Mindset & Action: Grow and Streamline Your Business
Mindset & Action is a business podcast aimed at helping business owners grow and streamline their businesses. It focuses on four main pillars, building an audience through different mediums including Donna's preferred method, podcasting, planning, productivity and mindset Giving you a MAP to success from entrepreneurs around the globe.
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Mindset & Action: Grow and Streamline Your Business
Untangling Time Management and Boosting Productivity with Maya, Pro Virtual Assistant | EP175
EP175 - with Maya Vertigans
Welcome to another enlightening conversation; this time with our fabulous guest, Maya, a pro virtual assistant whose services support sustainable and ethical businesses. Ever found yourself entrapped in the seemingly endless scroll hole of social media or distracted by the never-ending chime of notifications? Well, you're not alone. Maya and I tackle these all-too-familiar time sinks, dissecting their impact on productivity and exploring viable ways to regain control of your time.
The entrepreneurial journey can often be a lonely one, especially if you're a team of one. We engage in a dynamic discussion centred around the solo entrepreneur’s life - the challenges, the time management woes and of course, the sweet victories too. With Maya's invaluable insights, we break down the complex process of project management into bite-sized, manageable nuggets. Together, we navigate the maze of task prioritization and workload management, all aimed at helping you, the business owner, maximize your productivity even without a VA by your side.
The cherry on top is the delightful personal segment with Maya - we discuss her favourite snacks, books, and activities. Listen to how the book "Everything is Figuratable" has become her go-to biz book, how she’s recently taken to surfing, and much more. We also touch on how she manages to disconnect from work and the challenges involved in taking time off. Want to connect with Maya? Find her on Instagram under her business name, @plannerbeeva . Trust me; you'll want to tune in for this one!
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You're listening to the Mindset in Action podcast, bringing you the map to grow and streamline your business in 2023. I'm your host, dona Eade, your go-to gal for all things podcasting, planning and productivity and I'll be bringing you all that plus Mindset goodness from experts with knowledge to share. Let's make 2023 the year of success in your business. Either run the day or the day runs you. Jim Rohn, today I am welcoming a very special guest to the show. Her name is Maya and she is a VA, but she specifically works with sustainable and ethical businesses to enhance their digital presence. As a virtual assistant, but also as your biggest cheerleader. We're going to be talking about time management today. Let's jump into the show.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to the podcast, everybody. I am so excited to have you here today because I have a guest with me. Maya, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I am thrilled to have you on the show. We were connected by one of our mutual friends who needs to get on this show. So, nikki, if you're listening, you need to fill out that form, just putting that out there, but tell us a little bit about yourself, what it is that you do in your business and who it is that you help.
Speaker 2:So I'm Maya, I am 24 and I live in Aberdeen, in the very top of Scotland, and I'm a virtual assistant. So I run a virtual assistant service and we support primarily sustainable and ethical businesses. We support them with a lot of their marketing things like the email marketing, social media, copywriting, website content, that kind of thing, bits of admin, and it started off the business just me and now we're a little team of three, so there's three of us bumbling around together making it work.
Speaker 1:I love that, and is your team local to you or are they remote as well?
Speaker 2:So we all work remotely. At the moment we are all in Aberdeen, but at least one of the other people I know is going to be travelling around the world and kind of popping back down there.
Speaker 1:Fabulous, and I think it's interesting that you say that you're working mainly with sustainable and ethical. What made you go down that route? Where does that come from?
Speaker 2:So when I was at uni before I became a virtual assistant and actually ran a sustainable gifting business and from that again during COVID, pivoted into the virtual assistant world and I think a lot of that initial kind of sustainability focus came partly from just learning more. That time when I was at university, there was really a big push. That was when there was Blue Planet and lots of big documentaries came out and there really was much wider awareness about the sustainability space. My sister has always been she's younger than me but she's always been a really big advocate for sustainability. She founded the Eco Committee at our high school and so she's always kind of been in that space and so I kind of have learned a lot from her as well.
Speaker 1:Fabulous. I love that. I love that you're learning from your little sister.
