Traveling for months has its benefits for sure. It's also tricky when it comes to managing schedules and balancing time with friends and family and making sure I'm getting all the things done. I'm sharing with you what I've learned from my first few weeks on the road.

In this episode you'll learn:

→ what tech I brought with me and what I wished I hadn't forgotten.
→ how I had to get back into the habit of my calendar.
→ why I'm getting back to getting up early.
→ how I give myself grace and don't worry about perfection.

Resources

Online Fundraising Virtual Summit

Full Transcript

[INTRO] Hey, hey there, Sami here with another episode of the digital marketing therapy podcast. And I have been on the road now for a few weeks, maybe two or three weeks, I've lost track of time. And so I thought I would share some of the things that I've learned as far as remote working, which I know I always kind of work remote, but just things that I've learned as we've been traveling and in different office spaces and kind of navigating schedules and family and all of that. And you might not be in that same situation, but our work situations are changing all the time. So you might be in a hybrid mode of going into the office being home. You know, maybe, I don't know, everybody is just kind of in a weird state of flux when it comes to how we're working, who we're engaging with, how we're engaging with them, and what that looks like in person or remote.

So I thought I would just share some insights that I've gleaned from the last couple of weeks about working with clients transparency, and, and how you know, I'm navigating working from the road with my family. And what I am finding is working really well and what I kind of wish I maybe had planned or thought out a little bit differently. So that's we're going to talk about in today's episode.

But before we get to it, this episode is brought to you by the online fundraising virtual summit. We kicked off yesterday, technically, but you can still get in the videos are available for free for 48 hours. So you can still get in today. And check out all the amazing goodness. But this summit is all geared towards helping you run a more profitable online fundraising event with less stress. So we have amazing speakers that are going to be talking to you about setting up your event filling up your event and following up on your event once it's over, so that you can make the most money possible, raised the most funds, and have that ROI that you desperately want and need for your organization. Okay, so onlinefundraisingsummit.com, make sure you get signed up. And if you do purchase the all access pass, it has over $5,000 in bonuses. So I'm pretty excited about that. But for now, let's get into the episode.

[CANNED INTRODUCTION] You're listening to the Digital Marketing Therapy Podcast. I'm your host, Sami Bedell-Mulhern. And each week, I bring you tips from myself and other experts, as well as hot seats with small business owners and entrepreneurs to demystify digital marketing and get you on your way to generating more leads and growing your business.

[BODY] Okay, so at the end of April, we left our home in Central Oregon, we'd been there since 2013. So we've been there for quite some time. But we decided we were going to make the big move from Central Oregon to Minneapolis. And we're very excited about it. But because the kids are still, you know, doing their online learning and because we I can take my business with me wherever I go, my husband's taking a bit of a hiatus from work while he looks for a job in the cities, you know, we had some time. And so we thought we would, instead of going straight to Minneapolis, we would kind of take a little road trip and spend time with our family along the way. So that's what we have been doing all of our stuff is safely back in the Midwest, so we didn't have to worry about that.

So we have my two kiddos, it's my husband and I and our two pet rats and the dog. And so we're on this kind of adventure for a few months until we get landed in Minneapolis. So, um, you know, it's been an interesting challenge just to kind of figure out all the different situations and places and kind of how my schedule works. And so I thought I would share some of the things that I've learned some things that we're going to continue to improve on as we move through the rest of our road trip. And you know, some things that I thought were easier and some things that have not been quite as easy. I want to be transparent with you folks. And I feel like this is Yeah, like I said in the intro can be really set up depend or can be hopefully informative to you or glean something you'll glean some things from this no matter what your work situation is even if you're not traveling because I know a lot of people are kind of shuffling back and forth between offices and homes and all that good stuff.

