175 Why We’re All Queen Bees and How to Use It to Master Your Time

Many people call me the Queen Bee of time management, organization, and productivity, but that's all wrong. We are ALL Queen Bees and when you learn to embrace that, that is when you find Work + Life Harmony.

The secret? The queen bee does NOT do everything. She does what she and only she can do and gets help with the rest. She has support. She honors and cares for other bees and they take care of her in return. When things are optimized, they can grow.

Tune into today's episode to learn why this is an excellent lesson for us to learn from to take control of our lives, do what we are designed to do, and to care for each other.

In this episode, I'm covering:
1. What is the importance of the symbol of the queen bee and how can we embrace it in our lives?
2. What does a queen bee's role and life really look like?
3. How can we use the role of the queen bee to help manage our time, plan our lives, and find work-life harmony?

DM me 'Queen Bee' if you are ready to be the Queen Bee of your life! @megansumrell

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FULL TRANSCRIPT:

00:00:00
We are going to have some fun today on the podcast. We're going to have a little bit of an educational lesson about queen bees. But more importantly, I want to explain to you the importance of the symbol of the queen bee to me and how you and every single one of us can embrace it in our lives and why this is something I lean into so strongly. So let's go ahead and get started.

00:00:27
Welcome to the Work Life Harmony podcast. I'm your host, Megan Sumrell. I'm the creator of the Top program and Top Planner, teaching all things time management, organization and productivity for women. I'm also a mom and wife, and just like you juggling hashtags all the things while running multiple businesses and a family, guess what? You don't have to feel constantly overwhelmed, exhausted and stressed out.

00:00:48
There is another way. When you have the right systems and tools to plan and manage your time, you can live a life of harmony. This is your show to learn from me and other amazing women how to master your time, planning and organizations to skyrocket your productivity so you can have Work Life Harmony. If you're ready to stop feeling overwhelmed, this is the show for you. And if you're new here, I'd love to get you started with my Work Life Harmony assessment.

00:01:11
All you have to do is DM me on Instagram at Megan Sumrell with the word Harmony and my team will send it right over.

00:01:22
Hey there. Welcome back to work. Life harmony today. I've been looking forward to actually recording this one. I'm going to be talking to you specifically about the queen bee and why this is something I lean into with my brand, with my training, and everything.

00:01:37
So all of the students that are either in the Top program or Plan-a-Palooza have seen what I have created as our manifesto, as women who take control of our calendar, who are living a life of work+life harmony. And at the end of this manifesto, which is a series of statements that we all get to embody, it ends by saying, I am the queen bee. And on a recent coaching call with the members of the program, I was so glad someone asked this. They actually asked, what do you think of and why did I pick the queen bee? And after explaining it, a bunch of people said, you need to do a podcast episode on this.

00:02:19
So let's be honest, when you think of the image of a queen bee, now, if you are someone that is a beekeeper and knows everything about bees, you're going to be like, you would probably have a very different image. But for those of us that maybe do not know much about how beehives and everything works, when you think of queen bee, what is it that first comes to your mind after, of course, Beyonce, right? Usually, when we think of queen bee, we think of somebody like in charge, the head honcho, I've got this, I'm in control, all of that. But that is not what the queen bee's role is all about. And so at the end of the manifesto that I have for all the students that say, I am the queen bee, it's not about being in charge and being aggressive and telling other people what to do.

00:03:11
So today I want to share with you what a queen bee's life and role really is and then tie it back into why I choose this and why I lean into this with all of the students. Now, I'm not going to go full bore with the life of the queen bee. There is some death and destruction in a beehive in the way queen bees and all of that come to be. But at the start, when the queen is ready to hatch and come out of her cell, one of the things that are really important to know is she can't do it without the help of some of the worker bees. So they actually feed her and help that process of her coming out of the cell.

00:03:54
So already we're seeing the hive at work, right? The fact that it is not done alone. She actually needs help to be able to step fully into her role and come out as the queen bee. Now, for the bulk of her entire life, her job is to lay eggs, to keep more bees coming. And so what she basically spends her days doing is moving around through the hive with tons of eggs in her abdomen.

00:04:28
And then if you know what a beehive looks like in each one of those little octagons or whatever shape they are of the honeycomb, she goes and looks to see, is there a room? Is it empty? And if so, then she will lay an egg there, then she will move to the next one, and she will continue to move throughout the hive, only laying eggs where there is open space to do so. Now, here's another interesting part. As she is doing this, two other things are happening.

