How can you grow your business when you can barely keep on top of the day to day tasks that you need to do to keep it going? When you’re a high achiever, it’s natural to try and do #allthethings, but is it helpful or sustainable? No.

Don’t worry though, there’s one thing that will elevate your business to the next level, and save your sanity! The answer to your burnout pain is systems!

If you don’t know what business systems are, think about systems in nature - there’s ecosystems, the solar system, and your nervous system, to name a few. A system is a collection of interrelated processes or assets that work together toward a central goal. Processes within a system are the more linear step-by-step collection of tasks that take you from point (a) to point (b).

We’ll talk about both systems and processes in this post.

Systems will save you time, and make your workflow more efficient and productive. They also help you to anticipate where your energy needs to go in your business, meaning you’ll be feeling more in control and less reactionary when issues or even new ideas pop up. Systems also combat burnout, by creating a reliable, repeatable workflow and reducing time spent on busy work dramatically.

It might sound complicated to set up systems for your business, but it doesn’t have to be! I’ll walk you through a quick way to identify where you can build systems in your business and provide you with some practical tips to get started.

If you want to save time, focus on the fun stuff in your business, and stop doing busy work ALL THE TIME, you need systems, yesterday.

If you’re ready to completely change the way you work, and to become the master your personal productivity, check out Find Your Flow - we’re open for enrollment now, kicking off on November 30! We cover systems, and oh, so much more, it’s gonna be magic!

Identify Your Systems

You probably have systems in your business already but they might not be automated or optimized yet. Identify what kind of (rough or otherwise) systems you currently have (or need) in your business.

Areas in your business that benefit from systems include growth, marketing, sales, client management, staff management, communication, and more. At the very least you should have the intention to build growth, operations, and sales systems.

A growth system should be designed to optimize lead generation and client acquisition.

An operations system is a framework for your daily business tasks like client onboarding, admin, and production.

A sales system is how you sell your time or products - this includes things like webinars, sales calls, social selling, and tracking all of these.

When creating or optimizing your systems, look out for:

Repetitive tasks

Time-consuming tasks

Tasks that aren’t in your zone of genius

These are the main things you should be looking to systemize in your life or business.

You can have a mixture of manual and automated processes inside your systems, but the key is to lay them all out so that you have a plan to follow for these repetitive, time-consuming tasks, as well as for tasks that you don’t love doing - as a bonus having systems in place for these tasks and processes makes it a zillion times easier to delegate to a team member when you’re ready.

If you’re just getting started with systematizing your business, choose ONE thing to systemize first! You don’t have to do it all at once, so select the thing that you’ll get the most value out of streamlining right now.

Do a systems audit

Identify your processes

What are some day-to-day or regular weekly processes in your business?

What are the step-by-step tasks that you do for each one?

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time up-front analyzing all of this information, record these as you go about your regular work, and keep track of the steps that you take for each process.

Identify your tools

What software, apps, and tools do you need/use for this process? 

For example, if you’re recording regular videos, your list might look like this:

Tools: Ring light, DSLR camera, tripod, microphone, laptop

Software/Apps: Adobe Creative Suite, Screenflow, Loom, YouTube Studio

Other factors: Hair, makeup, wardrobe planning, and filming location setup

Identify the people

Even if you’re a solopreneur, think about where you could delegate tasks in the future - this will help you immensely when you hire your first assistant or staff member, because you have pre-emptively thought about the tasks that they would do, and you can build some operational systems for them to follow. If you do already have staff - think about what would be most valuable for you to delegate to them - remember the framework we used earlier - if the task is time-consuming, repetitive, or not in your zone of genius, you should aim to automate and delegate it where possible.

Identify your strategies

What are the tactics you’re using in this task/process?

For example, SEO keywords for YouTube, batching for video creation and editing, best practice design for end cards on your videos, affiliate links in the video description

Assess your current systems

What are you doing well?

Which tasks or processes in your business are running like a well-oiled machine? Perhaps certain steps in a process work well, while others could use some improvement. Make a list of the things that are already working well. You can also include the things you enjoy doing, or that fall into your zone of magic here.

What can be improved?

As above, perhaps there are some steps in a process or parts of a system that require some attention or have room for improvement. List out any aspects of your workflow that can be improved. Are some things you are doing repetitive? Could some of your tasks benefit from having a more clear workflow, template, or automation added in?

Are you using the best tools for this process?

Sometimes we do things a certain way because that’s the way we’ve always done them. Technology and workflow tools are constantly changing and being improved, so look into your toolset and see if there are any new apps, tools, or software that you can use to upgrade your systems.

Can any steps be removed or automated?

This part is really powerful! You can discover the things that you’re doing that are unnecessary and cut them out of your processes. You will also discover tasks that you currently do manually that can be automated, saving you tonnes of time over your day, week, and month.

Is the right person doing the work?

This is an opportunity to start treating your business like a business and to value your time as a CEO. (You can apply this to life as well!).

Storytime: When I was in one of my first jobs, I had a coworker who decided that he wouldn’t do anything on the weekend that he could pay someone $100/hour or less to do it for him. This included cleaning, washing his car, home improvements… I couldn’t believe it at the time. I think I was earning about $15 an hour and the thought of paying someone 6-7x my income to do things for me didn’t make sense. But thinking about it now - how much of our lives do we spend doing the busy work in our business and lives - how much value could we add by outsourcing those tasks?

No matter where you are in your business, start thinking about who the best person is to do certain tasks - if it’s not in your zone of genius, or if it’s repetitive, or time-consuming, start planning for someone else to take over those things. You don’t have to hire staff or pay for a personal chef or cleaner today, but consider outsourcing things as you grow so you can focus your energy on the CEO-level thinking that your business needs to get to the next level.

Is this system/process/task necessary for your larger goal?

So many of us are doing things because someone said we should be, but so often I see entrepreneurs burned out and stressed from trying to do it all. That’s why I encourage entrepreneurs to get crystal clear on their goals and intentions. When you have a clear vision, it’s much easier to dismiss the busy work and stay laser-focused on the most important activities that are going to move you toward your goals.

Look at your current processes and tasks, and confidently remove any that don’t serve your higher purpose. As seasons change in your business, there may be a time to re-introduce these things, but right now, be selective and single-minded about your purpose.

Is this process a good use of your time?

Does it fit your 80/20 rule? That is, 20% of your input (work, energy, time) generates 80% of your results (growth, sales, etc.). As a rule, you should be focusing your attention on these 20% activities - they are the most efficient, valuable, and impactful tasks that you do. If a task/process is not fitting into this rule, is it something that you can delete/reduce/automate out of your daily tasks?

As you identify and track your systems, you can then evaluate and improve them over time.

If you’re ready for the next step or would love personalized guidance around setting up your systems (and so much more productivity magic), don’t miss out on Find Your Flow! We’re open for enrollment now!

xo

Shell

We’ve all felt overwhelmed at some point in our lives. It’s that feeling we get when we have too much to deal with and not enough resources to deal with it all. It can be positive, like you’re overwhelmed with gratitude when something amazing happens, but a lot of the time, it can be negative, like having too much work and not enough time to complete it.

We’re not really taught how to deal with the negative aspect - we’re told to achieve as much as possible, to work hard, and to give our best. We’re not really taught how to prioritize + eliminate, nurture and be successful without ‘working hard’*. But it can be done!

*I have a mixed relationship with hard work! I believe it has it’s time and place but it shouldn’t be your default setting and it’s not the only way to succeed! We deserve more balance and enjoyment in life, don’t you think?

If you’re dealing with negative feelings of overwhelm in your life or business, don’t worry! You can lose those thoughts of

“This is too difficult”

“This will take me soooo much time”

and

“I’ll never get this done”.

A key factor in eliminating overwhelm is understanding why you’re feeling overwhelmed in the first place. It’s often related to doing #allthethings, whether it’s in your business or life. I have some good news! You have the power to stop the overwhelm and choose a less stressful way forward.

If you’re feeling burned out and overwhelmed in your business, I’m really excited to share my brand new course called Find Your Flow with you! Find Your Flow is a full productivity system for creatives who want to go from overwhelmed mess to organized, goal achieving badass! We’re open for enrollment between now and November 30, you can find out more info and enroll today using this link (we have some amazing bonuses for this round that you don’t want to miss!). I’d love to see you inside.

Here are the top 10 ways to overcome overwhelm:

1. You don’t have to do it all

Sure, you might *want* to do it all, but if that ‘want’ is leading you into overwhelm, it’s time to take a step back and assess the situation. When your to-do list is overwhelming you each day, try this exercise:

• Look at your tasks and see if any can be delegated to a team member, family member or even another time

• See if you can delete any tasks off your list. Is everything you’re doing 100% necessary? Or, a better question might be, are all of your tasks getting you the results you desire? Seriously, sit with this one. Maybe someone told you it’s necessary to create an original YouTube video every day, but you haven’t noticed a big difference in viewership, subscribers, or revenue to when you released one video a week. That is a CLEAR SIGN that creating a video every day is not 100% necessary. Be brutal with this and really hone in on the tasks that move you closer to your goals, and delete or reduce the other ones.

• You can always add more time to your deadline, but remember, unless you have a DeLorean, time can’t be bought back. If you just need an extra couple of days to wrap up a project occasionally, can you allocate that extra time to it so relieve your overwhelm? Then do it!

2. Have a Top 3 every day

If your to-do list has 10, 20, or even more tasks on it each day, you’re probably feeling overwhelmed (babycakes, why are you doing this to yourself?!). Before you wrap up your work day, select 3 tasks that you’ll do tomorrow that are the most effective at moving you towards your goals/vision. These are the things that will get you the biggest results. Hint: they might not be what you THINK you should be doing! Once again, step outside of the “shoulds” and analyse what is (and isn’t) working for you.

• When you are setting your tasks for the day, make sure that you are choosing your top 3 focus tasks that you are committed to doing that day - and just focus on those.

• Selecting these the day before is helpful, because you’ve been in your work all day and should have a good idea of what to do next, instead of taking time in the morning to ramp up your work energy and focus to make those decisions when you’re not in the zone.

3. Direct your thoughts

Overwhelm is often related to being stuck in your thoughts. You’re thinking “I’m too busy to get this done”, “How will I finish this by the deadline?”, “I’m going to f*$k!ng fail”, “I don’t have enough time”, - these thoughts start to distort and determine your reality. The good news is, you can choose to direct your thoughts differently.

• Your thoughts dictate your reality, so even though it might feel hokey at first, setting your intention will begin to shape your reality and move your thoughts away from “This is stressful.” to “This is easy.”

• Before you start your task(s), set your intention for how it will go. Think, write, or say out loud your own variation of these:

  • “I’m going to get this task done in the next hour.”

  • “This is going to be effortless and fun.”

  • “I’m in a flow state, and the results will come easily.”

• By directing your thoughts toward how easy, fun, and flow-y your task will be, you’re breaking out of the autopilot spiral of overwhelmed thoughts.

4. Clear out your work area

Yep, I just told you to clean your room! But seriously, the visual clutter surrounding you while you work adds to the feelings of overwhelm. Side note: this is not a procrastination exercise! 

• Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and start clearing up your space - wherever you’re at when the timer goes off is where you’ll stop for now.

• You don’t have to redecorate your office! Just tidy the space around your work area, and perhaps light a nice candle, or put something calming and pleasing in your space, like a crystal, a picture, or something else that reminds you to take a breath and enjoy your day.

• Spend 5 minutes at the end of each day tidying your work area, so when you are ready to work in the morning, you have a tabula rasa to get going without any distractions.

5. Become an observer

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s easy to get caught up in the stressful emotions of the situation. Stop zoning in on the problem and step outside of it to check the reality of the situation from another perspective.

• You can use meditation for this - close your eyes, take a few deep breathes, and then imagine you are sitting in your workspace. Now, imagine you are stepping out of your body and move away from yourself, observing the scene from a short distance. You’re removed from the emotion of the situation and are now an unattached observer. What do you notice about the situation now? What actions can the person in the scene take to move forward, quickly and easily? What can they stop doing to make things easier?

• If you have trouble visualizing, another way to do this is to think about how you would help a friend or family member who is dealing with the same overwhelm issue that you’ve come up against. Give advice to yourself as though you were offering it to your friend.

6. Use affirmations

When you’re inside of a stress response, your reptilian brain switches on - we’ve all heard about it - the flight or fight response. There’s actually two more responses that can be triggered here which are freeze (self-explanatory) and fawn - easily recognisable as a dog showing you it’s belly to gain favour. None of these responses are ideal when you’re not in an actual life threatening situation, but they often happen when we’re consumed with stressful and overwhelming thoughts. 

• You can use affirmations as a kind of negotiator between your mind and your emotions. Affirm to your conscious mind that you’re ok. You can use phrases like “I am safe.” “I am here.” “I am in control.” “I am protected.” etc. This is like a circuit breaker for your brain to stop these primal danger signals and allow you to refocus your perspective on the solutions instead of reacting to the triggers.

7. Have an HQ for your work

Working inside a chaotic system can be really overwhelming and stressful. Knowing where to find things (whether it’s physical or digital) - and being able to source any item you’re looking for in under a minute will reduce overwhelm in everyday moments.

• Create thoughtful systems for your work - from the way your files are organised, to how you reply to certain emails, to the way you plan your projects. Having a system in place saves time and reduces guesswork when you’re repeating a regular task.

• Gather your resources in one place - instead of having bits and pieces in a bunch of different apps, folders, on your desktop, on your phone… Have a “home” for everything so you know where it is and can access it quickly when you need it.

8. Create vs. Consume

Ah, the social media scroll. It gets us all, I know. Whether you’re scrolling Insta, or stuck in the research phase of a project, it can be hard to break the habit of looking to start doing! If you get overwhelmed with research or mindless scrolling try these:

• Set a timer for your social media excursions - limit yourself to 10-20 minutes max, and stop when the timer goes off.

• Engage meaningfully - leave thoughtful comments. Instead of just scrolling and occasionally double clicking, engage with the content consciously. Leave thoughtful comments if someone’s work helped you or made an impact. Save and share their posts if they’re relevant to your work/audience. Take it a little slower and absorb what you’re engaging with.