Speaker 1:That's always a nice thing Like it's usually the other way around, and it's nice that. I think the thing is is every generation gets a little bit smarter and every generation just understands a little bit more, and so I think it is good to be able to look at the younger generation and go okay, what are you seeing that I'm not seeing, and how are you viewing that, which is different to how I'm viewing it? So I love that. I love that.
Speaker 1:So today we're going to talk about time management, which is quite apt because we are going into what I would call like the busy quarter. You know, kids are just going back to school, for those that have children. But also that means, I always think, that even if you don't have school aged children, these kind of things affect you anyway, like even if you're not, because the people that you work with have children. So there's always this kind of little bit of shuffling and renewing when the schools go back and we're kind of like gearing up for this last quarter. But then we're going straight into the Christmas season and hitting that and lots of people start taking holidays or time off or trying to get the Christmas shopping done and things like that. And trying to fit everything in is just like you just don't know where the time is. So I wanted to talk a little bit about time management today, because it is something that I'm be passionate about planning and productivity and how we can make the most of our time and so I thought it would be a great thing to talk with you about.
Speaker 1:So the first thing I wanted to touch on was like many solo business owners struggle with managing their time effectively. It's just the truth of it. We get up, we come downstairs, we open the emails and all of a sudden, our attention is grabbed by those emails and we're just like oh, let me just reply to this, reply to that, and before you know it, half the day's gone. And I mean this literally almost kind of thing happened to me this morning where I spoke to a friend of mine yesterday and we were like we're going to try and do this thing where we just spent an hour on social in the morning and get our posts up and engage with people, and then we're going to walk away from it and just pop back at the end of the day instead of just falling down this scroll hole of like checking every notification that comes in. We were talking about notifications before we came on the call and just oh, somebody said something on Instagram. Oh, somebody's on LinkedIn, let me have a look. And just kind of managing that a little bit better.
Speaker 1:But I tried to do it this morning and I was on there for an hour and a half before I'd even realised it and I wasn't scrolling. I was engaging with people, but that meant I had to actually read their posts. And on LinkedIn, oh my God, people like to write essays on that channel and so I'm like trying to sort of scan read and I'm not the quickest reader, but then I want to reply and I want to give a thoughtful reply. I don't want to just say, yeah, cool post. I'm like literally sort of writing mini essays back and before I knew it, an hour and a half had gone and I hadn't even posted my Instagram post. I was just like, oh gosh, this is a buggy. So, especially when we're like in this season where we're going to be going into this busy season where we might be taking on new projects because it's that kind of it's a new term, so that's what are the common challenges that you see people facing when it comes to managing their time effectively.
Speaker 2:I think quite a big one is being unrealistic in terms of how long tasks take and how much you can get done.
Speaker 1:I'm so proud of that.
Speaker 2:I mean there's a quote about it, I don't know exactly, but it's something along the lines of people overestimate how much they can get done in a day but underestimate how much they can get done, you know, in longer periods, like a month or a quarter or a year.
Speaker 2:And then I think when you overestimate how much you can do, then that can be really demoralising when you get to the end of the day you've been sat at your desk for eight hours and you've actually not ticked off very much, so that's definitely a big one. And then that kind of leads into overwhelm and potentially, if your list is really really long and you yourself might know I'm never going to get through this and we've all done it well, we've just written and some things they might not even need to really be on that list, but you know it's an idea and you do want to do it, so it's there. And then that can kind of lead into where you're procrastinating because you just think you don't even know where to start. So you just don't have all been there as well when you sat on the couch watching a movie instead of actually doing anything.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm worse. I am worse than that. What I do is I sit at my desk and I do stuff like I don't move. This literally happened to me last week. I suddenly realised because I've got, I'm working up as we're recording this, I'm working up to a launch, and I just got overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that I need to get done, realising that I haven't actually got the time that I thought I had thinking I need to do all this stuff. And did I do anything to like knock any of that off my list? No, I was just sitting there. I was on Instagram, I was on Facebook, I was in LinkedIn, I was in all the social medias like following up, doing some other stuff, nothing productive towards what I actually needed to get done. It was ridiculous.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, our house works and heads back. We do and do the washing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just, that needs doing Working from home. It's all the dishwasher just needs. I'll just empty and reload the dishwasher. Yeah, I completely get that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then I think that can be a big one, because then it kind of creates a cycle of the list doesn't get any smaller, so you're kind of coming back to it almost in the same position or worse position than you left it. And I think that can kind of come from when you're your own boss and they just often are no deadlines. So if it's client work or it's something to do with you're delivering in your business, there probably is a deadline. But when it's things that you're doing on your own business, there's no deadline. So it can be really difficult to prioritize it into, make the time because nobody's telling you that you have to get it done and to have that discipline I think can be really hard as well, because you can just, yeah, go on socials and do some engaging there or do any of the other things that are also buying for your attention.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or just fall down a YouTube scroll hole. That that's usually my thing is. Suddenly I end up just watching YouTube. This is bad, to admit, but I am terrible. And the thing is is I love productivity.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I'm planning and I've got my calendar blocked and I use Asana and things are in there and and I'm like ticking off those and I love it when the unicorn flies across my screen in Asana. If you haven't seen the Asana unicorn, you need to see it. It's so cool but I love doing all of that stuff. But it is so difficult and I think oftentimes it can be really difficult to just get that stuff in place.
