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Quick Tips for Busy Season Prep
24 Plays3 months ago
Busy season is either upon you or about to be! Today's quick episode is a recap of our best tips for preparing for a successful busy season. These things will help you avoid un-necessary stress, burn out, and will keep you organized through the somewhat inevitable chaos. If you have 20 minutes, we suggest that you listen to this episode and start the important prep for busy season today.
You got this!
Your hosts,
Beth and Ayla
Recommended
Transcript
Preparing for the Busy Season
00:00:00
Speaker
Okay folks, you know what time it is for all of our photographers and editors out there and who knows maybe even other entrepreneurs too. Um, busy season is just about upon us. We may be a little early. I know for most people busy season is in full swing, maybe in the fall or a little closer to then, but we are coming right up on it. And we are doing this episode specifically to prepare hear you or remind you how to prepare for the upcoming busy season. That's right. So without further ado, here are some things to start getting in the habit of doing now so that you can fly smoothly through busy season.
Podcast Introduction
00:00:36
Speaker
Welcome to the Art of Intention podcast with Beth and Ayla. Two best friends turn creative entrepreneurs. This is a place for us to discuss everything business, friendships and faith and occasionally more. We're so excited for today's episode. We think you're going to love it. Stay tuned.
Motivation and Past Advice
00:00:57
Speaker
Okay, so we've done a busy season episode before last year. It was actually pretty early on in the podcast. It's episode 11 and it's titled priorities during busy season if you just in the mood to get busy season ready, finish this episode. And then you could also go listen to that one. um We've probably grown since then, so be nice to us. But I do still highly recommend it. If you haven't heard it yet, it does have a more in-depth breakdown of the best ways we've learned to prepare for and tackle busy season and um to avoid getting overwhelmed. Today is going to be a quick refresher summary, maybe a couple new things that might help us inspire you. Just a quick motivation blast before we go into busy season.
00:01:37
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Okay, so we might as well just hop
Setting Project Deadlines
00:01:40
Speaker
right into it. So first up, I'm going to chat directly to my peeps who have deliverables for clients. So photographers, editors, you know, all those people, um whatever your business maybe If you don't already do this super consistently, go into your calendar and add delivery due dates for yourself for all of your current projects. um Whether you tell to your clients it's the exact day I have on a calendar now for your thing that's going to be due or if it's just something for yourself, put it on the calendar and have it be like a hard all caps absolute due date.
00:02:14
Speaker
um And along with this, try to start next month or choose a date, whatever date of your choosing, like if you know Busy Season starts on the fifth of next month or middle of next month or the first of next month, um try to start that date with a blank canvas. So if you can, with all of your current projects delivered, Don't. like Believe us. Just do not go into busy season with unnecessary projects on your shoulders. Set dates. Get them done. and This might be the single-handed best thing you can do for yourself before busy season starts. Even if you think you don't have a lot of projects, just trust us on this. If you have two projects, three projects, just do them.
00:02:52
Speaker
Just get it done. Absolutely. Amazing. No, I love that. There's no better feeling than just getting caught up because inevitably we all fall a little behind in busy season. It's okay. It's going to happen. And you just may as well not have stuff from June sitting in there while you're drowning in October. Not saying anyone here would, but you know, it's just better to go in. Me. I wasn't going to say. That was not supposed... That wasn't my intention. Anyway, ah you know June's generous, dude. When I tell you, what's the month that comes before June? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May? May?
Communication with Photographers
00:03:35
Speaker
Basically, when your October rolls around, or mid-September, like Beth said, whatever your busy season is, just try to have your summery stuff wrapped up as best you can. And then I will sneak another little snippet into here for photo editors specifically. reach Right now is an excellent time to reach out to your photographers and ask for their fall schedule, or maybe you can do this yeah i'm closer to mid-August. But yeah, we're in beginning August right now, so it's a really great time to reach out to your photographers. and ask them for a rough check-in slash like rough calendar for what their busy season looks like and what they're planning to outsource. um I could make this a toll on episodes so I won't take too much time on it right now.