• Added bonus: Engaging on social media like this does wonders for your own account growth, too!

• Spend more time creating than consuming. Start by setting a timer for double the time of your consumption and work your way up. So if your “consumption” timer is 10 minutes, set your “creation” timer to 20 minutes. Gradually up the ratio, so for every minute of consumption, you’re doing a LOT more minutes of creation. You can decide which ratio works for you, but remember, creation is YOUR VISION and consumption is someone else’s agenda.

9. Convert what-if’s to even-if’s

When you’re stuck in overwhelm-doom-thoughts, your mind can easily spiral from “I don’t have enough time to get that done today” to “OMG I’m a failure I should just quit” to “I’m literally dead right now”. Yeah, I have a Masters degree in worrying too.

• Do a worst case scenario exercise. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your tasks, what would happen if you don’t do a particular task? What’s the absolute worst case scenario? How would you overcome if that situation unfolded in reality? While it’s unlikely that the worst will happen, using this fear setting exercise prepares your brain for how to react, and gives you a more measured perspective on the “what-if”.

• Switch the words from “What if I don’t do this….” to “Even if I don’t do this…” It’s a subtle change but a very different meaning emerges.

• Here’s an example of an old thought:

  “What if I can’t post on Instagram today?”
  “My business won’t grow and I’ll fail.”

  • New thought 1 - Highlight something you’re already doing
    “Even if I can’t post on Instagram every day, I am already growing my business by reaching potential clients through email every week.”

  • New thought 2 - Highlight your confidence in your work/self/the universe
    “Even if I can’t post on Instagram every day, I trust that my ideal clients will find me when they need my expertise.”

  • New thought 3 - Highlight a modified, but effective plan
    “Even if I can’t post on Instagram every day, I can reach my ideal clients by posting once a week and engaging meaningfully for 10 minutes each day.”

10. Action over observation

The most effective way to stop feeling overwhelmed is to start taking action. When you find yourself looking at everything you need to do and feeling frozen, try taking a small step forward. The action-taking pulls you out of observer mode and into action mode, calming the overwhelm and allowing you to make progress. To take a small step toward action, try:

• Breaking your main task down into smaller steps - these are more achievable than the “big thing” and the act of breaking the task down gives you clarity on where to start

• Set a timer for 25-45 minutes and start on the first step. You’re only committing to this action for a short time, so give it your full attention. (this is called the Pomodoro Technique).

• During this time, don’t do anything else except the task. That means no email, no phone notifications, no social media, no snack breaks. After your timer finishes, take 5 minutes for a break, and then start your longer timer again - either on the same task or, if that’s finished, move onto the next one in your sequence toward your larger main task.

• Repeat until you’ve finished at least ONE of your main tasks for the day (your main tasks should be 1-2 hour long tasks maximum, if they’re longer than that, break them down into smaller parts)

• Committing to action is really the only way to move forward! Make sure you’re taking action on IMPORTANT tasks and not just busy work. You’ll feel so much better when you complete one of your top 3 tasks rather than a bunch of random things.

Do you have any hot tips on how you snap out of the overwhelm feeling? Share your ideas in the comments or tag/DM me on Instagram, I love seeing other’s methods for dealing with their productivity blocks.

Don’t forget - if you’re feeling burned out and overwhelmed you will LOVE my brand new course Find Your Flow! You’ll learn how to build your own unique productivity system that suits your life - there’s no cookie-cutter solutions here. We’re open for enrollment between now and November 30, you can find out more info and enroll today using this link (I don’t want you to miss the discounted pricing and bonus calls I’m offering on this special launch round!). I’d love to see you inside.

xo

Shell

Would you believe me if I told you that you can build enough content ideas for 12 months in just 30-60 minutes! It seems too good to be true, right?

It’s not.

I’ve been using this method for years, and have recently “formalized” it (i.e. I got my shit together, finally) and it is a game changer.

Imagine having a database of content to draw upon whenever you’re feeling inspired?

Or having tonnes of ideas lined up for your monthly content creation batch days?

Or even having an entire year’s worth of content planned out in *minutes*.

Are you in?

All you need to know before you start is your niche.

If you’re unclear on your niche, take some time now to really think about what you want to be known for in your field. What do you want people to call on you as the expert? Where do your strengths lie? What do people constantly ask you about? What excites you? Have a little brainstorm and make sure you’re super clear on your niche before you proceed.

If you’re a multi-passionate like me, don’t worry - try to zone in on one of your passions, and know that you can always pivot, diversify or adapt your niche later on. The most important thing to do is to make a *tiny* decision now and take action.

ACTION ITEM

I created a 20+ page workbook that you can either print or fill in digitally as you go through this post, along with a template for content planning in Notion and/or Google Sheets (pick your poison). You can access all of the resources (FOR FREE) here. They’re not essential - you can use your own system, but they will save you time, and we’re all about that here.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Brainstorm your content pillars

What are content pillars and why do you need them?

Content pillars are simply the categories of content that you produce. They should be focussed on your specific niche, audience and products.

It’s great to set up a business system that utilises content pillars because when you follow them, your content will always be on brand, relevant and useful for your people. They give you a structure to create content around and take out the guesswork when you’re building a content plan, or even if you create content on the fly!

Your content pillars will fall underneath the larger umbrella that is your niche. If your niche is “Product Photography”, your pillars might be “Photographic Lighting”, “Technical Tutorials”, and “Photo Editing”.

If your niche is “Online Business for Course Creators”, your pillars might be “Content Marketing”, “Money Mindset”, “Course Creation”, and “Social Media Marketing”.

ACTION ITEM

I want you to go crazy with content pillar ideas! Write down as many content pillars that you can imagine! These are content pillars that you *might* use in your content creation, don’t edit yourself right now.

Step 2: Identify 3-5 content pillars

Ideally, you should focus on 3-5 content pillars. Having more than this can be overwhelming for you, and confusing for your audience. Don’t worry if it feels “too narrow” right now, you’d be surprised at the wealth of content that can fall under your 3-5 pillars. Make sure that the 3-5 pillars you select are topics that you love talking about, and are valuable to your ideal clients. Content creation should be fun, so make sure you choose pillars that you’re passionate about.

ACTION ITEM

Look at your brainstorm list and select your top 3-5 content pillars that you’ll focus on.

Step 3: Brainstorm content for each pillar

Now that you’ve chosen 3-5 content pillars that excite you and are in your zone of magic (your expertise!), it’s time to get brainstorming!

For each content pillar, it’s time to brainstorm 10+ ideas of content you could create. At this stage, just create a title or a one sentence description of your content idea, you can expand on it later. If you’re feeling inspired and have lots of ideas flowing, don’t stop at 10! Write out as many as you want, you can modify the list and clean it up later on.

To help you generate ideas here, think about the questions that people often ask you, either on social media, in your comments, or by email - these are a great starting point for generating content ideas! Answer the questions your audience are asking and you’ll be respected and viewed as an expert in no time. You can also think about your learning process for your niche. What did you struggle with in the beginning? What kind of challenges did you need to overcome? The chances are (my magic 8-ball says “it is certain”) that people in your audience have the same exact challenges - write about how they can be overcome!

If you’re allergic to math, by the end of this process you should have 30-50+ content ideas cooking!

ACTION ITEM

Get into a writing flow and just let all of your ideas pour out, don’t edit yourself right now! Write out as many ideas as you can think of, aim for a minimum of 10 topics you could create content around for each content pillar.

Step 4: Identify the purpose of each piece of content

You should have tonnes of ideas right now, so start out by mapping 2-3 pieces of content for each pillar. Alternately, you could choose to focus on one pillar per quarter, or alternate pillars each month. As usual, I want you to choose the plan that works for you! I get bored easily, so I use a mix-up of all of my content pillars, not sticking too closely to one theme or plan unless it’s for a launch and I want things to be super-focussed on a single topic.

To identify the purpose of each piece of content, think about the way you were taught to gather information way back in elementary school. That’s right! Good old Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How! This is a great way to create content with integrity and purpose, and is used by journalists and professionals all the time.

WHO is this piece of content for?

Beginner business owners, or entrepreneurs looking to hit 7 figures? Both might fall under your “Course Creators” niche, but the content will be super different for each “Who”.

WHAT is this content for?

You can simply include the Call to Action for your content here. What action would you like people to take when they interact with your content? What outcome will they have?

WHEN is this content relevant? [optional]

This step is optional, but have a think about it. Ideally you should be creating content that is evergreen, but sometimes seasonal content is appropriate. For example, if you have a cooking blog, perhaps you have seasonal content, so note down the “When” your idea is due to be published.

WHERE will this content live?

I recommend having one primary home for your content, especially if you’re just starting out. Make sure to label where this content will live, for example “Blog Post”, “Podcast”, “YouTube”, etc. You should always repurpose your content as much as possible, so if your primary “where” is a blog post, make sure that you take that blog post and turn it into social media content, a livestream, or something else! You should be able to create 10-20 pieces of smaller content from each “main content” piece.

WHY should your audience consume this content?

Why is this content important and how will it help them? I like to think about my website tags (which fall a layer under my “categories, or pillars”) as my why. You could also think about this like hashtags on Instagram - why does someone need this? Is it a #productivityhack, #biztips, #moneymindest?

HOW can your audience use this content?

How can they connect with you on a deeper level? How can they find out more? This part of your content is a great place to think about linking your services, your other relevant content, and your social media channels.

ACTION ITEM

Note down your WWWWWH for 2-3 content ideas for each pillar. It’s ok to repeat these answers where it’s appropriate!

Step 5: Map out your content library

For this stage, I’d recommend creating a system for tracking your content. I have gone ahead and created a Google Content Creation Spreadsheet template along with a Notion Content Creation template that you can use to map out your content clearly. You can grab those along with the Ultimate Content Creation Workbook for Creative Entrepreneurs here.

This is where you can map out your calendar and plan content for the year! I personally prefer to have the freedom to pick and choose ideas on a shorter time frame, so I treat this content as a database of ideas. But some people might like the feeling of having everything mapped out for the year, so you do you! If you don’t want to commit to an order of posts or certain dates, just leave the publishing and/or due date blank so you can draw upon these content ideas when you’re batching your content monthly, or quarterly. If you don’t already batch your content, check out my in-depth post here.

Here are some things you can include in your content library to make the creation process smooth as butter:

1. Title

   This might be your final title or just a simple description of the content

2. Status

   I have a little dropdown color-coded selection in Notion to show if a post is Published, Ready (to publish), Review (final edit needed), Draft, Outline, Idea - these may change depending on your content - if it’s video or audio (like for a podcast), then you’d want to change these to include things like “recorded”, “scheduled”, or similar.

3. Author

   Use this if you have multiple people creating content on your platform

4. Due Date

   When the draft is due, or you want the content finished (different from the publishing date, right? Riiiiight?)

5. Published Date

   The date your content is “live”

6. Content Pillar

   Another lil dropdown menu to show the category this content fits under

7. Opt-in freebie

   Include any resources or downloads that will give your audience something extra related to your content (and add it as a download to your content)

8. Call to Action

   What do you want your audience to do after consuming this content? Subscribe to your email list? Get further information on how to work with you? Download something?

9. Resources list

   Include a list of resources related to your post, or further reading at the end of your content

10. Related product or service

    Note whether this content is related to a product or service that you offer - have you mentioned it in the post? Or linked your sales funnel to the post in some way?

11. Channels

    Select where this post has been published - I do this after the fact so I can see at a glance where this content lives.

12. SEO friendly title

    This is an SEO friendly (hint: using your keyword!) title that appears in search results - you can change this in Squarespace under the “SEO” tab on your blog post.

13. Meta Description

    A short SEO friendly description of your post (including a long tail keyword) that will appear under the title in search results

14. Images

    Notes on images to be created, or a link to your images to be used in this piece of content

15. Keywords

    Use a tool like Ubersuggest to gather relevant keywords and long tail keywords to include in your post (so people can find your juicy content!)

16. Headline Ideas

    Note down your headline ideas here - they’re really important so spend some time on this, I usually brainstorm 15-30 before choosing one.

17. Content Notes

    You can outline your ideas or make notes here

18. Hashtags

    Jot down any hashtags you come across in your research, or if you know any that will be suitable for this content when you share it to social media. I do like to keep a whole separate document of hashtags, but that’s another post!

19. URL link

    Once the content is published, copy the URL here for your reference

20. Word count

    I like to include my word count goal, and update it when the post is done for reference

21. Social sharing checkboxes

    As you’ll see in the template I’ve created, there are checkboxes for sharing this content on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. It’s way more efficient to re-purpose long-form content for social, and your brain only has to come up with one idea that can be divested into 10-20 (or more) pieces of content

22. Virality/traffic notes

    Once the post is published, check in periodically and keep notes if it is popular - your popular posts are prime candidates for updates or upgrades later on, as well as keeping them fresh with your latest offers and freebies (as relevant).

ACTION ITEM

Transfer all of your content pillars, ideas and planning notes into your project management system. If you don’t want to put a due date or strict schedule, leave that part blank for now, but still put your ideas in the database. Whenever you’re ready to create content, you’ll have a library of ideas (a whole year’s worth!) ready at your fingertips. Don’t forget to grab your Google Sheets or Notion templates to make this process super quick and easy!

You’re all set!

Whenever you get a new idea, you can pop the “title” into your planner and select the content pillar it falls under, then get back to what you were doing. Using this kind of system is awesome for honoring your time that you’ve dedicated to certain tasks, without ‘losing’ the ideas that come up as you go about your day.

Whenever you’re in content creation mode, you won’t have to stare and a blank screen, you’ll always have tonnes of ideas to use. It’s a win-win.

