September 26, 2019 • 45 mins
A (flexible) routine keeps me focused, productive and happy.
Honestly, I don't know what I would do without my daily and weekly routines. You can say I'm a creature of habit - for good reason. Habits just work for me.
I'm often asked how I juggle a full time podcast and YouTube channel and still manage to create so many designs. There's no way I could get it all done without a solid plan. In this episode, I'll share my updated routine, schedule and habits with you. I hope sharing what works for me will give you some ideas to explore that will catapult you to where you want to go in life - whether crochet is your hobby, your business or your life.
About The BHooked Podcast
Brittany's primary goal is to inspire you and help you grow in your craft with The BHooked Podcast. Through her own stories and the stories of each special guest, you'll discover tips and tricks to improve your crochet and knitting skills and find inspiration to achieve your hobby goals. When you want to kick back and learn from yarn industry experts, grab some yarn and turn on The BHooked Podcast. There's never a shortage of all things crochet, knitting or yarn.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brittany (00:00):
You're listening to The Be Hooped Podcast, episode
135, with Brittany.
Well, hello there and welcometo episode 135 of the Be Hooked
(00:35):
podcast.
I'm your host, Brittany, andnormally we talk about crochet
things and knitting things andtopics that are related to both
of those hobbies.
However, every now and then wedo something a little bit
different and that's what we'regoing to do today.
Way back in episode 50, Ishared what it's like to live a
(00:58):
day in the life of me.
I kind of brought you into mydaily routine.
We talked about some otherareas of life that I'm really
passionate about aside from yarnand crochet.
I really love productivity andplanning and health and cooking
and all of that fun stuff.
And to my surprise, you werevery interested in that episode
(01:23):
and it still is one of the mostfrequently listened to episodes.
So I was really surprised tosee that and thought that now,
two years later, we're due foran update.
Because although a lot ofthings are similar to how they
were and how I kind of runthrough my typical day as a yarn
business owner, but there havebeen some changes and some
(01:46):
updates, and I want to sharethose with you today.
Now, a lot of times I have manyof these episodes outlined and
I've got something in front ofme, but I wanted to do this one
completely off the cuff, justtrying something new, proving to
myself that I can actually dothat and stay focused and on
topic.
But mainly because I want toshare organically like what a
(02:11):
day is like for me and As I'mrunning through my day, in my
head, sharing my thoughts, Idon't want this to be scripted.
I don't want it to be outlined.
I want you to see and hear allof the things that I go through
on a regular basis.
Not because I want you to thinkI'm interesting.
(02:32):
That's totally not what I'mgoing for here.
But I know a lot of you areyarn business owners.
You've got some type of makerbusiness.
And we learn from each other.
Even though my business mightlook a little different than
your business, maybe some thingsthat I do to make my life a
little easier or more efficientcan help you.
(02:53):
And that's really my goal.
I want to share what a day islike for me so that you can take
some of the things that I do tomake my life easier and see if
they apply to your life and inyour business if that's what you
have.
Okay, so let's start from thetop.
Actually, start first thing inthe morning.
(03:15):
One thing that has changed alittle bit is how early I wake
up.
I want to say first andforemost, I am not a morning
person.
I do not enjoy getting out ofbed before the sun, and I don't
know that that will ever change.
I do know, however, that when Ido get out of bed early, I am
(03:41):
so much more productive andenergetic, and I just generally
feel better about what I wasable to accomplish for that day.
One really importantrealization that I've learned
over the last two years since wedid our first episode like this
is that my best creative timehappens before noon.
(04:04):
That's not always the case forsome people.
I was actually talking to myhusband about this and he says
that he does his most focusedwork after lunch.
Not me.
I'm like, you get some food inme and I'm ready to take a nap.
So after lunch, I reserve thattime for things that require
less creativity, maybe lessfocus and that sort of thing.
(04:27):
So I am usually out of bed,feet on the floor, no later than
6 a.m.
And of course, I run through amorning routine because that's
something that I believe is thebest way to set your day up on
the right foot.
I remember when I was workingfor somebody else, I had a
(04:48):
full-time job that I would goto.
I dreaded going to sleep thenight before because I knew I
had to get up on someone else'sterms, go make somebody else's
dream come true, and dosomething that I really just
wasn't super passionate about.
So I read this book called TheMiracle Morning by Hal Elrod,
(05:09):
and that was a perspective shiftfor me.
That was when I first realizedthat I'm not a morning person,
and maybe I should be a morningperson because that'll make me
be more successful.
That's totally not the case.
What I learned from that bookis that no matter what time you
wake up in the morning, you Doit on your terms and make sure
(05:32):
that the first couple of thingsthat you do in the morning are
for you because you're gettingout of bed for you, for
something that you really wantto do.
And that might mean getting upbefore everybody else or it
might mean something totallydifferent.
We all have differentscenarios.
So for me...
I am up first thing in themorning.
(05:53):
I take care of my fur babies.
I take care of my husband, gethim off to work.
And then I sit down and I havemy breakfast.
I've played a lot with thisbecause I just never really know
if I, well, I just never reallyknow what I should eat in the
(06:15):
morning.
But I learned that when I dohave a good breakfast, I feel
better.
I feel more productive.
I can last a little bit longer.
Like I have more staminathroughout the day.
I can get an exercise in in themorning and that sort of thing.
So I will make myself abreakfast and then I sit down at
(06:39):
the table while I'm eating andI watch some videos on YouTube.
They're typically notyarn-related videos, however, I
find a lot of inspiration fromother creators.
I like to look at theproduction quality.
I like to look at formats andhow videos are set up and how
(07:01):
tutorials are set up so that Ican draw inspiration and be a
little more entertaining andbasically just serve you better
by learning.
I think that's the bottom line.
I've always heard that youshould always create before you
consume.
And I have to challenge thatone just a little bit because
(07:23):
when I consume, I am learning.
I always make sure that whatI'm consuming provides some kind
of value to me.
And I think that's a good tipthat maybe you could walk away
from.
I am not the person to rollover and start scrolling through
email or social media or thatsort of thing.
(07:45):
Because for me, those twothings, like email and social,
are a little stressful becauseit reminds me of how many people
need my help who I just can'tpossibly help all right then.
And so that is...
not a fun way to start my day.
I don't want to start my dayfeeling like I'm failing
(08:06):
anybody, but instead I start myday by fueling myself literally
with food and by consumingsomething where I'm learning.
I've also found it reallyimportant to hydrate in the
morning, and I know that soundsso silly that we have to remind
ourselves to drink water, butfor me, I'm not a water lover.
(08:30):
I really don't enjoy drinkingwater.
So what I do is I squeeze somelemon juice in it and that
becomes almost a craving for me.
I love drinking lemon waterbright and early in the morning.
It hydrates me.
Again, it just makes me feelbetter.
So I know those are two kind ofsilly ways to start your day as
(08:52):
a yarn lover.
or maker business to say, oh,we'll wake up early and eat some
food and drink some water.
It sounds really basic, right?
But let me tell you, when Istart the day later, when I get
out of bed later than Itypically would, when I miss my
breakfast, when I don't drinkenough water, I really feel it.
(09:17):
So these self-care things thatI do are so critically important
to how the rest of my dayflows.
And it's not so much when thisall occurs.
I'm not saying you have to wakeup at 5 a.m.
in order to do what I do or tohave a happy day, but find the
(09:37):
self-care things that make youfeel better, that make you feel
more productive, and just try todo that every single day.
Treat that as an appointment toyourself.
The same way that you would ifyou gave someone your word that
you would do something.
You're giving yourself yourword.
And try to be good on that sothat you can be your best self.
(10:01):
A lot has changed in my morningroutine since we last recorded.
I like a routine, but I likethat routine to change every now
and then.
Now before I told you I wasmeditating with a new device
called the Muse Headband.
And I started that because Iheard a lot of really great
(10:22):
things about meditation.
And I still love this device.
I still use it.
I'm not as consistent as I wasstarting out.
And that's because I think it'sa slow process to see the
benefits of meditation.
And I'm the kind of person thatif I don't see a result pretty
quick, it's harder for me tocommit that time to doing that
(10:46):
thing.
