Hello, friends! 

It’s Delores here, back with another exciting episode of Creative Juggle Joy.

This week, Kaylie and I chat about something I know so many of us struggle with: developing creative routines that actually support our businesses, without feeling like a rigid structure, that doesn’t leave room for life’s surprises.

As a busy entrepreneur (and someone who has a full-time teaching career and family commitments), I know how challenging it can be to find a routine that works.

But what I’ve learned is that your routine needs to work for you—it shouldn’t be something you feel tied to, but something that allows you to manage your tasks without burning out.

In Episode 19, we explore:

• The importance of flexibility in routines and how life’s curveballs can be handled without stress

• Batch creating as a time-saving strategy for creative entrepreneurs

• Tools like Airtable and Google Sheets to organize tasks and projects

• And the role accountability plays in keeping us on track, especially when distractions are always around

Kaylie shares her experiences with flexibility and tools like ClickUp and Notion, which have helped her manage multiple projects without getting overwhelmed.

I personally love using my physical planner, but I also rely on Airtable to keep things organized digitally.

One of the biggest takeaways from this episode is that we have to stop aiming for perfection in our routines.

Life is unpredictable, and sometimes you just need to roll with the punches. It’s okay to adjust your schedule when things don’t go as planned—and sometimes, that’s exactly what you need to keep your mental health in check.

If you’ve been feeling like your routine is too rigid or you’re constantly fighting against it, this episode is for you.

It’s all about building routines that actually support your creativity and business goals while keeping you mentally and physically healthy.

 

So, what are you waiting for?

Tune in to Episode 19 and let us help you develop a routine that works for your life—and most importantly, doesn’t leave you feeling burnt out.

Thanks for listening, and don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

Until next time, keep juggling, keep creating, and most importantly, keep finding joy in the process! 🎧

 

TRANSCRIPT:

Kaylie Edwards (00:00)
you

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Creative Juggle Joy podcast. I'm Kaylie Edwards, your host for today, and I've got my amazing co-host Delores Naskrent with me.

Delores Naskrent (00:14)
Today we're diving into a topic that I know a lot of us can relate to, developing creative routines that support your business. Now, I'm going to be honest with you, juggling multiple creative tasks, especially when you've got a lot of stuff going on can be really tough.

Kaylie Edwards (00:32)
Yes, it can. For me, it's always been a challenge to manage time effectively with a toddler, a partner on nights, client work with Delores, product creation, marketing of course, and now the podcast. It feels like there are never enough hours in the day.

Delores Naskrent (00:50)
Gosh, I remember those days too, Kaylie having a toddler. Oh my goodness. I feel like it's a real gift right now that I have so much more time, but my juggling now is with how to effectively parcel out that time. I have to always try to balance the degree of importance or urgency and staying on an actual task. And of course, meeting all the commitments I have now, that's a lot. There is a lot to do.

Kaylie Edwards (01:19)
Yes, there is a lot to do. And especially when life happens, like health concerns, family commitments, sometimes it can feel like everything is spiralling out of control. I live with chronic health issues so balance is really important to me. If I push myself too hard, my health worsens and that creates a domino effect. Everything else goes wrong. It becomes even more of a balancing act.

when you have a young child to care for. There have been times when my health and needs have taken a backseat, which let's be real, isn't how it should be. As a parent, your health and basic needs should come first. Nutrition, exercise, mental health, all of it. Because if you're running on empty, you can't take good care of your child, right? And that's when mum guilt really kicks in.

which only makes the situation worse. I'm definitely guilty of this. When I first gave birth to Aston, it was challenging as it was for any new parent, but in the first year there was times I pushed my own needs aside and ended up making myself ill. I had to rely on my partner more than he should have had to get me back on track so I could be the present and more energetic parent Aston needed. But...

That's exactly why we need creative routines. Routines that are flexible and work for us. Having a routine doesn't mean rigid structure. It means creating a framework that supports your business and life in a way that works for you.

Delores Naskrent (03:02)
love how you're emphasizing flexibility in your routines. It's so true, you know, we push ourselves too hard most of the time. We think we need to do all of it and we need to do it all at the same time. And then everything just comes crashing down. Routines are there to be supportive and are not supposed to be restrictive.

Kaylie Edwards (03:24)
Exactly. And today we're going to help you with some practical strategies, tools and advice for building a creative routine that can support your business. Whether you're juggling parenthood, a full-time job or enjoying retirement, it's all about finding what works for you. So let's kick things off by talking about why routines are so important, but also how they need to have some flexibility. For me,

Delores Naskrent (03:42)
Good.

