula. 

Do it today, profit tomorrow and repeat! 

So if that's the kind of breakthrough that you've been looking for then you're in exactly the right place. 

And speaking of being in exactly the right place, I am delighted to welcome our guest expert today, Christi Johnson.

Christi is a business strategist and the founder of the Dream Biz Lab, where she helps creative and neurodivergent entrepreneurs build joy driven businesses that work with their brains, not against them. With a background in photography and operations, Christi combines heart and strategy to help her clients grow profitable businesses without burning out.

When she's not working with clients, you'll find Christi playing the piano, hanging out with her twenty five. Yes, count them, twenty five nieces and nephews, or recording episodes for the Dream Biz podcast.

Christi, welcome to GoalBusters!

CHRISTI
Thank you so much for having me. When you read that out, it made me sound so famous. I loved it.

ROBIN
Yeah. You're famous with your twenty five nieces and nephews.

CHRISTI
That's true.

ROBIN
Anyway, where best in the world are you and your twenty five nieces and nephews?

CHRISTI
I'm in Greenville, South Carolina in the United States, which is on the East Coast, close to Georgia, in between Georgia and North Carolina.

ROBIN
Oh, fantastic. A lovely part of the world, I believe. Lots of very green, I think.

CHRISTI
Very green. Yes. And hot.

ROBIN
And hot. Yes. Yes. And somehow I managed to fit the two together. That's quite unusual. But, anyway, that's me just waffling on. Should we do the questions instead?

CHRISTI
Let's do it. 

ROBIN
Alright. I'll get the clock up on the screen.

And there it goes. Christi, could you tell me, please, who is your ideal client?

02:50 CHRISTI – Ideal Client
Yes. So my ideal client is creative and neurodivergent business owners. I picked the two because their brains are pretty similar. So creative people, that's photographers, graphic designers, artists, makers, and then neurodivergent people, that's anyone with ADHD, autism, or things like that where they don't learn the typical or traditional ways and, like, traditional business strategies that are based on consistency and discipline don't really work for them. They have a lot of deficiencies in the dopamine area of the brain. So we need more motivation rather than just be consistent and just be disciplined. So those are the people that I work with.

ROBIN
Oh, that's fascinating. And in more ways than one for me, but I will move on and ask you the next question and maybe we'll move swing back around to that in a while if we have time. So you've explained already what are the problems that you begin to solve, but it's a lot more complex than that. So what is the problem that you solve?

03:50 CHRISTI – Problem Solved
The biggest problem that creative and neurodivergent entrepreneurs struggle with is that they're super great with generating ideas.
They are brilliant at that. But what really is a problem is the execution.

So getting things done, which I'm sure you could help with as an accountability coach, but we get deep into side quests. We really struggle with squirrel brain where we get distracted

ROBIN
Yes, I know that reference!

CHRISTI
Absolutely.

We might start things and then get bored, so things kind of end up in the idea graveyard. Or we might get really excited at the start and then take on more than we actually can and then get burned out and then stuck. So it's kind of like an endless cycle of ideas, excitement, overwhelm, burnout, and then feeling stuck. So I help them get out of that place so that they can determine which ideas they actually want to follow through with and how they can follow through at a sustainable pace that won't lead them to burnout. 

And then really help them find strategies to work with their amazing creative brains and with their natural energetic rhythms and cycles so that their business feels easy and fun instead of overwhelming all the time.

ROBIN
Yeah. Fascinating. And once again, I want to follow-up with a hundred different questions but I can't. I'm gonna ask you this one instead which is what is one valuable free action that the audience can implement that will help them to solve the this problem?

05:15 CHRISTI – Valuable Free Action (VFA)
I love this question, and it might not go where you think it's going to go.

I think the best thing that you can do is set boundaries.

Set boundaries that protect your time, your energy, and your creative rhythms because this will really help you take control of your schedule so you actually have that time that you need to work and do what you really want to. So setting boundaries is kind of vague. So I wanted to give you a little bit more deeper actions if we can within the seven minutes. 

The way you can set boundaries to figure out what works with your brain and your natural rhythms is number one, to pay attention to your energy rhythms.

