Reading Time: [19] Minutes

Welcome to my July 2025 productivity report! To backtrack, check out where I started in October 2023. You’ll find November 2023 here, and December 2023 here. For 2024, January is here, February is here, March is here, April is here, May is here, June is here, July is here, August is here, September is here, October is here, and November is here, and December is here. January 2025 is here, February 2025 is here, and March 2025 is here, April 2025 is here, May 2025 is here, and June 2025 is here.

🌱 How I Felt About July 2025

July was a better month than June. Mostly because I went back on the road and got to see a lot of friends, which is something I truly miss when I’m in Chicago. It’a a shame none of them live around me, and that makes me wonder if moving is upon me soon. Time will tell.

As a whole, July was both draining and energizing, but the month made me think a lot about different perspectives and how you shape your world with your thoughts and expectations. Hence my takeaway this month… Overall, it was a good month and a lot of things moved my goals forward.

🌻 Your Mindset is a Custom Language You Create

Have you ever thought about how your inner world has its own language? Every thought, belief, and perspective you carry acts like words, sentences, and grammar. Together, they form the “language” of your mindset. And just like any language, you can shape it, expand it, or even rewire it.

Language gives meaning to our conversations. In the same way, mindset gives meaning to our experiences. Two people can face the same challenge, yet one interprets it as a setback while the other sees it as an opportunity. The difference isn’t the event itself — it’s the “translation system” running in their minds.

Every thought you rehearse becomes a word in your inner dictionary. Over time, you build a vocabulary that reflects how you see yourself and the world. The good news? You can edit it. You can retire words like failure or impossible and replace them with experiment, practice, or potential. You decide what stays in your mindset’s lexicon.

It’s not just the words you use – it’s how you connect them.

Consider the difference:

• “I failed, so I must not be capable.”
• “I failed, which means I learned something valuable.”

Both use similar words, but the structure changes the entire meaning. That subtle shift in “mental syntax” rewrites how you experience life.

A fixed mindset is like translating every experience into a rigid dialect. It reduces possibility. A growth mindset, by contrast, is like having a flexible translator: it allows you to interpret experiences with curiosity and openness. The more languages you speak, the more worlds open to you; the same is true for mindset.

Your mindset doesn’t just affect you — it spills into the people around you. Families, teams, and communities develop shared languages of resilience, optimism, or doubt. The way you speak to yourself and others contributes to the collective mindset of the group.

Learning a new mindset can feel just as awkward as learning French or Spanish for the first time. You stumble, you forget words, and sometimes you’ll default back to old habits. But with practice, and through affirmations, reframing, and intentional self-talk, you become fluent. Over time, resilience, abundance, and creativity stop feeling forced. They become the natural way you think.

Awareness is the key to everything here. It’s one of the biggest reasons why I teach a lot of reflection routines. They just work. Period. You can’t edit a language you don’t notice. Journaling, meditation, or even pausing to notice the words you repeat to yourself can reveal your default phrases. And once you notice them, you can choose: keep them, or rewrite them.

Your mindset isn’t fixed – it’s a custom language you’re constantly creating. Every belief is a word. Every thought pattern is a sentence. And every day, you have the chance to edit, upgrade, and expand the language of your mind. When you do, your productivity soares.

🤔 So with that in mind, what language do you want your life to speak? Do you have a reflection routine that helps you create it?

Let me know in the comments below!

🏆 How Productive I was in July 2025

I got quite a bit done in July, even though I was on the road for over two weeks. I traveled to Madrid, Amsterdam, Venlo, Maastricht, Brussels, and Copenhagen with a friend for a combo business / leisure trip. We got a lot done in that trip, so despite getting stuck in Boston for a day and a few other minor setbacks, we can call it a success overall.

📁 Projects Completed in July 2025

Every now and then, there are be projects you don’t see coming at all. July had just such a thing in store for me. Last minuted, I got an invitation to do a YouTube Live with Cathi Nelson of The Photo Managers on the topic of digital minimalism – something I think about a lot, but never really voice my opinion on much. I decided to jump on it because I hadn’t been live in a while, so that was unexpected.

Cathi and I had a great conversation about how to best curate your digital memories in a way that makes sense. The turnout was great, and we had a lot of nice comments. It made me remember how much I enjoy lives if I don’t have to do them all by me lonesome. Note to self.

Besides that project, I completed two more projects that put me right in my common target area of 3 projects per month to close out. Goal achieved.