Kaylie Edwards (03:53)
When I first started my creative journey, I didn't really have a routine. I would jump from one task to another and you know what? It was exhausting. But as time went on, I started developing systems, nothing too rigid, but enough to keep me on track. I started using tools like Trello, Notion and now ClickUp to organize my tasks, projects and schedules. Now I know that not everyone loves tech tools, but for me, they've been a game changer.

I can plan my week, track my progress and adjust as needed when client work or podcast tasks take priority. I've also started time batching and using the Pomodoro technique where I set timers to break down big tasks into smaller chunks. The Pomodoro technique is where you would like schedule 20 minutes to do a task that you just focus on, no distractions. That is the time when the timer goes off, you take a break, you come back and do the same thing.

I don't do 20 minutes, I do like an hour, 45 minutes. In the evening I try and do as soon as Aston's gone to bed and I know he's settled, I will set my time for like three hours, that is my focus time, sometimes four, if I really need to carry on. And breaks, I cannot stress enough how important it is to take regular breaks, especially when working on a lot of different things. For me, I need to have

breaks and get up. Sometimes I'm a bit like a yo-yo because I have pain in my hips and my back and I'm up and down because I can't get comfortable. So working on laptop is not helpful all the time and a lot of office workers will attest to that because I worked in an office for years and it's not great for your back or your hips or anything else. So getting up regularly and taking breaks

Delores Naskrent (05:49)
No.

Kaylie Edwards (05:52)
even if it's just go in the kitchen and put the kettle on, have a cup of tea, it's something.

Delores Naskrent (05:57)
Yeah, I agree. I think we all need to kind of figure out what works for each of us. For me, it's all about finding a system that I can stick with and staying flexible when life throws the inevitable curveballs. So for the most part, the way I do it is I love my planner. It's a physical book that I actually write in. It's not necessarily done digitally, but there's something just so satisfying about

handwritten lists. Like for me, handwritten lists are perfect because I can literally use a highlighter or something and just mark the things off the list. And I think psychologically that helps me just knowing that I've got, you know, half of what I'm supposed to get done done.

But I'm not stuck in the analog world entirely because I also use Eric Table for scheduling and keeping things organized.

know, one of the things that's nice about Airtable is that other people can connect with it too. So my daughter who does my video editing is connected and she can update her tasks, which helps us to both stay on track. I don't have to phone her or text her to find out if she's done a certain thing. And I can just look at the sheet and I know exactly where she's at because she works full time, just like, you know, she's gone all day. So I have to work around it.

Now stuff that's super urgent, the kind of stuff that I, I don't know, they're kind of can't wait kind of things that don't fit neatly into a list. Those things I put on sticky notes and I know you're going to laugh, but I have them around my workspace to keep them front and center. So it's just, I don't know, that still works for me. And at the end of the day, I do also like to,

just take a look at the sticky notes, crunch them up and throw them out if I've done the thing that I'm supposed to do, or put them like right in the middle of my screen so they're the first things I see the next time I walk into my studio. And you know, just that whole idea of that end of day brain dump. I don't do anything fancy, like I said, I just go into my...

planner and I write down the things that I did. I like to write that down so the next year when I look at it I can be like, yeah that's right I was working on Valentine's or I was working on Mother's Day or whatever. And then when I get into my studio the next day I can just look at that planner see what it is I'm supposed to be doing, you know what I've got scheduled for the day, but also know what I was just most recently working on. And here's another little quirk of mine.

I also print out those lists that I have on Airtable. So I know it's a little bit old school, but I've got these colorful, clear cellophane folders and they have, for example, my class schedule list. So for, I could take a quick look at it. can see right through the plastic and it shows me, yes, my next class, two weeks, I have to have blah, blah done and I'm ready.

So that's one of the ways I do it. when I'm doing my digital downloads or when I'm working on my anything to do with the site, like the school site or pages in Shopify, I have one folder that I know if I flip it over and it's clear, it's got all of my colors, you know, my brand colors, the hex codes for the and you know, it's it just makes it faster. just

flip over that yellow folder and I've got the information I need. So I don't know.

life doesn't always care about your perfectly planned routine. So sometimes unexpected things happen and on those days you know what I've just learned to roll with it and sometimes it means scrapping that whatever you had in mind for the day but at least the fact that you had it written down you can prioritize it for the next day and you know what sometimes you just need a break or something happens somebody pops over my mom lives in a little suite with us

and though she's very respectful of my work time, sometimes she'll get somebody that absolutely has to come over and see my place too, or has to come and see me because they haven't seen me for months. And I can be groaning about it and moaning, but honestly, that's probably the only way I'm going to see some of those relatives or especially the older generation. If they come, I do want to see them. So I may lose an hour two, but it's kind of...

good for the mental health too.

