3 Sample Routines for Working from Home with Kids

Welcome to my new series all about routines. While developing my own routine over the last few weeks of stay-at-home orders and quarantine, I’ve found myself writing down notes about developing my routine, working from home, having kids, keeping self-care in my day, and staying sane! I wanted to share some of this information with you, to help you succeed and feel more rested, recharged, and productive.

When Forrest was very young (like… a newborn), I remember spending one entire day reading other people’s routines and schedules with their baby. I was trying to find a way to make my day work a little better, to feel a little more sane and more human. I sought out examples of other people’s day because I needed ideas of what everyone else is doing.

That’s why I’m here today. We are all in a new, exciting world: one where school is all online, there is no more daycare or preschool, and the refuge of the park no longer exists. No coffee shops, no malls, no nothing.

It’s not all negative, though. If you’re here, then that means you’re still working, even if it’s from home, and that means we’re both in highly privileged positions! We are navigating these times in a different way than other people and as long as we acknowledge that, we’re golden.

In the course of writing this blog post, I found myself comforted by seeing other people’s routines! Alongside my own, I’m sharing two of my friends routines. I tried to pick a variety of careers, lifestyles, and situations. I’ll explain a bit more about each one later, but I hope you can use these example routines to make space for yourself in your day and streamline your time a little bit.

If you have questions about creating a routine that works for you, stay tuned! I have more posts coming. If you have a specific question, don’t hesitate to drop it in the comments below!

1. Marketing copywriter with 1 child

Oh hi, it’s me! I’m sure you’re all a bit tired of my daily routine at this point, but I wanted to share a quick breakdown of a day where I’m home with my son, Forrest. Here’s a rundown:

• Wake up at 5:30 am. Let out my dog and feed him. Make coffee.

• Morning routine: Check all my work emails and Slacks, check my calendar, create a master to do list for the day that also include my daily habits. My morning hour is usually spent scheduling for clients, as these is tedious work that I can’t be distracted from.

• When Forrest wakes up, we get dressed, eat breakfast, and do morning journaling together.

• After that, it’s quiet play time for him and I settle in to my to do list and tackle as much as possible.

• We eat lunch together, then more quiet play time while I work.

• We have TV time together from 3-4, then make dinner together at 4pm. My husband gets home around 5pm most nights.

• Evening routine: I finish up any outstanding work tasks, then do chores (dishes, laundry, etc). Then, I wash my face, put on a face mask, and either read in bed with my heating pad or play Animal Crossing. This is the number one way I de-stress right now and I do not miss it. While I’m doing this, my husband plays with Forrest or Forrest has quiet play time while my husband works in his office.

Things I rely on: my do list and planner; calendars and reminders; the clock; Forrest’s independence. Some days, it’s easier than others! Our challenge is that Forrest can be very anxious and moody right now; if I notice he’s struggling, I drop everything to take care of him. That’s what he needs from me and I try to be there for him at those times. If you’re a parent, don’t hesitate to do that. One of our other challenges is that my husband leaves for work every day, as he is an essential worker.

2. Lawyer with 2 young children

This is my friend, who we will call A. A has 2 younger children: a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old. She and her husband are both working from home right now. She works as a lawyer. Here’s her routine:

• Wake up with children around 7am, make coffee, and make breakfast.

• Husband watches kids while she answers emails and has meetings.

• Husband makes lunch and they swap: she watches kids while her husband works.

• Whole family makes dinner together and goes on a walk.

• Kids watch a movie while they both answer emails and finish up any work tasks.

• Kids go to bed and they both work. In the evening, she has a routine to clean up the house, do a quick yoga video, and do her skincare routine.

Things A relies on: An online to do app that sends her reminders on her computer and her phone; her husband trading shifts with her; her backyard for picnics, playtime, and more; Amazon Prime kids TV offerings. A has a great routine that works for her and her husband—it is no nonsense and they are both able to power through their individual work times thanks to trading who is watching the kids!

3. Project manager with 3 children

This is my friend, who will call C. C has 3 children: a 7-year-old, a 9-year-old, and a 13-year-old. Her husband is a nurse and so, isn’t living at home right now, as their 9-year-old has an immune disorder (Celiac’s disease) that puts him at high risk. They made the tough choice for her husband to stay at his brother’s home for the duration of stay-at-home orders. She works from home as a project manager for a marketing agency. Here’s her routine:

• Wake up at 5am, make coffee, and call husband. This is an important part of her routine, as her husband is usually getting ready for work around the same time and they connect without interruption. After this call, she takes a shower and gets ready for the day. She doesn’t feel like her day starts until she showers.

• Wake up kids at 6:30amish, get them ready, and have them help prepare breakfast.

• All kids start school by 8am. C calls into her morning meeting with her team and checks her email and Slack for the first time. She then prioritizes her tasks for the day and delegates to her team. (This part of the day is frequently interrupted by her youngest, who needs more help with school!)

• C takes a break after working for a few hours to make lunch, check in with all her kids and fix any issues they need help with. After that, they all start working again.

• At 3pm, school is over and C lets her oldest head to his room with his tablet to have a Zoom call with his friends. The youngest 2 get TV time while C has a final meeting with her team.

• Around 4, C’s brother-in-law drops off groceries for them. Because her middle son is high risk, they don’t go to the grocery store. He leaves groceries on the porch and waves from the driveway.

• The youngest 2 help C prepare dinner. They all sit down to eat together.

