4 Ways to Maintain Productivity this Summer

Summer summer summer time...time to sit back and unwind.

The weather gets warm and our minds and bodies are ready to relax and enjoy fun times and the outdoors. So naturally, productivity drops by 20% in the summer. Depending on how you’ve strategized your business and what systems you have in place, you don’t have time to lose any percentage in productivity.

Here are 4 ways to maintain productivity this summer:

1. Take a vacation day every week

Summer is for fun times, being social, and enjoying the life you are building. Everyday if you ask me, but primarily vacations. Average day...you’re working, the sun is shining and your mind is thinking about everything BUT work. Spare me, I love work, and I can work all day every day.

No you want fun and sun.

So to ramp up your productivity, schedule one vacation day. Yes, schedule it, so that you really take it. Now if your current work week is 4 days, then you are going down to 3.

Schedule this day during the week, so you will treat it as a vacation day and not just a weekend day with everyone else. You may be thinking that reducing days will harm your productivity. However, its the exact opposite, you will PUSH to get more done in less time. You want this vacay day!

2. Digital detox

Being online ALL the time is draining. You’re connected to your computer, tablet and phone. You are always available. If your mind is constantly processing notifications and alerts, it can’t run efficiently. I love apple as they have really revolutionized technology products, but if I open every app or program and add multiple images and songs...if my device isn’t FULL. It will run soooooooo slow. Your mind is no different.

Pick one day out the week, a weekend day or the weekend works too, to completely detox from digital. So that’s no internet, social media, email, or Netflix. Okay, well maybe Netflix, but on the TV. The computer or phone is tricky and the other apps may draw you in. After the detox, you return refreshed and ready to tackle all the missed notifications and emails. You’re no longer subconsciously thinking about those menial tasks.

3. Get enough sleep

With the sun setting later, it just persuades us to stay up later. In order to maximize your productivity, you need a minimum of 8 hours of sleep every night. Now you determine how those 8 hours play out. 5 am may be optimal for that #girlboss on Instagram, but your productivity optimal time may not be until 11 am. 

4. Remix routines

All the tasks and routines that you have during the rest of the year, may not work in the summer. You want to learn to adjust your business and routines, so that they make sense to your life.

Writing blogs and producing tons of free content may be a big part of your business model during the fall and winter months. And that’s amazing, because your target audience is there to sup it up like warm soup on a winter day. It hits the spot and they want more. The weather warms up and soup and chili just aren’t main courses anymore. Your ideal consumer is out enjoying herself. So you may reduce the content that you are producing.

Don’t worry about anyone forgetting about you, you aren’t putting up the gone for the summer sign. You are shifting to working smarter vs. harder.

Bring out relevant post from your archives and cycle those into your social media scheduler. Play with Snapchat or Facebook Live and talk with your peeps.

REMIX what you normally do.

You may want to work outside on days it’s nice or take walking meetings [wear headphones and use a tool like Uberconference to record the meeting]. Send the recording to your assistant, if there’s anything she needs to take action on.

Working for yourself and working online can be difficult at times, but you’re the BOSS! You call the shots and you are able to strategize to make sure you get everything done and still have time for the sun!

xo, 

Kimber 

Erin Condren for Business

To be successful in business you have to have a strategy. Strategy is your roadmap to success.

Particularly with online business, things change so often, and you have to plan for that.

Business planning usually can be dull, dry and just plain ole boring. Yet, when done correctly, you are truly working towards building an empire.

A few months ago I shared with you a post on The Best Planners for Women in 2016  and shared with you my love of planning on paper. There’s truly something magical when pen and paper meet.

It featured the Erin Condren Life Planner which is currently the bloodline of my business. [more about that in a bit] 

The lovely peeps at Erin Condren reached out and sent over some luscious goodies for us to add to our business organization and development. 

I immediately gravitated to their jot your thought journals to manage business planning. The paper quality is perfect and there is minimal to no bleed through, if that type of thing bothers your creative process. The journal trio comes in graph paper, lined paper and blank paper.