Speaker 1:Like I didn't use Asana for a very long time because it's like you've got to go in there and you've got to put every single step in. And the way it's set up because it's meant for, like, working in teams it gives you the option to allocate the different tasks down to the minute tasks to somebody, but if you want it to appear in your kind of dashboard, you have to allocate it to yourself. So it's like doing a podcast, for instance, there might be 10 steps and I have to allocate each 10 step to myself, so it just takes time to set it up, and I think a lot of people probably get tripped up there as well when they're trying to be more time efficient.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. We have ClickUp that we kind of use for project management. I remember when I first said I thought, you know, we really need a system. We can't just keep going with this. Sporadic, I mean it was working, but as a business grows, we needed more scalable system and for weeks I had it on my to do list because it's not that fun either. You know it's can be a draining task in terms of it takes a long time. You really have to go deep and you know setting everything up, you have to know exactly what needs to be done and it's quite a long process and I just kept putting off, putting off, putting off. And then, when I said that I did it, it didn't even take that long, yeah, and now we reap the benefits because it's all there and the tasks auto create themselves and we just might miss done and it's all. The legwork is has already been done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that is so true. It's just like a little bit of time and effort at the beginning makes a big difference. And this actually leads on really nicely to what my next question was, which is, when it comes to making time for a new project, what can we do? Because often time like we're so time poor, we're always saying that I haven't got time, I haven't got time, I can't, I can't do that, I can't do this, etc. Etc. But when we want to do a new project, or we want to bring in a new program to our business or we want to offer a new service, anything like that, whenever we're doing something new, what are some strategies and tips around making that time available so that we can actually start it? Because I think a lot of times for me, I know there's things on my list that I'm just like okay, I'm not doing that because I just haven't got the time for it, but I really want to.
Speaker 2:I think a big part of it comes down to being really clear on what your goals are for your life and for your business and knowing exactly what you want that to look. You know both of those areas to look like and then from that you can kind of use that lens to prioritize your tasks and your workload. And I think that makes such a massive difference, because you write things down and some of them you've got on your to do list and then maybe causing you stress because you know you're never going to get through to do this. You want to fit in this new project. But actually some of those things on the to do list maybe aren't that important when you compare them kind of do they line up to, are they helping you create that life that you want? Are they helping you achieve those business goals?
Speaker 2:And if they're not, does it actually need to be done? And if it does need to be done, does it need to be done now, like maybe it can, it's, maybe it's a great idea and it's something that you know you want to focus on in the new year or further down the line, or maybe it's something that just doesn't need to be done at all. But I think having that lens of is this actually helping me get to where I need to get to is so helpful in terms of being able to prioritize and then you can focus on the most important things first and that really removes that level of overall and if that new project is a priority, then it will line up with those goals and then it will be something that you'll make time for and maybe some of the other things you'll realize actually aren't quite as important as you thought they were.
Speaker 2:Yeah not everything can be the most important thing.