00:04:14
Speaker
But I've started quarterly asking my photographers for just an estimate on what their quarter looks like. Sometimes they're like, Oh, you know, it's July and I live in Florida and it's not very busy. And then sometimes there's stuff coming up later. But I have found that not only does this help you as the photo editor, but it actually can really help your photographers like sit down. get into the head space of what they have coming up. Cause if they're busy, they should be pretty booked out, if not close to booked out and having an idea of what they want to outsource to you when the season comes around. And it can actually be a really great tool for your photographers to kind of get organized, learn um or figure out what they want to send to you versus what they want to edit themselves. And then you're both just a little bit more prepared. I cannot tell you how much that helps my busy season to reach out to everyone and say, Oh, what do you have coming up for October? Oh, I have this, this, and this. Oh, actually these weeks are busy.
00:05:05
Speaker
So here's what I need to allocate in the rest of my life to compensate for this busy season. So yeah editors check in with your photographers on what they have coming down the road for the rest of August, September, October, yeah and then.
Health and Immunity Tips
00:05:18
Speaker
Our number two tip is to start boosting your immune system now. I am i am actually starting this like as of this week because I've been sick during busy season before and I'm not doing it. um And busy season also often coincides with cold season and you're probably a little bit more stressed out. So take your vitamins.
00:05:37
Speaker
Get your physical exercise. Get your outside time if the weather's all right where you are. Drink water and get lots of sleep. In fact, oh, this is so real for me right now. Get yourself on a regular sleep schedule. um If you want to hear a ton of advice on what this can look like and the best way to do that, go back about five episodes and listen to our Energy Sleep Cycle Sleep Schedule podcast. um I think it'll lead nicely into our next tip, actually, Beth, if you want to keep going. Yeah. Oh, of course. Absolutely. Um, so next, so I guess this is number three, I want to talk about generally like setting routines and getting your set schedule set.
Daily and Nightly Routines
00:06:17
Speaker
Um, a lot of entrepreneurs, I mean, it can kind of go either way. I feel like give the entrepreneurs who are very organized and like set and like rigid with their routines and consistent. And then you have the creative entrepreneurs, not that those people are not creative. They probably really are too. There's yeah
00:06:30
Speaker
they their life together. but then you Yeah, exactly. But then there's on entrepreneur yeah the chaotic creatives, the entrepreneurs know, but the entrepreneurs maybe who um have an inconsistent schedule, maybe by nature of their job or because they just are okay with living life like that. But in preparation for busy season, ah this is actually kind of like two different points in one. So first set daily and nightly routines. So busy season is hectic by definition. The non-work parts of your life need to be ordered and organized and relaxing so you can tackle the you know working chaos. um Having a good morning and night routine is a great way to help with that like for most people. So that's like the first part.
00:07:11
Speaker
and yeah Yeah, for sure. is this Is this where you want me to jump in? If you want to, I park could probably let you in. I was just like, I'll take it. so i will look It'll be magic. We'll communicate mind to mind. No, you will, because that's a really great point. And I'm trying to get better about it. Like I can fall so victim of my busy seasons and just letting everything around me go into chaos because I'm busy. But it's just not helpful to you and around you. And So for me, kind of what this looks like, like speaking as someone who works two jobs, like editing along with my day job, this can be a little hard to maintain, a little bit difficult, but there are small things you can do to
Optimizing Work Days
00:07:51
Speaker
help yourself. First off, there are full days that I have at home, not at my day job that are devoted just to photo editing and running my business and doing the admin.
00:08:00
Speaker
And those days I have to make the most out of them. So take this as like, if you're someone who's just a photographer, just a photo editor, like just doing your um business. If you're somebody who's just doing your business, ah I just take a lot of full advantage of the days when I have the full time. So that looks like waking up at a set time, as tempting as it is for me to sleep in on the days I don't have to be at my day job. I i still wake up, not at the crack of dawn if it's unnecessary because I need energy throughout the day, but I just wake up at a good point. I get dressed. You've probably heard these tips from us before, but I wake up, get dressed.
00:08:37
Speaker
good food in my body. I do put a little bit of caffeine in my body and then I just i go into my office. like I tend to work all around my house, in my bed, at my dining room table, at my couch, but I go into my office, I set my phone in another room and I just get it done because I don't often have a full nine to five day to do what I need to do. So when that does come around, like I just take full advantage of it. and And then other, yeah. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, go ahead. Just other ways, like Beth said, a good morning and night routine. Like the reality is during busy season, I'm not able to keep up on, um, you know, preparing my meals as well as I can, or keeping my house clean as well as I can, or taking care of myself as much as I can. So a little bit in the morning and a little bit at the night in the night and a little bit in the mid day is my lifesaver at this time. So.