Kaylie Edwards (10:47)
See, yeah, I don't really have as much of that with my family because obviously they're in a different town and yeah, it's only Rhys' family that do the popover and surprisingly I'll get maybe a message like 20 minutes before.

they come in and it's like, I wish you'd given me a day. I could have moved stuff around and it's kind of annoying, especially if I've got something to go out. There are... I need... yeah, I need to possibly put a boundary in there at some point and mention can you let me know sooner.

ahead of time just so I can move things around because sometimes it can be on a day where I need to record or something so I want to get Aston to bed at his bedtime and not an hour not an hour later so sometimes you have to be flexible but sometimes you also need boundaries as well and speaking of that routines are great but you also need contingency plans for example if something doesn't go as scheduled don't panic

Delores Naskrent (11:57)
Thanks.

Kaylie Edwards (12:03)
Instead, be ready to adjust. That way, you're still staying on track with your business, but you're not stressing about it. Which I'm trying to do less of this year.

Delores Naskrent (12:14)
Less

of or more of? More of the routines, less of the stressing?

Kaylie Edwards (12:20)
Yeah, more of the routines, less of the stressing. Setting some boundaries as well when I can. Now that we've covered the importance of routines and flexibility, let's talk about practical tips for actually building these routines. Delores, can you share some of the strategies that work best for you when it comes to time management?

Delores Naskrent (12:42)
Yeah, I'm just thinking about that whole statement and how creative time management needs to be flexible because let's face it, our brains don't run on a strict clock.

Some days you're just, you can just go with the flow and you're just crushing it. You're just like working through those tasks. And then other days we were just talking about this on the last episode, but you're just staring at your screen and you, your mind just doesn't even want to work. You know, you're, you're looking at your to-do list and you're just like, no, I'm not doing that today.

I personally have found for me like the biggest game changer has been in batch creating. I think that what helps me there is that I get into kind of a zone, you know, like getting

You've to get yourself in the groove, like recording or whatever it is that's going on. If I can have everything like my desk is all set up perfectly. My mic is where it needs to be. My iPad is there. The lighting is on point. Then I'm just unstoppable. I can really go. I can sometimes record two full classes in a day. It's tough, but I can do it. Most of the time it's just I can only accomplish one in a day.

It's such a smart way to save time to just get into that flow state and just let things click. You just...

don't waste any energy restarting it every day. So my family knows that Wednesdays and Saturdays are the days that I'm generally recording. If I'm not doing like a whole batch, like a whole week of batch recording, it's usually the two days that I know my husband is out of the house. So I just find that those days I could just fully concentrate, but you can push yourself too far. So you do have to be careful.

I want everybody to consider the fact that they can burn out and burning out is not fun. That's why it's just so powerful to give yourself grace on the off days and adjust as needed instead of forcing it. It's amazing and surprising when you feel like you really have to do something and then you don't do it. Then you take a look at all the things that you have coming up.

you'll be surprised that there are some things you can just let go. So you have to give yourself a little bit of flexibility for that reason. I also like making some tasks that are just for evening. I...

consider the things that I do in the evening, even though they are actually work and are part of what I do, I save the really fun and kind of effortless ones for the evening time.

Designing on the couch while relaxing is absolute genius. You're sneaking in productivity without the pressure and it makes creativity flow so much easier. Because let's be real, forcing it when you're drained rarely leads to great results. And I personally have found that TV is like an audiobook for me. I'm basically just listening. I'm not necessarily watching all the time. So that kind of works for me. I can

work on my iPad which is great so I'm generally using using either procreate or affinity designer and I think that for me having batches of stuff that I have to do allows me to work in that way so again because I've got a list of things that I really need to get done

I know that I can leave the fun stuff like creating assets or working on repeat patterns or anything visual, illustrated, that kind of stuff I can be doing in the evening. that's exactly what I do. I leave it for evening and it honestly feels like such a relaxing time when I could just...