For me, time is my mostvaluable asset and I want to
make sure I'm spending it in away that's either helping me as
a person, that's helping me bemore connected, helping me be a
better wife, a better daughter,a better sister.
I need to spend time makingsure that those priorities are
(11:08):
met.
And meditation, although I dofeel great when it happens
because I'm sort of dedicatingthat self where I can turn my
brain off, where I can calm thethoughts, that's really great.
I have to remind myself of thatbefore I can actually sit down
and meditate.
Meditation is either you loveit or you hate it.
(11:31):
That's sort of what I havediscovered with talking with
people about it.
So give it a try.
If it's something that you'venever done before, there's an
app called Headspace where it'sguided meditations and it'll
walk you through that.
I've tried those.
and found them really helpful.
And then of course this muse islike a headband that you wear
and it's kind of a pricey thing.
(11:53):
I actually got it as a birthdaygift and just love it.
But I wouldn't like jump rightinto that unless you know
meditation is something that youwant to do.
So this is all still part of mymorning routine.
A lot of this happens outsideof my office.
I like to keep separate spacesfor different things.
When I'm in my office, I'm inwork mode.
(12:14):
When I'm out of my office, I'min wife mode, normal mode, just
me mode.
So these morning routines, thethings that I do in the morning,
they're for me.
They're to help me be moreproductive and have a better
day.
Something else I haveincorporated into pretty much
every single day.
(12:35):
Now I'm not as consistent withit as I would like to be in all
honesty, but stretching.
Stretching is, man, like when Idon't do it, I feel it.
Especially as a crocheter and aknitter, somebody who has a
problems as a result of doingthat so much, having poor
(12:55):
posture.
All of those things affect myshoulders.
They affect my elbows, mywrists.
And I mean, you know it.
I don't have to tell you thisbecause I'm sure you might
experience this as well.
But when I get down andstretch, especially like my
shoulders, my chest muscles, myforearm muscles, when I stretch
(13:16):
all of those things, I feel somuch better.
Now, I also make it a priorityto stretch out my legs and my
hips too.
I don't do too much sittingnowadays because I have moved
over to a standing desk to helpwith some of these posture
things that I'm going throughand just to really help
(13:38):
encourage me to not sit all day.
I really can tell a differencefrom moving from a job where I
was on the go and was moving alot more to a job now where I'm
primarily stationary.
I'm either sitting with aproject for hours, finishing
(14:00):
that, or I'm sitting at thecomputer editing.
And after two years of sittinga lot more than I used to, I
could feel it in so manydifferent ways.
So I have transitioned to astanding desk, but I still like
to incorporate some stretchesfor my legs and my hips and that
sort of thing.
Now that's the bulk of mymorning routine.
(14:23):
And at this point, it's usuallyabout 7.30, sometimes a little
bit later, depending on how muchstretching I do.
And then it's off to theoffice.
Now I work from home, so myhome office is just a few steps
away.
I come upstairs, get things setup, and get right to work.
(14:46):
The reason why I'm able to getright to work is because I have
planned out that day severaldays before.
I've mentioned in a couple ofdifferent areas sprinkled here
and there that I like tocalendar block in order to
structure my day.
And I have gone back and forthwith calendar blocking.
(15:09):
I've tried different methods,different strategies, and I
think I've honed in on somethingthat really, really works for
me.
What I'll do is on Monday,every single Monday, I will
calendar block that week.
Previously, I've tried tocalendar block several weeks
(15:33):
ahead, like I'll try to calendarblock a whole month.
And what I found is that thingschange.
And then I felt like a failurewhen I had to shuffle things
around or when it took longer tofilm something than I expected
it to.
And that's not a good feeling.
Calendar blocking is supposedto help me be more productive,
(15:53):
not feel like I'm totallyfailing.
So I will sit down on Mondayand calendar block my whole
week.
So on the topic of that, let'scircle back around.
Let's zoom out a little bit, ifyou will, so that you can get a
better perspective of howthings work.
(16:14):
Put a bookmark here, right?
We're going up to the office.
I already know what I'm goingto do because of things that
I've already done.
And I think these things mighthelp you.
Now in that first episode, Itold you about how I have themed
days.
Now those themed days havecompletely changed since then,
but it's still a themed day, ifyou will.
(16:38):
Mondays for me are my householddays.
I realized that there's a lotof stuff that has to get done.
Laundry, meal planning, groceryshopping, cleaning floors and
bathrooms and all that stuff,right?
Those are all things that haveto get done.
And I don't really like doingthem sprinkled throughout the
(17:01):
week.
I like to just focus, get itall done, and then I don't have
to think about it for severaldays.
So on Mondays, I deem that myhousehold and sort of like my
planning days.
So after I've done all of thosehousehold things, I'll sit down
with my bullet journal, whichis also new.
I haven't used that in my, Ididn't use that in my previous
(17:22):
episode, but that helps me get abigger picture and just put pen
to paper.
So I'll use my bullet journal.
to map out what needs to happenthat week.
And for me, a lot of things arerepetitive.
Right now, I am filming seasontwo of Be Yooked TV, which comes
out every Monday.
And although I thought aboutpre-recording all of that, I
(17:48):
felt a little bit strange indoing that because I wanted it
to be more...
real life.
I wanted to make pivots andchange if there were topics that
might help my viewers more thanothers.
So I am filming an episode ofBe Oaked TV every single week.
(18:09):
Another thing, of course, asyou know, I have a new podcast
episode every single week, andthen I'm doing a Saturday
tutorial as well.
So I've got three main thingsthat I have to get done every
single week.
Fortunately, to prepare all ofthose things, I'm doing the same
(18:30):
set of tasks.
So I sort of have thatmemorized by now.
I've done it enough that I haveit all mapped out.
But I previously, well, andstill use an app called
CoSchedule that helps me withall of that.
It helps me create a task listfor everything.
And over time, I've just gottento the point where I have that
(18:52):
memorized.
So I've got my bullet journalthat sort of outlines the things
that need to happen that weekin order to meet those three
goals, those three contentgoals.
And then I start to put it intoGoogle Calendar, which is the
thing that I use for calendarblocking.
I'm sure there are othercalendar apps and that sort of
(19:15):
thing that you can use.
I'm not an Apple user, so Idon't have experience with that
one.
But I really love Googlebecause it syncs with my phone.
It syncs with my iPad and withmy computer.
Basically any device that Imight be on, I have access to my
calendar.
And more importantly, I haveaccess to notifications.
(19:36):
So whenever I am supposed toswitch to a new task, I'll get a
reminder, that 10 minutereminder that says, hey, you're
supposed to be doing this in 10minutes.
It sort of helps kick me intogear to finish up or wrap up
what I'm doing.
Or if I know there's no way Ican finish that thing, that I
(19:56):
need to block more time for thatin the future.
Getting a little ahead ofmyself with that, but I use
Google Calendar and I create anappointment for every task.
So let's take the podcast, forexample.
For this particular episode,it's just a solo show.
So I'm not interviewing a guestor anything like that.
So I have fewer things to dofor something like this.
(20:19):
On my task list is to recordthis podcast.
And I know that realistically,although it might be a 30 to 45
minute show, I like to calendarblock an hour because I'm not
perfect, right?
We always make mistakes.
You got to take a break to takea drink of water.
It's really hard to talk for avery long time.
(20:42):
So I'll calendar block moretime than I probably need in
order to help me save time laterand avoid some of those
frustrations if I don't getthings done.
After I record this episode, Ihave to edit it.
I'm still a one-woman show, andI do all of my editing as well.
So I will block out two hoursto edit this.
(21:06):
Again, that's way more timethan I need, but it's there.
I'll have a buffer if I needit.
After editing, I will createsome images to share with you on
social so you know that thisepisode is available.
I will usually block out a halfhour or so for that.
I create a page on my website,a show notes page, so that you
(21:28):
can see any links, any resourcesthat we talk about, which I'm
sure there'll be quite a few forthis one.
By the way, the show notes areon behooked.com slash 135.
And I budget about 45 minutesto create that post.
So on my calendar for today,you'll see all of those slots.