Here is a breakdown of how those three notebooks are being utilized:

House of Chanel:

The creative hub of the empire which houses product development and potential timelines. To include - 

• workshop planning

• webinar ideas

• current projects

• collaboration ideas

• service ideas and upgrades w/ development timeline

• product ideas and upgrades w/ development

The Biz Bible:

The heart of the business, which includes -  

• Mission and vision [outlines company culture]

• Trilogy [what 3 things are we focusing on/positioned as an expert on]

• Quarterly goals

• Big dates across other biz/life

Running TDL :

To do's that you come across throughout the day/week that isn't on your or your teams radar.

• Write it down in this Running TDL.
• Add to your calendar to add this to your business hub at the end of each week. [Even if you just take a picture and upload it but delegate to your team to add it to the business hub online.]

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Last year I used the life planner as a LIFE planner, but this year I wanted to focus on just content creation. The set up is amazing and very practical for getting your content done! Click here to save $10 on your first Erin Condren order. 

Planning means nothing if you don’t put the ideas into action.

On the note pages before each month, I outline ideas for blog posts, podcasts, periscopes and YouTube videos.  

Then break each task down into the smallest subtask for completion on the weekly pages. 

The Erin Condren Life Planner vertical layout is perfect for business planning. On the left there's lines for to-do's which are synced in our Asana, but it helps to see it in the planner to know exactly what to conquer and the time available to knock it out.

Strategy baby! 

The individual boxes are used for: content creation tasks, social media tasks, and client work tasks. Underneath the last box is four lines which I use to write down the top three people I need to contact or respond to on that day. 

The snap in dashboards [laminated paper that snaps in the planner] are perfect for jotting down TDL's and random ideas that come to you throughout the day. I keep one on the current monthly spread, one on the current week and one on the next monthly spread. Use wet erase markers to write and wipe off with rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. 

The sticky note [post-its not created by post-its]  dashboard is my bestie. I have an insane addiction to sticky notes. I write quotes I see on Instagram and Twitter and make notes to myself all day long. The dashboard makes it convenient for when I'm away from my desk. 

I added additional folders into the life planner to add marketing inspirations, I may get in the mail or pretty postcards that spark creativity. And on a bad day, because let's face it the biz rollercoaster can be rough, I may throw in a nice card from a client. 

Speaking of cards, I love writing out cards to my current and past clients...just because, for their birthdays or when they make big accomplishments . So when, I saw this box full of cards, I was excited to send some love around the world. 

The cards are thick and colorful. The picture doesn't show the true beauty of these. The wording is in rose gold, silver and gold foil with coordinating stickers to enclose the envelopes. 

I’m a doodler (is that even a word?) I doodle when I’m bored, busy and just because. So when I saw the Creative Color coloring book and sketch pad my heart jumped a few beats. Coloring is so therapeutic, so on those days when you can’t get your biz bestie on the phone or Skype...pull out an adult color book and calm your nerves. Or when your ADHD is flowing with energy doodle away. I just leave it on my desk and finish where I left off from the days before when I need a break. I love that paper is thick and can actually be framed around your office for positive vibes with the various inspirational sayings.

Thank you to the Erin Condren team for sending me these wonderful products to review and share. 

Batch Like a Productive + Profitable Girl Boss

Content creation usually isn't the favorite part of any content creators business. Like much of life...there's so many moving parts.

When you see a beautifully written blog article, you rarely think about how long it took for that article to be produced.

Rarely as in NEVER!

However when you are the creator, you might think what in the hell am I going to produce. An easy way to rid yourself of those thoughts: create an editorial calendar.

What's that?!?

A fancy or not so fancy plan for your upcoming content.

An easy way to develop an editorial calendar is to think of 3 categories that you address in your services and(or) products. You want these to be general categories because you'll get specific as you move on.

For example:  Productivity, business tips and systems.

Then brainstorm topics underneath each. Assign a date and how you'll distribute this content. Boom!

There's some marketers that will tell you blogging is dead.

Content is king and you're the queen.

You need each other.

Content creation goes so much deeper than blogging. Whatever your poison [blogging, video,podcast, etc], make sure you have a beautiful castle for this content king to reside [your website].

So we've established that you're the queen! But to become a true boss, you'll need to batch!

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Batching is what makes producing content manageable and easy.