We all have different cycles of energy whether it's throughout the day, throughout the week, throughout the month. And if you can just pay attention to when you feel energized and when you feel depleted, that can really help you start to notice what things, what activities bring you energy, and you can figure out how to protect your time to have more of those things in your life. So one of the things that I noticed is that I really need at least once a week where I have no meetings on my calendar. Because as a creative person, I need lots of time to piddle around and just do nothing because that's what helps me to get my creative juices flowing.

Like, boredom really fuels me into creativity.

So I figured out that when I had meetings constantly, I never had time to do my best work. So pay attention to your energy rhythms, figure out what you need to do your best work, and then from there, set boundaries to protect what you need. 

And this is gonna be in two different areas, your offer and your project scope. So that might look like changing your offer completely if it's not bringing you joy. But, really, the main thing is your calendar. So protecting that time that you need to do what you do best.

ROBIN
Fantastic. You really packed it in there. I'm going to be greedy now because, now that we have a better understanding of what you do oh, this sounds a bit disingenuous because I'm actually saying let's dive into GoalBusting, focusing on how to maximize productive time to achieve business goals, which is exactly what you've just been helping us with. 

So I'm asking you to share any more. So can you share any tips or advice for someone looking to improve their productivity habits in addition to what you've already said? Because I'm greedy, and I'm gonna ask.

07:45 CHRISTI – Valuable Production Action (VPA)
Yes. Absolutely. So first of all, obviously, set boundaries that protect your time. It's gonna give you that time that you need to work on your business goals.

And then I think a big problem that we struggle with, all of us, whether you're creative or neurodivergent or not, is time management. So here's some of my best tips. 

Number one, get rid of your shoulds and instead tap into a spirit of play. If you can work intuitively and think, what do I wanna do?

That's gonna help you so much. So maybe brain dump. I do that all the time on a piece of paper, and then I say, what do I wanna do today? I get so much more done when I can choose what I wanna do rather than, oh, I should do this.

If I find myself struggling or if you find yourself struggling with getting motivated, then I have I have some tools that you can use. 

Number one, self care. What do you need? Do you need to get a snack? Do you need to hydrate? Do you need to rest? 

Number two, choose a fun starting task. If you have a really big list, choose the fun one first.

Number three, if you're really struggling, change your environment. Sometimes going to a co-work space, a coffee shop, or taking a walk can really help you to get your task management juices flowing again where you're more excited to show up for work. And then another strategy that neurodivergent entrepreneurs particularly love is co-working and body doubling. 

So that's where you get on a call with someone and say, hey. Let's work together or go to a coffee shop with some friends and say, hey. 

Let's get some work done together.

ROBIN
Fantastic. 

CHRISTI
So they would be my biggest tips.

ROBIN
They are wonderful tips. Well, absolutely brilliant. So finally, what should I have asked you today, Christi, that I didn't and your answer, please?

09:20 CHRISTI – Bonus Material
Well, because I'm a coach, I really want people to feel encouraged and ready to tackle their goals. So I think you could have asked me what I want every creative entrepreneur listening to know, and it's that you're not broken.

If you have ever felt like you're bad at business because you can't stick to rigid schedules or force yourself into strategies that drain you, the truth is those systems weren't built with your brain in mind. You don't have to hustle harder. You don't have to keep trying to fix yourself.

You really just need a business that is designed to work with your natural capacity, your creativity, and your energy rhythms. Your way is valid, and it's possible to build a business that supports you instead of drains you.

ROBIN
Yes.

You can never underestimate the power of good old fashioned self acceptance.

CHRISTI
A hundred percent.

ROBIN
Yeah. Absolutely. That was brilliant. Thank you so much. So one final question and a very important one is it's a two-parter.

How do people reach you? Part a. And part b is… is there like a valuable free resource they can get from you? Now I want to stress here because I was gonna talking about how I was gonna swing back around and ask you some more questions.

And I'm not able to do that in this format. But actually, you've been so brilliant with your answers and so comprehensive. The only comment I want to make is… there was nothing that you shared with us today about getting more productive and good working practices that doesn't work for everybody.