You'll see a slot forrecording.
(21:50):
for editing.
And then tomorrow there's atime slot for creating those
images, creating that post andthen scheduling it out.
Now, I don't want to get toonitty gritty on calendar
blocking because I know it,although I am super geeking out
about right now and for the lastlike year or so, it might not
(22:12):
be your jam.
It's certainly not foreverybody.
I know if I were working aregular full-time job where I'm
away from nine to five, whywould you even calendar block,
right?
Because you've got like a bigchunk of that time, five days a
week or however many times youwork.
In that case, it may not besuper useful for you.
(22:32):
The most important tidbit Iwant you to take away from all
of this is just to realize howmuch time it takes you to do
certain things, right?
within either your business oryour hobby.
That's sort of where I want torelate it to.
If you're running a businessand you know that you need to
(22:53):
have this project completed bynext Wednesday, well, it's a
good idea to sit down and thinkabout how much time you have to
invest in crocheting that thingand how you can break it up
between now and the due date Soyou know you can get it done.
The only way I personally cando that is to see it in real
(23:15):
time.
And that's why calendarblocking is really useful for me
because I am one tooverestimate my ability to get
things done and underestimatethe amount of time that it
actually takes me to do them.
So by calendar blocking,there's no fudging it.
It is what it is.
I have set up my calendar sothat I am working between the
(23:39):
hours of 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m.
because that's when I want towork outside of that.
I want to spend time with myfamily and spend time on my
hobbies and that sort of thing.
There's no making time that'snot actually there when you
calendar block.
So even if you're not using anapp like Google Calendar, If
(24:00):
you're more of a pen to paperkind of person, having a planner
or that sort of thing, whereyou can map this out and just
see it in real time.
I think you might find it superhelpful as you're working
through projects in yourbusiness.
Also projects, right?
If you're just doing this for ahobby and let's say you have a
birthday coming up and you wantto make something handmade for
(24:22):
this person for their birthday,the same sort of reverse
engineering will take place tomake sure you meet that
deadline, right?
Now, I don't want to elaborateon calendar blocking anymore,
but I do want to say this.
If this is a topic that youfind really interesting and you
would love to learn more aboutit, head over to the show notes
page and in the commentssection, let me know because
(24:46):
like I said, I could talk aboutthis for hours, but only if it's
useful for you.
So if you want to learn moreabout calendar blocking and how
I use it in my everyday life,for my business and for personal
too, because I calendar blockpretty much everything.
Just let me know that in thecomments section and I'll try to
get some resources together foryou so that you can try and
(25:08):
experiment with calendarblocking and see if it works for
you.
All right, so on the topic ofthemed days, we said Mondays are
like my household slashplanning days.
And then Tuesday and Wednesdaysare my content creation days.
I also group my projectcreation into this because
they're more of my creationdays, I guess, if you will.
(25:31):
So on Tuesdays, I'm typicallydoing most of my filming for
Behooked TV and for thetutorial.
And when I'm on fire, like I amfor today, for some reason, I'm
also recording a podcastepisode on a Tuesday.
So Tuesdays and Wednesdays arereserved for creating new
things, for filming, forcreating new projects, and that
(25:53):
sort of thing.
And I'm pretty loose witheverything else.
I just know what I need to getdone for that week, and I try to
make sure that they get done onTuesday and Wednesday.
primarily because I notice thattowards the end of the week,
sometimes things come up, right?
Maybe I'll have to take aFriday off that I wasn't
(26:13):
expecting to take a Friday off.
And if I get into a positionwhere I needed to record
something on a Friday, and thennow I can't work on that Friday,
that's not a good situation tobe in.
So the big takeaway here maybeisn't to have themed days,
unless that's useful for you,But I think the bigger message
(26:34):
here is recognizing the patternsin your week and seeing how you
can incorporate the things thatyour priorities, the things
that need to get done into theparts of your week that don't
change very much.
For me, Tuesdays and Wednesdaysare pretty much work all the
time.
Never change.
Never changes.
(26:55):
We don't.
randomly go anywhere on aTuesday or Wednesday.
So I like to get a lot of workdone on those days so I don't
get behind.
But then it also gives me theflexibility to say, okay, my
husband's taking off work today.
Let's go do something coolbecause this is the life that
I've set up for myself and I'mable to do that.
(27:15):
I want to be able to do that.
And this has helped.
So that's Tuesdays andWednesdays.
Now Thursdays and Fridays aremy production days.
And I really changed this a lotsince the last episode that you
heard.
Before they were very specific.
I had a filming day.
(27:36):
I had a podcast day.
I had an editing day.
I had an admin day.
The other one I'm not exactlyremembering at the moment
because it's been a while sinceI did that because it just
didn't work.
I found that when I was alittle more loose with the
title, it gave me theflexibility that I needed.
So anyways, on Thursdays andFridays, those are my production
(28:00):
days.
Those are the days that Ireserve for editing primarily.
So I know that when I wake upon a Thursday or a Friday, if I
want to work in my yoga pants, Itotally can do that because I
know I don't have to be oncamera.
I also know that Any outsidenoise or distractions, they're
not going to bother me.
(28:21):
I really don't like to recordwhen there's a lot of
distractions around me, whenthere's a lot of noise and that
sort of thing.
And that's why Tuesdays andWednesdays work really well
because I'm usually here and candedicate my energy and effort
into that.
But like I said, sometimesThursdays and Fridays are a
little different and I can editthrough any distractions that
(28:44):
might be around me on thosedays.
So that's the zoomed out lookof how a week is set up for me.
But I want you to just kind ofwrap your mind around everything
you've heard and see how youcan apply it in your life.
So again, the big takeaways areone, figuring out what your
(29:06):
routines are.
What are the things that youalways do every single week?
For me, I sat down and I wrotethem down.
I said, okay, these are all thehousehold things that need to
get done.
And I wrote down laundry, cleanthe floors, clean the
bathrooms, put the clothes away,do the ironing, do the meal
planning, do the groceryshopping.
I wrote all of those down.
(29:26):
Get really granular with it soyou don't miss anything.
And then I...
looked at my BeHooked stuff.
What are the commitments thatI've made to you as my listener
and to my viewers on my YouTubechannels?
What do they expect from meevery single week?
And I have shown you to expecta new podcast episode, a
(29:51):
Saturday tutorial, and whenBeHooked TV is in an active
season, to expect another videoon that.
From there, you can get evenmore detailed with it.
Take it one commitment at atime.
For the podcast, you know, justin my scenario, writing down
(30:12):
all of the steps that it takesto produce a podcast and then
looking at that next commitment,writing down all the things
that you have to do to meet thatcommitment.
And once you have that an ideaof all the things that you're
doing every single week sort ofbroken down into segments that
are just easier to digest, thenyou can assign a general bucket
(30:36):
to it, if you will.
And that's sort of like mythemed days.
Now, again, that might not workfor you.
And if it doesn't, I wouldn'teven try to force it.
If you realize that yourschedule changes a little bit
more than mine does, forexample, maybe a themed day
isn't right, but perhaps knowingwhat your weekly commitments
(30:57):
are every single week as theyhappen will be useful for you.
So I would challenge you, whenyou have some time today, just
jot down all of these things andsee if you can find a pattern
and how you can work thatpattern into your daily routine.
routine or your weekly routineand that sort of thing.
(31:18):
So we're jumping back to thatbookmark now.
When I am in my office, ofcourse, I know exactly what I'm
going to do because it'scalendar blocked.
And you've got a pretty goodidea now of how my days are
structured just knowing what mythemed days are.
So if I'm walking into myoffice on a Tuesday, I am fixing
(31:43):
my hair, I'm putting somemakeup on, I'm putting clothes
on, getting all the lighting andthe cameras and all of that set
up.
And that's just become aroutine.
I don't have to think about it.
And I film as much as Ipossibly can while I'm at my
best.
If I'm walking into my officeon a Wednesday, it might look a
(32:07):
little different.
Maybe today I'm filming atutorial, so I'm not filming
like my face.
I can be a little more relaxedwith my appearance, but I'm
filming my hands.