You know, have my dinner, then go and sit on this couch. This couch isn't as comfortable as the one we have in our actual house, but it's still better than sitting at my desk. So I can take my iPad and go and just, I don't know, it's like chilling out, but working at the same time. Does that make sense?

Kaylie Edwards (17:15)
Yeah. Yeah, it does. I do that a little bit myself. If I know I'm not needing to listen to something, like obviously if I'm editing I can't put TV on or something like that because I can't understand it. I can't do it with Aston round now because he's just so noisy. I can't hear if there's something wrong with the audio. So I had to keep some of my editing. I had to keep it to the night.

last week because I just could not focus with Aston running around and shouting at the TV. So that's now become a thing where I either do it when he's in bed in the morning before he gets up or I do it when he goes to bed. So I'm having to do that or I have to go in the kitchen and do it. That's my other option I have at the moment.

So recording like recording anything like episodes or lessons or anything like that I have to do that when Aston's in bed and when Reese is at work Because he works night shifts. I have to wait till he's gone to work and Aston's in bed because I can't record otherwise if I try to record in the kitchen But sometimes the mic now that I've got it won't I can't attach that in the kitchen. So the audio quality is not great So it's trying to work that flexibility around

what can I do to make it better or more efficient in the space I've got?

Delores Naskrent (18:45)
I get it.

Kaylie Edwards (18:48)
So yeah, sometimes life happens and your plan needs to adjust. I also want to emphasize recurring tasks. So things like product creation, content planning, client work, setting them up as recurring tasks on my calendar helps to keep me focused and on track. Like the podcast.

making sure I know that on a Wednesday I need to make sure that the podcast is edited and up ready for the morning and any content created for it. So I find that having certain tasks like that I always do at the same time each week makes my routine predictable. Obviously sometimes that needs to change if something happens like Aston's ill or can't go to Play Group.

so I need to make sure that I have space. When I first started with recurring tasks, I would set reminders or notifications at certain times of the day or week to do these tasks so I do them and I can get myself into the habit of doing them. Now I don't really need much reminding, although I do still set reminders on my phone for certain tasks that I don't really want to do. But it reminds me I do need to do it. I also recommend tracking your time.

Apps like Rescue Time or Toggle can help creatives see exactly where their time is going. It's an eye-opener to realise how much time we spend on certain tasks and how much we underestimate, how much the task is good to take. Also, ClickUp that I use actually has a function where you can time your tasks while you're doing it, although I haven't really used that yet.

Delores Naskrent (20:17)
Yeah.

Kaylie Edwards (20:32)
I haven't been one for keeping up with physical planners and trackers mostly because if I have a physical planner I like to have it in a place where I can reach it and get to but because I have a toddler running around it will get moved so I then put it in a drawer and then it never gets locked up so it's really annoying I really want to keep a planner but

Yeah, I have to try and keep it digital as much as possible when my son's about. So I keep my planner now by the bed and I try and remember to look at it in the morning, even though I'm very groggy, because I'm not a morning person at all. And check it before I go to bed and make sure I jot down all my time. bought a pretty one. I know. You bought one. I know. I pre-ordered. I think it was like, when was it? July or June or something like that?

Delores Naskrent (21:17)
I really

Kaylie Edwards (21:27)
I remember talking about it. Yeah, must have been before I went on holiday so it must have been before then. And I pre-ordered it because I got the email from Carrie and Co and they were like, we're doing these limited edition ones with the hummingbirds and pink. I was like, oh it's so cute, I want that. Why have I bought this? Because I'm probably not gonna use it because I've been... yeah.

Delores Naskrent (21:28)
Are you talking?

Kaylie Edwards (21:51)
I have bought it and I did start using it. I need to do more. Obviously now I'm back to work so that will be coming into it. It doesn't help that family have somehow cottoned on that I need to do planning or something this year because I got loads of planning stuff for Christmas from family. I got... I already had a calendar from my uncle which I want to put up because it's actually got his photographs in it.

But then I've also had another family member send me an organization chart, which is basically a calendar. And my stepdad, I think it was, bought me this pink planner. I was like, I don't know how I'm supposed to use all this. But we'll see. We'll see how that goes for me. But yes, my digital.

Tasks and projects is gonna be a big focus for me for this year making sure that I stay up to date. Problem is I get into something and then I forget to actually check that I've done it or I'm in progress with it. So I'm gonna try and do that more this year.

Delores Naskrent (22:58)
Yeah.

I'm glad kind of glad we're talking about this because you know that I think we talked about it last year but I have the planner by Lisa Jacobs. Do you remember when I was working my way through that?