Batching is when you do a lot of one thing for a set period of time.

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Let's say you set a schedule where you blog weekly.

That's 4 blog posts a month. I know my math skills are remarkable...stay with me.

Did you know it's easier to push out all four articles than each one individually?

Yep. Science and psychology back me up on this.

Switching tasks or multitasking reduces your productivity by 40%.

When multitasking, we typically switch tasks every 3 minutes and 5 seconds.

When work is interrupted it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task.

Batching decreases the time lost between switching tasks.

Ultimately batching allows you to increase concentration and decrease distraction.

Cookies are made in batches because it's easier and it saves time. Besides who eats just one cookie?

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Batching your content is the same. Well, it might not be as sweet and gratifying instantly like a cookie, but it saves time with your processes. 

Here are some things in your business and life that you can start batching this week:

Email: set up a time and system so you can check your emails and respond to them within an hour or two [an hour would be awesome]. Tim Ferris says he checks his once a day and responds all at once. Such will power that guy has. I’m on a twice a day schedule, that works pretty well.

Phone calls: have a running list of who you need to call on a sheet/in notebook on your desk. Set aside a day or two throughout the week and a time for you to make/return all the calls.

Content creation: Pick one day a month and block off 4 [or more] hours of your most productive time to create content.  Add additional days if you have multiple streams of content to create.

Editing content: Pick one day a month/week and block off a set amount of time during your most alert time of day to edit your amazing content.

Curating content for social media shares: Once a week pick a light day to peruse your favorite websites for content to share with your peeps. Doing this on one day at one time, saves oh so much time. Versus taking a few minutes here and there, because the whole act of switching is time consuming. Once complete, schedule your social media for the week.

Client work or projects: complete client work or similar projects all at once until complete. So when you’re done...you’re done. No need to keep your mind boggled down with uncompleted work.

Expenses: weekly or monthly set aside time to review your personal and business expenses. Have a plan on what you’re documenting and reviewing. What actions need to be taken as well as what milestones/rewards you should set for meeting your expense goals each month.

Productivity to profits is the goal around here.

Cooking: schedule in time to plan what you’ll eat for the week, even the days and nights you plan to eat out. On Sundays, set aside time to meal prep and have a cooking party preparing for the week.

Cleaning: schedule in time to tidy up. Cluttered spaces really deter productivity and creativity.

Planning: each week you should have time scheduled in to plan for your next week. Include time to brain dump and sort out new ideas.

Often times people think that when you plan and essentially control your time, that it stifles creativity. Batching is quite the opposite. You are ensuring that you set aside time to go deep within your creative space without being interrupted and produce a greater value of work

Batching provides you with freedom to have fun or take a nap when all the work is complete. What more could a girlboss ask for? 

Question: Can't anyone do systems stuff?

We all have that one friend (or we’re that friend) that was in a crappy relationship and just didn’t see the crap for what it was.

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Sometimes we are so close to something that we just can’t see or smell it for what it is. B.S.

In business it’s the same principal. You know your business inside and out.

You are the expert.

Go on with your bad self. You expert You.

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That expertise can limit us when we don’t fully own our truths. You know...acknowledging our strengths and weaknesses. 

I’m a creative that is multi-passionate whose mind processes things **wait for it** systematically.

Most creatives are not systems oriented. The word on the street is that systems are not sexy and that they are scary. I say that’s BS, but again I am a little too close to systems, so I’ll take their word that systems are scary for the average solopreneur.

That’s the thing I love about you though, you aren’t the average. You are chic and savvy. You’re ambitious. You have money to make and a world to change.

And you can’t do that by being scared.

Systems came into my life because I had so many creative ventures going on and they weren’t working together. Let me be clearer, they were working, but I was burnt out and overwhelmed which decreased my desire to continue.  I didn’t want to quit one and choose another because I knew there was a way to make my businesses work together and still maintain the life that I had created. Systems were how I pieced everything together. I didn’t even know what systems were when I started piecing them together.

I sat down and took my businesses out of my mind and wrote every aspect down. That alone was 40 pounds lifted off my shoulders. I organized what I did and what my team members did. Once, I completed this, I no longer needed to talk someone through a process because the processes were there for others to see. Booyah! 