I’d love to see your content creation adventures, so comment below, or even better, share them with me on Instagram. And if you know someone who would benefit from this information, be an awesome friend and share the post with them!

xo

Shell

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

😎Grab the FREE Ultimate Content Creation Guide (20+ page workbook and templates!) for Creative Entrepreneurs

RELATED RESOURCES:

⚡️Join the FREE 7 day course, Productivity For Creative Thinkers

FOLLOW SHELL ON SOCIAL:

🦄Instagram: https://instagram.com/kittyandbuck

🦄Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kittyandbuck 

🦄Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/kittyandbuck

RELATED CONTENT:

🔮Get your FREE 12-month Habit Tracker

⏱Read this post: Time Management for Creatives

🔥Read this post: How to Turn Your Clients into Raving Fans

💡Check out my FREE resources guide for your creative online business

Do you ever find yourself at the end of a long day, wondering what in the actual heck you got done? Or you find yourself exhausted, having completed what feels like a zillion tasks and you’re still not done, so you finish working way too late, still feeling guilty about your lack of progress? I’ve been there too! Sometimes it seems no matter how much effort you put in, you can’t seem to clear your to-do list. When I started looking into my own productivity more deeply, I realised that I wasted SO MUCH TIME flitting between tasks, trying to get it all done in my business every day.

But I’m great at multi-tasking!

We all know that multi-tasking is a myth (right? Right?!) - humans are not able to work simultaneously on tasks - what is actually happening when we ‘multi-task’ is that our brain is switching *very* quickly between the tasks, and only ever focussing on one thing at a time. So when we’re doing multiple things at once, our brains are flying around like little hummingbirds, trying to keep up. It’s exhausting, especially for long periods of time. Not to mention the constant switching means that you’re never really fully present on a task.

The problem with task switching

Another thing that will trip up even the most motivated, focussed person is task switching. Multi-tasking is a form of task switching, but we can also task switch on a more macro level. When you’re working on a regular day, if you open an email, answer it, write an article, edit the photos for the article, check your email and answer a few more, prepare an Instagram caption, take a picture for the Instagram post, browse Instagram, and then do some hashtag research, you’re task switching all over the place!

Every time that you shift your attention from one thing to another, and from one kind of working (writing) to another (taking photos), there’s a period of catch-up time involved, while your brain switches gears. Sometimes it’s quick and you’ll barely notice the ‘changeover’, and other times it can take 30 minutes to ‘get in the zone’ of the new task. Imagine you’re switching tasks 8 times in a day, that could be up to 3-4 hours of time that you’re spending playing catch-up and refocussing. That’s an insane amount of wasted time, right?

So, is there another way to work?

Enter batching - it’s main purpose as a productivity hack is to “batch” similar tasks together, so that you can reduce or eliminate task switching in your day. If batching sounds exhausting to you, don’t worry! There are no hard and fast rules in my book when it comes to batching. Bringing awareness to your work habits and starting to group your tasks into themes will get you started on the batching process, and from there you can work out the best way to batch according to your personal way of working, energy levels and focus. Batch to make your life easier and flowier, not harder and more tiring!

Batching tasks is a more efficient use of your time, because you get into a state of flow doing one task, instead of stopping and starting different tasks constantly.

When you get into a batching routine, you’ll skyrocket your productivity and easily double, triple or even 10x your output.

(in the same amount of time or less than you are currently spending on the same tasks)

General batching tips

Compress your time

Look at a larger time-frames than ‘daily’ when you’re dividing your work into "batches". You want to think about your work in ‘weekly’ or even ‘monthly’ time-frames. So instead of writing an Instagram caption, editing a photo, researching hashtags, posting, and doing some interaction on your account every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3pm, you could spend a half day once a month editing your photos, writing your captions, and planning hashtags for the following month. You would then schedule all of these into an app that automates your posting using your schedule.

Further splitting that half day down, you might spend 2 hours writing captions, 1 hour editing photos, 30 minutes on hashtags, and 30 minutes on scheduling. (Disclaimer - personally, I need more time than this to create 12 Instagram posts - the amount of time you set aside will depend on how you personally work)

For my more visual friends, here’s another way of looking at this:

Change from this way of working:

Every Monday

Post 1: Take and/or edit photo

Post 1: Write caption

Post 1: Research hashtags

Post 1: Post and do some community interaction

Every Wednesday:

Post 2: Take and/or edit photo

Post 2: Write caption

Etc.

To this way of working:

First Monday of each month:

Edit photos: 12 posts

Write captions: 12 posts

Research hashtags: 12 posts

Posting schedule: 12 posts

Be realistic with your time

Be realistic about how long a task takes. If you don’t have any data (i.e. You haven’t time-tracked before to know how long something takes), my golden rule is to estimate how long something will take and triple it. So if you think "that'll only take 20 minutes", allow 1 hour in your schedule planning. You can adjust these 'guesstimates' as you go, the more you repeat a task, the clearer you will get on how long it takes (especially if you track how long the task takes using an app like toggl.)

Plan and tag your tasks

Use a tagging system to develop your batching plan. This could be using a colour code for your tasks, using an emoji or icon at the beginning of each task, or using a code like “HW” for housework, and “WR” for writing. In doing this, when you're blocking out your time, you can see at a glance how much time you're spending in each area, and what themes your day holds. It will also help you group “like” items at a glance, and balance your days with tasks that mesh well together. For example, if you know you feel mentally exhausted after writing for 4 hours, you can organise your day with writing in the A.M., followed by something less mentally intensive, like housework, in the P.M.

If you’re ready to start batching in your business (you’re ready, I know!), follow along with the plan below to get started.

Prepare Your Batching Plan

List out your weekly tasks

Write out a list of your tasks that you need to add to your calendar for the week. I like to include my 'personal' as well as 'work' items so that I make time for my self-care and give it as much importance as the tasks I schedule for my business.

Example list:

• Client 1 project

• Client 2 project

• Client 3 project

• Social Media Marketing

• Blog Post

• Email Newsletter

• Exercise

• Meditation

• Meal Planning

• Quality time with partner/friends/family

• Fun/Enjoyment

• Research and Learning

Once you have the list of tasks written out, try to break down larger tasks into smaller steps too, for example:

Client 1 [Motion graphics project]:

Research and pre-production, design mockups, character design, background design, animation, reviews, rendering, etc.

Blog post:

Research, brainstorm ideas, gather links, create outline, write first draft, design supplementary materials, edit and finesse post, design post layout, prepare social media posts, etc. 

Get familiar with how much time you spend on each area or task each week, and start to explore how you can tweak your schedule to suit your desirable reality, by focussing your time on the areas that matter most to you.

Start batching with one task

Some people batch their whole lives, but I personally find that a bit inflexible for how I work. There are certain repetitive tasks that I do though, which make sense for me to batch. To get started with batching, look at your list and pull out one item that you do regularly. It might be content creation, like a blog post, YouTube video recording, Podcast recording, or something else you do often, like preparing posts for social media. You can even batch food prep in your kitchen! We're gonna condense your timeline and more than double your effectiveness in your chosen task!

Break your chosen item into smaller pieces and group them into similar categories. For example - Recording a YouTube video:

• Outline video idea [planning]

• Write out rough script/prompts [planning]

• Set up camera and lighting [setup]

• Record video [recording]

• Create graphics/cutaways for video [post-production]

• Edit video [post-production]

• Add sound fx and music [post-production]

• Create opener/closing graphics and promos [post production]

• Promotion on social media, to audience in email etc. [marketing]

• Re-purpose for IGTV [post-production]

Once again, categorise tasks in a way that makes sense to you - maybe you’d rather group all graphic and promo creation as it’s own task and keep editing and sound in post-production.

Time to get batch-y

Remember, the purpose of batching is to group similar tasks into a group, so that you can be more efficient with your work and energy, with less distractions.

For the examples below, we're going to use a blogger/content creator. You can apply the idea to anything, though. Remember, you're simply grouping similar tasks together, and creating some flow in your work, rather than a stop-start task-switching pattern.

If this is for your side hustle, or you're working on personal projects, batching will save you SO MUCH time in the hours outside of your full-time job/client work too!

Decide how often you want to do your task 

e.g. You want to publish one blog post every week, and you only want to work on blog post creation once a month.

In this case, you would need to create 4 blog posts, once a month.

The beauty of batching is that you can build flexibility and a buffer into your schedule too.

Ideally you'd want to build in a buffer into your creation plan, so you should actually aim for 5-6 blog posts created, once a month. That way if you can't create 4 blog posts on your next batch creation day for some reason, you have some wiggle room to postpone it, or prioritise other things if needed, without falling behind.

Adding a buffer in, you would aim to create 6 blog posts, once a month.

Consider how much time you need to write a blog post. Is it 1.5 hours per post? You want to write 6 posts?

Set aside 2 days a month for batching your monthly blog post creation.

What prep work do you need to do?

It's unlikely that you can jump right into writing a blog post, or creating other content. There's reading, research, gathering references, sourcing images, creating an outline...

Set aside some pre-production time to brainstorm, research, and create an outline for your pieces of content. Let's say it takes you about 1 hour per post, and you're going to plan out 6 posts.

Set aside 6 hours a month for blog post prep work.

What post-production work do you need to do?

If you're a blogger, you know the work isn't done when you hit publish on a post. You need to get your post out there! This might include creating graphics for social media, writing captions, finding hashtags, scheduling posts for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.

Once again, plan out how long each task takes you, and batch them out. Best practice would be doing all of your graphics in one batch, writing your captions in another batch, doing scheduling in a 3rd batch, etc. Choose what feels natural and easy for you.

You should also repurpose this content as much as possible, so you can drag + drop Pinterest graphic elements into an Instagram Story graphic template, and re-use parts of captions across multiple channels. Same goes for hashtags and SEO keywords.

To save time, when I'm creating content, I like to highlight phrases or note down ideas, keywords, and other text that will work for social media captions into a seperate document, so that I can draw on these for this process.

Set aside 1-2 days for blog post promotion (depending how much content you're making!)

Here's a rough visual plan for blog-and-social-content batching week:

If you're interested in how much you can promote or re-purpose one piece of content, you could use a single blog post to create:

• 5-10+ Pinterest posts (different, but relevant, graphics and text)

• 5 Instagram posts (exploring small ideas/sections from your larger blog post, or asking questions/providing prompts about the post content to your audience)

• 5 Instagram story pieces (might be more than one 'frame' for each 'piece')

• 3-5 Facebook posts (pulling out different parts of the post, asking questions, or expanding on the content provided in the post)

• 10-20 Twitter posts with different wording and a link to the blog post

• 1-2 livestreams or trainings on Instagram or Facebook

• 1-2 email newsletters to your mailing list (this could be included with exclusive content for your mailing list, or as a curated list of resources that links to your blog posts once a month)

Notes on batching

Depending on your content, these tasks might need more or less time (even if you're a blogger like in the example), or you might want to do more or less post-production, for example. Adjust this rough example to suit your needs.

If you struggle to get through the amount of work you've allocated for your batching session, spread it out over more time, or do a little less, more often. There's no right or wrong way to batch! The name of the game is flow, efficiency and removing distractions. Test it out and see what works best for you. Don’t force yourself to commit to a full week of content creation once a month if you work better with shorter periods of focus. Maybe one post a week is easier for you, and you’d prefer to spend one day a week creating that content instead. Whatever works for you is the best way for you to work, forget what everyone else tells you that you SHOULD be doing.

With the above example, you've got a full week of content creation, every month. slowly building your buffer so that in 8 months, you'll potentially have 4 months of content prepared in advance! Using batching is an awesome way to 2x, 5x or even 10x your output, as you get into the zone of creation, you remove other distractions, condense your workflow, and blast through the work while you're in that sweet state of flow. Having content prepared with a buffer also removes the stress and rush from content creation (or meal prep, or whatever it is that you’re batching).

Make sure that you protect your batching days from other work, because mixing in other tasks will dilute the power of batching.

Batching works best when you set your intentions clearly, and hold yourself accountable to your commitment. Schedule your batch days out in advance (in this example I would have a dedicated content creation week every month), starting with a 3 month outlook. Your priorities and business needs change throughout the year, so working in seasons of 90 days, you can react, re-adjust and re-align your plans regularly.

Share your ideas about what you can batch in your business in the comments, or hit me up on Instagram! I love hearing ideas about how you maximize your time.

RELATED RESOURCES:

⚡️Join the FREE 7 day course, Productivity For Creative Thinkers

FOLLOW SHELL ON SOCIAL:

🦄Instagram: https://instagram.com/kittyandbuck

🦄Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kittyandbuck 

🦄Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/kittyandbuck

RELATED CONTENT:

🔮Get your FREE 12-month Habit Tracker

⏱Read this post: Time Management for Creatives

🔥Read this post: How to Turn Your Clients into Raving Fans

💡Check out my FREE resources guide for your creative online business

That’s why you should always ask these three questions (to your client, or to yourself!) before starting a new project:

1. What is the measurable outcome and product (deliverables)?

2. What’s the deadline? (Bonus question! What milestones and work in progress reviews will be required along the way?)

3. How will we communicate and manage the project?

Let’s look at these questions in more detail and explore why they’re so important.

1. What is the measurable outcome and product (deliverables)?

What is the product (deliverables) that will be created with this project? Is it a package or suite of products (like a branding exercise), or is it one final product (like a 2 minute long video formatted for YouTube)? If there is more than one deliverable, create a checklist of everything that will be delivered at the end of the project. If you’re working with a client, make sure that you reach an agreement (in writing) of what the deliverables are.

It’s also super important to have a clear, measurable goal - what is the purpose of this project? Make sure you (and your client, if you have one) understand the goals of this project. A self-driven project may be to improve your 3d texturing skills using Redshift (that will be used as a showreel piece). The client may be requesting a rebrand to appeal to a new demographic. The WHY of the project is just as important as the WHAT - especially if multiple people are involved. It’s essential that you’re all on the same page.

Here’s an example:

This project is a six-part video series that is designed to let our existing audience know about our product launch in July 2020. We would also like to attract new followers by using the video series as paid advertising on YouTube and Instagram Stories. Our outcome goals are increased brand recognition and traffic to our online store increasing by 15% during the campaign.

The deliverables are:

• Six [1-minute] long videos formatted for YouTube

• Six cutdown versions of the 1 minute videos, each [15 seconds] in duration, formatted for Instagram Stories

Even if this is a self-driven project, thinking about these things will guarantee your success SO MUCH MORE than just feeling around in the dark, hoping your inspiration pulls you toward a goal.

Here’s a quick fill-in-the-blank exercise:

“The purpose of this project is to ________ so that ________“

For example:

“The purpose of this project is to increase our brand recognition so that we increase traffic to our store by 15% during the new product launch.”