Speaker 1:No, even though we try and make it that way. I want to just backtrack a little bit on something that you said earlier because I think it's really important and something that definitely happens when we start in new projects. I do it all the time. I'm terrible for it. So I am really interested to see what your take is on this, and that is the underestimating the amount of time something's going to take.
Speaker 1:I am so bad at this and I will go yeah, I'm going to get x, y, z done in the day, and I only get the first thing ticked off my list and I'm like how has that taken me that long? Have you got any advice and I know this isn't a question that I've said before, but any tips that we can use to sort of gauge how long something's going to take us? Or you know, just a sort of a rule of thumb for when we're doing something that we have to do, we're doing something that we haven't done before, like the amount of time that we should allocate for these things, because I think it's really something that a lot of us struggle with and that's where a lot of the overwhelm comes from, because we get to the end of the day.
Speaker 2:We've only ticked one thing off, and it's like yeah, I think, particularly when it's kind of bigger tasks and bigger projects, and that's when it can be more difficult to estimate how long it's going to take. It really is about breaking it down so into kind of smaller, more manageable chunks that you are maybe easier to estimate in terms of how long we're going to take. So you know, if you're putting together a resource, a PDF, first of all you're going to have to do the research, then you're going to have to write the copy, then you're going to have to actually create it. You know, just writing it and just do it to create it. That might be, you know, six, eight hours of work, but if you actually break down each step, then it's much easier to kind of go right.
Speaker 2:Well, the research, that's probably going to take a couple of hours. I mean, I'm just making this up here. But you know, once you've broken it down into because there's probably not that many projects you're going to do where the steps in there that are things that you've never ever done anything similar. So then that will kind of give you almost a gauge to base it off of. But I think as well it's important to remember things like the admin time, just the time of if you're liaising with somebody, if you're documenting what you're doing. That all takes time, and to kind of build a buffer in for that and also to build a buffer in, you know, as just for things as you go about your day, you know it might take you 15 minutes to actually get started when you sit down at your desk, to actually get into that headspace where you're properly working.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's such a good point and it actually reminds me of a podcast that I listened to the other day where she was talking about how she sort of breaks down her tasks. When she's overwhelmed into the minutia of detail, like the step by step, every little task gets on the list and she goes. And you may think that overwhelms you because you're like, oh my God, that's a hundred tasks on my list, when before it was just one. But actually she said, once you start ticking those off, you get to tick them off quicker because they're small, tiny things that you can do quickly, and you then feel the pride and the motivation to keep going because you've actually got it done. And so I think that, like breaking it down to the smallest steps and giving that time value, rather than going, oh yeah, this is going to take me six hours to do and I'll have it done, no problem when you haven't really looked at it and I think we don't realise how long, especially if we're solo entrepreneurs working on our own in our business we don't have a valuable VA like you helping us, we're doing it everything ourselves, and whereas we sort of maybe we have worked in a corporate environment before and something like that did only take a few hours. There was a team of people working on it and now you're doing you're doing the copy, you're doing the graphics, you're doing the research, you're doing all of it. So it's like you've got to remember that actually that's a team effort and if you are on your own, then it's only your time and you can only do one thing at once.
Speaker 1:No matter how much we say women can multitask, you can't. Nobody can multitask. Well, you don't get anything like. I've really sort of realised that and I sort of stopped saying, oh, women are great multitaskers, because I feel like actually that does everybody a disservice. We tend to just sort of not do great at anything. You know, we're good at having a lot on our plate and managing it, but I think prioritising is is a really big factor that we need to sort of focus on. So I love that. Thank you for that little extra little bit because it is something that I struggle with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think what you're saying is all about motivation is so true in that there's often potentially misconception, that kind of get the motivation and then you start. But I think sometimes if you're having a bad day or a day when you're struggling to really get things done, actually doing just a, just a small task, the tiny thing, that then you can take it off, then you kind of the action creates more action, and then you've done that, you're happy because you've done your take, and then you can move on. You think, oh, I can just do another little task, and then before you know it, you've actually achieved quite a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's kind of giving us sort of a project management when we're looking at doing a new project. Here's like some tips around your time and what you what you can do to manage that and manage it effectively to get a new project out there. And we were talking about solo business owners. So what I wanted to just touch on because you are a VA is how would a business owner go about working with a VA? Like what kind of tasks can somebody delegate to a VA? Because I think a lot of times we're just like we think we have to have people that are sort of specialized in a certain like I need a copywriter or I need a son, so I need a son. So what is it that you particularly because obviously people listening to this can reach out to you if they need help with their business but in general, kind of what kind of work do VA's take on and how does that process work?