🚀 My Favorite Project in July 2025

My favorite project in July was a trip I took with my friend to further one of our joint projects – a live show that we hope to put together soon. We went to Madrid, Amsterdam, Venlo, Maastricht, and Brussels together to meet with different people who each hold a piece of the puzzle.

Working with close friends is both tricky and amazing at the same time. Your communication skills and boundaries stretch to the max because you’re so close, which is good overall, but it’s also challenging when you’re tired and jet lagged. Patience and understanding for the win. All in all though, my favorite projects usually involve travel and friendship in large doses, so I can’t complain. We had an amazing time, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

⏳ Hours Worked in July 2025

In July, I clocked about 56 work hours, which breaks down to about 14 hours a week. That’s a bit under normal, as you may know. I try to stick to between 20-25 hours of work per week. In this case, I know that I was traveling a lot, so there’s a perfectly valid explanation. I took almost an entire week of, which keep the average low. Nothing to worry about at this point because I know that August is more than going to make up for that deficit.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m never really worried about working too little. Quite the opposite. Remote work can easily spill over into your personal time, so it’s worth keeping an eye on it to make sure you don’t have too much fun. 😉

⌨️ Digital Images Organized in July 2025 

In July, I amassed 806 new memories, and I kept all of them. Yep, all. This is the first month where I haven’t deleted anything, and it was really because all of them were great. Moreover, I didn’t take any screenshots that I didn’t need. Score for instant curation skills. With practice and a good note-taking system, you can keep a lot of clutter out of your collection.

Here are just two of my travel snapshots:

If you love photos as much as I do, but aren’t sure how to manage them, be sure to join us in DPO PRO: The Ultimate Photo Organizing Masterclass. We cover how to choose your programs, how to organize your phots, and we have tutorials on the entire process in Photo Mechanic, Apple Photos, and Adobe Lightroom Classic.

👟 Steps Walked in July 2025 

In July, I walked a total of 226,032 steps, which averages out to about 7300 steps per day. That is well over the 5000 I set as a goal 2 years ago, so I think I can finally let this one go and focus on just maintaining it now. Next month, I will have a new fitness goal, and I’ll be excited to share that with you soon.

I’m really proud of myself here because I’ve turned the trajectory here completely around, all on my own. For many years, I struggled with getting enough steps in, and I was often below 1000 per day. I spent a lot of time sitting, and now I cannot do that anymore. I’ve completely switched the habit around and I’m much better off for it. It goes to show what you can do with a little will power and motivation.

📣 Language Progress in July 2025

In July, I worked on my Spanish and I learned 17 new words, which just edged my target goal of 15. I have been focused on French for the past few weeks, but since I was visiting Madrid, Spanish made a lot more sense. I was actually pleasantly surprised how easily it flowed, and I supposed I can thank some very good friends for their patience and support.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: nothing works as well as immersion for learning a new language. And that goes for this month’s takeaway too. Anything you focus on and give attention to will improve, no question about it. It’s just a matter of time and consistency.

🎧 Books & Learning in July 2025

This month, I read Amy Cuddy’s book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges. I don’t remember where I got it, but I believe it was gifted to me by a friend.

It explores how we can tap into our most authentic, confident selves in high-pressure moments.

Drawing from her own personal journey, Cuddy argues that presence is less about faking confidence and more about aligning our posture, mindset, and values so that we project authenticity and tap into our most authentic, confident selves in all high-pressure moments. She popularizes the idea of “power posing” – using expansive, open body positions to boost confidence and reduce stress before important events – while also emphasizing that presence extends beyond physical stance to how we connect with others through warmth, trustworthiness, and self-belief. Blending science, personal narrative, and practical strategies, the book offers readers tools to overcome self-doubt, manage anxiety, and step into challenging situations with greater poise and genuine confidence. It’s good stuff. It’s a very good book, and I’d recommend it to any leader.

⭐️ Success Celebrated in July 2025 

This month, I want to give a shoutout to my incredible mindset coach Claudine Chi, and the ongoing success her and I share together. Not only is she an incredible person, but she has shown me what’s possible when you audit your language. I can wholeheartedly say that it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be nearly as far along in life. She is absolutely fantastic in pinpointing where and how to improve, and what action steps to take in order to get results. Our work is very complementary.

Claudine has a wonderful Self-Belief Journal that I highly recommend you purchase. I use it myself, so I can tell you with a straight face that if you do the work, it will change your life. That’s always a good deal.

😍 This Month’s Favorite Hubs, Tools, Services, & Products

What hubs, tools, products, and services do I use to be more productive? Lots and lots. In an effort to be really transparent, I have some of my recommendations below. Some links are affiliates links, others are not, but either way, I’d recommend them. Feel free to reach out if you have questions on any of them.

