by Nadene Martin | Jun 22, 2022 | Business, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Productivity
We have been blessed with warmer weather in the last few weeks, so the question is what will you be doing this Summer? Is it a family trip, a solo trip, a girls’/lads trip or something else? It feels quite nerve-wracking that flights are being cancelled last minute and everyone is being stranded at the airports dying to feel their toes in that golden sand.
Taking time off for freelancers and entrepreneurs is something that we all struggle with. Let’s call it a love-hate relationship. No matter how much we love working for ourselves, there are still those days when we wish we could work less or just not have to work at all. Even at weekends, I am thinking about what my new week will look like, it is so hard to switch off.
When you’re working for yourself, you have the freedom to work flexible hours. If you feel like taking a day or two off work, you can do it. The ability to take time off when you want is one of the main benefits of being self-employed. Yet, many of us don’t take advantage of their freedom because we feel guilty if we are not working.
I want to help you get rid of that guilt and remind yourself why taking breaks is so important.
Allow your mind to rest
I know I know; this can be SO tricky. The mind is very active and can think of so many different things at once. Rest is so important for things like mental health improves your mood and can reduce stress. Mental breaks can improve productivity, and attention to detail and encourage creativity. You have seen that when people are feeling burnt out or just exhausted, they force themselves to shut up shop and have some downtime. Many take social media breaks just for this reason. Everything can feel like a rat race and how can you enjoy the fruits of your labour when you are constantly on the go?
Gain new perspectives
Taking a step back looks different for everyone. Taking time off can help you foster new ideas, plans and directions for your business. Your environment is no longer a ‘crack the whip’ setting, the pressure has reduced and time away can put the spring back in your step that your business so desperately needed. The weight of the day-to-day running of it all can be quite daunting especially as a solopreneur, you have nobody to bounce ideas off of, accountability and/or another body to help you drive things forward.
Have fun
Whatever fun looks like to you, do it! Whether you like travelling, going for long walks, working out or taking part in an upcoming retreat, go and do just that. Laughter is good for your soul. Laughing releases endorphins, makes you feel happier and can lift your mood.
Better balance
I spoke previously about getting that work/life balance right. Being overworked is no fun for anyone. Taking time away from your work gives you the opportunity to bask in the joy of your hobbies and things that interest you. Life is for living, as they say, ‘all work and no play make Jack a dull boy’.
Improved focus
By now, you can probably run the business with your eyes closed, although doing the same things each day will eventually take its toll, where you are screaming to see the plane leave the runway. Having a good holiday will see you return to work with fresh eyes and lots of new ideas to implement.
If you have a service-based business like me, you can work from anywhere. This aspect I love because in between having a dip in the pool, I can answer emails, hold client meetings etc. without disrupting the services that I provide. If, however, you don’t have a service-based business and you sell physical items, you may wish to outsource that side whilst you are away. Of course, you can look after all the admin stuff. Also, look at automating your systems, so you don’t have to do very much regardless of where you are in the world.
In summary, it all boils down to this: if you like your work and enjoy the freedom of being a freelancer, it can be tempting to continue working at all hours of the day. But in doing so, you might end up losing some of that initial passion you had for what you have created.
Taking time off from your work can help you to destress and rejuvenate, helping you to come back to your projects with a fresh perspective. Taking time off is crucial if you want to continue being productive when you do return to work—it keeps you motivated and always thinking of new ways to improve your business or creative endeavours.
Schedule some time in to grab yourself a well-deserved holiday. You won’t regret it.
by Nadene Martin | Jun 11, 2022 | Business, Lifestyle
I have been blogging since the beginning of 2022 and commend myself on being consistent and sticking to the plan, week in, week out. If you check in with me every week or have read this far, you will know I’m a freelancer. My official title is Executive Virtual Assistant although I am thinking of a new swish name to give myself, as my work is becoming less and less virtual.
For the five years that I have been doing this as a career, what I’ve noticed the most though is how much it can take a toll on your personal life. Of course, like anyone else, I have problems finding a balance between work and life. You can catch me working at 5:00am or 5:00pm, it really depends on how my day has gone and what is on my list. If it is project-based, I tend to spend some evenings getting through it at my own pace, this way I know that there are fewer interruptions for me. I think my clients love the fact that I will get the work done regardless of the time. I do however ensure mailboxes are manned during office hours.
As mentioned, it can take a toll on your personal life so here is what I do to find the perfect balance, this was not always the case though.