Speaker 2:So really you get VA's who cover all kinds of things.
Speaker 2:So, as I mentioned, we do a lot of marketing, so it's things like social media, your copywriting, your email marketing, and we also do bits of admin as well.
Speaker 2:But then you get VA's that you bookkeeping, va's that do minute taking and really traditional kind of almost personal assistant kind of tasks and support. And I think really it's about in terms of knowing what to give to a VA. I think it's about looking at how you're spending your time at the moment and what are the things that you're doing that you maybe don't enjoy, and also, potentially they might be taking you two or three hours because you don't enjoy it and maybe it's not in your zone of genius, but actually a VA could do that in half the time and that then frees up all of that time for you as well. So I think it's about looking at those. You know, the things that you hate doing or they're just not really within your zone of genius, but also the things that are still important, like, if you hate doing it but it's not that important, you probably don't need anybody to do it. You can cross it off.
Speaker 1:Just put that in the bin, yeah.
Speaker 2:Especially if it sometimes I think, if you've had something on your to do list for weeks and weeks, or months and months, and your business is still going and you haven't done it. Then you don't want to do it. Does it really need doing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I completely agree that there's probably some things I might. I try not to write to do list, if I'm honest. Like I went through a phase of writing down like top three things I wanted to get done in the day and then I tried using the full focus planner and I fell off that wagon quite quickly. I'm not great at planners. I don't know I need to. I feel like actually, planners needs to be personalized, really personalized. I just don't think they were like for me at any rate. There are things that I want to track, there are things that I want to write down, and finding a planner that fits that exact thing is like. So I can't make my own. I need to get back to it, because I was doing the full focus plan, I fell off the wagon and then just didn't reply, didn't bring mine back, so I need to get back to that.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I was just doing three things rather than kind of writing a full list of this is everything that needs doing, and now I've sort of introduced a sauna back into my workflow. It's so good. It's so good at reminding you things and it is like you were saying earlier that business owners we don't have dead. You know we're self imposing our deadlines and it's hard to do that and find the motivation. I find it quite good to have a sauna, because it gives me that deadline, it gives me these tasks that overdue, and then I feel like overdue tasks, what are they? All quick legs.
Speaker 1:So yesterday, like I've got a class that I'm doing soon and I sort of had in there in my project for it create zoom link for class it was overdue. It got done yesterday because it was in the overdue box. I was just like but it didn't need to be done because I'm not doing the class until like next week or something. So it wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't done it, but because it was in the overdue and I don't like seeing that it's what you motivated by, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think having a project management software, even if you're a solopreneur, I think it's a great thing to get set up, because it does mean that then, if you reach the point where you want to grow your team either a VA or any other outsource service, or even as an employee you've already started kind of building up the systems and the processes with the project management software and that will make that transition so much easier. If you've just been doing everything on paper or kind of just buy yourself in your head, then yeah, and then you really are starting from scratch when it comes to delegating.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think that's a really good point as well. So, yeah, definitely get yourselves out there, find yourself a task manager, project manager. I use Asana, you use ClickUp was it ClickUp? There's Trello Notion, all sorts out there, so it's definitely worth giving it a go because, yeah, it keeps me accountable. But, yeah, if I was to bring on a VA, I can give them access to that and they'd be able to see the system and the way I work here and probably be able to help me with stuff in there, putting new projects in and things that I haven't done yet. So that would be fantastic.
Speaker 1:I dream of the day. I dream of the day oh, dear, someday soon, someday soon. Oh, thank you so much for coming on the show and talking to us about time manager. It is one of my little passion.