• At 6pm, they have a family Zoom call with C’s husband, who fills them in on his day. Afterwards, the kids pick a movie to watch together while C cleans the house, does dishes, and makes a list for the next day.

• In the evening, as the kids are winding down and heading to their rooms to get ready for bed, C picks a TV show to watch on Netflix by herself. She also likes to scroll through Instagram to decompress.

Things C relies on: Her team to help pick up the slack when she needs it; her brother-in-law and family for helping keep her son safe; online school to help occupy her kids’ time; and a running to do list that she re-prioritizes everyday. C is in a tough situation where, not only is her husband an essential worker still outside the home, he is currently living away from the family to keep their son safe. It’s a stressful situation, but she has help from her family and friends and support from her team. Her routine is pretty slow and even, and she gives herself permission to take a break frequently, as she needs it.

What can we learn from these routines?

• No two routines look the same. It depends on your profession, what you have going on in your life, where you live, and more! Don’t feel pressured to take on certain things if you aren’t able to. A prime example is I reversed on my intense homeschooling after 2-3 weeks—it just wasn’t sustainable!

• Give yourself grace. It’s ok to take a break, to take a moment to rest or relax. In my case, my job involves a lot of community management and social media response; this requires a lot of mental energy on my part and sometimes, I really need a break. I see a lot of grief and listen to a lot of woe and it can be taxing!

• Find systems that work for you: For me, I use a combination of calendar-planner-notebook to keep everything organized. I also have a specific notebook for each client to keep meeting notes and write down things to remember. For A, she uses a to do app that she keeps pristine (she showed it to me and honestly, it’s a beaut—she is not the blogging type, but I was very impressed!); for C, she uses a written to do list on an old school legal pad (retro!) and keeps it running day-to-day (which is equally as impressive, honestly).

• Make time for you! Your day needs time for you too. Working from your home, parenting 100% from your home… it gets exhausting fast and burn out is real. Make self-care a part of your routine, whether it’s simply picking a show to watch on Netflix or taking a bubble bath. Make that time and stick with it!

• Have a goal in mind. Your routine should be designed around a goal. Right now, for so many of us, that goal is simply to remain safe and to keep others around us safe. However, thinking of the larger picture, we all have certain goals: for me, I’m trying to build my clientele, hopefully, to keep working. I can’t speak for A and C’s goals, but I know they are goal-minded women! My routine is designed to make space for me to work and grow, while also take care of myself and Forrest. If you’re thinking of adding a daily routine to keep yourself on track, think of the ways it will contribute to your longterm goals!

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I’m so excited to kick off this series about routines. I hope you love it too! Don’t forget, if you have questions or want to chat about your routine, leave me a comment or reach out to me on Instagram.

Join me next week for an article all about routine essentials!

Working from Home? Here Are My Top 4 Tips for Staying Productive

As we all work on social distancing to prevent a massive influx of those infected with COVID19, many jobs have moved to entirely remote positions. You might be one of those people: you’ve typically worked in office-only jobs, where you left everyday at the same time and knew what was expected.

First things first, working from home, especially right now with many people furloughed or laid off, is a huge privilege. I think we all know that!

It’s ok if you’re nervous about it too. It’s ok if you aren’t sure if you’ll like it. And it’s also ok if you know right now you don’t like it at all. That’s ok!

If you’re new to the working from home game, I want to help. Right now, there are so few things we can all do to help others and, as a fellow slightly displaced, a little confused worker, I want to help where I can. If there is one thing I know, it’s working from home! I am hoping that sharing a few tips for working from home will help at least once person.

If you want more posts about being productive while working from home, here are two of my favorites:

• How to know if working from home is for you

• How to practice self-care as a freelancer*

*Consider yourself an honorary freelancer now!

Now, let’s get to those tips.

1. Take Care of Yourself.

I want to tackle this one first because I think it’s the most important one. We are all going through something that is, quite honestly, very traumatic. Our lives are being completely turned upside down. We all have family and friends who are suddenly out of work. We all have immunocompromised, immunosuppressed, or at-risk family members and friends. Things are very stressful and it will be natural to have that stress keep up.

So most importantly, take care of yourself in whatever way you can. I highly recommend getting a self-care routine in place right from the get go. Why? Because the sooner you have that routine in place, the easier it will be to maintain when things get hard.

I always tell people there are two pieces of self-care: the actual self-care aspect (what you need to do to keep your mental health good) and self-soothing techniques. Here’s how they differentiate:

• Self care is: going to therapy; taking your medication; practicing deep breathing to slow your heart rate during a panic attack.

• Self-soothing is: taking a bubble bath; using a lotion that smells good and calms you down; turning the news off when you’re overwhelmed.

Spot the difference? I think for many, this makes it easier to understand. Your self-care routine should be a mix of all of these things. Now might be the time to sign up for Talkspace so you have access to a mental health professional. Or, if you already attend therapy, get your meetings arranged to be over Zoom or Skype now. Then, start thinking of self-soothing pieces you want. Do you want to set aside 40 minutes every evening for a bath? Schedule it in, babe!

2. Set Strict Work Hours.

I keep a work calendar for everyone I work with and I block out my work hours on every single one. If you text me outside of those work hours, or your email me on the weekend, I will not respond to you. Period. End of story. I used to be not so strict about those, but once Oregon implemented a stay-at-home order, I decided to be strict about it.

I like working. But I don’t like feeling overwhelmed by work.