Absolutely everybody. And it's lovely that you have the insight into people creatives and ADHD type people as well.

But I just thought, wow, that's amazing. And people really if you found it as inspirational as I did, please get in touch with Christi. And, also, please send for her valuable free resource, which she's now about to tell you all about, and so am I. I'm really excited to hear what it is.

11:10 CHRISTI – Valuable Free Resource (VFR)
Yes. Well, thank you so much for your kind words, and you're absolutely right. It can work for literally anyone who is trying to get stuff done. So I do have a free resource. It is called the Burnout Proof Your Business Planner and Boundaries Toolkit.

So included in this resource, there's a workshop. If you're that kind of person, you like workshops where I talk about how to start recognizing the signs of burnout and how to actually implement the boundaries that I mentioned that are gonna help you. And in there, there's also a toolkit. So if you're like, workshop, but I don't really wanna listen to an hour and a half thing, that's totally fine because there's a toolkit.

So there's a Google Doc with so many ideas for you that you can pick and choose from. It's kind of like a toolbox for you to say, I want this today. I want this today. That will help you start to set boundaries to help you protect your creative time.

You can get that free resource, the Burnout Proof Your Business Planner and Boundaries Toolkit at my website, christijohnsoncreative.com/boundaries

ROBIN
Fantastic. Thank you so much. I think that's been a real master class. And if for anybody else listening or watching some or all of what Christi said resonated for you, please do what I'm gonna do, which is listen to it again or read the transcript because there was so much information in there.

And I urge you to do that because it's all about being more productive. And for the five, six, seven minutes it takes to come up with some really fantastic working practices, like managing your energy levels, understanding your energy levels. That's something that I cover a lot in my book as well. It's so important.

And yet it's such a basic thing to do. Not doing all the shoulds and instead of in the day and actually just getting on focusing on what's really matters to you. All of that stuff. Brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant. Christi, I'm not gonna repeat everything you just said. I'm just gonna ask people to rewind and listen to it for themselves. Christi Johnson, thank you so much for appearing on GoalBusters today.

CHRISTI
Thank you so much for having me. It was so delightful.

ROBIN
It was a pleasure, and lovely to meet you. And thank you once again. And remember, everybody, keep goal busting and make your future self proud.

Bye bye.

OUTRO
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And if you're ready to boost your online profits, skyrocket your productivity, crush procrastination, and see a positive change in your bank balance all within just thirty days, this is your opportunity

Take my free five day challenge at skyrocketyourproductivitychallenge.com

Robin J. Emdon is the creator of GetResultsology®: The Science of Getting Stuff Done!, a research-backed system that helps solopreneurs beat procrastination, build momentum, and follow through on what matters most.

Robin was one of a small, invitation-only group selected for an intensive life-coach programme taught by Tony Robbins* and his faculty in 2001. The training was meant to prepare them for roles at his organisation in San Diego, but when that opportunity changed Robin stayed in the UK, launched his own life-coaching practice, and later stepped back to raise his two young sons.

Known to clients today as The Procrastination Slayer, Robin had a face-palm moment in 2019 when he realised it had taken him ten years to finish a six-year degree. That wake-up call launched his mission to master procrastination.

During the Covid lockdowns in 2020 he discovered that researchers had published more than 900 studies on procrastination in a single decade and pulled the most practical lessons from the strongest research and leading books to shape his momentum formula:

Do it today, Profit tomorrow, Repeat.

Peer-reviewed research from the Dominican University of California shows that working with an accountability partner can raise goal-achievement rates by up to 33 percent, a finding woven into every GetResultsology® plan.

Robin hosts The GoalBusters Podcast, now past 100 episodes, where he talks with fellow solopreneurs and uncovers the real-world productivity tactics behind their success.

From South Devon, England, he coaches clients worldwide, helping solopreneurs, creatives, and other no-boss professionals turn scattered effort into consistent progress and profit.

Want an engaging guest who sparks action or an accountability coach who keeps you on track? Book Robin for your show or request coaching details.

*Tony Robbins and Robbins Research International are not affiliated with, and do not endorse, GetResultsology® or its services.

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