The Savvy Seller with Kristen Doyle

156. The Candy Crush Rule for Social Media Success with Kate Gilbert

• Kristen Doyle, TPT seller, SEO coach, and web designer

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Social media has never been my favorite part of business. Like many of you, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit spiraling over what to post and how it might be received. But this episode with Kate Gilbert flipped my mindset entirely. Kate is a business coach with a unique blend of tough love and grace, and she’s on a mission to help entrepreneurs ditch the pressure and show up online with authenticity.

Kate isn’t here for hustle culture or the pressure to post daily. Instead, she brings a refreshingly compassionate perspective—one that treats social media more like a casual kitchen party than a constant performance. Her signature “Candy Crush rule” helped me reframe the algorithm not as a judge, but as just a system. What really matters is showing up with intention, on your own terms.

In a world where AI-generated everything is the norm, Kate reminds us that being real is actually our greatest asset. She shares powerful stories of entrepreneurs who built trust and connection by showing up as their imperfect selves—moldy fridges and all. If social media has ever made you doubt yourself, this episode will help you see it as a tool for connection, not perfection!

03:30 - Overcoming feelings of social media anxiety

11:10 - What is the candy crush rule for social media success?

16:49 -  Vanity metrics don’t equal business success (and what we SHOULD be focusing on instead)

21:46 - Social media as an important touchpoint, even for introverts

24:51 - Authenticity trumps perfection in our current low-trust environment 

Links & Resources:

Connect With Kate:

Show Notes: https://kristendoyle.co/episode156 

Feeling overwhelmed by all the things you think you need to do to grow your digital product business? Take the Savvy Seller Quiz and find out exactly what to focus on right now to actually move your business forward. 

 ➡️ Take the quiz at savvyquiz.com

Check out my Everything Page at https://kristendoyle.co/everything

Heidi:

This is episode 207 of Teacher Approved. You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm Heidi.

Emily:

And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story Window, where we give research based and teacher approved strategies that make teaching less stressful and more effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from each episode at secondstorywindow.net.

Heidi:

We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to the show.

Emily:

Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's episode, we are sharing back to school tasks that you can tackle without a class list, and we'll leave you with a teacher approved tip for creating a barrel task calendar.

Heidi:

Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick win that you can try in your life right away. Emily, what is our suggestion this week?

Emily:

This week, why not try planning one low key get together with a colleague? Text a teacher friend and suggest something simple, like coffee, a walk, meeting at the pool, or even just sitting on someone's porch. Keep it casual and pressure free. Summer friendships hit different than school year relationships, and you both deserve a chance to enjoy each other's company without all the school pressure being the focus of your conversation.

Heidi:

If you like this idea or anything else we share here on the podcast, would you do us a huge favor and leave us a five star rating and a review? Ratings and reviews are one way that new listeners can find us, so really, every rating and review is such a huge help to us.

Emily:

Over the years, we have created an extensive library of back to school products. So to help you find the tools that will make the start of the new year easier, today we're spotlighting our Procedures and Routines Planning Guide.

Heidi:

Well, if you've been with us for a while, you know there's one thing we do really well here at Teacher Approved, and that is overthinking. So Emily and I put our overthinking into overdrive to come up with thorough checklists and literally hundreds of guiding questions to help you think through all of the possible procedures that you might need for your classroom. Our goal was to think through all of the details so that you aren't going to miss anything in your planning.

Emily:

I like to say this resource is robust because it is stuffed full of good stuff. So you get the procedures and routines checklist, which is 26 pages, the procedures planning guide, which is 54 pages, and then a digital version of each of those. So the checklists are in Google Docs, and the procedures planning guide is in Google Slides, and then you get a teacher's guide for using this resource.

Heidi:

Considering how you want your class to run now is going to pay off so much in the first few days of school, and it will carry you through the whole year. And bonus, this is something that you can easily do on your laptop with a good show on in the background. You're moving the needle by doing something essential, but you're not having to give up your summer to do it, and that's the best kind of prep.

Emily:

You can find a link to the digital procedures and routines planning guide in the show notes.

Heidi:

Okay, let's talk about that mid summer feeling. You know the one. It's July, you are enjoying your break. There's that little voice in the back of your head saying, I should probably start thinking about school soon.