Or let's say I've startedfilming a tutorial and I've had
to start crocheting a little bitmore through that.
Then I will work through thatsort of thing on a Wednesday.
(32:28):
Now I have to say, Thursdaysand Fridays really are my
favorite days because I love theproduction side of what I do.
Of course, I love to crochetand to knit and create projects
and do all of that stuff.
But I am a creator at heart andI get just as excited about
(32:48):
editing a video as I do creatinga new project.
So Thursdays and Fridays aresuper fun for me because I know
I get to sit down and express mycreativity in a completely
different way.
No matter which day I'm walkinginto my office, I am always
going to walk out of my officeat about the same time every
(33:11):
day.
And that is about 1130.
I will go move my butt and walkon the treadmill or jog on the
treadmill because I know it'sgood for me.
I really have a love-haterelationship with exercising.
Not because I don't like toexercise or I don't like to
(33:33):
move.
But I love my work so much, I'maddicted to it.
And I don't like to leave thisroom once I'm in it.
I always want to create more,get further ahead, just get more
done.
I don't want to leave to go dosomething selfish like exercise.
It feels selfish to me.
(33:54):
I know it's so silly.
But what I have realized is acouple of things.
One, when I exercise regularly,and by the way, I'm not like
running a 5k marathon on thistreadmill.
I'm usually strolling at like afast pace.
I'm walking for 40 minutes orso.
Sometimes I'll jog a little bitin there as well.
(34:15):
When I exercise, I have moreenergy and that makes no sense
when you think about it.
You would think that you wouldbe tired and exhausted after
running, but it helps me withthat afternoon exercise.
lag that I typically feel.
It also means I eat less forlunch.
So at this point in my day,I've taken care of a lot of
(34:40):
stuff.
I got up on my own terms.
I took care of myself in theways that make me more
productive and make me happier.
I already had my day sort ofstructured, so I didn't have to
put any more thought or wasteany time on figuring out what
needed to be done.
So I was extra productive.
(35:02):
That gives me about four solidhours of really focused,
creative time.
And man, I can get a lot donein four hours.
And I feel wonderful when Itake the time to go and get in a
little exercise and take acouple of minutes to eat my
(35:22):
lunch and not jump right up togo to work.
If I want to sit there andrelax for a minute, I let myself
do that because I've alreadybeen super productive that
morning and I don't have to feelbad about sacrificing any time.
So after that, we're looking atabout...
1.30pm.
(35:43):
I'll head back up to my office.
And again, this is my lessfocused work.
I try to calendar block my lessfocused work after 1.30pm.
And depending on what day itis, I'll work on different
things.
So today, for example, is acontent creation day.
(36:05):
So after I do my exercise andeat my lunch, I will come back
up and film a tomorrow will bethe same story.
It'll be another contentcreation day.
I will work on filming whateverelse needs to be filmed that
(36:25):
sort of is left over from today.
And then on Thursday, when Isort of get back from my lunch
period then, I'll do morepost-production work.
So I will be editing.
That's usually the day where Ispend a lot more time in my
email and in the community andanswering as many questions as I
(36:45):
can, sort of getting to all ofthose inbox messages.
I will do my social media stuffon that day as well.
So I might plan out some postsor that sort of thing.
And typically on Fridayafternoon, I try to keep those
pretty open because as much as Ilike structure and a routine, I
(37:09):
like a little bit ofvariability.
So on Fridays, if there hasbeen a project that has just
really sparked inspiration inme, I'll usually feel a little
like a rebel and start workingon that project on Friday
afternoon.
And that way I'll havesomething to crochet up through
the weekend when I have somefree time here and there.
(37:31):
As a general rule, I do like tohave boundaries when it comes
to my stopping point.
Like I said before, I likethere to be a designated spot
for work so I can sort of be inthat work mode.
And for me, that's absolutelymy office.
Sometimes I will crochet aproject in the living room or on
(37:52):
the treadmill.
I've definitely been known todo that.
But for the most part, I try tokeep separation between
different things that I'll bedoing.
Basically, my different aspectsof life.
When you work at the same placethat you live, you really do
need to keep that separation soyou don't feel like you're
(38:15):
always in work mode.
Or opposite to that...
feel like you're always in homelounge mode and not get any
work done.
So for me, the solution to thatproblem was having a dedicated
office space and only doing workin here.
So there you have it.
That is my long-windedconversational version of what a
(38:39):
day in the life or a week inthe life of me looks like right
now in 2019.
I know this is going to changein the future.
And if it's something you'reinterested in, I will love to
share that journey with youlater on.
But as I said before, the mainpurpose of this episode isn't so
(38:59):
you can do everything that I door that you can see how cool or
how boring you think my dailyroutine is.
Really, what I want you toextract from this is those
little golden nuggets about therealizations that make up my
routine.
So I want to highlight those.
(39:20):
The first big realization thatmade me a happier, more
productive person was realizingthat I needed to start the day
on my own terms and I needed todo something for myself when I
first wake up.
The second realization wasunderstanding when I do my most
(39:41):
focused work.
And for me, that was...
tough.
I really had to think aboutthat.
I heard somebody say, well,when do you do your best work?
And I'm like, I don't know.
I never really thought aboutit.
But if you recall days thatyou've had recently where you
really got a lot done or youreally just felt good about what
(40:02):
you got done, what time of daywas that?
And can you see a trend inthat?
I just realized throughconsciously thinking about when
I felt like I could do the most,when I felt more creative, and
that was always in the morningand it was always before noon.
And opposite to that, I knowthat I'm kind of sluggish in the
(40:26):
afternoon, especially if Ihaven't exercised or taken care
of myself or eaten lunch.
I'm not productive in theafternoon.
So that's the other importantrealization I want you to take
away from this episode.
Think about when you do yourbest work and try to do as much
important work during that timethat you can.
(40:49):
The third important realizationis with routines and themes.
Again, writing down yourcommitments.
Write down the things thatalways happen and see if you see
a trend.
Is it possible for you to doall of those things on one day
(41:10):
or in one afternoon?
Because it's been proven thattask switching is really
difficult to do and our brainsreally aren't designed to do
that well.
So can you find a trend in thethings that you need to do And
is it possible for you to dothose things on a certain day?
(41:32):
The fourth really bigrealization I want you to take
away from this episode is tostart tracking how much time
certain things take you tofinish.
For me, I used a time trackerapp for many years.
And I only recently stoppedusing that because I felt like I
(41:54):
fully understand what how longit takes me to record a podcast
or to crochet a baby blanket orto do any other task that's on
my list.
If you need to use a timetracker app, there's a couple
that are really good.
I'll have them linked in theshow notes, the two that I have
(42:15):
used, so you can give that atry.
But even just taking a mentalnote of it.
And generalizing, coming upwith the average of how much
time it takes you to do thesethings that you're doing every
single week so that you canrealistically put that task in a
space on your calendar that youcan get it done.
(42:38):
Because there is nothing worsethan having something on your
calendar and not getting it doneand then not having a space to
finish it.
That's the worst feeling ever.
And that's why I've gotten tothe habit of overestimating by
quite a bit how much time ittakes me to do certain things.
(42:59):
The fifth important takeawayfrom this episode is to have a
designated space if you alsowork from home.
Create that separation so youfeel like you have a work life
and you have your regular life.
Sure, there's going to be someoverlap between the two, but in
(43:23):
terms of happiness andproductivity, there has been
nothing better than doing thatthat has helped me.
Just having that separationbetween this is work, Brittany,
this is life, Brittany.
All right, now I hope youenjoyed this completely
(43:43):
different style of episode.
Again, if you're new to theshow, this is not something we
typically talk about here.
Normally, it's all crochet,knitting, and yarn-related
inspiration.
So next week, we will be righton track with that.
If you enjoyed this, if youwant to learn more about this
again, if you want to learn moreabout calendar blocking, or if
(44:06):
you just want to share some ofthe things that have helped you
in your daily routine and yourdaily life, leave that for me in
the comments section so myselfand others in the community can
read that.
The show notes page for thisepisode is behooked.com slash
135.
You can just scroll right downto the bottom and leave your
(44:26):
comment there.