Create a checklist of deliverables for every project, including EVERY file that needs to be delivered. So if it’s a video, include one item on the list for every format, including short cutdown versions, different frame sizes, etc. Including any technical information here is helpful too such as video frame rates or print color profiles.

Sample checklist:

Video 1:

• YouTube video - 1 minute long 16:9

• YouTube video - 30 second cutdown 16:9

• Facebook feed video - 1 minute long, with subtitles, portrait format 4:5

• Facebook feed video - 1 minute long, with subtitles, square format (for A/B testing with portrait format) 1:1

• Instagram stories video - 15 seconds long, cutdown of YouTube video - Add emoji and stories captions Stories format 9:16

Video 2:

• YouTube….

• …

etc.

2. What’s the deadline?

(Bonus question! What milestones and work in progress reviews will be required along the way?)

Don’t make the mistake of thinking this isn’t important when you’re working on a self-driven creative project. Having an end in sight for personal projects is one of the most motivating factors to keep you going when the creative process gets tough.'

Make sure that you decide on and agree to a firm deadline for the project. Be clear on the date and time. Having an open-ended deadline for creative work is basically the kiss of death. Creative work isn’t easy to measure in terms of it being finished, you can tweak and adjust it endlessly, so having a deadline reinforces the most wise advice ever given to creators:

Done is better than perfect.

Always use the deadline as your starting point for mapping out a project schedule, working backwards, adding in time for feedback and revisions alongside your pre-production, production and post-production time (or other steps you need to take in your project).

If you choose to install some milestones and check-ins along the way, it will depend a lot on the kind of project you’re working on.

Let’s use a video project as an example again:

Deadline:

The project duration is 10 days (2 weeks) starting Monday. The deadline is “x” date, 5pm.

Milestones:

Day 1, 9am: Kickoff meeting/briefing with client

Day 1, 5pm: Deliver a mood board and color palette for approval/review

Day 2 midday: Client approval of mood board/color palette

Day 3, 5pm: Deliver a storyboard and rough designs for graphics for approval/review

Day 4, midday: Client approval of storyboards and rough designs

Day 5, 5pm: Deliver a first edit

Day 6, 5pm: Client feedback on first edit

Day 7, 5pm: Deliver second edit with sound design

Day 8, 5pm: Final client feedback/approval

Day 10, 5pm: Final delivery

Deciding on important parts of the project that require review, approval and assessment is essential for a smooth workflow. Don’t forget to include time for pre-production, planning, and research.

Another thing that is often overlooked is how long the client can take to review work in progress (WIP) submissions. Make sure that there is a contingency plan for client delays, especially if there are a lot of stakeholders involved with various levels of approval. If a client is late in providing feedback, make sure that they understand the deadline will need to be extended, or there will be some other penalty 🤑, because you do not want to be doing all-nighters to meet their deadline when the client has delayed your work.

All of these discussions should take place BEFORE starting work, giving you and the client time to plan for reviews and revisions in your respective schedules.

Something to consider when building your schedule for a project is a buffer for saving files, rendering video files (if you need that), upload time on your end, PLUS download time on the client’s end. All of these things can add hours to a project, so make sure you have a contingency in your schedule to allow for the “admin” stuff at the end of the project.

3. How will we communicate and manage the project?

Having clear expectations about communication at the beginning of a project is SO important, especially if you’re working remotely, or managing multiple projects at once. Even if you’re working solo, you need to have a clear project management system in place - how will you organise your files, keep track of your progress, and manage feedback and revisions?

Communication methods:

Work out a plan of HOW you’ll communicate with the client, WHEN you’ll communicate and how files will be delivered, along with how their feedback will be sent. There’s lots of feedback tools available - two that I love are:

Dropbox Paper [FREE]: Allows clients to give annotated feedback, as well as keeping all of your communications in one place.

Frame.io [PAID]: Powerful tool for video feedback, with clients able to comment on videos, it also includes version management for your files (so you can see what’s been revised) and more.

If your client feedback is coming in via email or slack, there’s a new communication tool that’s just been released (I love this SO MUCH). It’s called replier.app by the Jacky Winter Group. It’s an intuitive text formatting system that makes it incredibly simple to craft clean responses to emails, removing clutter like indents and keeping important things like bullet points in your responses. It also allows you to call out highlights from an email that require a response. You should definitely check out their introduction (with fun animations) and the replier.app if you’re sending and receiving a lot of client feedback emails. It’s a game changer for making those fiddly client email communications smooth, efficient and clear again.

To prevent admin creep into your creative process, you and the client should both agree to be efficient in your communications. I like to schedule daily check-ins (AM and PM) if needed, or limit contact to the days when progress submissions and feedback are submitted.

Managing the project:

There are lots of project management systems that allow clients and creators to collaborate, so it’s possible that your client will ask you to use their system. It could be Trello, Asana, Notion, Wrike, Google Apps (Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc.), Dropbox Paper, or something similar. If they don’t have a system in place, decide at the beginning how you will communicate about the project (Slack, email, Zoom, by phone?) and where you will keep project information such as briefs, scripts, progress spreadsheets, working files and file submissions.

Decide if you will collaborate with someone in the project management software, and make sure you all have access. I usually work in my own project management software and ensure client communications and feedback are ALL recorded there for my reference.

For my work, I normally use a combination of project management app (like Asana), a file and document hub (like Google Drive or Dropbox) and a communication medium (like email or Slack).

I like to use Asana (and more recently, Notion!) as my hub, so that’s where all project deadlines and milestones will be added, as well as to-do tasks (with due dates), copies of client communications and links to external files. You can integrate email with Asana (and most project management apps), so set up a system that makes sense to you.

It’s worthwhile creating (or downloading) a project management app template that will serve as your standard project base, so that you don’t have to set it up the way you like each time you start a new project.

Outside of project management software, you will probably have files - artwork, video files, code snippets, related to your project. Having a clean workflow and file naming convention will speed up your work and ensure you don’t get lost in a sea of files. I know it feels super nerdy, but it helps to have a SYSTEM in place for all work that you do. It removes confusion and wasted time if you need to find the version of your photoshop file from last week when the client decides that they liked that better, or the footage from edit_02 when you’re up to edit_27. The client may also have naming conventions that need to be followed, so ensure that is communicated up front in the deliverables information.

Final thoughts:

To feel in control of a project, you only need to spend 5-10 minutes every morning, and again at the end of each day organizing your project files, feedback notes and progress versions in your project management hub (even if it’s a google doc and calendar). It’s a short amount of time to spend for maximum results. Having a well organized project will save you time, reduce stress and make the process so much more enjoyable for everyone involved.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

🔮Project Management Software:

• Trello

• Asana

• Notion

• Wrike

• Google Apps (Drive, Docs, Sheets)

• Dropbox Paper

🥇Client feedback and communication tools:

• replier.app (with introduction here)

• Frame.io

• Dropbox Paper

• Slack

• Zoom

FOLLOW SHELL ON SOCIAL:

🦄Instagram: https://instagram.com/kittyandbuck

🦄Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kittyandbuck 

🦄Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/kittyandbuck

RELATED CONTENT:

⚡️Join my FREE 7-day course, Productivity For Creative Thinkers

🌱Build good habits (with a FREE habit tracker): How to Create Good Habits (and Stick With Them)

🔥Read this post: How to Turn Your Clients into Raving Fans

💡Check out my FREE resources guide for your creative online business

What is a habit, anyway?

Lets wind waaaay back to the beginning and define exactly what a habit is, before we start creating habits randomly. A habit is defined as an activity or practice that you do automatically, or regularly, without (too much) thought. Sometimes habits can be addictions too, which follows the same logic. You might’ve seen articles or heard podcasts that break down the habits of highly successful people, or the habits of wealthy people, or the habits of aspirational goddesses. There’s no magical combination of habits that you can copy that will earn YOU success, that’s something you need to figure out your own special formula for. BUT there’s a lot to be said for cultivating some good habits in your every day life that will carry you towards your dreamiest goals.

Why is having habits important?

Habits have a way of anchoring certain activities into your day. Having habitual practice can make (or break) the goals you have set for your life and business. It’s super important to set a few activities as non-negotiables in your day in order to propel yourself forward, create structure, and help you to focus on the most important tasks for your day.

Habits help you to stick to your priorities without getting distracted. Having a morning routine, which is simply a set of habits, can give you clarity when you first wake up, and set you up for a successful day, whether your focus is work or fun. You can scatter habits at any point throughout the day, and they can be used as anchors for switching activities, or for focussing your mind on the next task.

Here’s a few examples to illustrate why having good habits can set you up for success:

You have a habit of exercising every morning as soon as you get out of bed.

This habit is something that is done FIRST in the morning. If you’ve ever tried to make exercise a priority in your life, you will KNOW how hard this can be without a routine. Having it set in your mind as the very first thing that you do when you get out of bed prevents you from getting distracted doing something else instead, and has the added bonus of getting your body moving and your blood pumping so you’re alert and awake for the next thing in your morning.

You have a habit of turning off your computer at 5pm every day.

Working from home, or working on your own business or side hustle can become all-encompassing in your life. I have been guilty of sitting at my computer long into the night (and let’s face it, into the next morning), with no clear boundary on when work stops. Having a conscious habit of TURNING OFF your computer (or closing your laptop, or turning off email notifications for the day) at a certain time informs your brain that the task is finished and it’s time to move onto the next thing.

You have a habit of practicing a no-technology day once a week.

Setting aside time to spend without your loved one (your iPhone) at your side seems like a huge sacrifice, but imagine the benefits it could give you! Removing the distraction of technology once a week, or even just once a month, can open you up to some fresh ideas and quality time spent with yourself, or your friends/family. Being conscious of how you spend your free time, and doing something tech-free gives you access to new ways of thinking, and being more present in your environment and relationships.

I went ahead and built out a full 12-month habit tracker in Google Sheets for you to use. Click on the button below to grab that magic and get tracking today!

What’s the difference between a good habit and a bad habit?

It could easily be said that unhealthy habits are “bad” and healthy habits are “good”, but it’s not really that simple. At first glance, having an exercise habit is obviously good, and healthy, right? What if you start exercising 6 hours every day (and you’re not training to be in the next Marvel movie?) - is it healthy then? Being smart about your habits, making sure they feel good, empowering and valuable to you is the most important thing. Habits are a super-personal thing too, so habits that other people swear by might not float your boat, and THAT’S OK. You do you, babe!

How do I develop a good habit?

I hear you, it’s great to know all about habits, but how can you develop some habits of your own? Then, once you’ve created a habit, how can you stick with it and make it a priority?

Creating good habits doesn’t have to be a chore, or difficult. And there are a few ways you can go about it (yay!!).

1. Start with small habit changes

If something seems like it’s going to be challenging, annoying or just difficult to stick with, your brain will try to protect you from that perceived pain at all costs. I know that you’re better than sabotaging yourself, so let’s start small.

If getting up every morning and running 5k makes you want to sob, how about running 2k? Still no? Why not try running 1k? There’s no limit to how small you can go… getting up and stretching? Go for it! Even by just putting your gym clothes on (and that’s all), you are STARTING a habit, no matter how small. Suddenly, the barrier to entry is much lower and your brain, which will always take the path of least resistance, will put up waaaaay less of a fight to the command “Put gym clothes on” to “Run 5k, now!” if it’s a new habit that you’re trying to develop.

The trick with starting small is to commit to the small action every day, and little by little, expand upon it, add another tiny challenge each day, and in no time you’ll be ready to (happily) commit to your 5k run every morning.

2. Try habit chaining

Habit what-now? I’m willing to be that you have at least SOME habits already in your daily routine. Some things that you do every day, no matter how small. Some examples might be brushing your teeth, showering, making breakfast, waking up, eating lunch, or getting ready for bed.

Habit chaining is the practice of ADDING your new, desired habit onto one of your existing habits. That way, you don’t need to create a new habit schedule for your day, you can simply tag a new habit onto an old one. Like a chain… a chain of beautiful, powerful habits.

Let’s say you want to start a habit of dream journaling every morning. The best time to journal your dreams is the moment you wake up, so before picking up your phone and scrolling social media, plan to add journalling into your habit chain.

Another habit chaining example might be that you want to add a habit of meditation into your day. Find a time that feels “right” for you, and go ahead and chain it in!

The power of chaining habits is that it sets you up for knowing what to do next, and there’s really no limit on how many habits you can chain together to build out your day.

3. Prepare for new habits in advance

Nothing can stop good intentions in their tracks like a tiny hurdle. Like we talked about before, your brain wants to take the path of least resistance, so if you are trying to eat healthier, and you open the fridge and it’s full of chocolate milk, you’d better bet your brain isn’t thinking about salad.

A great way to cement a habit from a good intention into a solid practice is to PREPARE. It means planning ahead, and laying out the options so that when it comes time for your activity or practice, everything is there, ready and waiting. This means, if you’re trying to eat healthy, you have fresh produce in your fridge, or you have a meal plan that you make every week. Removing the guess work at the time is a WHOLE LOT LESS WORK for your brain, and ensures that your habits become ingrained much more easily.

This same idea works for other habits too - if you want to exercise in the morning, make sure your exercise clothes are laid out and ready for you to change into in a convenient place. Or if you’re trying to journal, have a pen and notebook handy so you don’t have to search while you’re half asleep.

These three tips on developing habits work well on their own, but they’re powerful af if you put them all together into one unstoppable good-habit-generator!

Any tips on how to break a bad habit?

What happens if you have a bad habit that you want to break, or change? This cam be tricky, because habits can be addictions, or like we talked about above, automatic behaviours that you do without thinking. You can reverse-engineer your bad habits, and replace them with good habits instead. It’s definitely not easy, but it’s 100% do-able, especially because I know you’re motivated to change things for the better. As a first step, try to notice what you’re doing, or thinking when a bad habit pops up.