Emily:

But then you remember you don't even have your class list yet. So you think, Well, I can't really do anything meaningful until I know who my students are, right? And then you go back to your summer reading or your Netflix binge.

Heidi:

If that sounds familiar, you are not alone, but here's a little tough love. Waiting to do anything until you know everything might just be holding you back more than you think.

Emily:

So today, we are giving you a shortcut to feeling prepared with a gentler, low pressure approach that doesn't require having all the puzzle pieces just yet. These are the class list free tasks that help you feel prepared without having to do all the hard stuff now.

Heidi:

If you listen to episode 201 on TV tasks and episode 205 about Power Hour, this is kind of like their calm, cozy cousin. Today we are talking about painless prep. These are tasks that are low time, low effort, no deadline, and totally couch friendly. Yes, you can get things done while watching Bravo.

Emily:

But first we want to acknowledge the emotional roadblocks here. We know some of you are thinking, if I start doing school stuff, it means summer is over, or maybe you're worried about doing the wrong thing because you don't have all the information.

Heidi:

And those feelings totally make sense. Waiting feels safer than starting without your full information. Nobody wants to waste effort or open the door to school thoughts and have the rest of summer swallowed up by work.

Emily:

But it really doesn't have to be like that. There's a way to start gently. If you joined us for our July secret webinar or for last week's episode, hopefully you remember us talking about your readiness anchor. This is how you want to feel when you walk into your classroom on day one. Maybe that's calm or confident or energized.

Heidi:

That goal can be your filter for deciding what's worth doing now. But if you can't even face thinking about that readiness anchor yet, that's totally okay too. Pick a gentler starting place. Sometimes the best way to be overwhelmed isn't to do everything, it's just to do something, something easy, something straightforward and bonus, something you can do from the couch with snacks.

Emily:

It's always better with snacks. When you start with something simple and clear, you're creating momentum, not just adding to a to do list. And momentum is what turns summer anxiety into summer confidence. If you're waiting around for full information before you start, you're just delaying your progress. But clarity doesn't have to come from details. It can come from direction and action.

Heidi:

So let's talk about some painless prep tasks that can give you that direction and still be done from your couch. They're low stress, class list proof, and they're going to build systems that will serve you all year.

Emily:

And speaking of building systems that serve you all year, how's this for a segue, this is exactly what we focus on in our BTS Success course. We help you use those first crucial days to set up a classroom that basically runs itself. If you want more help putting these systems into practice, you can check out the link to BTS Success in the show notes.

Heidi:

But for now, let's talk about four types of painless prep that don't require a class list and why they're actually the shortcut to feeling prepared.

Emily:

First up, we have tasks that will help you prepare for the unexpected. This is sometimes what we call the Donkey Kong strategy. So if you're old enough to remember the original Donkey Kong game, you'll love this analogy. Mario was trying to rescue the princess, and he's already at max capacity, scaling ladders and jumping holes. Then a giant ape starts hurling barrels at him.

Heidi:

The nerve of that ape. Barrel tasks are those things that get hurled at you during the school year when you are already at capacity. The spirit weeks, the school contest, the'surprise, make a poster by tomorrow' moments. We talked about these back in episode 188 if you want lots more examples.

Emily:

If you've taught long enough, you know these obstacles are usually pretty predictable, and yet we never prepare for them. These are things like coworker birthdays, sub plan templates, thank you note stashes, class party supplies, returning from a long break without losing your mind. All those pop up responsibilities that roll at you mid year and then they completely derail your routine.

Heidi:

These don't feel urgent now, but they are going to feel urgent later, and once the school year starts, you really don't have the margin to add anything else to your plate.

Emily:

So since these tasks are coming, whether you're ready or not, you could try picking one of them to prep now. October you will thank July you for having a plan ready to go for Red Ribbon Week.

Heidi:

Our second category of painless prep is independent tasks. These are your solo missions. They're the things you can complete without waiting on teammates, admin, or district decisions.

Emily:

There's such freedom in not needing anyone else's input or approval. You can draft your meet the teacher letter, plan a calming first day welcome activity, or put together emergency sub plans that work any time of the year.