I will also link to some of theapps and things that we talked
about here so that you might beable to use them in your life if
you find that they would behelpful for you.
Again, for me as a contentcreator, I'm using more digital
things.
I'm using different things thatmaybe you wouldn't find useful
(44:47):
or you wouldn't need at all assomebody who is just planning
projects for...
birthdays for holidays and thatsort of thing.
But again, those five majorpoints are really what I wanted
you to take home from today'sepisode.
I hope you enjoyed it and I'llsee you next week, my friend.
You're listening to The Be Hooped Podcast, episode
135, with Brittany.
Well, hello there and welcometo episode 135 of the Be Hooked
(00:35):
podcast.
I'm your host, Brittany, andnormally we talk about crochet
things and knitting things andtopics that are related to both
of those hobbies.
However, every now and then wedo something a little bit
different and that's what we'regoing to do today.
Way back in episode 50, Ishared what it's like to live a
(00:58):
day in the life of me.
I kind of brought you into mydaily routine.
We talked about some otherareas of life that I'm really
passionate about aside from yarnand crochet.
I really love productivity andplanning and health and cooking
and all of that fun stuff.
And to my surprise, you werevery interested in that episode
(01:23):
and it still is one of the mostfrequently listened to episodes.
So I was really surprised tosee that and thought that now,
two years later, we're due foran update.
Because although a lot ofthings are similar to how they
were and how I kind of runthrough my typical day as a yarn
business owner, but there havebeen some changes and some
(01:46):
updates, and I want to sharethose with you today.
Now, a lot of times I have manyof these episodes outlined and
I've got something in front ofme, but I wanted to do this one
completely off the cuff, justtrying something new, proving to
myself that I can actually dothat and stay focused and on
topic.
But mainly because I want toshare organically like what a
(02:11):
day is like for me and As I'mrunning through my day, in my
head, sharing my thoughts, Idon't want this to be scripted.
I don't want it to be outlined.
I want you to see and hear allof the things that I go through
on a regular basis.
Not because I want you to thinkI'm interesting.
(02:32):
That's totally not what I'mgoing for here.
But I know a lot of you areyarn business owners.
You've got some type of makerbusiness.
And we learn from each other.
Even though my business mightlook a little different than
your business, maybe some thingsthat I do to make my life a
little easier or more efficientcan help you.
(02:53):
And that's really my goal.
I want to share what a day islike for me so that you can take
some of the things that I do tomake my life easier and see if
they apply to your life and inyour business if that's what you
have.
Okay, so let's start from thetop.
Actually, start first thing inthe morning.
(03:15):
One thing that has changed alittle bit is how early I wake
up.
I want to say first andforemost, I am not a morning
person.
I do not enjoy getting out ofbed before the sun, and I don't
know that that will ever change.
I do know, however, that when Ido get out of bed early, I am
(03:41):
so much more productive andenergetic, and I just generally
feel better about what I wasable to accomplish for that day.
One really importantrealization that I've learned
over the last two years since wedid our first episode like this
is that my best creative timehappens before noon.
(04:04):
That's not always the case forsome people.
I was actually talking to myhusband about this and he says
that he does his most focusedwork after lunch.
Not me.
I'm like, you get some food inme and I'm ready to take a nap.
So after lunch, I reserve thattime for things that require
less creativity, maybe lessfocus and that sort of thing.
(04:27):
So I am usually out of bed,feet on the floor, no later than
6 a.m.
And of course, I run through amorning routine because that's
something that I believe is thebest way to set your day up on
the right foot.
I remember when I was workingfor somebody else, I had a
(04:48):
full-time job that I would goto.
I dreaded going to sleep thenight before because I knew I
had to get up on someone else'sterms, go make somebody else's
dream come true, and dosomething that I really just
wasn't super passionate about.
So I read this book called TheMiracle Morning by Hal Elrod,
(05:09):
and that was a perspective shiftfor me.
That was when I first realizedthat I'm not a morning person,
and maybe I should be a morningperson because that'll make me
be more successful.
That's totally not the case.
What I learned from that bookis that no matter what time you
wake up in the morning, you Doit on your terms and make sure
(05:32):
that the first couple of thingsthat you do in the morning are
for you because you're gettingout of bed for you, for
something that you really wantto do.
And that might mean getting upbefore everybody else or it
might mean something totallydifferent.
We all have differentscenarios.
So for me...
I am up first thing in themorning.
(05:53):
I take care of my fur babies.
I take care of my husband, gethim off to work.
And then I sit down and I havemy breakfast.
I've played a lot with thisbecause I just never really know
if I, well, I just never reallyknow what I should eat in the
(06:15):
morning.
But I learned that when I dohave a good breakfast, I feel
better.
I feel more productive.
I can last a little bit longer.
Like I have more staminathroughout the day.
I can get an exercise in in themorning and that sort of thing.
So I will make myself abreakfast and then I sit down at
(06:39):
the table while I'm eating andI watch some videos on YouTube.
They're typically notyarn-related videos, however, I
find a lot of inspiration fromother creators.
I like to look at theproduction quality.
I like to look at formats andhow videos are set up and how
(07:01):
tutorials are set up so that Ican draw inspiration and be a
little more entertaining andbasically just serve you better
by learning.
I think that's the bottom line.
I've always heard that youshould always create before you
consume.
And I have to challenge thatone just a little bit because
(07:23):
when I consume, I am learning.
I always make sure that whatI'm consuming provides some kind
of value to me.
And I think that's a good tipthat maybe you could walk away
from.
I am not the person to rollover and start scrolling through
email or social media or thatsort of thing.
(07:45):
Because for me, those twothings, like email and social,
are a little stressful becauseit reminds me of how many people
need my help who I just can'tpossibly help all right then.
And so that is...
not a fun way to start my day.
I don't want to start my dayfeeling like I'm failing
(08:06):
anybody, but instead I start myday by fueling myself literally
with food and by consumingsomething where I'm learning.
I've also found it reallyimportant to hydrate in the
morning, and I know that soundsso silly that we have to remind
ourselves to drink water, butfor me, I'm not a water lover.
(08:30):
I really don't enjoy drinkingwater.
So what I do is I squeeze somelemon juice in it and that
becomes almost a craving for me.
I love drinking lemon waterbright and early in the morning.
It hydrates me.
Again, it just makes me feelbetter.
So I know those are two kind ofsilly ways to start your day as
(08:52):
a yarn lover.
or maker business to say, oh,we'll wake up early and eat some
food and drink some water.
It sounds really basic, right?
But let me tell you, when Istart the day later, when I get
out of bed later than Itypically would, when I miss my
breakfast, when I don't drinkenough water, I really feel it.
(09:17):
So these self-care things thatI do are so critically important
to how the rest of my dayflows.
And it's not so much when thisall occurs.
I'm not saying you have to wakeup at 5 a.m.
in order to do what I do or tohave a happy day, but find the
(09:37):
self-care things that make youfeel better, that make you feel
more productive, and just try todo that every single day.
Treat that as an appointment toyourself.
The same way that you would ifyou gave someone your word that
you would do something.
You're giving yourself yourword.
And try to be good on that sothat you can be your best self.
(10:01):
A lot has changed in my morningroutine since we last recorded.
I like a routine, but I likethat routine to change every now
and then.
Now before I told you I wasmeditating with a new device
called the Muse Headband.
And I started that because Iheard a lot of really great
(10:22):
things about meditation.
And I still love this device.
I still use it.
I'm not as consistent as I wasstarting out.
And that's because I think it'sa slow process to see the
benefits of meditation.
And I'm the kind of person thatif I don't see a result pretty
quick, it's harder for me tocommit that time to doing that
(10:46):
thing.
For me, time is my mostvaluable asset and I want to
make sure I'm spending it in away that's either helping me as
a person, that's helping me bemore connected, helping me be a
better wife, a better daughter,a better sister.
I need to spend time makingsure that those priorities are
(11:08):
met.
And meditation, although I dofeel great when it happens
because I'm sort of dedicatingthat self where I can turn my
brain off, where I can calm thethoughts, that's really great.
I have to remind myself of thatbefore I can actually sit down
and meditate.