Kaylie Edwards (23:15)
Yes, I've started mine. I have started mine for this year. Yes, I just haven't finished it. I did start doing it over Christmas but obviously with Aston being ill and Rhys being here asking me so many questions when I'm in middle of doing stuff, it hasn't been finished but I'm gonna get back to that soon as I've the tasks that I need to do.

Delores Naskrent (23:19)
Did you good?

You know what, like don't sweat it because I look back at it, what I did last year in it and it's like I only did half of what I was supposed to do. So I'm continuing to use it because it's...

you know, just putting everything into alignment for me. So it's, you know, you've got it. So you've seen it. It's super interactive and it's packed with all kinds of things to help you organize your life. And it's like having your brain, you're giving your brain a roadmap. And now that I have it kind of filled out, I look back at it and it just always reminds me, okay, this is what I was doing last year at this time, you know. So for me, it's just been really

valuable to have. I love it. I hope you do enjoy using it.

Kaylie Edwards (24:28)
Yeah, I've

got quite quite a bit through the the started part of it and filled it out. I filled it out in pencil because I thought, knowing me, I'll come back to it and I'll be like, I need to change something of that. So I've done that. So I'll get back to that.

Delores Naskrent (24:47)
I try to keep it super simple, know, I just super clear breakdown of what I need to tackle that day and that coming week and then the bigger picture of the month and I've kind of gotten into the same habit with my other regular planner so that I've got kind of a list of things on the side and I like, I mean I love your idea really of having just a kind of a breakdown.

throughout the year of what has to be done because when you don't do it that way, it's so easy to be behind on everything.

And right now, like I'm already feeling this has started in maybe October or November, even though I was really busy with getting that foundations course completed, I feel like I'm ahead now. Like I'm working on stuff that's coming up rather than working on some, know, holy crap, it's gotta be done by tomorrow. I've got it like at least a couple of weeks in advance. So it's pretty helpful that way.

Kaylie Edwards (25:49)
Yes, I am very happy that we've actually got a schedule down now with our holidays on as well and when we're gonna be less available to do things. I'm... Yep. Yeah, I'm glad we've got provisional dates in and things so we can really look at it and go, okay, how much margin do we need for this? As I kind of said to you, no, let's not do this thing.

straight after this thing. As soon as I read that I was like no no not this year.

Delores Naskrent (26:22)
I'm

so, so thankful. It was like a load was lifted, you know, because I'm bad for that. I was and I, thought that we had one point had talked about it, but

Maybe it was before we had decided on doing Procreate foundations as well. don't know, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. It'll be perfect the way we've got it now. I feel like it's all manageable. So I feel very good about our annual planning at this point.

Kaylie Edwards (26:53)
Yes,

and that's why we're doing a lot of the backend stuff with like the order bumps and upsells and tripwires and things and getting all that set up because once we've started getting things like that done periodically you're going to start automatically bringing in more sales anyway so we don't have to do more big launches to fill the space.

Delores Naskrent (27:16)
Yes, exactly. And it's just easier, know, much, much, much easier, especially when you're somebody like me. Can so easily be distracted.

Kaylie Edwards (27:30)
Yes,

both of us. Well, I think that's the problem. We're both very similar. Yeah. So we kind of, yeah, distractions. I think that's a problem as well when working on a laptop or a computer. You're gonna have so many tabs open and I'm like, oh, what's that? Distraction, especially if you're not doing something that's boring you a little bit. And you're creative, it doesn't help.

Yeah but I wish I could... obviously my printer is actually up in our... what used to be my office workspace. It's now a storage room so I can't really do anything when Rhys is in bed because he works... sleeps through the day. I can't use the printer because it will disturb him because it makes a hell of a racket and then obviously that leads to then I can't do it when Aston's in bed.

I have a good printer, I just can't really do much printing unless I can do it whilst Rhys has just gone to work and Aston's still up. So I wish I could I could do that and I wish I could have sticky notes again because I miss my sticky notes.

Yeah. I printed a lot of stuff out that I probably haven't looked at because it's in a drawer in our big cabinet. So yeah, this year I want to try and do a bit more of actually finishing things that I started.

Delores Naskrent (29:01)
Yes, I think it's great that we we both hold each other accountable, you know.