Heidi:

Maybe you want to prep some simple crafts or projects to display in the hallway during parent conferences. You can make the copies now and then cut out all the little pieces, so that you're ready to go in November or whenever your first conference pops up.

Emily:

Or you can work on your emergency sub plans. Plan enough simple activities to fill any random day of school. Then you're all set for a day that you break a tooth or have a sick kid or just need a mental health day.

Heidi:

These kind of tasks are grounding and anchoring. They give you a little burst of control, which can feel really good in a season full of uncertainty.

Emily:

Now, foundation tasks are our third category of painless prep. Some things are sure bets. No matter which students are in your class, if you are a second grade teacher, you can safely assume that your students will be familiar with addition by December. If you teach fourth grade, you know you'll cover place value early on in the year.

Heidi:

So use that information as your starting point. Do you want to make the week before winter break a little saner? Go ahead and copy those December review packets and just fill the pages with September and October level content. Pull together math practice with concepts you teach in that first quarter. And you could even draft writing prompts or reflection pages that you want to use after the break.

Emily:

And we actually have a resource to help you with this. It is our December teacher survival kit, and you can use this to do a little Christmas planning in July, if you want. And it has everything you need to do to make December not the craziest month of the school year. And we'll walk you through everything you need to do. And there's a lot in that you could do now to make December easier.

Heidi:

Some other things you can try are gathering the read alouds that you use every year, or organizing partner games that always work. A good rule of thumb is that if it worked last year and it's not tied to a'maybe we'll get to it by then' standard, go ahead and prep it. That's your green light. These foundation tasks are calming and confidence building, because you know that one way or another, they're going to be useful.

Emily:

So our final category of painless prep is framework tasks. If you don't have your class list yet, no problem. Names come later. Systems come first. You can stuff writing folders without knowing whose name's going to go on them. You can design your class job system even if you don't know who will be the line leader.

Heidi:

This is actually one of the core principles that we teach in our BTS Success course, how to set up classroom systems and routines that work regardless of which specific students you have. The framework is what creates that smooth running classroom.

Emily:

So set up your basic classroom organization, create bulletin boards with blank namespaces, plan your morning routine structure. The power here is in having the structure ready.

Heidi:

And that way, when that class list finally shows up and you're trying to get everything organized, you're not going to be starting from scratch. You'll just be ready to plug kids into a framework that's already humming.

Emily:

Now, you might be thinking, okay, but is any of this really essential to preparing for back to school? And truthfully, no, not all of it is, but that is kind of the point.

Heidi:

Even though Emily and I have spent all summer telling you to prioritize your time and focus on what's essential, right now we are saying that you might need to do the exact opposite. It's how we keep things interesting around here.

Emily:

Yeah. And also, we know that making the bridge between full time summer mode and letting school thoughts in mode can be overwhelming. But the antidote to overwhelm isn't to do everything, it's to do one thing. So when we're overwhelmed, it's because we don't have a clear next step, and we solve that by completing something small and painless.

Heidi:

Then once we're done with that, it makes it easier to take another step. These types of tasks give you momentum, and momentum in the summer, for if you're a teacher, is everything. Because action drives motivation, motivation doesn't drive action. Doing just one of these things can be the jump start that helps you tackle something bigger next week.

Emily:

So how do you actually use this? Well, you could use the power hour strategy that we talked about in episode 205, pick one of these categories and focus on it for just one hour this week.

Heidi:

Or embrace the TV task mindset. Add two or three of these to your couch friendly prep list. These are wins that can happen during downtime.

Emily:

And if you're ready to think about your readiness anchor, ask yourself, which of these tasks would help you feel more the way you want to feel in August.

Heidi:

Okay, before we close, let's quickly recap our four categories of painless prep. We have barrel tasks, which is prepping for unexpected interruptions. Independent tasks, which are things that you can do without anyone else's input. Foundation tasks, where you build from what you already know, even if you don't know everything yet. And framework tasks, which is setting up systems even when you don't have your names.

Emily:

The gentle reminder here is that this is about momentum, not perfection. Every step forward, no matter how tiny, is still progress, and you deserve to feel good about that.

Heidi:

We would love to hear your suggestions for painless prep tasks. Come join the conversation in our Teacher Approved Facebook group.

