hi everyone it's Justine this video is for you if you've gone through a pandemic last year and
you feel like you haven't quite gotten your energy and your productivity back or not yet
me this video is also for you if you feel like you're working from home and it has gotten you
a bit comfortable you get distracted easily you spend time on what's up when you should be working
you have issues with your productivity or maybe you're just bored with your current routine
and you need a bit of a shift in the way you do things i'm making this video today because
i've had all of the above in the past year even though i've actually been self-employed
as a creative for over five years now i'm supposed to be highly productive
efficient motivated multitasking and yet the truth is i've been struggling too and i've had to
rethink my productivity system to find a new sort of way of proceeding i want to share that with
you because it helped me dramatically get out of that situation and i think it can help you as well
the first thing that i needed badly was the mindset shift i'm usually very efficient i
think i run my own label i have people working with me who might need to brief i do the design
and the production management for my collections i make videos on youtube i talk at conferences
i mentor women entrepreneurs and yet i sleep at least eight or nine hours per day and i have time
for sports and friends on paper that looks good however in the past year i saw my input slowly
starting to decrease i was getting less and less efficient and the same amount of work was costing
me more energy i don't know if you noticed or not on videos did you did you see the difference i was
working on the new collection despite kovid so it was full of logistical difficulties
which i was trying to compensate by working nights and weekends to get it ready basically
i couldn't go on holiday or properly disconnect from work and i started to feel seriously drained
and i know i'm not the only one who had that experience so i shifted instead of going for five
tasks that i want to complete every day i'm going for three instead of working until what has to be
done is done i only work six hours per day and the rest of the time i can chill if i don't feel like
working on strategy for two hours today i will push it to tomorrow or the day after and that's
fine i'm not pushing myself i'm choosing to have a lot more free time and guess what happened nothing
nothing in my business collapsed i learned that i don't have to give 120 all the time 80 is enough
in fact i found that giving 70 is enough most of the time and then when it really matters i do what
i call a sprint i give hundred percent for an hour or two and then i kind of turn my brain off again
and i go back into a sort of autopilot i'm in brain-saving mode and i'm not saying it's good
to be lazy or anything like that but when you're working creatively which i think all of us do
at least partly in our lives then when you feel that your energy levels are depleted
forcing yourself further it's probably not a smart idea creativity flows when it has free space free
time that it can expand in hence the need for a mindset shift from i must do i must i must i must
do i can if i want to i went even further than that i prioritize non-work over work you know
that metaphor where you have to fill the big salad bowl with big stones medium stones and then sand
aka mini stones if you look for the video on youtube i'm sure you'll find it you have this big
salad bowl where you have to put in your important tasks so the big stones the medium tasks and the
million mini tasks represented by the sun that you have in your life you're welcome to try this at
home if you put in the sun first then the medium stones on top they will fit but then the big
stones on top they don't fit into the ball anymore whereas if you start by placing into the ball the
big tasks then the medium ones then the sand at the end everything fits in conclusion you have
to put the big stones first and then the little stuff into your bowl you still with me so for me i
decided that the big stones are non-work related things and i prioritized these things they are
technically unnecessary for my job but they make me feel happy and inspired for instance reading
the lonely planet guide of japan i can't travel to japan right now but one day i will and for days
i dreamt of cherry blossom i also learned how to use a scoring board because why not i'm
going to show you a random week in the future for confidentiality but i'll try to be as concrete as
possible while talking you through it i use orange for private things and free time so every week i
start with that lunch every day hell yes essential social time with friends or doing things outside
going to museums call my aunt this week sports for sure and also the time needed to get there classes
i'm taking currently that means an instagram class that meets twice a week on tuesdays and fridays
a class on art history modern art fascinating i'm reading the artist's way i should say rereading
and it has exercises so i'm doing exercises from the book for my creativity routine two
more slots to learn things i don't know what yet topics to be determined more on that later then
i use blue for my label-related stuff i'm getting a new delivery of jewelry production so i need to
check the quality that takes a few hours call with the pattern makers to review the timeline of the
latest clothing project and whether we did well or not that much block time to review the sales
of last month i need to calculate when i might be stuck out by design and by size so i need to see
whether i need to order a reproduction i need to calculate that then request to the jewelry
supplier for an updated price list because i need to recalculate the quantities and see how
much that would cost so calculate quantities then i have a weekly check-in with my shipping team
time for emails i block that time to be sure that the rest of the time i'm not doing emails because
emails are not productive work so as little image as possible and then plan a blog post for this
month then red is for youtube related things i need to review my analytics for last month
plan the topics for this month write an outline for the video of this week i like to work with not
a full script but at least all the bullet points of what i'm gonna say i have a film slot editing
upload and program the video on youtube that takes a while as well two reminders to answer youtube
comments but normally i don't forget that i don't briefing with my graphic designer on wednesday at
10 am that's usually photos for instagram photos for the blog posts pinterest updates she helps
me film sometimes etc and on friday at 11 am because on friday i will sleep until 10
because i can and there we need to plan this month newsletter i send it at least once a month super
important things that have the fixed deadline and that i don't like to do for instance filing my
taxes is in green that cannot be postponed this is like a hard deadline that needs to be done
as i'm doing all this planning for the week what matters is that i have a good balance
between blue and red so that both get some stuff done not more than two or three meetings per day
plus the preparation time right before because a task expands to take all the time that it has
to be completed so when i prepare just before the meeting every time my deadline is the meeting and
i don't spend too much time on preparation that's called parkinson's law number three most of my
time remains free it is space to think create and actually work on what i want i don't know yet what
that will be and that's okay number four the beginning of the week is always fuller than the
end so that if i feel tired i can progressively slow down my weeks used to be a lot fuller than