- Have a separate workspace area
When we were in lockdown, many had to work from home so we were forced to set up workstations, laptops, desks etc. Now the world has opened back up, many are returning to the office. If like me, you never had an office outside of the home, now is the time to ensure your space at home is the ‘office’ and just that! Keep all work-related items where they should be and your work lives there. Not at the kitchen table, not in bed (once or twice is allowed) and not on the sofa. Having been tapping away on your keyboard for long periods of time can eventually have an adverse effect on your back, neck and even wrists. Choose your workspace carefully, even if you are restricted to space. If you must work from the sofa
- Schedule time in
As business owners, we would love to say we close doors at 5:00 pm but the truth is we keep going as long as we have the energy to do so. Scheduling in time for your family is key and your children will remember when you were not at that play, sports day or graduation rather than the new Nike Dunks that you purchased in the unusual colour way so whatever you use to book yourself in for appointments and meeting, schedule in anything that is related to your family there. If you use Gmail, you can actually change the colour of appointments to suit ‘business’ or ‘family’.
- Let your family in
Now I am not saying you must go to your family for any advice about the business, but if they can help in any way, accept it if it makes sense to you and the business model. As a solopreneur who is off doing a million and one different things for my clients, I use my husband as a sounding board. He does not completely understand the business BUT he can offer advice from his point of view and how he understands things – it is always helpful to hear another person’s point of view looking from the outside in. Sometimes I may not even like the advice given but ultimately it is down to me to act upon it or not.
If you have children, perhaps getting them involved in sorting your receipts, filing paperwork or even tidying your workspace together is also a nice way to spend quality time without even realizing it.
Don’t let your time slow you down. Get smart about how you manage your time, and make sure that you’re getting the most out of both work and your personal life. Yes, running your own business does come with challenges and stresses that are no surprise to the next person. If you don’t lose sight of what’s important (your work and your life), then you should be able to overcome any roadblocks that might get in your way.
Remember your ‘why’ about the business, I believe one of the reasons you created your own business was to give yourself more freedom in terms of spending more time with your family and doing more of what you love.
You can certainly do both. If you are going to implement any of the above, well done! If you still feel you cannot find the balance, outsourcing is another option for you, and I would be very happy to see if I could be a good fit for you and your business. Book a call here.
by Nadene Martin | May 4, 2022 | Business, Lifestyle, Productivity
So, we are already halfway through the week and it’s a lovely short working week for most of us because of the three-day weekend, due to the May bank holiday (UK public hliday). I’m guessing you have relaxed, maybe travelled and you are trying to transition back into a routine. Let’s face it, most of us small business owners will have worked throughout the extended bank holiday weekend.
If you turned your out of office on and took some time out for your family/friends, then you may feel that you need some tips on getting back into a routine when you just don’t feel like doing anything. Whether you are running your business full-time or it’s still a side hustle while you pluck up the courage to take the leap of faith and run your empire
full-time, these tips are for you.
1. Be realistic
If you have taken time out and struggling with the early start or late finishes, look at doing things, to begin with, that won’t sap you of energy and make you hate being back in the driving seat. Perhaps you could just check your emails for the day, respond to any that don’t require much and make notes to follow up for the rest of them. If you are a one-man-band, your clients/customers will have received your OOO (out of office) autoresponder informing them of your absence, so won’t be expecting a response before your return. Any that you cannot resolve immediately upon your return, why not drop them a line to say that you are back in the office and will be in touch again in X hours/days. PLEASE be realistic with your response time, do not add more pressure to what you already have on your plate.
2. Accountability Partner
This might be something that you have in place already. Book a call/zoom meeting where you can meet up with your accountability partner upon your return. You can look at what you must do right now, you can both map out what that looks like and the timeline in checking those items off. An accountability partner is there to support you and vice versa. Think of them like a sounding board. Accountability partners can also bring clarity to your business. Try to choose a person/friend/colleague who is going to be honest with you 110%, nobody wants a people pleaser, you should be the same for them, complete honesty, and transparency from you for their small business. If you cannot find an accountability partner, you may want to do some research for a Mentor or Coach. This will usually be a paid service, ask around as many entrepreneurs swear by their Mentor/Coach.
3. Be kind to yourself
Running a business can be extremely stressful especially when you are working all hours, to keep money coming in. Reach out and ask for help where you think you need it. Outsource what does not fit your skillset, which may be sending out contracts or packing orders. Keeping costs low will be something to take into consideration, but as soon as you can please do. Take regular breaks and stay hydrating. Lack of fluids can cause headaches and fatigue, that is where mistakes can happen which can be detrimental to your business, so be careful.