00:09:26
Speaker
It's just as simple, like I said, as waking up and feeding yourself um whenever you can. you know You don't have to wake up and eat right away. I know Beth and I are big fans of that, but just waking up. getting into a fresh outfit, feeling yourself something good when you're hungry. And then nighttime, Beth, I've actually been figuring out nighttime is like an
Developing Habitual Routines
00:09:45
Speaker
essential routine for me. So nighttime, I like, I get clean no matter what I've done, whether or not I've made it to the gym that day. It's like a quick shower, wash my face, love it do what I need to do. ah Get clean. You know, I've done dinner. The kitchen has to be clean no matter who does it, whether it's me or my husband, but like,
00:10:04
Speaker
Just get that done. I've learned that throwing a podcast on and just doing it, it makes me a lot more likely to do it. Getting that done, picking out my outfit for the next day and having my office ready to go. Like I've found if I let my office desk be a mess, I'm more likely to take my computer out and watch TV while I edit, which is nice when it's slow, but like I cannot do that in busy season. So basically like a good day routine starts with a good night routine. get your body clean, get your general areas clean. For me, it's kitchen and office. I don't really care about much else, but my kitchen and office have to just be like ready to go. And I spend my time at night. So sorry, that was kind of a long.
00:10:43
Speaker
thing, but that's what that's looking for in daily life for me right now. in busy season ah I love that. And that's exactly why I was hoping you would chime in and share about like morning and night routines. I think like everything you said is so cool and I love it. A lot of people talk about morning routines and now you're talking about night routines and how it can actually set up your morning to be good. Love that. and yeah The point I kind of just wanted to convey with all of this is just that um if you start your morning and night routines, whatever routines or rituals you need to have so that you can stay sane and healthy through the busy season, start them now because the more something is a habit, like muscle memory habit, the easier it's going to be able to maintain during chaos and rushing.
00:11:23
Speaker
um It's like yeah it's like when you're a kid and
Scheduling Days Off
00:11:25
Speaker
your mom like tells you that okay this is such a random example but like when you're a kid and your mom tells you to like always put your clothes in the hamper but you're and you don't do it sometimes and she's like why didn't you put them in the hamper and you're like well I was busy and she's like well if you did it every time you know it'd be muscle memory yeah and you wouldn't have to actively remember it. Yeah. So it seems silly, but we're encouraging this for a reason to start now. um Okay. So muscle memory. Yeah. And I will just chime in and say real quick, um, I'm a big mid-day routine person to like, just to just take 20 minutes. And like, Oh, this is so hard for me to do too. Cause I get so stressed out and I'm like, I'm in the groove and I'm going, but midday weather, like between the hours of noon and like 3 PM. So any window within there.
00:12:07
Speaker
You can take 20 minutes. You can take an hour depending on your workload, but step away from your work and do something around your house, like um load your dishwasher or, or nap. Yeah. It doesn't have to be doing something around your house, nap, get outside. And it doesn't even have to be a walk. Like I have a balcony right now. And sometimes I just go out there and be for her a second, half but just, um, step away in the middle of the day, whether you do something else productive or you don't just say 20 minute, take a, take a break. Take a break. I don't care how busy you are. You can do it. You can. I promise you. i mean How many times have we talked about it before? it like you like How do I say it? and We've said it so many different ways, but basically you will be more productive if you make yourself stop working for a moment. Yes.
00:12:49
Speaker
yeah Like yeah, the pause a momentary pause at the right time is strategic at the right time. Um, okay. Uh, so like I said, this is kind of like two parts to this, uh, generally talking about setting routines. The second part, um, is just kind of getting your schedule set in regards to when you are going to work during the week. So what your days off will be. Um, cause again, like we've said, you must take regular days off you guys during busy season or else you're going to burn out. where you're going to get sick. I mean, so many things are going to happen. Your, your best work is not going to be done. You have to take days off. Absolutely. yeah Somehow find a way and everything we're talking about now, you know, setting a schedule, putting due dates on the calendar, having a routine, all of that will help enable you to take those days off without falling behind. Yes. Fire. Absolutely.