this but as i said i'm in saver mode so i decline any meeting that isn't absolutely necessary
this is how i prioritize non-work than work and i still keep control of how much i'm gonna do
next point and an intentional one i focus on the goals and only the goals
let me explain first i define the final objective here then i wonder what step do i need before it
to get there and before that step and before that step and before that step so where do i start
i always plan backwards how to get to that goal because it's a lot easier to guess what's coming
before something than what's coming after then i'm not looking for the aesthetic or the fastest way
of getting to that goal i don't care how it's done so to speak i'm looking for the way that
achieves the goal with the smallest effort and i feel like entrepreneurs tend to always look for
the way to overachieve to reach the goal the best and the fastest way possible but it costs a lot
more energy than if you think i just want to get to the goal no matter how i get there kind of well
obviously as long as it's legally and ethically okay you got that i don't have to mention that
concrete example i want to become a recognized expert on topic abc for that i need to be a guest
on the most famous podcast about that topic let's say what are my options i can become friends with
the podcast host on twitter though that might take a while because he gets tons of tweets i could
talk about him on instagram and tag him until he notices me i can go to a live recording event or
that podcast and hope to meet him at the end or i could find someone in pr who already knows him
and that person recommends me personally that's a lot easier and it's more likely to succeed
okay so now how do i convince that person that i'm knowledgeable and so on so i'm going backwards
note that while i'm planning backwards like this i'm never addressing the question of
what if this intermediary step goes wrong or what is my plan b no need to spend energy on that
and only tackle the question if it occurs like if it turns out that i cannot reach my goal
and otherwise no next thing i completely avoid feeling creatively pressured
as somebody who works creatively as my main job on both youtube and the label there are times when i
will have hard deadlines like i'm filming a video tomorrow i need to have my topic and my talking
points today or i promised the jewelry prototyping person that i would finish designing the designs
this week because next week the prototypes are being made that's a deadline right i have to come
up with something if you've been in that situation before you know it's quite stressful so to avoid
getting into that situation in the first place i always work ahead without it feeling like work how
do i do that i keep lists i do it in evernote but any app that auto syncs between all your devices
will do the same job just as well i have a list of video ideas a list of things that i want to design
a list that i call read listen and watch which is always full of things to look forward to fabulous
lists a list of smart marketing strategies that i see other brands using a list of inspiring quotes
etc i really have a list for everything and then every time i need an idea i put my lists and i
pick something from there on demand like mary poppins you know her bag same system
everyone is creative everyone has ideas i'm completely convinced of that the problem
though is that the ideas don't always come at the right moment it's not like so thanks to my lists
i always have ideas ready for when i need them how the process of generating ideas goes
something like this do i want to do another collection this year i need to talk to my
production manager oh nice shoes nice shoes what color is that blue with just a hint of red
yeah i was staring sorry i could do a project based on color combinations is that a thing
oh she's not feeling comfortable in a dress yeah is it a primer fit or a problem of
size or i could do a video about this i need to check
whether that's common knowledge or not but that could be a video idea
i need to have these nails done again my god i could create a color palette of nail polishes
for cool and warm undertones are there nail polish brands that aren't too chemical right now
one of the brands i need to check out it looks like i'm procrastinating but actually i'm just
observing what's happening in my head writing down the ideas that come without judging and
then i can have a look at them later i never erase these notes because if they're not the
right idea right now they might still be a good idea in six months or in six years from now in
general i try to have as little process as possible so i don't want to spend time
reformatting reorganizing my own thoughts however if i know that next week will be a stressful week
i will sit down on sunday afternoon and prioritize ahead of time that's why i always work ahead so
that i don't get stuck when the time comes so i will prioritize my ideas for the next week
and my toulouse then i can close my laptop again go enjoy my sunday evening have a good night sleep
and know that i'm ready for the monday next point learn learn learn when you're working
from home or working alone it's very easy to get into that hamster wheel where you forget that
there is an outside world full of possibilities way broader than your current scope of concern
who's been there raise your hand if you've been there give this video a like if you've been there
i surely can relate to this that's why one of my top priorities is to always be learning new
skills and knowledge you saw that in my calendar i like to do a mix of classes that have something
to do with my line of work plus classes that have absolutely nothing to do with it
classes that i enjoy taking not because i have to not because i should because i can in this past
year alone opportunities to learn online have exploded they expanded exponentially you don't
have to go anywhere anymore you don't have to book a full day you can just do an hour here and there
i'm a huge fan if you want to learn new things and new skills i recommend that you try Skillshare
it's an online learning community with thousands of classes on topics like photography creative
writing marketing graphic design illustration etc lately i watched the classes by ali abdaal
and thomas frank on productivity because i was dealing with my productivity situation
and it really helped me to get other people's perspectives these two are experts on the matter
for each class you have chapters, the video plus the transcription and as you can see there are no
ads anywhere my next class is about illustrating on an ipad most classes are under 60 minutes
so even if you only have 60 minutes per week you can find a class that fits your schedule and as
they are sponsoring this video the first 1000 of my subscribers to click on the link in the video
description will get a free trial of Skillshare with full access to all the classes if you found
this video useful thumbs up thank you very much for your kind support! here and down below in the
description i will link a previous video of mine where i explain more productivity tips and hacks
like concrete little things that you can implement in your daily process that i use all the time i
feel like productivity managing your schedule is something that should be taught in schools
we learn all about the french revolution in my case but nothing about running a company
dealing with your finances managing your calendar that is necessary knowledge isn't it
if you're not subscribed to this channel yet don't forget to click on the subscribe button before
you go watch the other video i will see you very soon in a new one and until then take care bye!