Speaker 1:Things like how can I get the most out of my time? Because I don't want to be working all the time, and I think a lot of business owners, you know, started their jobs because they've got a bigger personal, why? You know whether it's they want to spend more time with the children, they don't want to be out of the house until six o'clock every night or later or whatever, and they want to have that flexibility. Or, you know, maybe they just want to travel and they don't want to be tied down to four weeks a year where they have to. You know, teachers have obviously done school holidays at the only times they can go away, or anything like that, and they want that flexibility.
Speaker 1:But I think oftentimes what happens is we start business for ourselves, and especially in the beginning, when we're trying to get the traction, it's like we're working all the hours God sends, we're not seeing our family, we're not spending the time with the children, we're not taking that time, and it's really important to sort of take a step back and look okay, how am I spending my time?
Speaker 1:Am I spending it wisely? Because I think I can't remember you talking about documentaries earlier and I think there was something like a study done somewhere about a country that sort of took their workday down to like four hours a day or something and the productivity went through the roof because people were getting so much time outside of their work to do all the fun stuff and when they were at work there was no, none of this chatting around the cooler business, they were just wasting time scrolling. When they were at work. They were doing their work because it was only four hours and it really made a huge difference and I think, as business owners, we have that ability to do that if we want to Definitely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think having that discipline of you know what I'm going to finish at three and go pick the kids up or go to yoga or whatever it is that you want to do, and then you are much more likely to get probably more done before that time, whereas if you just are working until you're done, there's a tendency that you're a bit less focused and the work can drag on and on and on. And I mean I know I'm the same on a Monday, I finish at four and go to yoga, and I would probably get the same done on a Monday when I have that deadline, as I will do on a Tuesday when I don't have that deadline and I might be at my desk till half five or six.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so true, it's so true. And I have the same. I have classes that I do on Monday and Tuesday mornings, and then I have my hard stop on a Wednesday for my evening class. So I managed to sort of do that. And then, you know, thursdays and Fridays they become my like, my nothing days, because they're actually days where I've got the whole day to work and I kind of like try and get everything done at the beginning of the week and I'm kind of like twiddling my thumbs. I save Thursdays for podcast recordings. But you know, fridays become very much like is it even worth me sitting? Like, if I'm going to be like this, should I even be sitting? Just take the day off, don't? I just don't work Fridays Because it's not functional at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do a half day and go off and enjoy yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah, that's sort of something that we didn't talk about, but you kind of touched on it. But what I call it you were saying was a buffer I call white space. I'm your calendar, I have white space and Friday afternoon is my white space. I've booked it in, but I tend to just like faff in the morning, like I don't really get much done in the morning either. I'm just like just waiting for that, but then I don't actually go. I stay at my desk all day. So even though I've got the white space and it's like you have got nothing work wise booked in, you know there's nothing, no calls or anything. You can leave the office. I still end up sitting in here and I'm not really being hugely productive. I'm just pottering and I don't know why I do it. But there we go. That's probably something for my therapist.
Speaker 2:You have to book something in for a Friday afternoon one week and then probably you'll get loads done in the morning because you'll know you have to finish, and then it might be the start of something new.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, oh, I love that idea. I love that idea. Thank you very much, I will do that, okay. So before we go, you have got a free guide that people can get. Tell us about what that guide is and where people can get it.
Speaker 2:So it's an outsourcing guide and I put it together because as a much as I've had so many people kind of come to me say I don't know whether I'm ready, I don't know if now is the right time to outsource, so I put together an outsourcing guide that's basically trying to answer all of the main questions that people have asked me about outsourcing and some things that you can work through, questions that you can ask yourself to try to work out if now is the right time and also if it is how to find out what you need help with and also how to find somebody who can help you. Love that and that is yeah, and it's just on my website. There's a resources section and it's just available there.
Speaker 1:So I will put the link to that in the show notes for you. I am going to go and grab it. So you definitely need to go and grab it too, especially if you are working on your own. You're feeling overwhelmed with it all, so it's worth just knowing what is out there in terms of support and help that you can get. So definitely worth getting and having a look through that. Now, when I have my guests on my show, I like to do a little quick fire round because I think it's nice to get to know them a little bit more, a little bit different take to the business stuff. So I have three questions. If you are willing to answer them, maya, absolutely, let's do it. Okay. So the first one is what book has made the most impact on your life so far?