00:13:31
Speaker
like Looking ahead, even if it's one day off, Beth and I, we don't judge. We probably only take one day one day off during the Z season sometimes. That's fine. We're not saying what days you have to take off, but definitely take some. and Beth, I love how you worded that. like Pick the days. Then you know if Saturday is your day off, don't spend Friday procrastinating and Friday getting it done because that's Now that you said that, that's given me an epiphany, that that helps me work so much better because I don't want to work on the day I've decided to have off. So it totally motivates me to not be so procrastinating on like the day before. Okay. Yeah. Those reminders. Just that little psychology. We know, we know what we do. We know that we're all prone to like, if we don't really know what our schedule looks like, assuming we have more time, it's like that flaw that we all have. And so we procrastinate and then you know we wind up in hot water.
00:14:19
Speaker
Yeah. Then you wind up not getting any time off. We actually did half work on two days instead of on one full day. And then, yeah, I like it. And then the next tip we have, if you have the means to do so right now is a good time to possibly look into hiring some kind of assistant.
Hiring Assistants
00:14:35
Speaker
um When you're going over your schedule for the next couple of months, editors, if you've talked to your photographers and they're like, we're super busy, photographers, if you're like, dang, fall is going to be crazy for me, look into that schedule in the next few months and see if you could benefit from hiring an assistant, whether that's a social media coordinator, a photo editor for the photographers, or editors if you want to look into an associate.
00:14:56
Speaker
or whatever. um Yeah, whatever you need, it might be worth it. And now just before we're in the trenches might be a good time to look into that. And photographers, I will say too. Um, if you're looking into a photo editor, definitely look into that before your busy season because they probably won't have time for you mid-October. You might have a hard time getting taken on. So yeah. And, and exactly. And if you need to do any kind of vetting process, if you're going to hire a social media coordinator or a personal assistant, like you need to be doing interviews and like really vetting this person, um, and going over contract, going over payment, like there's so many things you need to do, not so many, I mean, don't be overwhelmed.
00:15:31
Speaker
But um especially if it's your first time doing that or if it's a seasonal thing that you do and you have to do it with a new person, give yourself time. um So start looking into that sooner rather than later. Right. Because it's not overnight. Yeah. Yeah. It's not overnight decision. So yeah. Well, and if it is, like if you end up getting mid October, cause let's be honest, I have been there before where like I am in the trenches and I need a social media coordinator and I'm like, I'll just take anybody. And it just didn't, it didn't work out. the best it could have. you know If I'd been a little more thorough, I could have found a better option overall with like a few things. So um I've had a few social media coordinators, by the way. And some of them have been lovely, um including my current one. But OK. Anyway, so lastly, um if we told you this is going to be a short episode. So I'm saying lastly, don't panic. We're all busy. So here we are.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, we're not here to waste your time. Okay. ah Here's something optional, but depending on your relationships, it might help you
Managing Expectations with Family
00:16:26
Speaker
like keep your sanity. So we're talking about like mental health right now for for a second um during busy season, a week or two before the busy season officially starts or like when you think it's going to be like officially starting to give your spouse or your closest friends, your friend group, family members a heads up so that they know you might be a little bit MIA or slower to respond and just kind of like tell them your expectations of like how that's going to look like. You can still text me, you can still talk to me like I'm still going to try to be involved, but this is what it might look like. This can especially help if you have like a family member maybe who tends to stress you out during busy season and guilt trip you over maybe never being around or being hard to get a hold of or late responding or whatever. um It kind of preemptively reminds them that this is just for a season and that you have to temporarily prioritize work.
00:17:08
Speaker
amazing oh my gosh the way you worded that was perfectly yay because i was gonna absolutely piggyback off at this point and say like First off, it's a friendly reminder that this is just for a time.