Kaylie Edwards (29:07)
Yeah, yeah we do. And I think that that's something that other people, our listeners, should be doing as well. Find somebody that you can hold you accountable and you can hold them accountable. Somebody that you're close to. I started with somebody last year but it didn't kind of go to plan how we planned it because she was super busy with big projects for corporate stuff and obviously I've got a toddler.

Delores Naskrent (29:20)
Absolutely.

Kaylie Edwards (29:33)
So trying to work our schedules wasn't working out. So it's trying to find somebody who you can click with and who kind of has a similar schedule to you. All that kind of works because our time differences probably wouldn't work if I didn't have a toddler. Or if I wanted to be going to bed early, it probably wouldn't work out so well. But yeah, it's about just doing that.

Time management and flexibility, routines and figuring out what works for you and your routine and your life. Now...

Delores Naskrent (30:14)
Yeah, let me tell you, accountability is my lifeline. Like if between you and I, we always kind of get things done in the end, but without it, I think I'd be lost in a rabbit hole of Googling historical uses of paper clips for no reason whatsoever. I love having accountability partners because they're like focused sheriffs. That's how it was.

That email, Kaylie, you were funny. But just like, no, I don't think that's gonna work. I'm gonna be on holiday since. Well, you're making sure that I stick to my plans, which is...

Kaylie Edwards (30:55)
Yeah, because you're like, yeah, we'll do this after.

Delores Naskrent (31:06)
instead of getting distracted by whatever new and shiny thing is out there. So between you and I, think, and of course, me with Airtable and you with your ClickUp, I think it's great that we're staying a lot more organized. I use them not just for our work work, but also to collaborate. It's really important for...

the two of us to work together on a Google Doc or whatever it was. In fact, Colleen helped me with that when we were developing the foundations course. So working with one document, the two of us working on it together, it was a really great way to keep organized.

I am kind of a sucker for deadlines. But only if somebody's watching. If it's just me, the deadline might as well be written in invisible ink. But if someone's expecting something from me, for example, my membership expecting a class to post on a specific day or my template club, you you better believe I'm going to get things done because there's nothing I hate more than getting an email from somebody that's like, where's today's template?

did you post the template this week? it's like, oh god. Crazy thing is I'm mostly, I usually have them done. I just haven't gone and just press the publish key. know, like that's, it's crazy. I just, I don't know what I'd do without that little bit of extra organization of things like reminders and digital things and you and Ché and everybody keeping me, you know, just, I don't know.

Kaylie Edwards (32:27)
Yeah, there was a couple of times last

Delores Naskrent (32:52)
lined up to what I planned in the first place. It was not like it was your plan, it was my plan.

Kaylie Edwards (32:58)
You

Delores Naskrent (32:58)
The funny part is one time I had an accountability partner that made a deal with me. If I missed a deadline, I had to send a picture of myself doing an embarrassing dance. So this is when I was still working in school, you know, like I was in a school and I had to do this embarrassing dance in front of people. It wasn't just that I could just do the embarrassing dance. I had to do the embarrassing dance in front of people. it was, yeah, public shaming, but

It was fun and it actually worked.

Kaylie Edwards (33:33)
I might have to do that. That sounds like fun. Yeah, sometimes adjusting your weekly schedule based on what you're working on can make a huge difference. I think it's important to have that flexibility in your routine, whether it's prioritizing family, client work or personal projects.

Delores Naskrent (33:36)
You

Kaylie Edwards (34:00)
Alright, so we've discussed strategies for managing time, but what about other tools that can help us stay on top of everything? Delores, you use a lot of physical tools, but I know we both also rely on tech tools. Let's share some of our favorites.

Delores Naskrent (34:19)
Of course, I'm going to talk about air table again because it when it comes to staying organized and on top of things I love it because it's really visual and it's really customizable. You can make all kinds of different charts within it. You can have just spreadsheets.

You can link it to other things. So if you have other spreadsheets, let's say a Google Sheet, you can link it within Airtable so you can work between the two of them. It helps me to stay grounded for sure, giving me a really clear picture of everything I need to do and when.

And yes, I do use Google Sheets a lot, especially when I'm collaborating. I also use my Apple calendar for a lot of my scheduling kind of stuff. anything that's sort of, you know, I've got to be somewhere at a certain time, a certain day, I'm having a Zoom meeting or whatever. I have that in my calendar as well, just to be sure that I don't miss it. I also use...

both Google Sheets and Airtable to organize things like my digital downloads because that way I can give you access to them. So you can link them in emails or whatever. So that's one of the reasons I use two, but the two sheets are connected. So it helps me. You know, they just do different things and it's just an easier way to share when I have it on Google Drive.

