Hello Valkyrie Family and Happy May!
It is snowing right now, which is all due to an arctic freeze plummeting into New England from Canada. This is definitely a bummer. However, with the Massachusetts lock down due to Covid-19, there are no plans for travel in my near future. How are you all coping?
Since I've had a little extra time on my hands, I wanted to share my personal writing strategy for 2020 to help you develop one as well. It's helped me with blogging, writing stories, and organizing a plethora of ideas. All of my creative content has been mapped out for the year, allowing me more time to focus on details and interactions.
If you are in need of some inspiration, sit tight! Here are my 4 tips to strategize creative content.
1. Buy a Planner
This may be an obvious one, but even I forgot something this simple. A planner can be purchased or made at home. A blank notebook can be divided into months, for example, and used to jot down topics, important facts, and subjects related to your business. You can also purchase a daily planner that can be used for personal life as well, but there are very specific ones out there for entrepreneurs.
Take a look at this one, for example, from LoveofLink Publishers on Amazon. I bought this on a whim and I am impressed by how well-organized this makes me.
Click through and check this out! My favorite part is the Post Planner. Such a fantastic way to stay organized when blogging and posting on Socials. And it's so pretty!
LoveofLink has more planners like this as well. Some are for moms-to-be, home care, and much more. I've been thinking of buying a couple of their blank notebooks just because the quality is great. In my experience, this planner allows me to map out the entire year. I find that doing this allows structure, but leaves room to make edits, tweak marketing strategies, and erase ideas that may fall flat later on.
2. Learn Time Management
This was a big one for me. I have a full-time job, attend master's writing classes, started my own business, and have a 4-year-old son. That's 4 jobs. Plus folding laundry, occasionally cooking supper, taking karate classes, and having other hobbies on the side. (and being a wife is a job as well! Hehe.) Yeah, I understand being busy. Time management is a pain in the bum sometimes, but once you master it for a couple of days, you become a master of it.
The easiest way to begin is to compile a list of "to-do's" for each day. Start by writing things you need to get done every day. This includes making coffee, taking a shower, brainstorming your next creative marketing idea, and even time to play with your children. If you write down every single thing you spend more than ten minutes doing, your obligations and activities will be more achievable.
Take a look at my daily activities below as an example. / = wiggle room times. This is crucial to consider for less stress.
5:30 AM: Wake up and make coffee
5:45 AM: Run on elliptical
6:00/6:15: Make Bastion breakfast and spend time with him
6:30 AM: Shower
6:45 AM: Make some breakfast and maybe more coffee
7:00 AM: Check in on NEC school site, reply to discussion boards
7:30 AM: Drink water. Plan my next blog post, reply to social media interactions
7:50 AM: Spend more time with Bastion and Aaron
8:00 AM: Clock in for work (remote)
Lunch either 12:00 PM or 1:00 PM
4:30/4:45 PM: Clock out from work
4:45 PM: Required class readings and homework
5:45/6:15 PM: Supper and family time
7:00 PM: Website work, professional writing
7:30 PM: Bring Bastion to bed and read to him
7:45 PM: Continue professional work
8:30 PM: Downtime with Aaron
9:30/10:00 PM: Goodnight!
This is quite a list, but it prevents anxiety with time sensitive tasks. Start here and grow it into weekly, monthly, and yearly activities. I'm not suggesting you plug in leisurely content. Focus on tasks that help your business or professional life forwards. It is too easy to become lost in the mundane. I also suggest adding ten minutes a day to write, as I explain in this blog post.
3. Allow Room for Mistakes
No business is perfect and neither are any of us. In your plans to startup your business, write an updated resume, or ask for a promotion, don't be afraid of mistakes. Mistakes are lessons. As my husband says, "Regrets are mistakes you never learned from."
If it's something in writing like a typo, be human about it. You don't need to announce it during your interview. Chances are, they won't care about that as much as your verbal presentation. On the other hand, don't be afraid to note your past mistakes. For example, during a promotion proposal, you could honestly state, "I once threw a hundred dollar bill in the trash (employed at a gas station). Needless to say, I haven't made another financial mistake in my professional or personal life since then." Yes. That happened to me. But I use that to point the focus on the reason I care about physical and non-physical funds so much. It also proved that I was willing to correct my wrongs.
Business mistakes during your startup can also be beneficial. If you're on social media and a friend of a friend just saw you picking your nose and tagged you . . . Well, I can't help you there. However, if you're posting about some fake news and a reader calls you out on it, you can show real human humility by apologizing and admitting to not doing enough research.
There are obviously business mistakes that can harm your image, such as these four case studies at BPlans.com. There are lessons from these as well.
Mistakes can happen. It's how you bounce back that will decipher how your customer base will view you afterwards. No one cares anymore about that time in 2013 when Winona Ryder stole some clothing. What fans of her cared about was how she picked herself up, got the help she needed, and continued to push forward in a professional way. I mean really, look at her now! Damn, girl!
Get out there! Plan your day, list the things you need to get done, and don't be afraid to trip over your own feet.
As always,
Stay Fierce, Valkyrie
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