Emily:

Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and simplify the rest. This week's tip is to create a barrel task calendar. So tell us about that, Heidi.

Heidi:

Well, this just fits so well with our painless prep discussion. So to do this, make a list of all of the predictable barrel tasks that pop up during the school year. And I think this is one of those things where once you start thinking of one, soon the whole list will follow. Think of things like Valentine's Day activities, Teacher Appreciation Week, holiday parties, field trip reminders, the school's annual math night and so on and so on and so on. And then take that list of tasks and assign each task to a month well before it's due. So maybe you prep Valentine's Day activities in January, when you have a little breathing room to get things done, and not on February 12, when you suddenly realize that the holiday is in two days. You can try gathering thank you gifts for your parent helpers and your end of your student gifts in March and not in May, when you can barely think straight. You could even try scheduling one prep time, like the last Monday of the month for tackling the next month's barrel tasks.

Emily:

Once you have your calendar, keep it somewhere, you'll actually see it, maybe on your phone or taped inside a planning binder. When you need a painless task to tackle, you've got options ready to go.

Heidi:

This works because it removes decision fatigue and it spreads the load throughout the year. Instead of all of these tasks hitting you at once during their official times, you are getting ahead of the game.

Emily:

And honestly, there's something so satisfying about having your Valentine's activities already prepped in January. I have to tell you, this is a strategy that works so well for me. I am so much more interested in getting something ready for three months from now than I am with doing the task that needs to be done tomorrow. But it helps, if you can be consistent about always being ahead, you're going to be giving your future self a huge gift, if you take time to do things like this in advance.

Heidi:

To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?

Emily:

I'm giving extra credit to paper liners for the air fryer. So we started using these about six months ago, and we just finished up our first box. So they're fresh on my mind. They have been a total game changer. Our air fryer was such a pain to clean, and especially because it was getting used multiple times throughout the day, and the kids weren't cleaning it after they used it, and then the next kid wanted to use it, but it was dirty. This just makes it so much easier. You just put in the little paper liner and then pull it out and throw it away. It's so easy, and I'll link to the ones that I got in the show notes, but you'll want to make sure you get ones that fit your air fryer.

Heidi:

Yeah, that's smart. I saw something online about getting a silicone mat for your air fryer, and I bought a square, and my air fryer is round, so that did not work.

Emily:

Yep. You got to remember that all air fryers are different. And I did look at silicone, and almost did that, but I was worried that it would make it harder for the airflow, like paper seems like it could rotate around it better, so...

Heidi:

I haven't actually used it, because I had that same, where it's like, how is this gonna work? So I haven't even actually used it, but I went and got the round one, and still haven't used it. The paper sounds good because then you don't have to clean anything.

Emily:

Yeah, that is the win there. What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?

Heidi:

Well, I'm giving extra credit to the Sourdough Mama on Instagram. Have you seen this, Emily?

Emily:

I have not.

Heidi:

Okay, well, you're missing out. Now, I am not any kind of baker. I don't even have aspirations to be a baker, but I love her page so much. She just makes the most beautiful loaves of bread. And it's not just pretty because, you know, all bread is lovely, but this is artistic bread. So before she bakes it, she scores a design in the top of the loaf, and then when it's fresh out of the oven, she cuts the design loose, and it makes the most gorgeous designs, like flower petals that are like blooming or flapping butterfly wings.

Emily:

Oh my gosh.

Heidi:

And she adds color, they're so beautiful. They really are works of art, and it's super soothing to watch her work. I highly recommend her videos if you need a few minutes of calm.

Emily:

Okay, well, I'm checking that out for sure.

Heidi:

That's it for today's episode. Try knocking out one painless prep task this week, and don't forget to create that barrel task calendar.

Emily:

And if you want a complete roadmap for using those first crucial days of school to set yourself up for success all year long, check out our BTS Success course. It is an audio course that shows you exactly how to teach routines, build community and create systems that make your classroom run itself without spending your whole summer planning. We walk you through everything step by step so you can start strong and actually enjoy those first weeks back.

Heidi:

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.

Emily:

And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an episode.

Heidi:

You can connect with us and other teachers in the Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week. Bye for now.

Emily:

Bye.