So, my advice is this: make your work hours known and stick to them. Don’t let anyone talk you out of them. Not your boss. Not your coworkers. Not your partner who is inexplicably on a work call at 8pm. Don’t let them down it! Stick to your hours. Strictly. If you do decide to be loosy-goosy and start early, don’t work over 8 hours. You’re going to burn out; you’re going to get tired; you’re going to get overwhelmed and frustrated and stressed. Be kind to yourself. Set your work hours!!!

3. Designate a Work Space.

You might not have the space for an office. Trust me, I get it. My office used to be a landing on my stairwell. It was tiny and uncomfortable and I hated it in a lot of ways.

Even if you don’t have an office in your home or apartment, you can designate a space where The Work Happens. This might be your kitchen table, which has a nice plug. You might have a desk in your bedroom that works and has a window you can look out. Whatever works for you. Pick a work space and stick with it.

Just like setting your work hours, I want you to be strict about this with yourself. Here’s why:

• You have to maintain good posture and ergonomic working conditions. Why? Because this will vastly impact how you feel physically. Working on the couch sounds great until your back aches.

• You have a designated space where The Work Happens and when you are in that space, you work. When you are not in that space, you do not work. This is a big thing mentally. It will help you be more productive. I promise.

4. Practice Breaks.

Working from home means there are less interruptions. No coworkers stopping to chat for 15 or 20 minutes. No quick breaks to the bathroom where you end up joining a lively discussion about a TV show. No quick brainstorms. Everything is scheduled out.

That means you get less breaks, mentally. So, schedule breaks into your day. Take 10 minutes to call a friend or talk to your partner. Or take your dog for a walk. Make yourself a snack or a cup of coffee. Do something other than work for a few minutes, then get back to it. Breaking up the day will help you stay on task longer and not feel so burnt out and tired.

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There you have it! Those things might feel pretty basic, but as these days pass, I want you to focus on them and make sure to set and keep plenty of boundaries. Bringing your work into your home can be a great way to save money on gas and protect people from COVID19. But it can also be very stressful and overwhelming.

Here is a handy dandy graphic that breaks down the do’s and don’ts of working from home.

What Are the Benefits of Journaling in Your Daily Routine?

Do you keep a journal? A diary? A planner?

More specifically: do you have somewhere to dump all your thoughts, feelings, anxieties, tasks, plans, dreams? It doesn’t have to be a traditional diary. It can be in the daily part of your planner, or the extra notes pages in the back. Or it can be an app you use every day. A notebook you use for your grocery lists. Your Notes app. A Word document on your computer or your Google Drive.

Do you see what I’m getting at?

I’m a lifelong journal keeper. And recently in therapy, my therapist asked if I journaled and I basically started listing all the years I’ve kept journals and diaries meticulously. (My earliest saved, complete journal is from my sophomore year of high school. It’s a Harry Potter notebook.) We talked about the benefits of journaling and things I can start journaling about everyday to start thinking more about.

Journaling has so many benefits. Professionally, mentally, emotionally, personally… and making journaling part of your daily routine is super easy. There are so many ways to incorporate journaling—but that’s not what we’re here to talk about.

Journaling in the traditional sense isn’t for everyone; some people just plain don’t like writing by hand. And that’s ok! You can use whatever medium you like best. But, I do think journaling, no matter how you choose to do it, can benefit you in the long run. Think of it as self-care… and these are all the benefits.

1. Organize your thoughts in your journal.

I spend a lot of time journaling purely to organize everything I’ve got running through my head. I always have a million concerns, tasks, things to think about, ideas… and writing them down helps a lot. Sometimes I do four-point brain dumps, where I organize my journaling into MUST-SHOULD-COULD-WANT TO to help me roll through my tasks and overwhelming, pressing thoughts of what I want to do that day.

Other times, I just sit and write out something I’ve been thinking over. An idea that I’m not sure if I should go for or not.

Journaling gives you a chance to pour out everything you’ve been thinking about. Something you want to refer back to or just want to work through. Use journaling to organize your thoughts, answer your own questions, and work through any problems you might be having.

2. Improve writing skills by journaling.

Plain and simple: if you want to be a better writer, journaling will help you get there.

Learning to write things accurately, you write out longer sentences and better solutions, writing in a way that is compassionate or friendly or solution focused… it’s all in journaling! As well, writing, just like any art form, is better with practice. You only become a better writer by writing… so even if you’re not ready to post blogs or publish a novel quite yet, keeping a journal is a great way to write every single day.

3. Use your journal to track goals & problems.

Me: I want to do this every single day.

Two days later: wait, what was it I wanted to do?

Yeah, if you’re like me and you forget things if you don’t write them down, a journal is a great way to focus on your goals, remembering them day-to-day, and tracking what you struggle with, what helps, and more. It can also help you identify and talk through issues you have with goals, as well as noticing patterns in your behavior.

4. Journaling may help relieve stress.

For a long time, journaling has been added to superficial lists of how to “reduce your anxiety or fix your depression.” And I’ll be the first to tell you: I don’t think it will do that. Like at all.

However, if you’re someone who carries a lot of stress chronically, I can really relate. And I’ll be the first to tell you that writing everything down, getting all of those random little stressors out of your head and onto a page… will make a huge difference in your life! Sometimes, if I’m feeling particularly stuck on something and it’s stressing me out, taking a few minutes to just list everything that makes me feel stressed about that task is all I need to get on with it.

Journaling at the end of the day is also a good way to turn off your brain and keep those little stress points from keeping you awake.