Kaylie Edwards (35:51)
.

Delores Naskrent (35:53)
And yeah, on air table I also use, I have sort of like the big picture sort of to do this, so it's more like...

In fact, I'm working on it right now is that annual plan of each of the different launches, when they are, know, what I have to prepare for. And then also I have to keep track of things like collaboration partners. So if I'm working, doing live things in somebody else's membership or whatever to help with getting more people on my email list, then I keep track of that on my calendar too.

That's, I don't know, I can't imagine not working with all those tools. I know that you could probably somehow combine them all, but for me this is just the way it works.

Kaylie Edwards (36:42)
How

about you? I know what you mean. I know... I use Trello, Notion and ClickUp and I know there's a way you can import your Trello with your ClickUp and I think there's a way to do it Notion as well but I just think it's too much hassle. So I keep all like my tasks visually because I like Trello for the visual element of it.

It's, you know, you can customize it with the background and the colors and stuff. So I like that visually. And there's a Chrome extension that I can use, which actually, whenever I open another tab in my browser, it automatically opens up my daily Trello board. So if any, so my tasks are there front and center whenever I open another tab. So if I try and get distracted and go Google something.

It's like, no, here's your tasks for today. You're not finished. So I... yeah, that helps me a lot. Notion kind of became more of a... When I first got it years ago, I went on a tangent and created a ton of different templates and task management stuff for personal and professional stuff and it didn't go too well because I had so much and it overwhelmed me.

and I'm trying to kind of bring that back in on my notion and a lot of the time it just kind of keeps my blog blogs organized and everything that I set up. Templates and things I keep in there and anything to do with like my business I kind of store it there so it doesn't really get used for my tasks and my projects anymore like my content pillars and everything they're all kept in there so I can keep an eye on them.

And when it comes to ClickUp, that is obviously where I do most of my planning when it comes to big projects, making sure I've got dates in, tracking them, because it also has an inbox where it'll send me reminders of when things are due, which is very helpful. And it means I can collaborate with yourself and your team as well, which has been fantastic. And I'm definitely going to try and utilize that more this year.

fell by the wayside with a lot of it last year because we were so busy. We just didn't have time to organize it.

Delores Naskrent (39:12)
Yeah.

Kaylie Edwards (39:14)
and yeah so that's my kind of that and I've got a OneNote on my phone which I use for my mostly my personal stuff really. I did use two tasks in there but I didn't really see them most of the time. Canva is a must for creating my content and for scheduling social media posts like I use Buffer.

I did used to use Planely and Tailwind I want to try and start using for Pinterest if I reach my limits on Buffer because I have the free plan on Buffer. I actually not long found out that Meta Business Suite actually lets you schedule posts for free. So I started doing that just not long before Christmas. So I need to start doing that more.

So if anyone didn't know that, Meta Business Suite, if you've got a business account with Facebook, you can actually schedule your posts and they do reels and stories and things which I didn't know that you could do. Oh that's great. Yeah.

Delores Naskrent (40:29)
have been using later and I use tailwind as well but I'm gonna check that out for sure.

Kaylie Edwards (40:38)
Yes, so I thought, well, because I was on the buffer free plan, but it only allows you, I think it's five posts or something like that you can schedule in advance on the free plan. And I was like, really hitting this limit. like, it doesn't give you much flexibility for creating content ahead of time very much. I was, I'm struggling really with the content creation side of getting things batched, created and scheduled, which is something I want to do this year.

So now I know Meta does it free. I'm definitely gonna be utilizing that and Buffer when I can. I took my Facebook off, I think it was on my Instagram, off of Buffer so I can then put threads on because I am trying to use threads a bit more this year because I started getting a bit of traction on there. So that's gonna be another thing I wanna be doing this year. And of course, for my email marketing tools, I use

my built-in software that I have with my FEA Create account. But tools like MailerLite, Flodesk, ConvertKit, like Delores uses now, has helped us manage our communications with our audience. And obviously I use my FEA Create account now, but MailerLite did help me in the beginning. And all my other software business running needs, yeah, it's like ThriveCart or Kajabi FEA Create.

So I'm still trying to work some of the stuff in the back end for integrating. But I'm kind of like doing it as I go. I bought a course, was quite a cheap course, by a FEA Create member. She's actually set up a, almost like a challenge course where each day you get a certain task to do and it helps you create the back end so you're not missing anything in the flow.

which is gonna be helpful because there was a couple of things that kept going wrong for me and I didn't know what was going on.