Meditation is either you loveit or you hate it.
(11:31):
That's sort of what I havediscovered with talking with
people about it.
So give it a try.
If it's something that you'venever done before, there's an
app called Headspace where it'sguided meditations and it'll
walk you through that.
I've tried those.
and found them really helpful.
And then of course this muse islike a headband that you wear
and it's kind of a pricey thing.
(11:53):
I actually got it as a birthdaygift and just love it.
But I wouldn't like jump rightinto that unless you know
meditation is something that youwant to do.
So this is all still part of mymorning routine.
A lot of this happens outsideof my office.
I like to keep separate spacesfor different things.
When I'm in my office, I'm inwork mode.
(12:14):
When I'm out of my office, I'min wife mode, normal mode, just
me mode.
So these morning routines, thethings that I do in the morning,
they're for me.
They're to help me be moreproductive and have a better
day.
Something else I haveincorporated into pretty much
every single day.
(12:35):
Now I'm not as consistent withit as I would like to be in all
honesty, but stretching.
Stretching is, man, like when Idon't do it, I feel it.
Especially as a crocheter and aknitter, somebody who has a
problems as a result of doingthat so much, having poor
(12:55):
posture.
All of those things affect myshoulders.
They affect my elbows, mywrists.
And I mean, you know it.
I don't have to tell you thisbecause I'm sure you might
experience this as well.
But when I get down andstretch, especially like my
shoulders, my chest muscles, myforearm muscles, when I stretch
(13:16):
all of those things, I feel somuch better.
Now, I also make it a priorityto stretch out my legs and my
hips too.
I don't do too much sittingnowadays because I have moved
over to a standing desk to helpwith some of these posture
things that I'm going throughand just to really help
(13:38):
encourage me to not sit all day.
I really can tell a differencefrom moving from a job where I
was on the go and was moving alot more to a job now where I'm
primarily stationary.
I'm either sitting with aproject for hours, finishing
(14:00):
that, or I'm sitting at thecomputer editing.
And after two years of sittinga lot more than I used to, I
could feel it in so manydifferent ways.
So I have transitioned to astanding desk, but I still like
to incorporate some stretchesfor my legs and my hips and that
sort of thing.
Now that's the bulk of mymorning routine.
(14:23):
And at this point, it's usuallyabout 7.30, sometimes a little
bit later, depending on how muchstretching I do.
And then it's off to theoffice.
Now I work from home, so myhome office is just a few steps
away.
I come upstairs, get things setup, and get right to work.
(14:46):
The reason why I'm able to getright to work is because I have
planned out that day severaldays before.
I've mentioned in a couple ofdifferent areas sprinkled here
and there that I like tocalendar block in order to
structure my day.
And I have gone back and forthwith calendar blocking.
(15:09):
I've tried different methods,different strategies, and I
think I've honed in on somethingthat really, really works for
me.
What I'll do is on Monday,every single Monday, I will
calendar block that week.
Previously, I've tried tocalendar block several weeks
(15:33):
ahead, like I'll try to calendarblock a whole month.
And what I found is that thingschange.
And then I felt like a failurewhen I had to shuffle things
around or when it took longer tofilm something than I expected
it to.
And that's not a good feeling.
Calendar blocking is supposedto help me be more productive,
(15:53):
not feel like I'm totallyfailing.
So I will sit down on Mondayand calendar block my whole
week.
So on the topic of that, let'scircle back around.
Let's zoom out a little bit, ifyou will, so that you can get a
better perspective of howthings work.
(16:14):
Put a bookmark here, right?
We're going up to the office.
I already know what I'm goingto do because of things that
I've already done.
And I think these things mighthelp you.
Now in that first episode, Itold you about how I have themed
days.
Now those themed days havecompletely changed since then,
but it's still a themed day, ifyou will.
(16:38):
Mondays for me are my householddays.
I realized that there's a lotof stuff that has to get done.
Laundry, meal planning, groceryshopping, cleaning floors and
bathrooms and all that stuff,right?
Those are all things that haveto get done.
And I don't really like doingthem sprinkled throughout the
(17:01):
week.
I like to just focus, get itall done, and then I don't have
to think about it for severaldays.
So on Mondays, I deem that myhousehold and sort of like my
planning days.
So after I've done all of thosehousehold things, I'll sit down
with my bullet journal, whichis also new.
I haven't used that in my, Ididn't use that in my previous
(17:22):
episode, but that helps me get abigger picture and just put pen
to paper.
So I'll use my bullet journal.
to map out what needs to happenthat week.
And for me, a lot of things arerepetitive.
Right now, I am filming seasontwo of Be Yooked TV, which comes
out every Monday.
And although I thought aboutpre-recording all of that, I
(17:48):
felt a little bit strange indoing that because I wanted it
to be more...
real life.
I wanted to make pivots andchange if there were topics that
might help my viewers more thanothers.
So I am filming an episode ofBe Oaked TV every single week.
(18:09):
Another thing, of course, asyou know, I have a new podcast
episode every single week, andthen I'm doing a Saturday
tutorial as well.
So I've got three main thingsthat I have to get done every
single week.
Fortunately, to prepare all ofthose things, I'm doing the same
(18:30):
set of tasks.
So I sort of have thatmemorized by now.
I've done it enough that I haveit all mapped out.
But I previously, well, andstill use an app called
CoSchedule that helps me withall of that.
It helps me create a task listfor everything.
And over time, I've just gottento the point where I have that
(18:52):
memorized.
So I've got my bullet journalthat sort of outlines the things
that need to happen that weekin order to meet those three
goals, those three contentgoals.
And then I start to put it intoGoogle Calendar, which is the
thing that I use for calendarblocking.
I'm sure there are othercalendar apps and that sort of
(19:15):
thing that you can use.
I'm not an Apple user, so Idon't have experience with that
one.
But I really love Googlebecause it syncs with my phone.
It syncs with my iPad and withmy computer.
Basically any device that Imight be on, I have access to my
calendar.
And more importantly, I haveaccess to notifications.
(19:36):
So whenever I am supposed toswitch to a new task, I'll get a
reminder, that 10 minutereminder that says, hey, you're
supposed to be doing this in 10minutes.
It sort of helps kick me intogear to finish up or wrap up
what I'm doing.
Or if I know there's no way Ican finish that thing, that I
(19:56):
need to block more time for thatin the future.
Getting a little ahead ofmyself with that, but I use
Google Calendar and I create anappointment for every task.
So let's take the podcast, forexample.
For this particular episode,it's just a solo show.
So I'm not interviewing a guestor anything like that.
So I have fewer things to dofor something like this.
(20:19):
On my task list is to recordthis podcast.
And I know that realistically,although it might be a 30 to 45
minute show, I like to calendarblock an hour because I'm not
perfect, right?
We always make mistakes.
You got to take a break to takea drink of water.
It's really hard to talk for avery long time.
(20:42):
So I'll calendar block moretime than I probably need in
order to help me save time laterand avoid some of those
frustrations if I don't getthings done.
After I record this episode, Ihave to edit it.
I'm still a one-woman show, andI do all of my editing as well.
So I will block out two hoursto edit this.
(21:06):
Again, that's way more timethan I need, but it's there.
I'll have a buffer if I needit.
After editing, I will createsome images to share with you on
social so you know that thisepisode is available.
I will usually block out a halfhour or so for that.
I create a page on my website,a show notes page, so that you
(21:28):
can see any links, any resourcesthat we talk about, which I'm
sure there'll be quite a few forthis one.
By the way, the show notes areon behooked.com slash 135.
And I budget about 45 minutesto create that post.
So on my calendar for today,you'll see all of those slots.
You'll see a slot forrecording.
(21:50):
for editing.
And then tomorrow there's atime slot for creating those
images, creating that post andthen scheduling it out.
Now, I don't want to get toonitty gritty on calendar
blocking because I know it,although I am super geeking out
about right now and for the lastlike year or so, it might not
(22:12):
be your jam.
It's certainly not foreverybody.
I know if I were working aregular full-time job where I'm
away from nine to five, whywould you even calendar block,
right?