5. Journaling gives you time to self-reflect.

As we go through our lives, there will be time where we have to make choices. And if you’re like me, sometimes you wonder if you made the right choice. Self-reflection is an incredibly valuable skill; it can help you assess your goals, figure out patterns of behavior that hurt or help you, and be you a better person. Using journaling to ask yourself questions like “did I make the right choice?” or “did my behavior hurt someone?” can be hugely helpful.

As well, it can help you assess things you’re afraid of. One big thing I’ve been tackling in my journaling lately is my fear of asking questions—and when that started, what it’s protecting me from, and more. Throughout my journaling, I try to note times during the day when I could have or should have asked a question and what I felt in that moment. That type of self-reflection is helping me overcome something that has impacted my life ever since I was a child.

6. Journaling can improve your memory.

I have a fairly good memory naturally, but a lot of it is because I write everything down, in the moment and in my journal. At my therapist’s recently, I was listing all my family member’s star charts and she paused me to say, “you have such a good memory!” It’s a blessing and a curse.

But if you struggle to remember things, especially tasks or things people ask you to do, journaling can be a huge help. The act of taking notes has been long confirmed to help improve memory. So writing things down as a way to remember helps you remember, even without seeing the notes (or journal) itself. If your 2020 goal is to remember more of your day-to-day and improve your memory, then journaling is a great option.

3 Easy Habits to Improve Your Time Management Skills

I’ve struggled with time management in the past. Mostly in the sense that sometimes I just don’t feel like doing a task. Sometimes I don’t feel like repinning all my Pins on Pinterest. Sometimes I don’t feel like rewriting meta descriptions on my blog posts. Sometimes, I just don’t feel like it! But I have to do it and then find myself taking on any other task just to avoid it. Changing all my Pinterest cover photos? Updating all my social media bios? Making future social media posts in Canva?

Suddenly, I’m deep into April’s content planning… but I haven’t gotten to that blog post I’ve been avoiding or the client work that’s rapidly approaching deadline.

How do you manage your time appropriately and stay on task… even if those tasks are repetitive (like admin work) or overwhelming (like your first client project)? I have a few habits that can help you get into a routine with your daily tasks, both big and small, so you can use your time more efficiently.

But first, let’s talk about your task list.

A Few Notes on Task Lists

I’ve known a few people throughout my life who just don’t write down their tasks, for whatever reason. They never got into the habit or, in one infamous case, they just didn’t think task lists were effective. To do lists, even just writing notes, they just didn’t do them. I’ve known people like this throughout my school and work career. And I just have one thing to say: sometimes it works (if you have a very good memory), but overwhelmingly, the people I’ve known who didn’t write down at least a vague idea of the tasks they needed to complete… didn’t complete them.

They lost track of time or they forgot about the task entirely. If you write down your deadlines on a calendar, even, you’re more likely to remember them and actually complete the work on time. If you keep a note in your phone with a few projects you’re working on, you won’t forget the admin for one of those tasks. But if you don’t keep any kind of system for your tasks, projects, and work… then things are going to slip through the cracks, especially if you work remotely or want to run your own business.

This is all to say: if you don’t keep a task list, or running to do list, day-to-day or even week-to-week, you’re going to miss things. Even if it’s just a post it note stuck to your computer or desk, try to keep some kind of record of the things you need to do. If you want to get more organized, I highly recommend developing a system that works for you; I keep a planner purely for deadlines and tasks that I update daily. If you’d like a blog post about creating a task list system, or picking the right system for you, let me know!

1. Use A Screen Time App to Set Limits

The biggest distraction I have to completing my work is my dang phone. I recently started using the Screen Time settings in my phone that basically make some apps inaccessible for certain periods of time. I also set time limits so I can’t use social media apps more than 3 hours per day on my phone. Right now, I have it set to make all social media apps inaccessible from 9am to 11am (break for lunch), then 1pm to 5pm. Then, all my apps are inaccessible from 9pm on (that’s for sleeping).

It’s really helped me reduce the time I spend on my phone without having to delete my apps. I can opt to open an app for 15 minutes at a time if I need to post something to Instagram stories or check something really fast. Otherwise, it helps me stay on task so I’m not mindlessly swiping through Instagram instead of doing something I need to.

You can download lots of apps that do this for you, but I personally have had good luck with the built-in settings in my iPhone. If you find your phone is a distraction throughout your day, this is the easiest habit to get into: set times where you can’t access the things you use to procrastinate and then get on with your day. (You’ll be surprised at how much time you free up when you aren’t scrolling or reading tweets.)

2. Block Your Tasks in Your Calendar

If you have a time estimate for your tasks, it can be really easy to put them on your calendar in blocked out periods of time. This way, your phone can also send you reminders 15 minutes before the block starts—so you can know it’s time to move on to the next thing (or get started on your work day).

I recently started doing this and let me tell you, it’s been a huge help. It gives me a good idea of how my day will look, while also letting me develop a concrete plan for what I’m doing day-to-day. I usually spend 15 minutes the evening before blocking out tasks on my calendar to give me a good idea of what my day will look like.

Here’s an example of what my time blocking looks like today.

One important note: if you commute, or have appointments that require drive time, make sure to schedule that time in as well.

Doing this can help you develop the habit of seeing where your time is really going. As well, it can help you better estimate how long each task will take over time, so you can become more efficient as well. I schedule several hours for each blog post, as I often need to stop and research as I write, plus I usually do a read through and edit before scheduling.