Here’s an example. You eat take-out three times every week and would like to cut it down to one to save money. First, you need to notice when and why you’re ordering take-out. Is it because of convenience? Is it because you’re too tired too cook? Is it because you don’t know what to cook? There’s tonnes of reasons. Take note of yours, when you order take-out, and become conscious of them. Once you’re aware of your ‘triggers’ you can pay attention to them and consciously make a different decision. Like we talked about in the examples on creating good habits, you can avoid ordering takeout by having a meal plan that you make in advance once a week, or restricting yourself to $30 a week spending on take-out food. The important thing is to be conscious of your behaviour, and don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t suddenly whipping up Michelin starred meals in your kitchen every night. We are all human and change takes time and dedication.

Personally, I had a bad habit of biting my nails that I could NEVER break, my whole life. I tried absolutely EVERYTHING, from those awful bitter-tasting nail polishes, to painting my nails, to having acrylic nails applied (for like, a whole year, and the minute they were off, I was biting my nails again). I read endless articles, I thought long and hard about what MADE me bite my nails (I still don’t know), I tried bargaining with myself. I seriously tried EVERYTHING. I was so incredibly embarrassed by my hands, I never wanted anyone to see my nails, and I wished more than anything I could have beautiful manicures and not hide my hands away. I wish I could give you a step-by-step guide on how to stop a bad habit, but the truth is, I woke up one day and thought to myself “I’m not a nail-biter anymore.” I KNOW this sounds crazy, and it wasn’t something that I consciously decided, or had been working on, but it just popped into my head.

I am not a nail-biter anymore.

And I wasn’t… mostly. Sure, a couple of times I slipped up and caught myself touching my nails on my teeth, but I just didn’t bite my nails anymore, and that was that. This powerful af mindset shift is called Be-Do-Have mentality, and it is a whooooole other post, but I want you to know it exists, and it works. It works SO amazingly well. It states that you have to first “Be” the person who “Has” the result that you’re after. So in order to stop biting my nails, I had to be an ex-nail-biter. As long as my identity was embedded in that of a nail biter, and I was working from that place, no matter what tricks or tips I applied to stop me from my bad habit, nothing worked until I BECAME a non-nail-biter, on an identity level. This is one of the most (the most?) powerful agent of change in your mindset that you can master.

So I’ll leave you with that magic, in order to be productive, healthy, fit, an avid reader, an ex-nail-biter, you have to first BE that thing. Showing up in the identity every day of someone who is the ideal you, will let you have those habits in your life.

Leave a comment or send me a DM on Instagram if this speaks to you, I’m really interested in your experiences with habits and identity. And don’t forget to grab your free Habit Tracker, I made it just for you 🔮

xo

Shell

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Since I was old enough to have a job, I've worked in customer service roles. Around 2 weeks into my first career as a waitress (at age 15) I was almost fired - my boss gave me an ultimatum: stop looking petrified every time you interact with a customer, and speak up, nobody can hear you. I'm a huge introvert and interacting with strangers confidently was not something that came naturally.

Lucky for me (maybe), I'm also a perfectionist and there was no way I was going to ‘fail’ at my first job! Somehow I figured out that my fear was generally unfounded and gradually I built up my confidence to become damn good at my job.

At that job, and every job that has followed, I've learned the value of going above and beyond for your customers. If they're coming for their morning coffee, every day, find out their name and ask how they are. Showing interest in someone as a person, remembering their likes and dislikes (and how they take their coffee) sets you up as a trustworthy service (or caffeine) provider, and someone they look forward to interacting with daily.

After university, my jobs became less typically what you would define as customer service roles, and more service provider/client relationships. After years of working as a waitress, barista, bra fitter, sales clerk and more, I had this strong service ethic installed in my mind, to the point that it had become second nature. When I started doing professional graphic design jobs, I still focused on keeping my customer (client) happy, surprised and dying to come back and use my services again.

Some things I've learned about customer service, and how to apply them to your business or service online: 

It's important to under-promise and over-deliver
(If you want loyal customers)

You need to manage clients expectations by providing them with a clear idea of what they will get, before they pay or sign up. Be honest, and sell yourself or your product, but never promise something you cannot come through on. People are much happier when their expectations are exceeded. They are never happy when their expectations are not met. You can learn that the hard way, or you can trust me on that one!

Be communicative

Imagine you're in a restaurant, and the kitchen has run out of potatoes. Your wait-staff, instead of informing you as soon as they find out, doesn't want to let you down, or have the discussion with you, so they don't tell you. When you get your meal, it's served with broccoli instead of fries. How do you feel? Cheated? Annoyed? Angry? (French fry rage is a thing you guys). Whatever you’re feeling, it probably isn't pleasantly surprised or happy. (Although, I love me some broccoli, I feel I may be in the minority with this one).

Now apply that scenario to your own business or product. As difficult as it may be to inform a client of changes, hurdles or failures to come up with what they were expecting, it is far better to give them some solutions early on, rather than ignoring the problem out of fear or embarrassment.

Be in constant communication with your clients. If they are expecting something on Friday, and it's not going to be ready until Monday, let them know. If you need more information from them to get their job done, ask them as soon as the issue comes up. It makes you look on top of things and fosters an environment of open communication and trust with your clients, which is better for everyone!

Exceed expectations

What can you do in your business to go a little further than your client is expecting? The trigger for this blog post was an experience I had on Thursday night. I went to a new (to me) Indian restaurant in my neighborhood for take-out. I probably (definitely) looked tired, I had a bunch of shopping and was on my way home from work. Not only did they usher me into a comfy booth while I waited for my order, but as I was waiting, there was the clink of ice in a cup. I thought they were bringing me water (which would have been amazing!) but I was presented with a gorgeous glass of fresh mango lassi.

Complimentary.

It was so surprising! You just don't expect that level of service or attention from a take-out order. The drink was great. I decided that I'd be back, even before I tasted the food. Of course, I got the food and it was incredible. They've now won me over and I'll recommend them to anyone in my area who likes Indian food, and I'll return regularly. All for the price of a mango lassi. Maybe $3.00? I'm easily won over, I guess.

My point here is this. Going the extra mile doesn't have to be a grand gesture. Paying attention to your clients needs and giving them what they want or need when they least expect it, goes such a long way to building loyalty. It could be a small digital freebie with your blog post, or a hand written, personalized note in an Etsy order.

By showing your client a tiny bit of personal attention and a kind gesture, you're going to stand out from your competition. They will harbor feelings of goodwill toward you and recommend your services to their friends.

 When I first started freelancing, an ex-colleague was starting out in the self-employed hunger games too. We had similar networks (they actually had slightly broader networks than me, and a few years more experience). We were charging almost identical rates. We were looking for work in the same city, in the same industry, at the same time. During our first 6 months as freelancers, I had to turn down jobs (and referred jobs to my friends!), while they were often hustling for work.

There are a tonne of factors at play with this kind of thing, so I can’t say with any certainty what the magic formula is. A lot of it is down to luck, timing and ‘clicking’ with the people making the decisions about who to hire. You don’t have so much control over that. What you do have control over is the impression you make on your clients.

I’ve been told by clients time and again that they love working with me because I have a ‘can-do’ attitude, a drive to deliver more than expected, and a ‘way’ of putting their clients (I usually work through production houses or advertising agencies) at ease.

I truly believe that this success and trust that I’ve built with my design clients has a firm foundation in my customer service roles that shaped my early work life.

 If you’re working with people in any capacity - whether they be customers, clients, readers, consumers of your work… What do you do to provide great service to them?

How do you make your clients feel
[personally] appreciated and special?

Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear your client happiness secrets, or even examples of great service you’ve received.
 
This week, have a think about what you can do to make your clients feel even more appreciated. Make a list of ideas, and implement just one. You’ll be turning casual clients into hardcore fans in no time!

xo
Shell

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When I first arrived in Tokyo, it was the start of February. It snowed the day after we landed. We were sitting in a cafe in Nakameguro - the cafe is actually 2 stores in one, called Soaks / OK Doughnuts, and the doughnuts are better than "ok" - right by the Meguro River. As we were sipping on hot coffee (and perhaps some mulled wine), I spotted the first flakes of snow drifting down. It was so magical and exciting! I knew I wasn't in Kansas (or Sydney) anymore.

Living by the river in Meguro gave me the opportunity to really embrace the concept of Spring. From that early moment when I got all teary-eyed about the beautiful snow, there were signs that winter was, in fact, on the way out, and spring was coming. Lining the Meguro River are hundreds of cherry blossom trees, and even then, you could spot the tiny buds just waiting for the warmer weather to arrive.

Almost every day, I eagerly rushed to the branches of the cherry blossom to check out their progress. There were other signs that the blossoms were coming, too. The riverside received some structural upgrades and a new coat of paint, and pink lanterns were strung along the length of the river, as far as the eye could see.

I chose this neighborhood for our initial residence, mainly because of it's proximity to one of the best cherry blossom spots in Tokyo. I really wanted the opportunity to enjoy them, as they only last around a week. As the blossoms exploded, so did the population of our front yard! It went from a normal Tokyo neighborhood to a top tourist destination overnight! There were thousands and thousands of people every day, strolling along the river. Food stalls set up with hot roasted dango, beer and champagne as well as more western food choices like giant french fries! The festival atmosphere was contagious. 

One of my favorite things about this particular location is that it stretches over such a large area. The riverside at Nakameguro is probably the most lively section, but you can walk for 3.8km and never emerge from the blossom canopy. There aren't really any seats to speak of, so the crowds are always on the move, making it easy to get around. Compared with Yoyogi Park, or Ueno Park, which are also really popular, Meguro River cherry blossoms had a more reflective celebratory atmosphere, rather than a full-on party vibe. The blue tarp picnics are not generally allowed along the river, so if you want to picnic, head to one of the larger parks! As we enter the winter season here in Japan, I'm going to remind myself that cherry blossoms are just around the corner.

Have you been to Japan during cherry blossom season? What was your favorite spot? I know a LOT of people are coming at the end of March and early April to enjoy the blooms, so I'm sure they'd appreciate the extra recommendations.

xo

Shell

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Raises hand...

Yep. I've been there too - bursting with ideas, with no real direction, or outlet. Unable to organize my thoughts and, in the end, freezing with uncertainty and achieving nothing.

I've been a little quiet around these parts since relaunching, because I've been working on something special for you (yes, YOU!) I've created a totally free 7-day email course called Productivity For Creative Thinkers! It's been designed specifically for creative folks who have trouble focussing, completing tasks or concentrating on getting shit done.

In 2013 I started working for myself full-time. Prior to that I'd been taking the side hustle pretty seriously. Working in a TV station full-time, freelancing and blogging in the evenings (and late into the night, and early into the morning). I was working toward a dream of becoming financially independent and no longer having to rely on a full-time office job for income.

I had one big problem though, productivity.

Despite my best efforts, I never quite felt on top of everything. I wasted SO much time procrastinating, daydreaming and even doing things I thought were productive, like writing and re-writing to-do lists. I was tired, overwhelmed and distracted. After 2 1/2 years though, I've figured some things out. And I really, really want to save you the hard lessons of figuring it out yourself. I want you to get productive NOW. Minus the tears, exhaustion and sleepless nights. Deal?

Stop losing hours of productive time each week from unnecessary distractions

Find your personal productivity killers and put an end to them

Wrangle your inbox into something that you are no longer afraid to look at (and vanish that dreaded red number of unread emails in your notifications!)

Create a schedule that is achievable, flexible and rewarding

Streamline your day and set boundaries that will put an end to wasted time and stressful deadline all-nighters

Free up your time to do the things that make your soul sing. That's why you're doing this blog/biz/side hustle in the first place, right?

Here's a breakdown of the free course so you know what to expect when you sign up.

DAY 1 - INTRODUCTION

What are the side-effects of being productive and what are some common problems attacking creative thinkers productivity?

DAY 2 - LESSON 1

You're Killin' My Productivity! Common productivity killers, along with a worksheet so that you can be really honest with yourself and recognise everything that kills your productivity on the daily.

DAY 3 - LESSON 2

Removing or Shrinking Your Productivity Obstacles. We'll talk about common productivity problems facing creative thinkers... and some solutions for removing them or minimising their effect on your day.

DAY 4 - LESSON 3

Productivity Myths (or how I learned to stop worrying and get some sleep). Common misconceptions about productivity and what you should do to achieve it. Here's where I get honest about my mistakes and teach you some ways to avoid them!

DAY 5 - LESSON 4

The 3 Internal Enemies of Productivity: Fear, Confusion and Perfectionism. Learning how to deal with the thought processes that halt productivity are some of the most important lessons that I've learned.

DAY 6 - LESSON 5

Calendar Management: Creating a flexible, achievable and rewarding schedule. With a focus on free tools, I show you how I create a calendar that leaves me free time, and allows me to finish my to-do list every day!

DAY 7 - LESSON 6

Wrap up and reflection - what to do going forward. For the final lesson, we'll review the main points of Productivity For Creative Thinkers, and I'll provide you with some clear steps to take so that you can maintain your newfound productivity habits.

What are your biggest productivity destroyers? Do you have any tips for people who are struggling? Let us know in the comments! I'm looking forward to seeing you in the course.

xo

Shell

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

🔮⚡️Join the FREE 7-day course, Productivity For Creative Thinkers

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For my final #painthetownford challenge, I decided to go on a much needed weekend getaway (computer in tow as working was still required). In the typical fashion of the Murphy's and their silly laws, the day before we were due to depart for a little weekend away to the Blue Mountains, newsreaders across Sydney declared it would be best to stay indoors as "Rainmageddon" was upon us. I don't know about you, but a little apocalyptic rainfall was not going to get in the way of my break. If there's anything that makes the mountains more romantic, it's rain and mist.

I've always wanted to stay at The Carrington Hotel, it carries a decidedly "The Shining" vibe about it, and there's something about the slightly off-kilter grande old dame atmosphere that draws me in. Unfortunately it was fully booked out, so we opted for something on the opposite end of the spectrum, an eco resort called "Old Leura Dairy". There are various styles and sizes of accommodation to choose from at the dairy, we decided on the Milking Shed, which had a lovely fireplace and loft bedroom. The interior is a mish-mash of recycled building materials and found objects which gives it a lovely eclectic homey feeling. I especially loved the entryway, a couple of huge old barn doors that swung open to reveal our cosy cave for the weekend.