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Once I got my businesses straight, I started teaching others how to automate their business. Person after person it was clearer and clearer that systems just aren’t something you can google.

Don't believe me?

Go ahead and google away. The hours you lose in trying to figure out what you need specifically for your business isn’t even worth the time of trying to gain time in your business. There's so much information and none of it is customized to your business. 

If you took one hour each week to look at your business as an entity and not an extension of yourself, then break the processes down that your business needs. You would save yourself an enormous amount of time, energy, and money in the weeks to come.

So to answer the question: Can't anyone do systems stuff?

Answer: No you need my brain. 

How about that for owning my expertise. Sounds pretty cocky, but its the truth, and we don't lie to our lady friends. I’ve mastered organizing chaos, it’s just how my brain works. If you want to waste time and money because time is money, let me know how that goes.

I've been there and done that and  was too tired to even buy the t-shirt. 

However, If you want to save the time of not knowing where to even get started, let my brain do the work for you and get your biz automated. After all, I am the one girl you want all up in your business. 

Click here to have my brain automate your biz.

You’re taking too long (how long all your blog posts should take)

I have a client whom we'll call Kai. During our pre assessment, I asked Kai what was the average time it takes to write a blog post? Kai said it took her 8 hours write one blog post.

That's an incredible amount of time wasted. Her content was phenomenal, but her process was unremarkable. 8 hours for a single blog post is unproductive. 

Brain surgery is completed in less time. 

Babies are delivered in less time. 

You can fly from New York to Milan on a non stop flight in eight hours. 

The other night I asked on Facebook: What's the average time it takes to write a blog post?                 
                                                                                                                                      The answers varied significantly but with each answer I saw who had control of their business and whose business had control over them. Majority of the Facebook responses were similar to Kai. 28 to be precise.

Stop wasting your time...if you’re part of this 8 hours [plus] crew.

Blog posts should not take 8 hours!

You're taking too long to write your blog posts. Let's streamline the process.

Chic Systems Blog Process

• Research & Brainstorm

• Only have two tabs (preferably one) open on the computer 

• Disable notifications on phone & computer

• Start with the introduction for the post.

• Write freestyle- just write. Don't edit misspelled words or incorrect grammar. Just write. Forget the backspace button. Just write.

*go do something else* 

• If something new comes to you- write it down and add to post when editing. 

*Editing time- Welcome back!*

• Correct the misspelled words and incorrect grammar. Hello DELETE button.

• Organize the content.

• Pick/create images and(or) gifs

• Create related tags (SEO baby) - you do want people to read the post that you previously took 8+ hours to write.

• Create a CTA (call to action) at the end of the post- Tell your reader what you want them to do.

• Pick 2-3 catchy titles (1 is for the site and the others are to sprinkle on social media).

• and POST!

Here's what you need to construct a remarkable post:

Editorial calendar or a content idea storage bank

Evernote & Evernote Web Clipper

Google Drive

Toggl if you're fancy

Time required: Two hours MAX

Here's how the process looks streamlined:

20 minutes to research & or brainstorm

30 minutes to write article  

15 minutes to edit & organize content

15 minutes for images

10 minutes to create 3 catchy titles

10 minutes to create tags

20 minutes to post and distribute to newsletter

The secret to streamlining this process is when you see articles that are relevant to a topic you know you plan to write about, clip it to an Evernote folder titled Research and tag the article with “blog post idea” and a relevant tag to the topic that you will recall. 

Create a folder in google drive to save images that you like and think you may want to share on your website. I have a folder for images and one for gifs.

Next time you get ready to write your blog post use Toggl and track how long it takes you. No worries toggl tracks projects spread over time if you need to write and resume in a day or so. Theres so many things you can do with the 6 hours you just saved. 

Click here to get more done in 4 days than you do now in 5.

Werk Wednesday Series: Fiverr

Fiverr is an amazing gem. Fiverr is a site where freelancers start their projects at five dollars. 

Now depending on the freelancer the price can go up. I've never paid more than $20 for a project. 

I've had logos, flyers, business cards, photoshop work on pictures, video editing, and an Ebook cover created. 