3. Think of Tasks as Rock vs. Sand

I recently came across a method of organizing tasks known as Rock vs. Sand. Basically, think of small tasks as sand and big tasks as rocks, and then, think of your day as a jar. If you try to fill the jar with just sand (all those little tasks that have piled up or low priority tasks), you’ll never fill up the jar; you’ll feel like you’re just spinning your wheels and you’ll get tired, burnt out, distracted, irritable… but if you fill your jar with rocks first (that is, if you tackle those big tasks that have been on your plate but feel overwhelming or tasks that are high priority), you’ll fill the jar much faster and have time to add sand tasks on top.

Every evening, I sort my weekly tasks into rock tasks and sand tasks. Then, I pick 2 big tasks (writing a blog post, finishing a client project) and a handful of small tasks (taking photos for Instagram, vacuuming the stairs, starting laundry) to accomplish each day to “fill my jar.” That helps me get a better idea of how to block out my time as well. You won’t get burnt out if you vary the amount of effort each tasks takes throughout the day.

Bonus habit: schedule in time for yourself!

My calendar scheduling ends at 3pm, you might notice, as that’s when Forrest comes home from school. At that time, I start cooking dinner, play with Forrest, listen to music, watch TV, catch up on my podcasts, read… whatever. Throughout the day, I try to take short 10-minute breaks, usually to do some step aerobics in the living room while I listen to a podcast or to grab a drink or a snack, but I don’t schedule those. I go by how I’m feeling. But one thing I make sure to do is not schedule out my whole day. At a certain time, I have to switch off and go into mom mode or, ideally, Michelle mode where I’m no longer an employee.

When it comes to improving your time management habits not letting yourself get exhausted and burnt out is a high priority. It’s ok to take breaks! You don’t have to be scheduled and working 24/7.

Do you have any tips for time management?

10 Ideas To Promote Your Blog In Your Instagram Story

Here’s a question I see a lot from my fellow bloggers, as well as from small business owners: how do I authentically promote my blog posts in my Instagram story?

Good question.

But there’s a second part: I don’t want to seem desperate or spammy.

Oof. Big oof.

Here’s the thing: if you’re not a natural salesperson (and trust me when I say, I am not), it can be challenging to promote yourself without feeling, well, unnatural. But a huge part of this is your mindset. The truth is, the best and brightest stars are promoting themselves constantly. Lizzo isn’t releasing a new song on Spotify and then, sitting back and not posting about it, worried that people will think she’s being braggy if she asks people to go listen. And while we aren’t all Lizzo, we should all feel like Lizzo: you wrote something you love, you put it out into the world, and you want to share it.

So share it!!

You aren’t desperate for promoting the content you work hard on; you aren’t being spammy for asking people to take 5 minutes to read something. Some won’t, but some will. Repeat after me: I am worthy of success.

That’s the first bit of advice I want to give you about promoting your blog. The second bit of advice is that there are creative, fun ways you can promote your content in your Instagram story. Here are 10 of them.

1. Ask A Question

This is a big of a run up promotion. A long game, if you will. Say you’ve got an idea for your blog. As a random example, let’s say it’s 10 ways to wear a pleated skirt blog post. You might post a question, 3-4 days before your blog post goes live, asking: “How would you style a long, pleated skirt?” As your audience answers the question, you can pull photos that you plan to use in your blog post to show these answers, or simply respond. You can always screenshot your stories as you post answers and use those in the post itself.

Then, when your blog post goes live, you can post a story that says something like: “Remember when I asked how to style a pleated skirt!? I have a blog post featuring some of the top answers, as well as a few new suggestions. #linkinbio.” Simple, easy, you’ve engaged your audience, and given them the possibility of a shout out. A win win.

2. Provide a Sneak Peek

Asking that question is like a sneak peek into your creative process, but there are other ways to do this. For example, you might post a photo of your laptop as you write, with a sneak peek of the topic; or, you might post a few slightly blurry photos for an upcoming topic. There are lots of way to provide a steady stream of sneak peeks into your creative process, such as highlighting your editorial calendar, new products, or purchases and PR. Doing so, and saying, “this blog post will go live in X days!” keeps your audience excited and on the edge of their seats for that new content.

3. Poll Your Audience

Here’s a great way to engage your audience and help them feel like they’re part of your creative process.

• Draft two blog posts.

• In your Story, post a poll asking your audience: “this week, would you rather have a blog post on [topic 1] or [topic 2}?”

• Whichever option wins after 24 hours, post it.

• Screenshot the poll with results and post a story when the post goes live, and say, “You voted! It’s live! #linkinbio”

So easy! And again, giving your audience a view into your creative process is always a win. You can also include a note that the other topic will go live next week or in “x” days.

4. Create Related Content

Let’s go back to the example in the first tip. Your blog post about how to style a long, pleated skirt goes live. You create a series of Instagram stories that highlight a few pieces of content that you couldn’t include—because of space or simply not being related enough. For example, you might post a series of Stories about “graphic tops that go great with pleated skirts” or “5 boots for spring you should pair with a pleated skirt.” Thing: content that is related, but not directly from the blog post itself.

5. Talk It Out

That’s right: do the scary thing, turn that camera around, and talk about your new blog post. Why did you write it? What sparked the idea? What do you hope your readers learn? Don’t forget the swipe up feature if you have 10,000 followers (lucky you!) and don’t forget to use hashtags & geotagging for maximum exposure.

6. Start the Story

Every blog post starts with a story, something that sparked you wanting to write. Maybe it’s a client question (like this blog post!), something that has been bothering you for a while. Start telling the story of why you wrote your blog post… and then, tell your audience that the story is finished up in the blog post itself. That’s right: get them hooked, then send them on to the next piece of content!