Speaker 2:So the book I'm reading at the moment is Everything is Figuratable. I got that book and I love it. I just love the concept that, because I can be a bit of a stressor and I just love the concept that actually everything can be worked out if you just take a step back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, marie Forleo is brilliant. So, yeah, I love that book. It's a good one. What is your go-to favorite snack when you're in a hurry?
Speaker 2:It has to be crisps I'm such a crisps I'd love to say something really healthy and nutritious.
Speaker 1:The reality is it's probably, if I can, I love that. No, it's real and that's what I'm saying. It's real Like I had somebody on the show a while back and they were like a protein shake and I was just like you are not my people.
Speaker 1:I wish that was me, because I probably I don't even know what I would grab as a snack. I might grab a banana if there was bananas in the house, but usually it's just like something sweet chocolate or something. So I'm with you like, obviously, a savory girl, which is good, because you know, chocolate melts in this heat.
Speaker 2:Chocolate would not be a good snack in a hurry.
Speaker 1:So the last question is what is your ultimate me thing to do?
Speaker 2:So recently I've been getting into surfing and I'm just yeah, I'm absolutely loving it because I think probably lots of people will resonate with this, where when you run your own business, it's so difficult to switch off, and I just love the fact that you have to switch off. You can't think about really anything else, you're so wrapped up in. Yeah, on trying to surf, I'm not drowning. On avoiding the deli fish I love it, so it's my new thing?
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that. I love that. Do you get a lot of good waves up north Up?
Speaker 2:out in the shire. You do so kind of I go up up to the shire, but it's, yeah, you kind of you have to go on the right day to get the decent enough waves. I was learning, I was living out in Portugal in April, so I love that, and then I've just come back and I'm trying to continue, but it's not quite the same when the sea is really cold.
Speaker 1:I was gonna say I've got a feeling the water temperature would be pretty different. I love that, though. I love that it's so nice to hear something so out of the box, like that's not something that you know most people. Yeah, I go and have a massage, or I go get my nails done, or you know, like I surf and I'm like you love that. Yeah, the Chris beating surfer. Yeah, you can really switch off that. I love that.
Speaker 1:It is really a switch-off thing, because that's something that's kind of been hitting me from every angle, this last sort of couple of weeks is that when you stop work and you actually take time off. I was talking to somebody the other week about how my partner's taking holiday. He needs to take his holiday and he hasn't taken much at all, so we're trying to cram in these holidays for him. So he's taken two weeks off. But because I wasn't sort of prepared for it and it's last minute, there's stuff that I've got on that's already in the diary that I can't change. So one of the weeks we have got time to go away. But I'm launching my program, I'm gonna have people that I need to look after that week, so I'm still gonna be working and so we've got a week in November that's already in the diary. We don't know where we're going, but it's in the diary, so I know not to plan anything.
Speaker 1:I'm planning around it so that I can actually switch off, but I'm terrible at it, like he like, some nights I will be in here really, really late and he will like send me emojis, because he's usually stuck under this cat that's sat behind me and he'll just send me a waving emoji like are you coming out of the office? And stuff like that. And that's what I'm just constantly working. And then even when we're not working at the weekends, I will still be like, oh, I'll need to do this or I need to do that. So definitely love that real switch off with the surfing amazing, amazing. Thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for coming on the podcast. Where can people find you? Where do you hang out the most?
Speaker 2:so I'm only in just May of us against. I'm also on Instagram under the business name. So it's plan a BVA and that's yeah. They're probably mainly where I am. I love a bit of Instagram. A wee story here and there. Snippets of my life yeah, fabulous, okay.
Speaker 1:So I will leave all those links in the show notes, guys, so that you can go over and follow her and connect, because that would be a marvelous thing to do. Please do share this episode on your socials and tag us both over on Instagram. Would love to see what your biggest takeaway from the episode was. Thank you so much for coming on the show. It was absolute pleasure to have you, mayor.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much thank you so much for having me. It's been so much fun.
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