Because you've got like a bigchunk of that time, five days a
week or however many times youwork.
In that case, it may not besuper useful for you.
(22:32):
The most important tidbit Iwant you to take away from all
of this is just to realize howmuch time it takes you to do
certain things, right?
within either your business oryour hobby.
That's sort of where I want torelate it to.
If you're running a businessand you know that you need to
(22:53):
have this project completed bynext Wednesday, well, it's a
good idea to sit down and thinkabout how much time you have to
invest in crocheting that thingand how you can break it up
between now and the due date Soyou know you can get it done.
The only way I personally cando that is to see it in real
(23:15):
time.
And that's why calendarblocking is really useful for me
because I am one tooverestimate my ability to get
things done and underestimatethe amount of time that it
actually takes me to do them.
So by calendar blocking,there's no fudging it.
It is what it is.
I have set up my calendar sothat I am working between the
(23:39):
hours of 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m.
because that's when I want towork outside of that.
I want to spend time with myfamily and spend time on my
hobbies and that sort of thing.
There's no making time that'snot actually there when you
calendar block.
So even if you're not using anapp like Google Calendar, If
(24:00):
you're more of a pen to paperkind of person, having a planner
or that sort of thing, whereyou can map this out and just
see it in real time.
I think you might find it superhelpful as you're working
through projects in yourbusiness.
Also projects, right?
If you're just doing this for ahobby and let's say you have a
birthday coming up and you wantto make something handmade for
(24:22):
this person for their birthday,the same sort of reverse
engineering will take place tomake sure you meet that
deadline, right?
Now, I don't want to elaborateon calendar blocking anymore,
but I do want to say this.
If this is a topic that youfind really interesting and you
would love to learn more aboutit, head over to the show notes
page and in the commentssection, let me know because
(24:46):
like I said, I could talk aboutthis for hours, but only if it's
useful for you.
So if you want to learn moreabout calendar blocking and how
I use it in my everyday life,for my business and for personal
too, because I calendar blockpretty much everything.
Just let me know that in thecomments section and I'll try to
get some resources together foryou so that you can try and
(25:08):
experiment with calendarblocking and see if it works for
you.
All right, so on the topic ofthemed days, we said Mondays are
like my household slashplanning days.
And then Tuesday and Wednesdaysare my content creation days.
I also group my projectcreation into this because
they're more of my creationdays, I guess, if you will.
(25:31):
So on Tuesdays, I'm typicallydoing most of my filming for
Behooked TV and for thetutorial.
And when I'm on fire, like I amfor today, for some reason, I'm
also recording a podcastepisode on a Tuesday.
So Tuesdays and Wednesdays arereserved for creating new
things, for filming, forcreating new projects, and that
(25:53):
sort of thing.
And I'm pretty loose witheverything else.
I just know what I need to getdone for that week, and I try to
make sure that they get done onTuesday and Wednesday.
primarily because I notice thattowards the end of the week,
sometimes things come up, right?
Maybe I'll have to take aFriday off that I wasn't
(26:13):
expecting to take a Friday off.
And if I get into a positionwhere I needed to record
something on a Friday, and thennow I can't work on that Friday,
that's not a good situation tobe in.
So the big takeaway here maybeisn't to have themed days,
unless that's useful for you,But I think the bigger message
(26:34):
here is recognizing the patternsin your week and seeing how you
can incorporate the things thatyour priorities, the things
that need to get done into theparts of your week that don't
change very much.
For me, Tuesdays and Wednesdaysare pretty much work all the
time.
Never change.
Never changes.
(26:55):
We don't.
randomly go anywhere on aTuesday or Wednesday.
So I like to get a lot of workdone on those days so I don't
get behind.
But then it also gives me theflexibility to say, okay, my
husband's taking off work today.
Let's go do something coolbecause this is the life that
I've set up for myself and I'mable to do that.
(27:15):
I want to be able to do that.
And this has helped.
So that's Tuesdays andWednesdays.
Now Thursdays and Fridays aremy production days.
And I really changed this a lotsince the last episode that you
heard.
Before they were very specific.
I had a filming day.
(27:36):
I had a podcast day.
I had an editing day.
I had an admin day.
The other one I'm not exactlyremembering at the moment
because it's been a while sinceI did that because it just
didn't work.
I found that when I was alittle more loose with the
title, it gave me theflexibility that I needed.
So anyways, on Thursdays andFridays, those are my production
(28:00):
days.
Those are the days that Ireserve for editing primarily.
So I know that when I wake upon a Thursday or a Friday, if I
want to work in my yoga pants, Itotally can do that because I
know I don't have to be oncamera.
I also know that Any outsidenoise or distractions, they're
not going to bother me.
(28:21):
I really don't like to recordwhen there's a lot of
distractions around me, whenthere's a lot of noise and that
sort of thing.
And that's why Tuesdays andWednesdays work really well
because I'm usually here and candedicate my energy and effort
into that.
But like I said, sometimesThursdays and Fridays are a
little different and I can editthrough any distractions that
(28:44):
might be around me on thosedays.
So that's the zoomed out lookof how a week is set up for me.
But I want you to just kind ofwrap your mind around everything
you've heard and see how youcan apply it in your life.
So again, the big takeaways areone, figuring out what your
(29:06):
routines are.
What are the things that youalways do every single week?
For me, I sat down and I wrotethem down.
I said, okay, these are all thehousehold things that need to
get done.
And I wrote down laundry, cleanthe floors, clean the
bathrooms, put the clothes away,do the ironing, do the meal
planning, do the groceryshopping.
I wrote all of those down.
(29:26):
Get really granular with it soyou don't miss anything.
And then I...
looked at my BeHooked stuff.
What are the commitments thatI've made to you as my listener
and to my viewers on my YouTubechannels?
What do they expect from meevery single week?
And I have shown you to expecta new podcast episode, a
(29:51):
Saturday tutorial, and whenBeHooked TV is in an active
season, to expect another videoon that.
From there, you can get evenmore detailed with it.
Take it one commitment at atime.
For the podcast, you know, justin my scenario, writing down
(30:12):
all of the steps that it takesto produce a podcast and then
looking at that next commitment,writing down all the things
that you have to do to meet thatcommitment.
And once you have that an ideaof all the things that you're
doing every single week sort ofbroken down into segments that
are just easier to digest, thenyou can assign a general bucket
(30:36):
to it, if you will.
And that's sort of like mythemed days.
Now, again, that might not workfor you.
And if it doesn't, I wouldn'teven try to force it.
If you realize that yourschedule changes a little bit
more than mine does, forexample, maybe a themed day
isn't right, but perhaps knowingwhat your weekly commitments
(30:57):
are every single week as theyhappen will be useful for you.
So I would challenge you, whenyou have some time today, just
jot down all of these things andsee if you can find a pattern
and how you can work thatpattern into your daily routine.
routine or your weekly routineand that sort of thing.
(31:18):
So we're jumping back to thatbookmark now.
When I am in my office, ofcourse, I know exactly what I'm
going to do because it'scalendar blocked.
And you've got a pretty goodidea now of how my days are
structured just knowing what mythemed days are.
So if I'm walking into myoffice on a Tuesday, I am fixing
(31:43):
my hair, I'm putting somemakeup on, I'm putting clothes
on, getting all the lighting andthe cameras and all of that set
up.
And that's just become aroutine.
I don't have to think about it.
And I film as much as Ipossibly can while I'm at my
best.
If I'm walking into my officeon a Wednesday, it might look a
(32:07):
little different.
Maybe today I'm filming atutorial, so I'm not filming
like my face.
I can be a little more relaxedwith my appearance, but I'm
filming my hands.
Or let's say I've startedfilming a tutorial and I've had
to start crocheting a little bitmore through that.
Then I will work through thatsort of thing on a Wednesday.
(32:28):
Now I have to say, Thursdaysand Fridays really are my
favorite days because I love theproduction side of what I do.
Of course, I love to crochetand to knit and create projects
and do all of that stuff.
But I am a creator at heart andI get just as excited about
(32:48):
editing a video as I do creatinga new project.
So Thursdays and Fridays aresuper fun for me because I know
I get to sit down and express mycreativity in a completely
different way.