7. Post a Snippet

Pull a few great quotes from your blog post and create some beautiful Instagram story slides. These grab your audience’s attention and make them want to read the rest of the blog post.

8. Use a Theme

Keeping your Instagram stories aesthetic and beautiful for promoting your blog post will keep your voice & brand consistent. Your audience will know what to expect! Use a specific theme for each category of blog post so your audience is alerted when content is most fitting for their interests.

9. Share Topical Posts

You don’t always have to be sharing your newest content. Revisiting older content when its relevant can keep your blog posts evergreen and refresh older topics. For example, you might share older posts when they become topically important. For example, let’s say you wrote a blog post on styling graphic t-shirts a year ago; you might post a story about how you’ve seen so many great graphic Ts available and your blog post is more topical than ever. Then, share the link in your bio or a swipe up.

10. Share Feedback

Getting great comments on a blog post? Or a thread on Twitter about your blog post? Share it to your stories with “Join the conversation!”

Top 5 Podcasts for Personal & Professional Development (Plus 1 Bonus Podcast!)

If you’ve ever wondered what my number 1 conversation starter is, it’s time I let you in on a secret. It’s me saying: “So I was listening to a podcast and…” then launching into a story that I got from a podcast.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. Like a lot. Right now, I’m a little behind and have about 45 different episodes to catch up on. I have a few that I always listen to every single week no matter what (usually my true crime podcasts), and then I have some podcasts that I sort of pick and choose from depending on how I’m feeling.

In that second category of podcast is the “personal and professional development” category of podcasts. I love listening to podcasts about marketing, but I’ve learned over time that I have to listen to less of them if I want to stay sane and not get super burnt out. The same goes for personal development podcasts. I want to be able to pick and choose, listen to what I need when I need it. That’s sort of the beauty of personal & professional development podcasts: you don’t have to keep up with any kind of story or narrative.

If you are hoping to make 2020 a bigger year, both personally and professionally, I’ve rounded up my top 5 favorite podcasts that fit neatly into the personal and professional development category.

1. The BossBabe Podcast

The use of the word “bossbabe” aside (full body physical cringe), this is one of my favorite podcasts. Hosted by the creators of BossBabe, a service that provides coaching to help women scale their businesses and launch more products, it combines a lot of elements of personal development with professional advice. I really enjoy this podcast because I find BossBabe to be incredibly informative; I’ve done a lot of their free video trainings and have really enjoyed them.

Top 3 episodes:

• Overcoming Depression, Being Guided by Intuition and Unleashing Your Super Attractor Powers

• 5 Ways to Heal Your Relationship With Food & How it Directly Impacts Your Daily Life With Sarah Stewart

• Wounds To Wisdom: Turning Grief Into Action, Creating Authentic Content + Finding Your “Why” With Mandy Ansari

2. Grow & Glow Show

Grow & Glow was created by Vix Meldrew. in the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of Grow & Glow, a community for bloggers to learn more, connect, and “glow” their audiences. The podcast covers a lot of the same topics as the membership. I really love Vix (and her voice is shockingly soothing). I really enjoy bot the podcast and the membership, and if you’re interested in joining, the doors are currently open. Check out Grow & Glow and join here.

Top 3 episodes:

• Writing a Blog Series for SEO

• Your Instagram Captions are Shit

• My 3 Pronged Approach to Content Creation

3. A Beautiful Mess Podcast

I’ve been reading A Beautiful Mess for probably 10 years, potentially more, at this point. I have to admire both Elsie and Emma because they are truly astounding businesswomen. They have consistently pivoted their business, grown, changed, and continue to dominate the blogging industry. They’re also both really interesting, with a lot to say and teach. Their podcast has been one of my favorites since it launched and I love hearing more about the behind-the-scenes world of ABM. I love that as they’ve grown older, they’ve moved their blog away from fashion and more towards home decor, DIY projects, and sustainability—I feel like that’s true to my life and experience as well!

Top 3 episodes:

• Elsie’s Forever-Ish Home

• How to Decorate Affordably (Not Just from Target!)

• 3 Things that Make Our Homes Happier

4. Natch Beaut

I think I’ve included Natch Beaut on nearly every single podcast round up I’ve ever posted, but it’s one of my absolute favorites. It’s technically a beauty podcast, but I think Jackie Johnson (my girl Jackie J!) sells herself short: Natch Beaut is so much about personal development and being the best person you can be (both for yourself and the world), it goes beyond beauty. (Although we can love beauty too, hunnies!) Jackie had a big 2019 and so many of her episodes have fallen into my favorites list… so picking 3 was hard. But if there is one podcast you listen to on this list, I hope it’s Natch Beaut; Jackie has been a huge inspiration and continues to be one of my favorite people to listen to, follow on Instagram, and aspire to be best friends with.

Top 3 episodes:

• Self-Acceptance with Jeffrey Marsh*

• Kegelbell with Stephanie Schull, PhD

• Snatchural with Loey Lane

*If you listen to one episode from Natch Beaut, this is such a great one—but does include Jackie’s divorce announcement at the beginning, which is very emotional.

5. Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

WHO doesn’t love Jonathan Van Ness? And YES, he has a podcast and it is as lovely as he is. There isn’t much more to say about it: it’s a podcast about learning more about the world, answering questions that Jonathan himself has about just about everything. It’s good to learn things, even if those “things” aren’t necessarily anything to do with our lives—but knowing more about other people, other cultures, science, and more can help us be better people, make better decisions, and generally be more well-rounded.