4. Lists, lists and more lists
If you have been reading my blogs for a while, you will know I am a fan of lists. Create a
to-do list and focus on the top three tasks for the day. This way, you will be eased in nice and gently. I feel that it is such a good feeling crossing through completed tasks. I am not sure if intentional, but I always want to do more thereafter.
Sometimes to find inspiration we need to take a rest for a bit, it is only when we are refreshed that we can look at our personal and business lives and see what needs to be done.
As you can see, there are multiple techniques to get back into the routine of running your business. You could try one or all or develop your own plan for getting back into the swing of things after taking a break.
by Nadene Martin | Apr 6, 2022 | Business, Lifestyle, Services
This year will mark five years since I opened Format Services, it was slow to begin with as I juggled part-time work with existing clients. It meant I would leave home at 7:00am to head to the office, get back home at 2:00pm to cook dinner for the boys and get back to work.
I am not quite sure how I even did it, but I knew that it would pay off eventually. Crunch time came when my workplace was looking at extending my hours and I just knew that I loved what I had going on as a side hustle more. I bit the bullet and chose to hand in my notice and try my hand at freelancing.
I said I would give myself a year, if it did not work out, I would head back into the world and secure another role, after all I was skilled having started my work history as an Office Junior right up to Executive level across various industries.
What I love about working remotely is:
Freedom & Flexibility
I have so much more freedom and flexibility. As I am an Autism mum, I juggle many appointments for my son and always felt a pang of guilt when needing time off of work or having to rush straight back. Now I am able to look at my workload and see what I can move around to incorporate motherhood without the added stress.
Travel Costs
Living in London is quite expensive to live in, compared to some of the other cities in the UK so saving on travel is great. London transport (TFL) put their prices up each year and most of my employment have been spent working in and around Central London, sometimes it felt like I was just paying for the privilege of working in Zone 1.
Location
I work from home so the perfect location for me. Prior to the world going into lockdown, I would spend many days out and about sitting in cute coffee shops, and just working away for hours. My client base has increased dramatically since then, with so much variety. I got myself a new desk and now have two monitors to keep me on track………two screens are priceless (thank me later).
Although we are able to roam freely now, I still enjoy working from home but try to pick one day a week to head to a co-working space. I signed up to &Co. Life who has some gorgeous co-working spaces dotted around London. This also allows me to network with other members and create new relationships with those whether in or outside of my industry, I actually met a client at a co-working space.
Productivity
My day begins at 5:00am every morning. Chaos normally begins at around 6:30am so it is nice to be able to get up, have a hot drink and collect my thoughts on how my day is going to run while the house is peaceful.
I always write my to-do list the night before or on a Friday afternoon before I sign off, so I always know what needs to be done when I sit down at my desk. I have failed once or twice in creating my to-do list in advance, this never ends well if truth be told!
Overall, I think the best thing for me about working remotely is my work/life balance. I have a much better handle on things in regard to work, family and friends. I can choose my own hours ensuring I never scrimp on the quality of my work. I have managed to build strong working relationships with my clients who really trust me and the things that they want my support with.
For that I am extremely grateful and love what I do, knowing that I am contributing to another business’ growth in a small way, fills me with content and gives me that lil pat on the back, that I made the right choice.
by Nadene Martin | Mar 23, 2022 | Business, Featured, Lifestyle
If you’re an entrepreneur or bootstrapping your startup idea, it may seem that there’s just not enough time in the day to get everything done. Anything you can outsource will help free up your time and allow you to focus on the parts of your business that only you can handle. Let me show you five ways you can outsource tasks, so you can have more time for yourself and grow your business.
Email Management
If you have been reading my blogs for a couple of weeks, I have spoken about how to manage your inbox and avoid overwhelm. If you are a small business owner, start-up or even if you have been running for a while and feel that you have everything under control, there is always one thing that my clients tend to want to get rid of straight away. It is usually the emails.
You open up your mailbox at the beginning of the day with loads of unread emails and you end the day with the same. Although your autoresponder acknowledges every email that comes in, sometimes you may miss responding within the 48 hours that you promised.
I manage a number of mailboxes on behalf of my clients. It could be as little as checking in once/twice a day or it could be consistently responding to what comes in on a daily basis. How nice is it for your customers to receive a tailored response within 24 hours? I know I feel great when I get a speedy response once, I have hit send. You could also create email template responses for your VA to use, these can be tweaked but your tone, sound etc are infused in each.
Diary Management
Outsource your diary to ensure your days run smoothly. Everyone is busy so having back-to-back meetings will eventually catch up with you physically and mentally. Double booking yourself can put clients off so it is advisable to have another pair of eyes to review your calendar and slot in meetings where they will work.