Tips to have an awesome experience with Fiverr: 

1. Use high rated sellers, not just recommended sellers. 
2. Check their reviews
3. Does their sample work look like your desired end product?!? 
4. Read everything that's printed prior to hitting purchase.

The starting price is $5, so some sellers will have limited revisions. Be very clear with giving the directions for your project. 

5. Pay it forward- if someone did an excellent job, don't forget to rate them. That helps them and the rest of us knowing who to choose. I always rate and leave a nice review. 

One last thing look to see how long it will take to compete task and how many jobs in queue. You might not want to wait 11 days.

Please note: you pay through paypal and if your paypal is connected to a credit/debit card, your bank will charge you a fee for using an international merchant. However, if your paypal account is linked to a bank account, there will be no additional fee. At least this is what Bank of America does. 

Busy is the new black!

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I have a friend that's always busy doing nothing. I still haven't figured this out. At one point I thought maybe we really weren't friends and she's blowing me off. That wasn't the case though. Every time I’d call, I’d get her voice mail, which was full. Or if by miraculous chance I get her on the phone, she has to go. Days or weeks later she'll explain "it was nothing." One day in person I asked her about all the "nothing," and she was right it was nothing.

Simply put: if you aren't getting the things that you want done, it's nothing. It’s busy work. If your goals aren't being met, you're wasting time.

Busy is the new black! People posts on social networks all day about how busy they are like it’s a badge of honor. There’s nothing wrong with being legitimately busy: your time is occupied and you are satisfied with the time that you delegate weekly to work/school, family, and play. The glorification of being busy comes from people who aren’t productive, but rather doing busy work just for recognition or because we’re conditioned that being busy means we’re doing well. When someone asks, “how are you?” We respond, “busy.” Busy is not the new “I’m fine.”

What are you busy doing?  

One of my Facebook friends posted about wanting to start a business. I messaged her with three specific things that she could do to get started that night. She told me she was going to be so busy that night but would "try" to get to it that upcoming weekend. That night I saw four posts from her on Instagram and three on Facebook, all unrelated. She's still posting about "wanting" to start her business. I keep on scrolling. It sounds nice, but that’s not what she truly wants.

“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?

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— Henry David Thoreau

We all make time for what's important to us. Just don't lie to yourself. Don't tell yourself that you want XYZ but you won't make time or a way to get XYZ. If you ask me to help you lose 10 pounds, but you tell me that you don't have time to eat right or workout. I'm going to tell you that you don't want to lose 10 pounds. It sounds nice. 

It helps to have a clear understanding what your goals are. Be very clear.

1.) Why do you want to do this?

2.) What do you have to give up for this goal?

3.) What won't you give up for this goal?

Don’t set goals based on what society thinks you should have or do. Set your own goals based on your desires.

One of my long term goals is to move to Fiji and open a bed and breakfast. During the off seasons, I want to teach the local children. Essentially, this is early retirement, but with fulfilling “work.” Living in a beautiful country and cooking delectable foods and embracing the locals. What a great job/retirement. If you’re ever in Fiji, you’ll have to come check me out! Your first two nights are on me  : ) When you book, just use the code: BUSYISTHENEWBLACK

We all need time for ourselves. All work and no play is a sad boring life. We need good laughs with our friends. Date nights with ourselves and loved ones. Sleeping in every now and then and wearing our pajamas all day. This down time is needed. We all need a recharge. However, just like a battery, it’s pointless to recharge it if you never took it off the charger.

If you aren’t busy working towards your goals, what are you working towards? The next time you verbalize “I’m busy,” think if you are really busy or are you just going through the motions with busy work.

If you want to lose that 10 pounds or start that business or go back to school examine your weekly schedule. Where do you have at least thirty minutes to spare? I know you have more than thirty minutes, but lets starts there. The first two women that are serious about making some sort of change and are ready to get BUSY working on themselves, email me and I’ll gift a session to you.

Live. Love. Action

1. Examine your schedule: work/school & play for the past week to determine where your down time is.

2. Give yourself thirty minutes each day to just breathe and appreciate life.

3. Get busy living! No more busy work!

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