As we drove into the mountains from Sydney, I watched the temperature indicator on the car drop, approximately 1ºC for each town we passed through. By the time we arrived in Leura, it was a chilly 7º. Thankfully the Ford Kuga Titanium has built in seat-warmers, so we were none the wiser in our toasty cocoon-on-wheels. Despite the rain, we cobbled together another short film of our trip - I'm thinking of making this a more regular thing! It's such a fun way to preserve your memories.

Kitty & Buck | Mountain Escape from Kitty & Buck on Vimeo

Since we were unable to have a sleepover in The Carrington, we opted for a quick pre-dinner drink instead. It's the perfect way to soak up the ambience if you're just in Katoomba for a day trip, or prefer a different type of accommodation. The ascent to the front door is accompanied by the most delightful wafts from the flower garden. The only way to make the ground more appealing, would be to install a hedge maze, taking it one step closer to Stanley Kubrick's vision. The barmen were extremely obliging with my unusual request for tea instead of a gin and tonic, and my questions about the VIP room (a very appealing balcony that was built for the Duke and Duchess of York's visit in 1927 - it was never used by them and is now relegated to a structurally unsound temptation, rather than a functional sitting area).

The following day, as tempting as it was to play scrabble in our 'shed', we decided to indulge in one of the best activities to do on the mountains, rain or not: Antique hunting. Oh, and book hunting. Our first stop (always) is Mr Pickwick's on Katoomba Street, home of antiquities, a wide range of amazing vintage clothing, and around 60,000 books. We were lucky enough to find Mr Pickwick himself behind the counter, who kindly obliged our request for a photo (complete with mischievous glint in his eye). I scored a first edition of Alp by William Hjortsberg. If you love kid's books, there is an absolute goldmine of vintage children's literature in the basement book cave.

The lovely township of Leura called us back from lunch, where we shoehorned ourselves into the extremely popular Red Door Cafe. Bellies full, we trundled around the main street of Leura, taking in the sights. We discovered a Japanese Ceramic store which was disappointingly closed. It's bookmarked in my brain for a future investigation.

Since it was early afternoon and the mist was showing no signs of clearing, we decided to brave a wander down to Sublime Point. It's a little more secluded than the big Three Sisters lookout, and we hoped, less exposed to the elements. It was raining, cold and windy, but quite spectacular to see the vague shapes of the mountains in the white void. We didn't linger as the wind was doing it's best to whip our umbrellas into the great beyond and we didn't fancy following them.

Our final stop on the way back to Sydney is the best bookstore I've found in Australia and only second to the incredible backyard shed/shop full of first editions we stumbled across in Woodstock, VT. If you're in the Blue Mountains area, be sure to check in at Lamdha Books. It's a small shop, but packed full of gems. I managed to score a Flann O'Brien book that I haven't seen anywhere else and C grabbed a copy of Fantomas. We had a lovely conversation about jazz with Michael, the friendly owner and prolonged our return home as long as we could. Eventually we couldn't postpone the inevitable and we had the Kuga carry us home one final time before I was relegated back to my vintage Mazda. Thanks for the good times Kidspot and Ford, we had a blast!

Kitty

xo

I'm participating in the #paintthetownford challenge as part of the Kidspot Voices 2014 competition. Ford has provided me with a Ford Kuga Titanium for six weeks as part of this challenge. This is the final post of three in my series, you can read the previous posts here:

Post 1: Market Dreams

Post 2: Rural Escape

All opinions expressed in this post are my own. You can follow along with the other bloggers participating by searching the hashtag #paintthetownford and #voicesof2014.

RELATED RESOURCES:

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You know when you just have one of those weeks? Months? Years? The best medicine for a hectic and stressful moment in life is an escape to the country, wouldn't you agree? With the intense work schedule I've been keeping lately, a rural escape was on the cards. While the best I could do was a single night away, I fully intended to make the most of it! Kangaroo Valley is a picturesque spot just south of Sydney, a mere 1-2 hour drive from the city. It fit my 'quick' escape criteria perfectly. Browsing the wealth of farm stays available around Sydney, I spotted a wooden yurt on a horse breeding farm called The Cedars nestled amongst the Budderoo and Morton National Parks just south of Bowral.

We captured some moving images of our adventure, and there's a bunch more photos below, so if you're having a tough day at your desk, take a small break to the country with us.

Kitty & Buck | Rural Escape from Kitty & Buck on Vimeo.

After ploughing through our work for the day, we were off to a regrettably late start on the road. It wasn't until we started out descent through the hairpin turns into Kangaroo Valley that I started to leave the city tension behind. We arrived in the valley as the long shadows began their descent from the ranges above. A quick inspection of our yurt yielded some ooh's and ahh's from me. The timber-lined interior and pot belly stove were suitably cosy for a winter's night.

We boarded the Ford Kuga Titanium once again and set out to hunt for some dinner. Thank goodness for the built-in GPS as phone reception is scarce and country roads have a habit of getting me lost. We zeroed in on the local supermarket, which was actually a petrol station, and stocked up on supplies (a frozen pizza, some chips and hummus, chocolate and soda - you know, grown-up food).

Back at the yurt, the sun was making it's final descent and we were completely alone in the middle of nowhere. After building a fire, defrosting our gourmet meal and pouring a glass of complimentary wine, we settled in with a BBC production about an incredible Dutch painter named Schalcken, a student of a student of Rembrandt. I feel like perhaps the BBC took some liberties with his story, as it included some creepy parts about a vampire. Suitably spooked, I prepared to turn in for the night when there was a very loud scratching on the window next to where I stood. Accompanied by a couple of squeaks, it occurred to me that, yes, this is a rural escape and we were going to have some (hopefully non-vampiric) company for the evening.

The following morning I woke up with the birds and it took all of my willpower to leap out of bed and stuff some logs into the fire. Sufficiently alight, I attended to the loaf of complimentary sourdough while C worked on the farm fresh eggs. Sated, we headed out for a little hike to the creek. First stop was the paddock by the yurt, which contained a herd of cattle and two magnificent Shire horses. The lady horse is with child and was extremely friendly. Covered in horse hair, we pressed on towards the creek, printed map in hand.

Somehow we became completely lost and it took much longer to reach the creek than expected. On our detour we encountered not one, but three echidnas! I've never seen an echidna in the wild before, so getting lost was definitely worth it. When the echidna heard us coming, he poked his head under some leaves with the dedication of a toddler who covers their eyes and is convinced they are invisible. After a few minutes he squinted up at us and decided we were no longer there (though we clearly were) and continued on his way. It was so adorable! I realise why echidnas have spiky spines now. They are the least graceful creatures and make about as much noise as a bear barging through the woods.

The valley lived up to it's name with several kangaroos and many wallabies hopping around. We also encountered a fox burrow where I imagined the foxes were having breakfast and Mr. Fox was all dapper in a suit like The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Eventually we reached the cool climate of the creek, which was encompassed in a rainforest section of the national park. The moss covered rocks and quiet babbling of the creek provided the perfect counterpoint to the previous day's hustle.

It was sad to wave goodbye to the Cedars after such a short visit, but we tempered our return to the big smoke with some antique hunting in Bowral, accompanied by a delicious vegetarian Croque-Madame at Raw and Wild. Book stores explored, antiques drooled over, we programmed home into the Kuga's GPS and allowed him to guide us back to reality. The afternoon traffic upon our return did it's best to erase the benefits of our rural escape, but we didn't let it win! I'm so happy to know that the babbling creek and rolling pastures of Kangaroo Valley are just down the road whenever I need them.

Kitty

xo

I'm participating in the #paintthetownford challenge as part of the Kidspot Voices 2014 competition. Ford has provided me with a Ford Kuga Titanium for six weeks as part of this challenge. This is the second post of three in my series, you can see the first post here. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. You can follow along with the other bloggers participating by searching the hashtag #paintthetownford

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As you probably know by now, I'll be getting married in just over 3 months in the beautiful location of Kyoto, Japan. C and I chose Japan as we have family spread between Australia and the USA and we didn't want people to feel left out, so we opted for a very small ceremony with our immediate families in a place that we love. Instead of spending money on a big ceremony and reception, we thought it might be nice to have a holiday with our families!

Making the decision was the easy part. After booking our airfares and accommodation, I started looking at the legal requirements, thinking it would be fairly straightforward. Unfortunately most of my internet searches resulted in very negative attitudes towards the whole idea of foreigners marrying in Japan. I'm not sure why, but there's a lot of "it's too hard, why bother" and "you're wasting your time" to "why on earth do you want to get married in Japan anyway?! Just go to Vegas." I was close to giving up, when I found a post on a forum from Shandii. I got in touch with her and she has generously provided me (and anyone searching) with a step by step guide on getting married (legally) in Japan, written from her personal experience.

Marriage in Japan is not officially conducted at the ceremony like it is here in Australia. The official 'marriage' will occur in a Government office, devoid of any fancy dresses and romance. The ceremony itself is purely for show and is not required, or a part of, the legally binding 'marriage'.

I'll hand over to Shandii now, and she'll explain the nitty gritty of this elusive Japan wedding business.

AUSTRALIANS GETTING MARRIED IN JAPAN

As Australians to get officially married in Japan you will need to submit paperwork to an Australian Embassy in Japan and then submit paperwork at a City Office in Japan.

Please note the following:

• This process is for Australians only.

• You will either need to know how to read and write Japanese or hire a translator to speak and write for you.

Paperwork you will require before submitting paperwork:

• Passports

• Translated (to Japanese) copies of your passports (photo page).

• Birth Certificates

• Two completed Certificate of No Impediment marriage forms (1 for yourself and 1 for hubby/wife to be)

• 2 witnesses to come with you to the City Office and their passport

FIRST STOP: Australian Embassy

You need to submit the applications of Certificate of No Impediment marriage at an Australian Embassy in Japan. Australian Embassies can be found in the following cities:

• Tokyo

• Fukuoka

• Osaka

• Sapporo

Addresses to the embassies can be found here:

https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/japan/Pages/japan

Please note some Embassies have strict times and days when they will allow you to come in and submit the applications.

What the Australian Embassy requires:

• Passports

• Birth Certificates

• Two completed Certificate of No Impediment Marriage forms

The No Impediment form will provide you with the No Impediment Certificate which the City Office needs to officially marry you. With the forms there is an English page and Japanese page and both are required to be completed.

As you may have guessed the Japanese page does need to be completed in Japanese. You won’t need to sign the Japanese page. You only need to sign the English page. When you submit the applications to Australian Embassy in Japan they will ask to see your passports and birth certificates and may take copies. It will cost around $89 each to process the applications and have the certificates made.

The Embassy will take up to 5 working days to process the application. They do ask for a Japanese address to have the certificates posted out but you can request if you can return to pick them up (We had ours sent to our hotel). You can post the applications to the Embassy but from what I remember there is a strict list of Japanese residents that need to certify the form (i.e. Japanese Policeman).

The Certificate of No Impediment will expire after 3 months and then you will need to submit new applications.

Once you've obtained your Certificate of No Impediment you can go to the City Office to get officially married!

SECOND STOP: Any City Office

You can choose to get married anywhere you like in Japan as long as there is a City Office.

I was officially married in the city of Okayama.

What the City Office requires:

• Passports

• No Impediment Certificates

• Translated (to Japanese) copies of your passports (photo page).

• 2 witnesses and their passport

The paperwork can take some time to complete and all needs to be done in Japanese. (It took us an hour and a half to complete with a translator and we also did this the day before our wedding ceremony)

Unlike Australia, in Japan you do not have to say vows.

The bride will be asked the following question:

"Do you understand that you will be marrying ‘Insert Husband’s name here’ in the City Of ‘Insert City name here’?"

Once the question is answered and the last of the paperwork is completed you’ll be officially married!

You’ll be asked to return in a couple of hours to get the completed marriage certificate. This will only cost you around $3 for the certificate. If you want another certificate to have as a spare it will be around $7 for two. This may vary from City Office to City Office.

On your return to Australia your marriage in Japan will be seen as an official marriage here in Australia however your Japanese marriage certificate won’t change your last name. You will need to complete a Deed Poll if you wish to change your last name to your husbands.

We used a company called Chris Poole Translation based in Melbourne, we did everything via email/mail and they also had translators based in Japan who we also hired to help us complete the paperwork at the City Office in Okayama.

Chris Poole Translation

For any enquiries, feel free to contact us on the number below 24 hours, any day of the year.

Address: 24 Greenwood Street | Abbotsford VIC 3067 Australia

Telephone: (61 3) 9391 0899

Facsimile: (61 3) 9391 0099

Email:

desk@pooletranslation.com.au

Website:

http://www.pooletranslation.com.au/

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Shandii!

Shell

xo

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I have some really exciting news for you today, and I can't believe I didn't spill the beans earlier. You may have noticed the little button in my sidebar that proclaims my inclusion in the Top 40 Beauty & Lifestyle Bloggers for the Kidspot Voices of 2014 campaign? Well, I'm extremely humbled to say that I've been chosen to participate in the "Paint The Town Ford" challenge! For the past couple of weeks, I've been cruising around town in a brand new Ford Kuga Titanium, which I must say, is quite a step up from "Arnie", my little Mazda who is missing the door handles and has at least 3000 spiders living on him (I still love you Arnie!) Over the next month or so, I'll be taking the Kuga out on some adventures, snapping tonnes of photos, and having an all around nice time with my new ride.

For our first adventure, my pal Vanessa and I headed into Eveleigh Farmer's Markets, which is located in Carriageworks. If you're not familiar with the location, let me set the scene... All the way back in the mid-century, my grandfather worked here as a railway man! The building is heritage listed and it is the original workshop where Sydney train carriages were built from the 1880's through to the 1970's. While not as grand, it does remind me of an Australian version of Gare du Nord in Paris, with it's high ceiling, arched windows and industrial interior (the brick walls are incredible). The workshops have now been transformed into an arts hub, with everything from fashion week to theatre productions showing within it's walls.

I dragged myself out of bed on a Saturday at 7am (unheard of) in preparation for some farmer's market goodness. These markets have been going on for some time, but I've never quite been motivated enough to make it before. The grand hall was bustling with folk stocking up on breakfast, organic produce and farm fresh cheese, meat and flowers. But our first stop: Caffeine. Very important.

