The Ransom Way

  What Is Productivity, Really? Ask ten people what “productivity” means and you’ll probably get ten different answers. For some, it’s about how many hours they put in. For others, it’s about staying busy all day long. But true productivity is neither about clocking hours nor filling time. Productivity is  about outcomes —  the results you  actually produce  — and the efficiency with which you produce them. Rethinking the Old Definition For years, corporate culture has equated productivity with hours worked. If you stayed late at the office, people assumed you were more productive. But that’s misleading. Hours don’t tell the whole story. Here’s a better way to frame it: Productivity = outcomes + efficiency. It’s not just what you finish, but how effectively you get there. If a task should take two hours but ends up taking eight, that’s not productivity — that’s wasted time. On the other hand, completing the same task in two focused hours is true productivity. Th...

  Business SOT: The Hidden Productivity of Journaling What if your most transformational work doesn’t look like “work” at all? We tend to measure productivity by what we can see: finished reports, signed deals , emails  answered. But there’s another kind of work that often gets overlooked — journaling. It doesn’t always look “busy,” but it can be one of the most productive practices you ever adopt. Why Journaling Looks “Light” — but Isn’t I used to dismiss journaling as light work. It didn’t feel as demanding as preparing a case or drafting a business plan. Sitting quietly with a pen and notebook didn’t  seem like productivity . But I’ve come to see that journaling is  actually heavy  work — not because it’s physically strenuous, but because it requires focus, time, honesty, and spiritual depth. When you’re journaling, you’re not just scribbling thoughts. You’re confronting ideas, clarifying priorities, and sometimes wrestling with God. That’s not light. That’s ...

  Hours vs. Outcomes — Why Hustle Culture Lies to Us You can start at 4 a.m., finish by noon, and accomplish your most important work. But instead of feeling satisfied, you feel… guilty. Why? Because hustle culture has conditioned us to believe that more hours = more success. The truth  is,  that’s a lie. The Lie of Hustle Culture We live in a world that praises exhaustion. Hustle culture glorifies long hours, busy schedules, and burnout as if they’re badges of honor. If you’re not “on” all the time, you’re told you’re falling behind. But here’s the problem: more hours don’t always equal more results. In fact, studies show that as people work more hours, their hourly productivity declines — fatigue, distraction, and diminishing returns set in. In practice, 3–5 hours of deep, focused work often produce more value than 8–10 hours of fragmented effort. A Personal Example When I was an attorney for the State, my workday officially started at 6:30 a.m. and ran until 3:00 p.m....

  From Hustle to Balance — My Breakthrough I’ve struggled with balance and time for years — until I journaled my way into a breakthrough. For most of my life, I believed productivity meant long hours, constant activity, and pushing myself until I had nothing left. If I started to get tired of working — even after I had already been at it for hours since 5:00 a.m. — I felt guilty for wanting to stop. I told myself I was being lazy, even though I had essentially worked a full day. That’s the mindset hustle  culture  trained me to have. But the truth is, hustle only left me exhausted — not successful. Lessons From My State Job When I worked for the State, I had a practice that changed everything. About three days a week, I would use my vacation time to leave by 1:00 p.m. And I started to notice something: those were my most productive days. Knowing I only had until 1:00 made me sharper and more focused. I could write a lot in an hour because I worked with urgency, not waste....

  Business SOT: Deep Work vs. Light Work — Knowing the Difference Why do some tasks leave you completely drained while others barely feel like work at all? The answer is simple: not all tasks are created equal. Productivity isn’t about how much you do — it’s about knowing the weight of each task and balancing them wisely. The Weight Classes of Work Over time, I’ve learned to classify my tasks into three weight categories. Once I started using this system, I was able to plan my days with more clarity and less guilt. Heavy (Deep Work):  Intense, high-focus activities that require deep concentration and creative or strategic thinking. For me, this includes journaling, writing legal briefs, preparing for hearings, or building strategy. Medium:  Tasks that require effort but don’t pull the same level of deep focus. For me, that might be reviewing a legal file or checking over work before it goes out. Light:  Supportive, low-intensity tasks that don’t require the same leve...

  🌿  Work-Life Balance Isn’t a Myth: How I Finally Broke Free From Hustle Culture About Me I’m Judy Ransom — an attorney, business strategist, and a woman of great faith. For nearly 26 years, I’ve practiced law, and along the way I’ve also built businesses—including a law practice, arbitration, and Turo. For a long time, I called those my “side hustles.” But even the language we use is deceiving—those ventures were not hustles, they were businesses God blessed me with. I’ve also built another income stream by managing my own dividend portfolio. That experience taught me one of the most important lessons about work-life balance: I don’t have to trade time for dollars. My money can earn money, which showed me the value of creating income streams that align with peace instead of pressure.  That doesn’t mean we don’t work hard—it means our hard work is intentional, focused, and aligned with purpose instead of driven by guilt or exhaustion. Years ago, God told me to stop sayi...

  What to Do When Others Don’t Believe What You Heard from God When God speaks something to your heart, it often won’t make sense to anyone else. Sometimes, it doesn’t even make sense to  you.  But deep down, you know what you heard. You felt His presence when He spoke it. You remember where you were, what you were doing, and the quiet certainty that followed. And yet, the moment you share it with someone, doubt may show up — not from within you, but through their response. You hear phrases like, “Are you sure?” or “That doesn’t sound realistic.” And suddenly, your once-bold faith starts to tremble under the weight of someone else’s logic. But here’s the truth: everyone isn’t meant to understand what God told  you.  Faith is often a solo journey until manifestation. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” —  2 Corinthians 5:7 There are seasons when God will ask you to carry something privately because the people around you aren’t ready to see it yet. They may...