Top 3 episodes:

• What Does Inequality Have to Do With HIV?

• Are You My Tanny Bananny? With Tan France*

• Is It Possible I Am the Most Gorgeous Hypochondriac That Has Ever Lived?

*Funny title, but very serious episode about racism that Tan France experienced growing up in the UK, and his new project.

Do you have a personal or professional development podcast you think I would love? Share it with me in the comments! I’m always looking for new things to listen to.

Bonus! 6. The Jet Set Life Podcast

This is a newer podcast that I've come across by Brittany Ryan, aka "the jet set blonde." Sometimes the episodes focus on travel while others focus on personal development. Each episode is a great mix of inspiring yet informative—you never feel like you’re just getting fluff! Brittany is down-to-earth and her episodes feel like I'm just catching up with a friend who has a much cooler life than me! (Those are my favorite kind of friends, honestly!) I appreciate the personal stories she shares to help women get unstuck and start creating the jet set life of their dreams.

Top 3 episodes:

• How to Handle Transitions in Life

• 3 Areas to Upgrade to Live a Jet Set Life

• How to Make Your Home Feel Like a Luxury Hotel

5 Exercises for Setting Goals That Stick

A few weeks ago, I asked my Instagram followers what their biggest struggle was when it came to setting goals. I’ve been doing a 90-day goal challenge (as well as a 100 day, inspired by Elsie Larson at a Beautiful Mess) and it’s gotten me thinking a lot about setting, and keeping, goals.

I’ve always been an incredibly goal-oriented person. I am always working on something when it comes to a big goal—but some goals have always been easier for me to meet than others. In the past, I’ve never quite known why I could win NaNoWriMo every single year… but not be able to stick to meal prepping or other goals that seem like it should be a no brainer to hit.

As I’ve written before, I’ve been spending a lot of time in therapy learning how to validate myself, rather than seek out external validation. I really believe that external validation combined with internal validation is the root of why some goals are easier to hit than others. When it comes to completing NaNoWriMo, I often get a rush of validation from other people: friends reaching out to say congratulations, strangers on the internet, my writing group. Validation comes from everywhere and it’s a good feeling to be validated. I can trust that validation. I know it will be there.

But when it comes to other goals, like finishing a workout series or doing my daily writing… those goals aren’t as public. No one is going to cheer me on when I announce I’ve gone a month without cancelling a therapy appointment. No one is going to send me a nice text to boost my spirits because I managed to fold and put away all the laundry. There are some things we will receive external validation for and some things we won’t.

Relying on external validation for all our goals will only make us give up on goals easily. This obviously isn’t the only reason we struggle to complete goals, however. There are lots of ways we can get distracted or be unsure. Here are a few examples that I was sent on Instagram:

Here’s a summary:

• Setting too many goals

• Settings goals that are not achievable

• Finding goals that make sense 90 days later

• Staying committed

That makes it pretty easy to address the issues we all seem to have with goals, right? Most importantly, it seems everyone struggles to set realistic goals that stick—or that make sense after a month. I hope these 5 exercises will help you set better goals in 2020. Think of these as separate exercises that you can do one at a time, but also steps to creating goals that make sense in your life. Let’s get started!

1. Use a Calendar to Set Your Goals.

This task (or exercise) solves the issue of: how can I make my goals achievable?

Firstly, make sure that any goal you set has an end in sight. On-going, long term goals can be more challenging, especially if you’re used to feel defeated about your goals. Set an end date on the calendar. Think in 90-day or 100-day chunks.

Secondly, set a measurable results for your goal. Here are a few examples:

• I’m going to post 3 days a week and share to Pinterest daily until May 1 instead of I’m going to have a successful blog.

• I’m going to go to 3 networking events a week until June 1 instead of I’m going to grow my business and/or I want X number of clients this year.

• I’m going to work out 2 days a week until April 1 instead of I’m going to be more active.

Basically: when setting your goals, think in specifics: what will you measure, how will you measure it, and when will you be done measuring it (and ready to set a new goal). Set these days on your calendar.

2. Use Goals to Improve Instead of Punish.

Sometimes, we think of New Years Resolution, or yearly goals, as punishment. “I’m getting this goal because I’ve been doing bad and now I need to suffer to be good.” First of all, I assure you: you are already good. With my son, I make sure to reiterate that everyone is good, they just make bad choices sometimes. But even bad choices don’t deserve punishment 100% of the time.

Basically, don’t set up your goals as punishments for your own perceived bad behavior. So what if you gained weight in 2019? How do you feel? If you feel sluggish and unwell, adding a few goals to work out and eat healthier might make you feel happier—but they aren’t punishments to your body, they are ways for you to treat yourself and your brain better.

Your goals should be created with the intention to improve your life—not to make you feel miserable. Aim for things that you know will make you feel good and won’t make you feel miserable and unhappy day-to-day.

Here are a few examples:

• I’m going to eat 1 vegetable with every meal instead of I’m only going to eat X number of calories every single day.

• I’m going to work out 2 days a week instead of I’m going to work out for 2 hours every single day.

• I’m going to write every day for at least 20 minutes instead of I’m going to finish my novel by February 1.

3. Break Your Goal into Week-by-Week Tasks.

Let’s take one of our example goals, because they’re very easy. “I’m going to post 3 days a week and share to Pinterest daily” is an easy one. What would be my weekly tasks?

• Task 1: Write 3 blog posts for the next week (working in advance!)