00:04:56
First, whenever she needs to rest and is tired, she does that with the support of the other bees in the hives. They help come in, they help feed her, nourish her take care of her. All right? Now, there is no one bee being hierarchy here. None of the hives would work without all of the bees each doing their part, right?

00:05:22
So she's not trying to do everything. She is doing what she is designed to do and what only she can do, which is lay the eggs and then is allowing the others to come in and support her in that activity. Now, another thing that she is doing is she is, I guess, kind of spreading or emanating out her pheromone, which lets the other bees know in the hive, hey, everything's good. We're all good. So it is this reassurance of we're all good.

00:05:55
She's doing the one thing that she and only she can do and then is allowing help and support from the other bees that are also doing what they and they alone can do. Now, here's another part of how the whole bee hive and the queen bee thing work that I love. If she has filled up all of the little cells in the hive with her eggs and has eggs to lay and there's no more room, this is what causes a swarm. So the bee and about half of the rest of them, the queen bee, they will leave and go find somewhere else to now create this new hive so that she can continue laying eggs. But she doesn't do that until everything is done in the current bee hive.

00:06:42
So when I look at the role of the queen bee and why I love to lean into this, when I think about how I manage my time, my calendar, my life, really, there are some key elements here that I really lean into. One is, again, not doing everything I can't be responsible for, doing absolutely everything to make my life, my business, and my household run. I need help. We all need help, right? So what's important to know is what are the things that only I, Megan, can do so that I can give 100% to that and then allow other people to support me by doing the things that only they can do, right?

00:07:35
So leaning into what is your zone of genius? And then allowing yourself help and support in return, she is taking care of all the people that are helping and supporting her, right? So it's a very nurturing place. And when things are fully optimized, when the hive is running at its absolute best, that is only when they can now take on their next adventure, namely swarming and creating a new hive. You notice the queen bee is not working in six different hives, trying to do six things all at once and take care of all of that and running back and forth.

00:08:20
No. She has her systems and processes in place, and once all of the little cells are filled in that particular hive, then she is able to grow by moving on and giving her full attention to wherever they are going to grow. Now, the reason why I love this and I love it for absolutely everyone, and why I encourage all the women in my program to say, no, we are all the queen bees. It is not me, Megan, as the founder of the top program, no. I am the queen bee of my life.

00:08:52
And you, friend, are the queen bee of your life. And every person in your life is also the queen bee of their life. So when I think about my household, I have things that are my zone of genius that only I can do or that it's just better if I do it or I enjoy doing it. My husband has his things as well. My daughter has her things as well, or even silly dog does, right?

00:09:17
An extended family that I lean on and ask for help and friends. But each one of them, we are each serving as the queen bee in our own life. But then as we support and care for one another, it makes everything run smoother. And when everything's running smoother, right, when you're not tapped out, exhausted, overwhelmed, frazzled, stressed, etc. Guess what?

00:09:45
You two are sending out your own pheromone. That is that atmosphere, the attitude that you have, the approach to life that is letting others know all is okay. My daughter will be the first one to point out if things aren't going well because of the energy that is coming out of me, right? But when I am doing what I can do, when I am caring for those that I need to care for, when I am allowing them to care for me in return, that is when everything is running at its best and the energy that is coming out of me and everyone is one that is everything is okay. So I hope you've enjoyed this kind of educational lesson here today about the queen bee.

00:10:31
And if this has resonated with you, I would love for you to come over, find me on Instagram at Megan Sumrell, shoot me a DM and just say I'm the queen bee or just send me the emoji of the bee and the crown as well. And that lets me know that you are going to lean into you being the queen bee of your life. Because if we are all leaning into that, think of the incredible energy that we will all be able to have as we do what we are designed to do and support each other in the journey. Getting on top of all things time management, organization, and productivity doesn't have to stop just because this episode is over. If you want one, tap access to all of my training and current top podcasts, go to the App Store or Google Play, and download the Pink Bee app.

00:11:23
One word, the pink bee. It is jampacked with simple yet powerful tips and strategies to get you out of overwhelm and into harmony. And if you have a question you want me to cover on a future episode, go to iTunes and ask your question in the Podcast review section. And while you're there, don't forget to leave a five star review.