Once we'd warmed our hands on the paper coffee cups, it was time for a wander. We were both amazed at how many dogs were in attendance! Every shape and size, they trotted alongside their owners, oblivious to the masses of people. There was even a doggy treat stand selling organic dog biscuits.

A little further along, there was quite a crowd at the dumpling bar. I have no problem with eating dumplings for breakfast, but was a little surprised to see so many people on the same wavelength, until I spotted the famous chef Kylie Kwong cooking up a storm. No dumplings for me today, but I'll come mentally prepared for a dumpling breakfast next time.

The best thing about organic markets is discovering new and unusual fruit and vegetables. I've never seen brussels sprouts on a stalk before! I also discovered a stand selling bush tomatoes and another with Rosella cordial. In the end I stuck to a few staples, unwaxed granny smith apples, rainbow chard, leeks and beetroot. At the mushroom stall, I was tempted to make some kind of incredible Asian stir-fry, but it was too early in the morning for adventurous thinking and we opted for some Portobellos instead (they made amazing burgers!) We picked up some lavender, poppies, succulents and jonquils to spruce up our homes. Finally, there was an emergency stop at the Sonoma stand for some of their incredible bread. Vanessa: Spelt Rye. Me: Spelt Fruit Loaf.

With the shopping done, we made a beeline for the seats under the gas heater and scarfed down (ahem, daintily nibbled) some freshly made crepes. We headed back to the car and I tested out one of the best features, the hands free, key free boot (trunk) opening. A simple kick under the rear bumper tells the motion sensor that I want in, and because the key is in range, it opens automatically. I recommend amazing the general public by proclaiming "Open Sesame" while you do it.

Our haul safely stashed, we enjoyed the gorgeous sunny day that had emerged from the wintery morning and headed back home. Eveleigh Farmers Markets was so much fun, I'll definitely be back. I have my eye on the Billy Kwong stand and also spotted a Pho stall that I wouldn't mind checking out too. There's nothing better than a farmer's market visit on a weekend morning! I may have found myself a new habit.

Shell

xo

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It's been one year since I was flung headlong into the world of tentative employment! No more 9-5 slog at a job I could barely stand getting up for in the morning. No more endless routine. No more walking home past the cemetery each evening and wondering if this was all there is to life (morbid, I know). A whole year! Where do I begin? Working for myself has been a mixed bag, but I definitely wouldn't trade it for the 9-5 life anytime soon. Here's some things that I have learned along the way:

1. You need to be the cheerleader, goal kicker and coach all-in-one

Everything is your responsibility when you work for yourself. It's obvious, but after working in a team for so long, there are certain things I took for granted. Brainstorming ideas with other designers, having a manager who could (maybe) escalate issues and solve problems with clients (even when I was art directing, there was always a manager when things got ridiculous).

As a freelancer, you're often called to help when a team is under pressure and needs assistance desperately (usually after putting off hiring help). They're probably tired and anxious and cranky, and you need to go in and help get the job done, preferably with a cheer-everyone-up-smile on your face. Other times, when you're suddenly responsible for an entire project, sometimes the 'overwhelms' take hold and you need to give yourself a little pep talk during a time-out to keep the ball rolling!

2. You don't get paid for administration - and it needs to be done

There are endless email enquiries, quotes to be done, invoices, money chasing, coffee ordering... the list goes on. All of the little things you need to do to keep the 'business' going will be done on your own time. I knew this after running a dancing school a few years ago, but there's a lot more 'enquiries' and 'quotes' that need doing in this line of business.

3. Relationships matter

It's so important to make a good impression and do a great job so that you'll (hopefully) have a loyal client who will call upon your services again. I've probably had moments where I could have been more outwardly enthusiastic and outgoing in a job. People like to work with people who are:

a) good at their job

b) fun to work with

I'm naturally pretty quiet and withdrawn so I've definitely had to make a conscious effort to be more 'up' when I work in an office with others. Another facet of relationships is the value of word-of-mouth. Especially in design and animation, professionals often ask each other for recommendations on staff when they're looking for freelancers. If one company loves you, chances are, they'll put in a good word for you somewhere else, too. Also, you get to meet and work with all kinds of new, interesting and lovely people. And you might even have a strange blog-meets-life moment like I did a couple of weeks ago with Astred!

4. Keep a strict schedule

I'm still not perfect at this. When I work from home, making sure I work during business hours and have scheduled time off doesn't happen as much as it should. The next month or two will be spent working from home, so I'm really focussing on it now. Starting... tomorrow ;)

5. Don't worry, you're not going to starve

I'm sure it's not just me. Every time a job is wrapping up, the inevitable seed of panic starts to grow in my belly until it is a full-blown convulsing monster of fear... what if I don't get another job? How will I pay my share of the bills? Maybe I didn't do that last job as good as I could have... What if I never work again!?!? And so forth. Of course, it's ridiculous. I've been so busy the past 12 months, and I haven't had to resort to begging just yet. It's the one thing about freelance that I don't really like, the insecurity. But I'll let you in on my psychological safety blanket. Pretend that you have no work for the next 6 months. All the time. Pay your bills in advance, keep a savings account, whatever. Just have a 6-month buffer. Then, if the worst happens, it's not really that bad.

And just like that, one year of freelance life is done.

Shell

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Back when I worked full time I used to be pretty organised when it came to calendar planning and my schedule, but now that I'm freelancing, I have to be on top of it all the time. Keeping track of various clients, appointments and deadlines as well as a social life (hopefully!) can become extremely complicated. Even nail painting time (procrastination) is booked in (jokes!)

There are lots of productivity assistants out there and I've tried many of them. The one thing I can rely on myself to check regularly and keep up to date with is my google calendar. It's not perfect, but I have a few tips that make it work just that little bit better for what I need.

Overall tips

I try to make each block on the calendar and accurate representation of the time required for the task. That way I have a realistic plan for each day. Colour coding is also really helpful. At a glance I can see if I'm designing, blogging, going out for a social event or doing housework. Appointments have their own colour and I even go so far to highlight my commute in another shade so that I know that time is pretty much lost (except for reading, and today, writing a blog post!)

Daily schedule

Like most people, I just slot in my work days into the daily schedule. It makes it really easy when I get a call or email from a prospective client to glance at my calendar and see if Im booked with work, or if it's something more flexible like my blog plans. Big orange blocks say "no way, I'm busy on that day!" In addition to work, I add in any commuting that I might need to do, meetings, lunch/dinner breaks and chores. With everything having a time, I'm theoretically less likely to spend a whole day folding socks.

Sometime Schedule

This is my own personal system, I wonder if anyone else does this? I have a section at the top of my calendar that has "all day" items, though for me, the items aren't related to a particular day. I just have seven bonus chunks of information to work with. These sections are split into:

• Someday (things with no deadline that I'd like to do)

• Design // To-Do (for current tasks)

• Design // Waiting (waiting on client feedback)

• Design // Me (personal work)

• Chores

• Recipe Ideas

• Post To-Do

I repeat the tasks each week, so they are always there until I cross them off (delete them). It's perfect for long-term projects, ideas for blog posts and my wish list of things to-do. They're always on my calendar so I don't forget about them. I also might add notes into the item "description". If I have notes, I * the item so I know there are notes inside.

Tasks

One thing I like about google calendar is the collapsible tasks bar. You can use it as a to-do list for the day so that if you have, say 4 hours blocked out on "blog design for Kitty & Buck", you can expand in more detail on the to-do list, and check off items as they are completed. I don't always use this, but it's handy.

My biggest piece of advice for you is to be realistic about how long things take and don't overfill your calendar. I read somewhere the other day to plan for 4-5 hours of work a day and the other few hours will fill up naturally. It's so true! When I try to plan a 12 hour day (it happens) I could end up working 16 hours and not finishing everything.

An old rule for estimating on design jobs is to work out your estimate and times it by 3. So if you think something will take one hour, allow three hours. It seems excessive, but after years of experience, it definitely works! I'm sure the rule applies to other kinds of work too. Any time left over is a bonus! I generally block out the time in my calendar so I'm not tempted to fill it with other things, and then plan for the 5 hours of work in the 8 hour block (and inevitably fill it up through the day).

I'd love to hear about how you schedule your time, and any tools that you use. I've tried to streamline my scheduling process into one place to save me forgetting to update apps here and there, or keep track of tasks on a million post-it notes. What's your technique?

Shell

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Once you've figured out your budget (planning and saving), and how long you can take away from work, you can start looking at the kind of holiday that is going to work best for your circumstances. It's easy to see holidays as something in a glossy advert, but there are so many options. I remember a great vacation C and I took to the Hunter Valley, which is an expensive winery district north of Sydney. I managed to save up enough points on a grocery store loyalty card to score a free a one night stay at a winery, so we hopped in the car for a little adventure. Aside from gas money and food, the trip was free. It was only one night, but we set out early in the morning and left later in the evening the following day, so we squeezed in 2 full days for our overnight trip. We both felt like we'd had such a good break afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised.

Try to make the most of your holiday time by maximising it in smart ways.

If you are flying overseas, be conscious of jetlag. I try to make sure that I land at my destination in the afternoon or evening, so no matter how many hours I've been awake in transit, I pass out from exhaustion at a fairly 'normal' sleeping hour for where I have landed, and therefore wake up at a 'normal' time to start my day. Let's face it, Australia is really far from anywhere (aside from maybe New Zealand), so we generally have to deal with long flights and this method is incredibly helpful for us!

Weekend Getaway

Whether you work Monday to Friday or irregular hours, the 'weekend' getaway (whenever your weekend falls) is the perfect way to take a trip without needing any time away from work. If you have flexible working hours, consider a mid-week getaway as accommodation is cheaper, and if you're driving, there is probably less traffic heading to the holiday destinations.

Camping

Once again, this could be a short term or longer term vacation. If you have your own camping gear, or can borrow some, this is very budget friendly as well. Different campsites have different levels of facilities, so choose somewhere that suits your needs (i.e. do you want a shower/toilet, or are you cool to be a nature child for a few days?). Camping is generally a great option if you love nature and you're on a smaller budget. Even if that's not the case, it's a lovely opportunity to 'switch off' and re-connect with your family/friends (or yourself!) around a nice campfire. Boardgames, anyone?

Road Trip

I think road trips might be my favourite. There's just something about the freedom of an open road. On a road trip, you can find the places less traveled, like the motel we found in Maine with the 'Jesus' pattern in the woodgrain of our bathroom door. If you like adventure, eating car-snacks and discovering new places, a road trip is a brilliant option. Budget will vary depending on if you own or rent a car, and what kind of accommodation you choose. My dear American friends, please don't talk to me about gas money. You guys have it SO good. Trust me. (But don't forget to budget for gas!)

Charity/Volunteer Break

Have you ever considered turning your vacation into a positive experience for you, and for someone else? There are so many charitable options, from volunteering to assist residents in areas damaged by natural disaster, to building homes for people less fortunate. My sister took her first trip out of Australia to build houses in Mexico and she had an amazing time! It can be a really rewarding experience, and one definitely worth considering.

Whatever your budget, consider the kind of activities that you and your travel companions enjoy and make sure you head somewhere that accommodates these. If you love shopping and culture, maybe a city break suits you best. Or if you like nature, somewhere that has great hiking trails. If you have kids to entertain, make sure there are plenty of fun activities to make the experience memorable for them. If you enjoy sightseeing, plan ahead so that you can find the attractions/locations in the area you'll be traveling. There are so many options, all you need to do is head out there into the big wide world!

What's your favourite kind of vacation? Do you have any other tips to share? Tweet me or leave a comment below.

Shell

xo

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This post has been written in partnership with Southern Cross Travel Insurance, however all opinions and advice are my own, and are in no way influenced by this fact.

Congratulations! You've put a budget plan in place and now you're reaping the rewards by vacationing in Paris. But let's rewind. You've worked hard to save up for your vacation and tourists are easy prey for expensive everything. Let's look at ways to save money on your vacation and get the most out of those savings.

Before you leave

Pay for as much as possible in advance. Even if you like to go with the flow and don't like a structured itinerary, there are some big ticket items that you can factor in before you walk out your front door.

Transport

Purchase airfares, train passes, bus tickets or any other transport that can be pre-paid ahead of time. You'll often receive a better deal by booking in advance (especially with airfares). Always check for hidden charges too, sometimes airfare prices don't include things you need like baggage and meals, so be sure to factor those into the cost.

If you need to rent a car, it's definitely worthwhile shopping around. I've been quoted wildly different prices between third party websites and the car rental company direct. For example, when I rented a car in the USA, I received quotes from $1500 - $9000 for the same car from the same car hire company. If I didn't know better I might have ended up paying a lot more than I needed to (not that I'd ever spend $9000 on car rental, sheesh!) There are also community sourced car rental schemes, so explore the options available at your destination.

Top tip:

If you are browsing travel websites and search a second time, you may notice the price jumps up! This is often accompanied by an urgent flashing message stating that there's only a few seats/vehicles/rooms left. This may be the case, but just for fun, try clearing your cookies or searching again in another browser. You may be surprised to see the price go back down to the original quote. Don't get caught in the travel-buying panic trap!

Accommodation

The options you have for accommodation will vary wildly based on your budget. Regardless of your budget though, here are some budget-friendly tips so you can spend your hard-earned elsewhere.

If you have friends in high places, or just desirable places, consider staying with them (if it's mutually agreeable) and be absolutely sure to show them the same hospitality in return! Always be a good houseguest and consider a generous thank you gift for their kindness.

This may work best if you're a single traveler, but there are websites such as couchsurfing.org that will hook you up with a couch! Make sure you check the person's reviews and feel comfortable before committing to staying with a stranger - and be prepared to meet some new friends.

It can be cheaper than a hotel to look at community sourced accommodation such as Airbnb. An added benefit is seeing the destination from a more local and personal perspective than you would get at many hotels.

For more luxury accommodation, there are several options to get the most out of your budget and experience. If your hotel is part of a chain, become a member to access exclusive discounts, points, rewards and extras such as included breakfasts and free stays. There are several hotel deal websites. I've personally used Jetsetter, which offers exclusive discounts to a few hotels each week. If you're travelling a lot, the stars may align (or you might snaffle a short getaway close to where you live). We stayed in a few fancy hotels in the USA that we wouldn't have even considered without this site.