• Task 2: Share to Pinterest and repin every single day.

Easy, right?

Let’s look at a more challenging example.

Here’s another sample goal: “I’m going to grow my business by 10 clients by June 1.” Here are a few sample tasks:

• Task 1: Go to 3 networking events a week.

• Task 2: Send 2 emails per week.

• Task 3: Finish website.

• Task 4: Post on LinkedIn 2 times per week.

Those tasks are a little heavier than the other goal and there are more of them. But do you see the process? Looking at your goal, what are the tasks that you’ll need to do every single week to achieve them? If your goal is to work out 2 days per week, then your task will be to add work out blocks to your weekly calendar. If your goal is grow your blog, you might add in social media management, developing products to promote your blog, and more. It just depends on your goal and what is achievable for you!

4. Copy Week-by-Week Tasks into Your Planner.

This is an easy one. Take those week-by-week tasks and put them in your planner. Add them to specific dates with deadlines. Make them appointments. Here’s an example; if one of your tasks is to post to Instagram 3 days a week to grow your blog, you might add “Post to Instagram” as a task 3 days a week to reoccur until your chosen date. Whatever your task is, add it to your planner, your calendar, whatever you use.

This exercise solves the issue of losing focus on your goal, and staying committed, throughout the weeks after New Years Day.

5. Incorporate Weekly Tasks into To Do List.

If you make a daily or weekly to do list, add those weekly tasks to your to do list when you get to that week. This makes them tangible tasks to complete on a deadline, along everything else you do. As you work on each task, know you’re getting closer to your goal. As you work through the weeks, you can reassess. Let’s look an example.

If your goal is to grow your blog, and you want to pin to Pinterest 3 days a week, but you notice that your pins aren’t having much traction, you might need to reassess your strategy, your boards, and more. That might become a secondary task that you need to address next week to make your weekly task more effective. You might also address whether your blog posts are in line with what your ideal reader wants, or provide enough information to appeal to readers.

The Truth About Time Management

It’s 9am on a Tuesday. Maybe you’ve already started your day; you’ve had your coffee and your breakfast, you’ve taken your kids (if you have them) to daycare or school. If you work at an office, you’ve arrived, dressed and ready for the day, and settled at your computer. If you work from home, you’re in your home office, ready to start your day.

But then, you don’t. You chat with a coworker, send a few texts, scroll through Instagram. You check your email, maybe answer a few. Your to do lists sits beside you at your desk, or stuck on your computer screen, but you aren’t paying attention to that.

Time management looks different to everyone. You might be naturally very good at it; when you need to get something done, you just do it. Procrastination isn’t part of your world! Or maybe you struggle to stay on track; you get easily distracted by coworkers, chat screens, Instagram, or other tasks that are important, but not high priority. You might think that people in that second group need to take a note from the first group. But what if I told you that both types of people can struggle with time management?

I am a to do list follower. I write a list every day and I do my best to get it done. But I’m always very easily distracted. While I’m cleaning the bathroom, I might just start reorganizing my closet (my walk-in closet opens up from the bathroom!) or I might start reorganizing and cleaning out my make up collection. When I’m mopping the floors, I might sit down to order some of that stuff you put under rugs to keep them from the sliding all over. I’m easily distracted by secondary or tertiary tasks. When I’m writing social media for a client, I often find myself auditing their lifetime social media, which is outside the scope of my work but sometimes a necessary evil. These tasks aren’t unimportant, but they’re not the task I am trying to accomplish.

It’s hard to stay on task so to speak—and that’s where time management often comes in.

So how can you improve your time management skills? How can you actually accomplish what you mean to?

I think the first step is working on prioritizing your tasks, narrowing down your goals, and putting your time where it matters most. You don’t need to manage your time if you focus in and have tasks that don’t leave you bored, overwhelmed, or frantic.

Using the 5/25 Method for Prioritizing

For the past few months, I’ve been using what’s called the 5/25 method for narrowing down my to do list when I feel particularly overwhelmed, frazzled, or easily distracted. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Write down 25 things you want to do, feel like you need to do, or have to do. This can be your existing to do list, but anything else that’s been nagging at you.

Step 2: Cross out 20 of those items. Be ruthless and don’t spend too much time thinking about it.

Step 3: Rewrite your list with the 5 items you have left. These are your TOP priorities!

That’s it. That’s the entire method! It’s simple, quick, and very effective. In the process, you might notice there are items on your to do list that simply aren’t serving you or your goals. A prime example, for me, is that I’ve had “make a spreadsheet for expenses” on my list for months. Yet, I haven’t done it… because I track all my expenses in Quickbooks anyway. Why do I need a separate spreadsheet? It’s already done for me! I crossed it off my list for good at that point.

I find this method particularly helpful because it requires you to address a few specific needs:

• what you need to get done

• what you want to get done

• what you have the capacity to do

• and what tasks are serving your longterm goals

Let’s look at another specific example. One task I always include on my weekly to do list is posting on LinkedIn and sending follow up messages to my connections. This is a part of communication as a freelancer that I struggle with, because it’s a soft skill I’m working on actively developing. This is something I need to do and prioritize in order to grow my business and develop stronger connections with my peers—but doing it often falls to the bottom of my list. However, if I follow the 5/25 method, I recognize it as a high priority task and it becomes one of the 5—whereas things like “buy storage bins for under bed” and “clean laundry room” get crossed off in comparison.

Using this method day-to-day can help you determine how to best manage your time and meet your goals.