Blocking time for travel is a great tip, getting across London in rush hour traffic is an extreme sport at times. Another great tip to outsourcing is that your VA can give you a buffer where you will have time before and after a meeting, whether it be 10 minutes for a water break or even 30 minutes to record voice notes to your VA to type up meeting notes later on, you run the day, or the day will run you!
I will pencil in a regular client meeting to have a glance at calendars for the week ahead to just ensure that everything is where it should be, and my clients have everything that they need. This extends to even making travel arrangements. This includes booking taxis, train tickets etc.
Research
Research can be really time-consuming. This can often spiral down a rabbit hole as the internet churns out so much information for us to process.
Outsourcing this task will allow you to continue growing your business and know that information will be on its way to you, in whatever format you choose.
It’s advisable to provide a brief if possible, which should include:
- Clear instructions on what you need
- Any examples you may have
- Ideas of what it looks like for you
- How you would like the information presented to you
- Given the opportunity for any questions to be asked/answered
Remember although the instructions may make sense to you, they may not make sense to somebody else. To get the most out of the support you have, work together to get the best outcome and be available to answer any queries.
Website updates
You might want to outsource to somebody that just does tech support, although there any many VA’s that can do a variety of tasks including tech. Things like uploading videos, blogs, podcasts, website tweaks, tutorials etc. can be really time-consuming so this is something that you will probably spend doing during an evening or the weekend. This then takes you away from having time for yourself or your family/friends.
Creating short how-to videos can work just as well, as you can stop/start as much as you like. Your VA will be able to familiarise themselves with the correct format, steps to take and your how-to videos can be used time and time again, especially if your support moves on or you take on more support.
Social Media
This is a very popular one. Although I was offering this service years ago when I started out, I thought I had to offer what everyone else was offering. I no longer offer this as I decided to only offer what I actually love doing!
There are many apps where you can batch your content and schedule it all out across different platforms but having someone manage your account to target your ideal audience, interact with your tribe and nurture potential working relationships is invaluable. You simply don’t have the time, as much as it is on your daily to-do list, you cannot do it all. You can grab a social media manager who specializes in just that.
So, have a think about the bits that you would rather be taken off your hands immediately. I have listed a few but there is so much more Virtual Assistants can do for you, the list is absolutely endless. It is all about the customer experience, you would like to retain and gain new business all the time. Look around and see what areas you can improve on and areas that you could definitely do with some extra support. If you want to see how I can help you, book a call with me.
by Nadene Martin | Mar 8, 2022 | Business, Lifestyle, Services, Thoughts
I often say to myself, where would my children be without me, they look at me as though I am superwoman and some days I really feel that I am. Walking tall, chest puffed out. Dad is on hand but mum, there is something about mum, she knows everything. Truth be told and we have all been there, here are some days when I just want 2 minutes to myself and other times (more often than not) where I am falling over backwards to please them.
We owe so much to the women in our lives whichever role that they play, mother, auntie, sister, cousin etc. Today marks International Women’s day and it is a day of celebration for the accomplishments, the determination and the doors which are being kicked down.
Today marks International Women’s Day and it is a day of celebration. We are celebrating the incredible women that juggle it all, and usually juggling it all with a smile on their faces.
I love offering the services that I provide and supporting great women in leadership roles. I could not imagine doing anything else.
I admire many women, including:
- Rosa Parks, the American activist
- Oprah Winfrey, Media Mogul
- Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of USA
- Brené Brown, Author and Public speaker
- Malal Yousafzai, Young Activist
- Nadene Martin, the author of this blog (yep, that’s right!)
These women should be celebrated daily as they have all inspired so many of us, to reach for the stars and be unapologetic about being a woman.
How will you be celebrating today? I have organized an e-coffee date with some girlfriends over Zoom, we are going to share some good news stories and things we are most proud of. There will be no apologies here, did somebody say big up yourself sis?
Although things are changing, there is still a long way to go for many across the globe. In various countries, women are seen as not equal and it is really about creating a level playing field for everyone regardless of your gender.
Taken from the International Women’s Day website ‘Imagine a gender-equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.
Celebrate women’s achievements. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.
My favourite quote is from Michelle Obama, it goes:
Here’s to Strong Women
May We Be Them
May We Know Them
May We Raise Them
This resonates so much with me. I admire each one of my clients in very different ways and you can tell I do, I am one of their biggest cheerleaders when good things happen. My client base is full of hardworking, creative female leaders who put their heart and soul into growing their businesses.
For the next 24 hours, I am offering 15% off my 10-hour package to women in business. Book in your slot today.