No matter which day I'm walkinginto my office, I am always
going to walk out of my officeat about the same time every
(33:11):
day.
And that is about 1130.
I will go move my butt and walkon the treadmill or jog on the
treadmill because I know it'sgood for me.
I really have a love-haterelationship with exercising.
Not because I don't like toexercise or I don't like to
(33:33):
move.
But I love my work so much, I'maddicted to it.
And I don't like to leave thisroom once I'm in it.
I always want to create more,get further ahead, just get more
done.
I don't want to leave to go dosomething selfish like exercise.
It feels selfish to me.
(33:54):
I know it's so silly.
But what I have realized is acouple of things.
One, when I exercise regularly,and by the way, I'm not like
running a 5k marathon on thistreadmill.
I'm usually strolling at like afast pace.
I'm walking for 40 minutes orso.
Sometimes I'll jog a little bitin there as well.
(34:15):
When I exercise, I have moreenergy and that makes no sense
when you think about it.
You would think that you wouldbe tired and exhausted after
running, but it helps me withthat afternoon exercise.
lag that I typically feel.
It also means I eat less forlunch.
So at this point in my day,I've taken care of a lot of
(34:40):
stuff.
I got up on my own terms.
I took care of myself in theways that make me more
productive and make me happier.
I already had my day sort ofstructured, so I didn't have to
put any more thought or wasteany time on figuring out what
needed to be done.
So I was extra productive.
(35:02):
That gives me about four solidhours of really focused,
creative time.
And man, I can get a lot donein four hours.
And I feel wonderful when Itake the time to go and get in a
little exercise and take acouple of minutes to eat my
(35:22):
lunch and not jump right up togo to work.
If I want to sit there andrelax for a minute, I let myself
do that because I've alreadybeen super productive that
morning and I don't have to feelbad about sacrificing any time.
So after that, we're looking atabout...
1.30pm.
(35:43):
I'll head back up to my office.
And again, this is my lessfocused work.
I try to calendar block my lessfocused work after 1.30pm.
And depending on what day itis, I'll work on different
things.
So today, for example, is acontent creation day.
(36:05):
So after I do my exercise andeat my lunch, I will come back
up and film a tomorrow will bethe same story.
It'll be another contentcreation day.
I will work on filming whateverelse needs to be filmed that
(36:25):
sort of is left over from today.
And then on Thursday, when Isort of get back from my lunch
period then, I'll do morepost-production work.
So I will be editing.
That's usually the day where Ispend a lot more time in my
email and in the community andanswering as many questions as I
(36:45):
can, sort of getting to all ofthose inbox messages.
I will do my social media stuffon that day as well.
So I might plan out some postsor that sort of thing.
And typically on Fridayafternoon, I try to keep those
pretty open because as much as Ilike structure and a routine, I
(37:09):
like a little bit ofvariability.
So on Fridays, if there hasbeen a project that has just
really sparked inspiration inme, I'll usually feel a little
like a rebel and start workingon that project on Friday
afternoon.
And that way I'll havesomething to crochet up through
the weekend when I have somefree time here and there.
(37:31):
As a general rule, I do like tohave boundaries when it comes
to my stopping point.
Like I said before, I likethere to be a designated spot
for work so I can sort of be inthat work mode.
And for me, that's absolutelymy office.
Sometimes I will crochet aproject in the living room or on
(37:52):
the treadmill.
I've definitely been known todo that.
But for the most part, I try tokeep separation between
different things that I'll bedoing.
Basically, my different aspectsof life.
When you work at the same placethat you live, you really do
need to keep that separation soyou don't feel like you're
(38:15):
always in work mode.
Or opposite to that...
feel like you're always in homelounge mode and not get any
work done.
So for me, the solution to thatproblem was having a dedicated
office space and only doing workin here.
So there you have it.
That is my long-windedconversational version of what a
(38:39):
day in the life or a week inthe life of me looks like right
now in 2019.
I know this is going to changein the future.
And if it's something you'reinterested in, I will love to
share that journey with youlater on.
But as I said before, the mainpurpose of this episode isn't so
(38:59):
you can do everything that I door that you can see how cool or
how boring you think my dailyroutine is.
Really, what I want you toextract from this is those
little golden nuggets about therealizations that make up my
routine.
So I want to highlight those.
(39:20):
The first big realization thatmade me a happier, more
productive person was realizingthat I needed to start the day
on my own terms and I needed todo something for myself when I
first wake up.
The second realization wasunderstanding when I do my most
(39:41):
focused work.
And for me, that was...
tough.
I really had to think aboutthat.
I heard somebody say, well,when do you do your best work?
And I'm like, I don't know.
I never really thought aboutit.
But if you recall days thatyou've had recently where you
really got a lot done or youreally just felt good about what
(40:02):
you got done, what time of daywas that?
And can you see a trend inthat?
I just realized throughconsciously thinking about when
I felt like I could do the most,when I felt more creative, and
that was always in the morningand it was always before noon.
And opposite to that, I knowthat I'm kind of sluggish in the
(40:26):
afternoon, especially if Ihaven't exercised or taken care
of myself or eaten lunch.
I'm not productive in theafternoon.
So that's the other importantrealization I want you to take
away from this episode.
Think about when you do yourbest work and try to do as much
important work during that timethat you can.
(40:49):
The third important realizationis with routines and themes.
Again, writing down yourcommitments.
Write down the things thatalways happen and see if you see
a trend.
Is it possible for you to doall of those things on one day
(41:10):
or in one afternoon?
Because it's been proven thattask switching is really
difficult to do and our brainsreally aren't designed to do
that well.
So can you find a trend in thethings that you need to do And
is it possible for you to dothose things on a certain day?
(41:32):
The fourth really bigrealization I want you to take
away from this episode is tostart tracking how much time
certain things take you tofinish.
For me, I used a time trackerapp for many years.
And I only recently stoppedusing that because I felt like I
(41:54):
fully understand what how longit takes me to record a podcast
or to crochet a baby blanket orto do any other task that's on
my list.
If you need to use a timetracker app, there's a couple
that are really good.
I'll have them linked in theshow notes, the two that I have
(42:15):
used, so you can give that atry.
But even just taking a mentalnote of it.
And generalizing, coming upwith the average of how much
time it takes you to do thesethings that you're doing every
single week so that you canrealistically put that task in a
space on your calendar that youcan get it done.
(42:38):
Because there is nothing worsethan having something on your
calendar and not getting it doneand then not having a space to
finish it.
That's the worst feeling ever.
And that's why I've gotten tothe habit of overestimating by
quite a bit how much time ittakes me to do certain things.
(42:59):
The fifth important takeawayfrom this episode is to have a
designated space if you alsowork from home.
Create that separation so youfeel like you have a work life
and you have your regular life.
Sure, there's going to be someoverlap between the two, but in
(43:23):
terms of happiness andproductivity, there has been
nothing better than doing thatthat has helped me.
Just having that separationbetween this is work, Brittany,
this is life, Brittany.
All right, now I hope youenjoyed this completely
(43:43):
different style of episode.
Again, if you're new to theshow, this is not something we
typically talk about here.
Normally, it's all crochet,knitting, and yarn-related
inspiration.
So next week, we will be righton track with that.
If you enjoyed this, if youwant to learn more about this
again, if you want to learn moreabout calendar blocking, or if
(44:06):
you just want to share some ofthe things that have helped you
in your daily routine and yourdaily life, leave that for me in
the comments section so myselfand others in the community can
read that.
The show notes page for thisepisode is behooked.com slash
135.
You can just scroll right downto the bottom and leave your
(44:26):
comment there.
I will also link to some of theapps and things that we talked
about here so that you might beable to use them in your life if
you find that they would behelpful for you.
Again, for me as a contentcreator, I'm using more digital
things.
I'm using different things thatmaybe you wouldn't find useful
(44:47):
or you wouldn't need at all assomebody who is just planning
projects for...
birthdays for holidays and thatsort of thing.
But again, those five majorpoints are really what I wanted
you to take home from today'sepisode.
I hope you enjoyed it and I'llsee you next week, my friend.
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