Here’s my list of things I loved this month:

• Notion → Where would I be without Notion? Not anywhere close to where I am now, that’s for sure. I run my entire life and business in Notion, so I wholeheartedly recommend this platform. We hosted a Building in Notion (for Beginners) event some time ago, and the replay is available for purchase.
• Airtable → We have used Airtable for many years now – as our main hub before Notion, and now for student-facing databases, external editorial calendars, and intake forms. Love it!
• Forever → This is good platform for storing photo archives. I invested in this company when they were a startup a decade ago, and it has only gotten better since then. Great for memory-keeping!
• ShowIt → Love ShowIt! It’s the most flexible and best website platform out there, IMO. Plus, it’s run by nice people, which is a plus. I just renewed my own subscription not too long ago.
• Convertkit → Convertkit is now simply Kit, and I’m not really used to that change yet. I’ll come around, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be calling it Convertkit for a while still. Change is hard. 🤣
• Lightroom Classic → This is a program I’ve been using for two decades. I teach it and several other solutions in my course DPO PRO. Join us to learn how to use it!
• Circle → Circle is easy to use for everyone – from students to coaches to guests. We love it as our community hub. It stands well on its own, but also integrates nicely with Teachable (see above).
• Trackabi → My new time-tracking platform, which is working out wonderfully so far.
• Audible → I love my Audible subscription for when I’m getting my steps in, and I recommend trying it out if you want to get your learning on. Sign up for a free 30-day trial through my link to get a free book (or 2 free credits if you’re an Amazon prime member!) – cancel anytime!
• Secret → This is a wonderful place for finding deals on software hubs and tools. Who doesn’t love to save some $$$? Invest a little, save a lot! I’ve saved thousands. Great deals for the new year too!
• Grove Collaborative → Love my Grove subscription! It saves me so much time because I can restock all my household needs easily. They write sweet messages on each box too! So cute. Get a free gift set by signing up through my affiliate link!
• Almond Cow → In 3 minutes, you can have fresh nut milk. What’s not to love? I miss it so much when I travel, unless i bring it… It’s the best thing I’ve ever bought for my kitchen, hands down.
• Nuuly → This is so much fun. I just love renting new stuff each month. It’s a creative way to try thing you never would have picked up otherwise. 🙌🏻 Use my link to save $ on your first order.
• Taja → I really like this AI-driven platform for optimizing YouTube videos. It’s a great starting point for coming up with attention-grabbing headlines, descriptions, keywords, and more.
• Wise → Banking as a digital nomad and international service provider can be a bit tricky, but lately, I’ve enjoyed using Wise to make things easier. If you’re a nomad or course creator, take note.
• Harney & Sons → My favorite tea supplier in the US. They have outstanding quality teas for all tastes and budgets, and they’ve worth trying out! Save $10 on your order using this link.
• Canva → I love using this graphic design platform for a wide variety of marketing materials. I also feature it in some of our workshops, for example The People Index.
• SparkLoop → A recommendations network for content creators and email marketers that’s fun and easy to use. I have it integrated with my ConvertKit account.
• Ibotta → This cashback site helps you make the most of your personal shopping. It’s an easy way to cut down on the grocery bills, and make a little extra money back. Totally legit.
• Music Mastery Hub → Kai “Verse” Tyler is one of the most generous people in the entertainment industry, so for anyone interested in learning more about the business of music, I recommend joining his online school for mentorship and guidance. I’m proud to be an affiliate.

🫖 Tea of the Month

This month, I’m highlighting another favorite green tea: Art of Tea’s Jasmine Reserve. The description reads: “An organic green tea that has been repeatedly baked and scented with fresh and fragrant night-blooming jasmine blossoms. This jasmine green tea has beautiful floral and sweet notes.” Need I say more? Yum. 😋

📐 Measure What Matters

Thanks for reading this report til the end! I hope you enjoyed it. Please remember that productivity is very personal, and you DO NOT have to track the same metrics that I do. Your goals and metrics could be quite different from mine, and that’s OK.

If you’d like to understand where you should be focusing your attention, join us in an upcoming Quarterly Planning Workshop to identify your own goals.

🎬 Prefer to Watch This Report?

• About the Author
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Caroline Guntur Organizing & Productivity Coach

Hi there! I’m Caroline, and I’m here to help you get organized and be more productive, so that you can live better and have time for what matters.

www.theswedishorganizer.com

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