Delores Naskrent (42:40)
that, post that in the show notes.

Kaylie Edwards (42:44)
Yes,

I will. It was quite good actually, so I'm starting to look at that because there was some... it was something to do with that wasn't connecting something right and I noticed that there was an email going out which wasn't branded. It was automatically going out and I was like, what's going on? Why have I just received that from myself? Which doesn't have any of my graphics on, didn't... it was like, you know, the placeholder text. Yeah, and I was like, where...

Delores Naskrent (43:10)
a tester.

Kaylie Edwards (43:12)
on earth and I could not find it within my FEA Create system where it was coming from.

Delores Naskrent (43:19)
I love learning new software, but then there's also just those headaches where it's just like, this seems so hard right now. Yeah.

Kaylie Edwards (43:28)
Yeah, some tech can really drive you I wish I'd gone for something less intensive with the integrations on the back end, but I know it is helping me keep my expenses down because it's a big expense for the all-in-one, but it means I don't have to pay for my email marketing as it grows.

I don't have to pay for a calendar to schedule calls or anything like that. And all the other stuff as well. Zaps and everything. I couldn't believe how much it costs for that. And I'd set up an account and I'm so glad I didn't start using it because I wouldn't have been able to afford it with the expense of it. So having an all-in-one has helped me.

Delores Naskrent (44:05)
zaps.

Kaylie Edwards (44:27)
definitely by doing that. Let's finish off by talking about something a lot of us struggle with, the guilt of not being perfect with our routines. I know that sometimes I feel like if I don't get everything done I failed. This is something I still get but you have to remind yourself that it's okay, you have tomorrow or rest of the week to get it done.

Delores Naskrent (44:51)
Yeah, working through my cancer treatment, I think, is what taught me so much about that. It wasn't just about the resilience, but about the importance of allowing myself a little bit of grace. Even though I wasn't able to do as much as I used to do, I still continued to work at whatever pace I could manage. And it made a huge difference for me psychologically.

It gave me purpose and it kept my spirits up in a time when my body just felt so physically drained. Like I could have napped four times a day when I was going through treatment. One of the biggest lessons I learned was just to let go of this whole idea of being perfect. And honestly, I used to feel that pressure too, where I needed everything to go according to plan or to meet some kind of high

self-imposed sort of a standard and at that point I just realized no it's okay you know I just I just can't do it and it's going to be all right and instead of looking at it as a failure I would just be gentle with myself and flexible and I just felt like instead I focused on the positive things that I had done that day or

You know, sometimes that's where looking at your big picture can be very helpful because you realize, you know what? I am a third of the way there, or I'm a quarter of the way there, or I'm halfway there, you know? And so having a big picture, I think, is good. And honestly, health challenges force you to rethink things. And in that messy kind of unpolished process, I think I personally found a deeper strength.

So I want to encourage everyone, and this includes you, Kaylie, because I know you've got health issues. Just embrace that flexibility. We've been talking about whether or not your day goes according to plan. You're doing your best, and you know you're doing your best. And sometimes that's more than enough. Give yourself that grace, especially when you're feeling that way. It's one of the most powerful things you can do.

Alright folks, think, what do you think, Kaylie? That's a wrap for today's episode. We've gone a little bit longer than we thought we would. We hope you walk, I hope you are and everyone are walking away with some new tools and strategies to help you develop those creative routines that actually support your business and your life.

Kaylie Edwards (47:13)
Yeah, I

Delores Naskrent (47:30)
If you try out any of these tips, let us know what works for you. I have one friend right now who's doing a reset in Hawaii. She just said, I'm going to Hawaii all by myself and I'm doing a reset. And I thought that is amazing. She got a really great deal on her ticket, something like $7 or something. I can't remember something crazy. I think she lives in California. Wow. But anyways, don't forget routine.

should be adaptable and flexible and tailored to your own personal needs at whatever time in life you are going through whatever kids, don't know, illness, anything like that. If you found that this episode was helpful please let us know and make sure that you subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review!

Kaylie Edwards (48:26)
Yes. Next time we'll be diving into getting comfortable promoting yourself and your art. Whether you're just starting out or you've been creating for years, we're going to help you overcome self doubt and promote yourself with confidence. Thanks for tuning in and until next time, keep creating, keep juggling and most importantly, keep finding joy in the process.