Insurance

I always purchase travel insurance. While it seems like a drag, I think it's essential, especially when you are travelling by plane (or other expensive transport). Also, if you're in an unfamiliar place or foreign country, you get peace of mind that if something goes wrong, you'll be covered. Something I always do when purchasing insurance is throughly read the fine print (boring, I know). It's important to understand exactly what you are covered for, and what the excess charges will be if you need to make a claim. I'll also double check that my belongings I'm taking with me are sufficiently covered, especially my laptop and camera gear. There are often item limits on what you can claim, so make sure nothing you take exceeds these individual limits. At the end of the day, insurance is inexpensive, especially when you weigh it up against the cost of rebooking flights, replacing lost/stolen belongings or paying medical bills. Southern Cross Travel Insurance offer great deals on insurance, you can visit their website to get a quote on your next trip. Most insurance covers you from the date of purchase, so I usually purchase mine as soon as I buy my tickets so that if anything goes wrong before I leave, I am covered.

While You're There

If you don't mind flying by the seat of your pants, try booking at the last minute. Hotels can offer great discounts in order to fill a room when they receive cancellations or are having a quiet night. I think my best coup was scoring an enormous room at a Sheraton Hotel in Japan for just over $100. I think the room was bigger than my house! Much more extravagant than my usual accommodation but a memorable experience created by not having a plan.

It's tempting to treat yourself every day when you're on holiday, but you can save a lot of money by self-catering. If your hotel has a kitchenette, consider making a packed lunch before you head out for the day. I love exploring supermarkets in new places, so it's a good excuse to immerse yourself in the local atmosphere and get supplies at the same time!

Remember, you're on holiday. If you can plan ahead with the big-ticket items, you can save a lot of financial stress while you're trying to enjoy yourself. Even if you're a planner, try to leave a few things up to chance, you might be surprised by a small bed and breakfast that you find when you make a wrong turn, or discover a town you didn't see on the map. If you have too rigid plans, you miss these neat surprises. So don't sweat the small details, cover the big stuff and everything else will fall into place.

Do you have any tips for saving on vacation costs?

Shell

xo

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After finances, the biggest reason people tell me they don't take a holiday is because they don't have time. You may only receive a small amount of time off each year, or if you run your own business, it can be really difficult to make time for vacations.

In Australia, we have a fairly good paid holiday standard. Full time workers get 4 weeks off each year. I remember when I walked from Canada into the USA, I was mercilessly quizzed by border control. After establishing that no, I wasn't trying to illegally enter the U.S. to work, the topic moved onto why I was in the U.S. and how I was paying for it. It took me a good 30 minutes to convince the guy that yes, I was having 6 weeks paid vacation (I didn't have a holiday in over 2 years, so I had leave saved up). He was not surprised, he flat out thought I was lying. I know in the States, most people get one week paid vacation leave (am I right?) This makes travel really tough, so I'll try to consider everyone's circumstances in this advice.

Options for full-time workers

When I worked full time, I was very interested in getting as much vacation time as I could. If you work for a larger company, it may be worth speaking to colleagues who have been there for awhile, or making an appointment with Human Resources to have a chat about your options. For example, I found out as I was working a certain number of Sundays a year, I was entitled to 5 weeks leave instead of the standard four! They did not tell me this (they never would!) I heard it through the grapevine and made an enquiry. I also found out that since I was a supervisor on certain shifts, I could be paid at a higher rate for those shifts. Again, they didn't tell me, I had to do the research myself.

Find out ways that you might be able to get some extra time off. Some companies allow unpaid leave, others have schemes that allow you to take time off for travel if it will be beneficial to your job. You may need to attend a conference while you're away, or do some research, but you might just score some bonus holiday time too! Consider working overtime in exchange for time in lieu, or ask if you can work on public holidays in exchange for an extra day off at a more convenient time (i.e. for when you take a holiday!)

Another company I worked for offered a program where, for four years, they subtracted a small percentage of your income, and you could take the fifth year off work, paid. This was incredible, though a little too much of a long-term commitment for me! But if you love your company and your job, this kind of thing would be perfect. Imagine getting paid for a whole year to travel?! If you don't love your job, you can always make your own scheme, sacrificing a percentage of your pay each year that will eventually be enough to live off for a period of time.

Options for casual (no paid holiday) workers and business owners

First off, how annoying is it when you don't have paid holidays? I know when I worked casually (for years), I avoided holidays because I thought I needed to keep working to get more money for... living. I was once told by a uni teacher that everyone lives 10% above their means. No matter if they earn $5 an hour or $500, they will always overextend their finances by 10%. I'm not sure how scientifically accurate that is, but it is food for thought. I know when I was at uni, I indulged in the pot noodle diet (or the boiled rice with that Chinese hot chilli oil on it?!) and now that I have more extra disposable income, I might choose organic vegetables instead. We make choices that fill out our income, and if we are conscious of it, we can make different choices that will leave us with a little extra in each pay check.

When you know that you are not going to receive paid leave, factor that in to your lifestyle choices. Make it possible to take 2 weeks off work (for example) and not be in financial trouble. When I know I am going away, I start to pay my bills in advance, so that while I am away, and the first month after I get back, I know that everything is in credit and I won't be stressing out trying to get paid or find work in a hurry (now that I freelance full time).

When you just can't get extra time off

Even if you can only spare a day or two off from your work, use them wisely. Look out for groupings of public holidays. Sometimes you can end up with a string of nearly 2 weeks off while only using 3-4 holiday days. Apply for the leave early though, because others will have the same idea!

If all else fails, take a weekend break. You'd be surprised at how refreshing one night away can be, or even just a day trip outside of your normal surroundings. A short break can be really worthwhile, so don't forget that this can be a perfect solution when you're short on vacation time.

Do you have any insider secrets on scoring extra leave? Or any suggestions on how to maximise the time you have? Let us know in the comments below.

You can read the previous posts on creating a savings plan here (intro) and here (action plan).

Shell

xo

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If you missed the introductory post on working out your budget, take a look over there first, we'll wait for you, don't worry! If you ever think that you can't afford a holiday, or you're just after some tips to help you save, this series is for you. We'll be covering budgeting, saving, tricks for spending less when you're on holiday and a bunch more. I hope you join me, and more importantly, I hope you get a nice holiday out of it!

OK, so you have your budget worked out. Do you have any money left over for the month? If you do, you're already ahead of the game! I recommend opening a high interest savings account or a term deposit where you can store your holiday funds. Personally, I prefer the savings account so I can access the funds without penalty in case of emergency, but if you think you'll be tempted to dip into them, perhaps a term deposit where they are 'locked' is safer! Look at the pros/cons of each and see which is best for you.

If you don't have any leftover funds in your budget, or very little, lets look at ways you can save on what you are spending currently. First, look at your monthly budget and organise your expenses into "Essentials", "Nice To Have" and "Totally Unnecessary" (This excellent method comes from Paid To Exist).

Totally Unnecessary

Right away, you can remove the "Totally Unnecessary" expenses. You don't need to spend that money. Trust me. Redirect those funds into your savings plan.

Nice To Have

Can you remove any of these items from your spending? Or reduce the amount you spend on them? I'm always amazed on the street style interviews when they ask someone how much they spend a month on clothes, and often, it's more than my annual budget! Look carefully at your "nice to haves" and pare down your spending where you can. Get creative and figure out how to save on them without killing your social life entirely.

• Can you reduce your eating out experiences to once a month instead of once a week?

• Can you have a movie night with your friends at home instead of going to the cinema?

• Could you try eating at the local noodle house instead of a fancy restaurant?

• Would you try hiking or a picnic in lieu of a paid leisure activity?

• Are there free cultural events in your community?

Tweet me or comment below with your cheap/free social activity ideas!

The Essentials

You obviously can't stop spending money on these, and I'm sure they make up the bulk of your spending. Let's look at ways we can reduce the spending on essentials.

1. Rent/Mortgage

While it might seem drastic, are you paying more than you need to on this? Are you willing to sacrifice convenience, location, size or even renting your spare room out to save money? It might be worth considering.

2. Utilities

Look at your consumption. Can you cut back on the amount of hot water you use by showering at the gym or at work? Are you leaving appliances on at night that are sucking extra electricity? Can you offset heating/cooling costs by being a little more energy efficient in your home? Is it possible to downgrade your phone plan or internet plan?

3. Groceries

Look for coupons and shop for things on sale. If you see something that you use often on sale, pick up a couple extra and keep them in storage (like toothpaste, toilet paper, coffee etc).

Plan your shopping and don't impulse buy. Each week I do a meal plan, write a list and buy only what I need (aside from the specials mentioned above).

Try getting your fresh produce at a farmers market, if you go just before closing time, you're likely to get excellent deals as the vendors are packing up for the day.

Buy in bulk and compare prices. You can save a lot of money without sacrificing the quality of food that you're eating.

Make extra for dinner and take leftovers for lunch the following day. Or, prepare your lunch the evening before so that you're not tempted to spend big on a cafe lunch at work.

I try to make recipes that recycle ingredients - so if I need a quarter of a pumpkin for one recipe, I make something else that week that will use the rest of the pumpkin. It saves money and reduces waste too.

4. Medication

I don't recommend trying to save money here, aside from shopping around. Some pharmacies offer much better prices than others. Even prescription medication prices can differ greatly between pharmacies. In Australia we can choose generic brands instead of the name brands. They are cheaper and I'm assured they are exactly the same product.

5. Insurance

This is another thing I wouldn't cut out. When I reduced my spending, I kept my insurances as they were. One thing to do though, is shop around and make sure you are still getting a good price, especially if you've been with one provider for a long time. You may be able to switch companies and get the same level of insurance for less. Or you can get a quote and ask your current provider to match it, you'l find most of the time they will reduce your premium to keep your business.

6. Banking

Make sure you are getting the best rates on any loans that you may have. As with insurance companies, banks will often match prices to keep your business, so shop around and do the research. It's ideal to pay off your credit cards each month, but if that's not possible, you should definitely look at doing a low/no interest balance transfer to pay off your debt. Avoid spending on your credit card unless you can pay it off each month. As with loans, shop around for the best interest rates.

Even more ways to reduce your spending and save!

1. Clothing

Look at your shopping choices carefully. It would be rare, if you really examined the situation, that you NEED a new pair of shoes, lipstick, dress etc. Be strong, and try to avoid any additional spending in this area. If you have to stop visiting online shops or the mall, please do. At the end of the day, a holiday is so much more rewarding than an overflowing wardrobe. I generally only purchase clothing on sale, or I look at secondhand items that might be cheaper (and often better quality than the chain stores) Remember, if you don't need it, don’t buy it!

2. Entertainment

I touched on it above, but try to think of cheaper (or free) ways to socialise. You don't need to spend lots to have fun. Consider a gathering at home, have a pot luck dinner with friends or go on a picnic. Visit museums or free cultural events in your city/town. Go for a hike. Build a pillow fort and have homemade popcorn with a bunch of friends. There are tonnes of ideas that won't break the budget.

3. Gym

This is definitely a nice to have and non-essential. I didn't want to give up my gym membership though, so I downgraded it to local clubs instead of it being worldwide/Australia-wide. I also entered a new contract in order to get a health fund discount. While I had to sign on for two more years, it was worth it for the discount, and the fact I wasn't planning on leaving the gym anyway.

4. Work more

This is not ideal, obviously. But if you work full-time, perhaps you can take on the odd freelance job here and there (I did this and paid for my holidays with a couple of extra hours work a week). If your budget cannot be stretched further, perhaps this is an option. I don't want you to be pulling double shifts. Please. But perhaps a shift once a week at a coffee shop or offering services in your area of expertise may be a way to gather a little extra cash.

5. Sell stuff

If you have a lot of excess 'stuff' perhaps you can sell some. You might be able to get a few hundred dollars together by selling things you have in storage and are not even using, like extra furniture, old sporting equipment, baby supplies you no longer need, books and more!

There are definitely more ideas on how to save money, I'd love to see your tips in the comments.

Shell

xo

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Does taking a holiday seem like something that you can never afford? I know how you feel, I've been there. You start looking at fancy hotels, beach resorts and flights, and very quickly a short getaway can cost your entire year's spending money, or more. But it doesn't need to be that way! I have some tips for saving for a holiday, no matter what your budget.

Next week, I'll be sharing a series of posts on saving for and planning a vacation. These budgeting tips are useful whether you are saving for a holiday, or just trying to get your finances on track. But a holiday is a good motivation, right?

A lot of people find it hard to justify spending money on a holiday. It can be a large amount of money to spend, and at the end, what do you have to show for it? It's not an investment in a physical 'thing' like a house, or a car. But physical objects can be just as temporary, and the benefits of taking a holiday far outweigh the financial costs. While you are relaxing and rejuvenating your body and mind, you will most likely meet new people, see new places and have new experiences that you wouldn't consider at home. Getting out of your standard environment is a good character building exercise too! The psychological benefits of taking a break are too great to ignore. I know for myself, I'm always thinking back on good times I had on vacation when things get a bit stressful at work!

If you are ready to start a holiday budget, you can complete these steps before next week so that you can be ready to take action on the savings ideas that I'm going to share with you.

1. Look at what you currently spend

If it's complicated, or you just want to keep an accurate record, you could use some budgeting websites or apps like Buxfer, Mint or BudgetTracker. You could also just set up your own spreadsheet using google docs or similar, or use a free online budget service with your bank account.

2. Break down your earnings vs expenses into monthly payments

Remember to take into account the main things like rent/mortgage, utilities (gas, electricity, water, phone, internet, council fees etc), groceries (include food, toiletries and cleaning supplies), medication, transport and other monthly expenses like insurance. Then add in extras like eating out, entertainment, socialising, clothes, vet bills, gifts etc. Things that may not happen every day, week or month, but estimate (or find out) your monthly spending on these items.

That's it! Check back next week, starting Monday I'll be sharing ideas on how to save money for a holiday, and saving while you're on holiday too!

Shell

xo

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