Today we have the pleasure of asking Jules from @omandthecity) how she tackles working from home as a full-time influencer. Enjoy!
What are some tools/systems you use daily to structure your work flow?
I live and die by my Google calendar, so I schedule out absolutely everything from deadlines, to-do list tasks, meetings, and even personal things such as time for self-care and date nights. Most creatives benefit from structure when self-employed – I know I do. (Download my full ‘Week in the Life’ calendar by clicking here.)
More technology tools I love are Trello to track progress on projects, Slack to communicate with my team more efficiently, and Spark as a more intuitive inbox management application. Here’s a complete list of my 7 Favorite Technology Tools to Simplify Your Life.
What is something you used to do when you started that you realized was NOT helpful?
I used to have my email notifications on + check it a million times per day. That was a huge time drain for me. Now, I have all notifications turned off, and I set aside times throughout the day to check and respond. I know not everyone can do this, but I also dedicate two days out of the week to bulk-respond to emails the aren’t as time sensitive. It has freed up so much of time time, so I can actually run my day and not my notifications. Here’s my Purposeful Productivity Checklist to get shiz done.
How do you manage your time throughout the day?
Since I’ve been running my biz full-time for three years, I’ve become so much more intentional and efficient with my time. I try to stick with the 9-6 hours to keep a nice structure in my work and personal life. I also strongly believe in task-batching and themed work days (you can read about that here). For example, Mondays and Wednesdays are usually my “creative days”. They are spent writing, shooting, editing, and overall creating. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I focus more on emails, admin, and taking meetings. Obviously when travel or events pops up, I am able to adapt my schedule to it. Something I always make sure to do is start my day off with my morning routine which involves getting some movement in and drinking my morning matcha. I also take afternoon breaks outside if the weather is nice, and I’ll walk my dog around the lake for an hour to refresh my brain.
How do you stay focused when social media is your world? Do you have any structure around how much you go on social media?
I do my best to not treat social media like an all-you-can-eat buffet by setting boundaries (+ a time limit in my iPhone settings). Some days are more disciplined than others, but what I like to remind myself is how I feel on the days when I listen to the boundaries I set versus how I feel when I let social media swallow up my day. Obviously, I use my phone a lot to film, edit, shoot, etc. but when it’s time to do work that doesn’t involve my phone, I put it in a drawer, so I can focus without distractions. I also set aside time in the morning, afternoon, and evenings to answer comments + dms, as well as support other creators’ content.
What is one thing that you like to do when you are feeling unmotivated?
I like to get outside when I feel stuck. If the words aren’t flowing or the focus isn’t there, then there’s no point in me just staring at my screen. I can’t force creativity or inspiration… with this being such a creative job, it can feel defeating sometimes when you lose motivation. However, that usually just means it’s time for a break of a change of scenery. I like to go for a walk with the dogs, work from cafes, go to a workout class, or clean my house… then hopefully I feel refreshed enough to try again.
Walk us through a typical work day:
My day starts with my morning routine which gets me into a more positive, calm, and joyful mindset before my workday. In a nutshell, I workout, reset my space, and then drink my matcha. After that, what I do depends on the projects on my plate and what day of the week it is since I follow themed work days [read more about it here].
By 9am I am at my desk. My work tasks involve lots of writing, shooting video or photo content, editing, answering emails, meetings, delegating tasks, working with my team, and planning/strategizing future content and projects. I keep the amount of events I attend down to a minimum, and I always make time to see my close friends. [WHEN WE AREN’T QUARANTINED…]