So when I packed up my house, there were a few things so I packed up like this white Tupperware three roller or three drawer plastic thing on wheels. I packed up all my office stuff in there, and it had everything that I thought I would need. And then I also made sure to pack because I'm psycho about this I did pack a smaller secondary monitor. Because when I'm working on, you know, podcast show notes or website edits, you know, I definitely am used to two screens. For those of you that work with one screen more power to you. But I knew for three months, I couldn't, I couldn't work off just my laptop. So I did bring along my monitor, my keyboard, my mouse, and my podcast microphones and my Yeti microphone. So that I, because I knew I would have to record podcasts from the road, trying to sell our house and record, you know, 20, some episodes to get us through this trip would have not been possible.

So as I'm recording this, we are sitting in Phoenix. And I'm sitting on the floor in a back bedroom farthest away from the kids and the dogs. And it's a carpeted room, which there's only two carpeted rooms in this house to try to avoid sound. So we'll get into locations and private space here in a little bit, but making do with what we can. So that's the stuff that I brought with me as far as things that I would know that I would need. And, and so that's been great.

So far, we started the trip by going to LA for a few days. And that was really one of the only stays that we had in a hotel. Um, and so that really is kind of the first lesson that I learned. Because my kids are still doing online learning and I was trying to work and I had meetings, we really had to communicate in the mornings. Okay, who's you know, the kids, we're going to go downstairs with my husband to work on schoolwork and the coffee in the lounge for a little bit versus, you know, me going down there. So it definitely took some juggling. And then it took a lot of communication with my clients.

So when we were in LA, specifically, you know, we did know, we wanted to have a little bit of fun, we wanted to go to the beach, we had some friends and family that we wanted to see that we hadn't seen in a really long time. And so communication is definitely, I don't think it's a lesson learned. But it's a reminder, a reminder to really stay on top of projects and tasks and letting people know where we're at. And then communication within the family to say like, yep, these are non negotiable things for work that I can't get around. Here's, you know, some afternoons and days that I can take off so that we can plan accordingly and have that part be a semi vacation.

And the beauty of staying in a hotel is there's a hotel pool. And this hotel had an outdoor pool with limited exposure. So they were able to, you know, block times off in the afternoon and go and swim and have fun. So that all worked.

The other lesson that I'm really learning is getting, I got a little bit lazy with my, with my planning and scheduling when it comes to my calendar. And so this has really forced me to get back to that which I enjoy. So really focusing on what are the key tasks that I have to get done today, and what things are just things that are going to keep me busy. So I can focus on, you know, getting the things that I need to get done getting things to my developer that need to get done, trying to make sure that we have things moving forward. So that even if I'm not working full days, we're still keeping projects on task. And those of you who've listened this podcast several times know that I am obsessed with the full focus planner by Michael Hyatt, I am not an affiliate or anything in regards to that. But I just use it all the time. And so just really trying to maximize and use that on a regular basis and get back to my Sunday planning is something that I'm working on. And making sure that I don't sit down at my desk and say, okay, what's the biggest priority, when I sit down to work, I know what my biggest priority is. And I can really get through it and get it done quickly to maximize the time that I do have to work.

So we went from LA to Phoenix, we are now in Phoenix and we're here for well, by the time we leave, we'll have been here for almost four weeks, which is great. And we're staying with my mom. So the difference here between like hotel versus a home is I've taken over her dedicated office, which I'm so grateful to be able to do. And so I have a space where I can set up my second monitor, get things done, all I have to do is move to the second bedroom when I'm doing things like recording podcasts because her office doesn't have a door or recording video.

And so next week, I'll be running our online summit. As this is airing my summit will be going on. And so I will again be holed up in the second bedroom just for that privacy, but it works.

And so having that private space is key. So still communicating. There's certain days where I have a lot of meetings and things going on. I'm still yelling. I'm on a call when I'm getting ready to hop on a call which I always did. When I was in my home office back in Oregon even though I had a door just because there you know the kids would come in and get me and the dog Um, but yeah, so that's been really good. The one piece of equipment I didn't bring with me that I should have, and not to say that my lighting was great beforehand, but I forgot to bring any sort of external ring light or anything like that, which would have been great, because you know, we've been in a lot of different spaces where the light, I can't control the lighting. But you know, what, we're just gonna, we're just gonna make do with that. And that's just going to be what it is. And people will be fine with it.