Balancing Work and Personal Life
00:17:19
Speaker
Yeah. Because i you know I get that, is sometimes people from the outside looking in can think that you're always working. Because busy season, depending on when you fall in it, can take up half your year. It can take up four months. It depends. And yeah, it might just be easy. And it might be easy for you as the business owner to think this is your whole life. I have been mid-November, still going strong and being like, what am I doing? Why am I here? But then January comes, and it's like, oh, that's fine. here's my you know so
00:17:45
Speaker
I totally get that. like Just a little reminder, especially even sometimes in your own household, to your spouse, to whoever, to be like, all right, here we go. Especially if you've been in business for a few years, you can probably be like, all right, I'm going into it. just It's going to happen just like last year, but I'm a little bit more ready. Just a reminder to our household that this is temporary. I might need yeah a little extra help. and I was telling Beth before we helped on this call that I that i do that with Chris every year because I i kind of experienced
00:18:15
Speaker
multiple busy seasons. Like I have a decent spring one. It's kind of like a little spring burst, like a little something, something, but again, as always fall is kind of the big the big doozy that I really have to prepare for. So just whenever my work kind of picks up, sometimes I don't always see it coming, but once my inbox gets a little bit more full, Once the inquiries kind of come in, I do have the conversation with Chris of like, all right, so I'm expecting to be very busy for these weeks. um And I actually come up with examples of like, here's what I need from you in the next few months to make it work and not like demanding, but it's just like realistically, I'm going to be in the trenches. Things are going to be a little crazy. It would help if I could rely on you for meals. um It would help if I could rely. We just, Chris and I just talked to the other
00:19:00
Speaker
ah the other week, I was like, I'm still happy to do meals, but like I can't clean up. Or he basically said, yeah can we set up a system of whoever does meals, can the other clean up? Because I can't realistically do both right now. like I come up with concrete examples of what yes you need. um yeah And it can be completely different, whatever you need in your business. Sometimes I've told Chris I wish I could just hire him, but I can't do that. I'm like, do you just want to do my work for me? Oh my gosh, the way that's so real. The way that is so real. way as he's not Yeah, he's asked, he's like, what do you need? And I'm like, oh, before you do this work for me and I can go do something else.
00:19:37
Speaker
I've literally been so sincere at times. Like, well, like 90% sincere at times when Chad's like, well, I wish I could help you. I'm like, I can teach you right now. Like, do sir, do you have, do you have 10 minutes? Like, and come sit. Come right here. I'll show you. Like, I will teach you. I can show you how to help me. You can, you're hired. Yep. And I'm just going to go outside and That is too much. But yeah, just real examples. And I kind of set little reminders. I like, I continue to remind throughout the year. Um, especially like when it's just busy, busy, busy in fall, like I'll say it once mid September. I'm like, here we go.
00:20:15
Speaker
I might not be as present. I might be working later nights. And then I kind of will set that reminder again beginning November when, because the one thing that got me, that's gotten me over the last few busy seasons, and again, this isn't like, I'm not trying to say this, like it's sad. It's just what happens. But I find myself having to say a lot of no's. Like there's a lot of no's like, oh, we're, you know, our friends are out. Do you want to come out? Oh, no, I can't. or Chris is like, Hey, do you want to have a movie night? No, I can't. So I have told him, like, I get overwhelmed with the nos to just know, like, I will find time to say yeses. But just like, I don't know, we need to plan for it. Like, I will have a movie night on Friday night, we need to plan for it. And outside of that, it's a no. Like, I don't want to feel bad, please don't feel bad. Like this is just how it's how it's going to be. So I just kind of keep reminding
00:21:03
Speaker
Um, him and the people around me as the season goes, not like burdening them with the information, but just being like, Oh no, like, you know, around Christmas, I'm going to take lots of time off. That'll be a great time to hang out right now. because You know, whatever. Exactly. I probably already said it. No, that's perfect. Yeah. That's pretty much all I had on that point. So yeah. That was all the points we had. So that's all for today, folks. This was like a quick blast. Here's what you need. Start taking care of your body. Start seeing how busy you're going to be. See if you need help, and don't be afraid to ask the people around you for help. Go get prepped, and let's all have a good busy season.
Engage with the Podcast Community
00:21:39
Speaker
All right, we'll catch you next Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Zencaster, or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can always find us on Instagram at Art of Intention Podcast if you want to continue the conversation. Bye. Bye.
00:21:57
Speaker
Bye!