So another lesson is getting back to just that grace, and being in the moment, and having my goals in front of me and being present and knowing like, you know, if my video quality isn't the same or as good as what I would have done in my home office, or if I would have done it professional, like, that's okay. Because I know that the content and the quality of what I'm sending out is, and I'm going to focus on that and just know that the priority right now is really in being with my family, supporting my clients, and doing the best that I can. And sometimes that's a good reminder for for all of us. I'm also really evaluating how much we take on and what projects we take on and making sure that we do have the space and breadth to support the clients that we have, as opposed to just taking every opportunity that comes our way.

So something to think about and from the nonprofit side, you know, same with the donors like, what are they wanting you to do in exchange for the money that they're giving you? Does it match up with what you guys have space and breath for? And if it's not, then it's okay to say no. And saying no, is a hard thing to do. But that's another lesson that I'm learning as we're on this road trip is saying no to things. And, and kind of running my business in the moment, not like by the seat of my pants, but like running my business, to support us in the moment, knowing that when we get to Minneapolis, you know, the kids will be back in school. And I'll be back to kind of working working full time hours again. And I'm very blessed in that my husband is dealing with all that schooling right now my mom is supporting him while we're here, which allows me to kind of work and get things done, which has been great. Okay, so I forgot to bring my lighting.

The second thing now that we're here in Phoenix that I'm really getting back to is getting up early, I don't know what your guys's workday schedules are. But I used to get up at 5:30 every morning. And when COVID kind of when everybody came home, and you know, they weren't going to school and, and my husband was working from home, that kind of stopped and part of it started because I didn't want to wake everybody up in the morning because now suddenly, we didn't all have to kind of be up by six 6:30. And so then it just became that habit. So when we got here, in order for me to kind of take off in the afternoons and or on, you know, this week is we're doing a bunch of extra work, you know, be able to put in some extra hours getting up early, it has been a great thing that I've gotten back to and I've really loved it. I actually really love the hours between 530 and 730, the house is more quiet. When I send out emails, I don't automatically get a response back so I can continue to work through things. For me, I'm a morning person. So my brain is a little bit clear, easier for me to focus and really power through tasks. So I've really enjoyed that. Now you might be a night person, I don't know. But I'm really just getting back to figuring out when my brain operates the best. And that's early in the morning. And so getting up a little bit earlier, has been really good for me, which I've enjoyed. Um, and then yeah, the other thing is just missing my private space. So having a door that I can shut where I can focus and get work done. I've tried going to a couple coffee shops to get some work done, you know, just kind of a mixed bag of things. And so I'm just really trying to find what tasks need to happen on what day. So when are there days that I know I need to have my dual monitors, and my keyboard What are days when I know I've got maybe just some basic writing things that I can just do on my laptop that I can leave and go to a coffee shop and get things done. And that's where my planning on Sundays is really becoming important and even more impactful than before, to be able to ensure that I have a time and space in place for things to happen, so that the big tasks get done.

So yeah, so that's kind of some of the lessons that I've learned some equipment. I wish I had some equipment I'm glad I have. And just ways that I'm prioritizing and honestly the name of the game for me right now is over communication. And that's what I'm working hard on and trying to do. All around from personal to family to business to my, you know, community, my Facebook community and all of that good stuff. So I hope some of this was helpful or any of this was helpful. I'd love to hear Your how you stay organized and keep things done and get things going. But for now, I hope you'll head on over to the first click dotnet forward slash podcast. Check out the show notes for this episode, check out some free resources. And leave us a review on Apple podcasts and make sure you subscribe wherever you listened so you don't miss out on a single episode. And we'll see you in the next one.