The Busy Creator Podcast with Prescott Perez-Fox

Latest Episodes:

The Busy Creator 16 w/guest Marie Poulin Jul 28, 2014

Show notes

Marie Poulin (@MariePoulin) is a Digital Strategist and Web Designer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Following her early work in a small Toronto-based studio, Marie set out on her own and established a solo web design practice before making a more recent transition to strategy. Marie has taken on more self-initiated projects, launchingDigital Strategy School, powered by Doki, the online teaching platform she helped build. Along the way she’s become resourceful and has had to teach herself a host of new skills. Marie can be seen on her site, MariePoulin.com

Show Notes & Links

Marie formerly called herself a “Digital Craftswoman” (because it’s more than just craft these days)
Lately, Marie does 60% her work; 40% client work
Oki-Doki
Digital Strategy School, for designers – 10–12 beta testers
“To teach is to learn twice”
York-Sheridan joint program in Design
Thinkhouse Design
Getting Things Done, by David Allen

Work The System, by Sam Carpenter
Erica Heinz & Niki Brown, web designer guests on The Busy Creator
Joel Duggan & Laura Thomas, Canadian guests on The Busy Creator
Marie is not a morning person, so she’s set up her workflows around this

Tools

Basecamp, for client management
RescueTime, tracks what you’re working on
Systematic Success
Get Stuff Done Like A Boss: Design Your Workflow and Double Your Productivity in 21 Days, on Skillshare
Amazon, for lawn-care equipment
SASS
Flow app
IFTTT
Evernote
Google Docs/Drive
Wishlist, WordPress plugin
TextExpander
ClipMenu
TextMate or Sublime Text, text editors for web design
Timely app
Pillow Fight
Squamish, BC
Gaelic Football
Fitbit, which nags me during the day

Techniques

Be mindful of different working styles and personalities in a multi-disciplinary team
Facebook groups for professional insight
Share your behind-the-scenes process will help your peers and the industry
Use Wishlist to have your clients become “members”, with on-boarding and training built in
Set up a secret Pinterest board to collaborate with clients
Record your screen to teach staff necessary tasks
Number tasks and task components for easy organization
No meetings on Mondays
Use a Vision Board — a place to list goals for the month or year, big plans and project.

Habits

Take it upon yourself to learn new skills
Pick up good habits from the jobs you have; leave the bad ones
Learn best practices [for programming] from a true developer
Design your morning routine, even if it’s a later morning
Share your processes with people, even if it’s imperfect
Keep a “praise” folder in Evernote, email, etc.

The Busy Creator 15 w/guest Todd Henry Jul 21, 2014

Show notes

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 15 w/author, speaker, and creative consultant Todd Henry

Todd Henry (@ToddHenry) is an author, speaker, workshop leader, and creative consultant who has written two books on practices observed in successful creative professionals, and tactics for being prolific, brilliant, and healthy. He regularly speaks and consults with companies about how to develop practices and systems for success. In addition, he’s been writing and podcasting since 2005 on his website,Accidental Creative. Read more about Todd on his personal site.

For this particular discussion, we were slightly pressed for time, so to augment our chat, here is a video of Todd speakingat Creative Mornings in Cincinnati in November 2013.

Show Notes & Links

The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry
Die Empty by Todd Henry
The Accidental Creative Podcast (iTunes, Stitcher)
Prescott calls Todd “The Patron Saint of Creative Productivity”
Todd calls himself an “Arms Dealer for the Creative Revolution”
“We battle against uncertainty everyday.”
Mitch Joel, “Embrace the Squiggle“
Todd started as a musician, “as successful as [one] can be without being successful.”
“You can navigate to where you want to be from wherever you are.”
Purpose Paralysis — being halted by the search for The Thing
Rugby is a game of inches. Keep the ball; move forward one inch.
Writing a book is simple, but it isn’t easy. Same with running a marathon.
Focus is how you define the edges of your work.
Relationships help you see the world through different lenses.
Energy needs management; not just time.
Stimuli are things that inform your creative process.
Hours are the currency of productivity.
Don’t make friends, launch friends.
Your job is to make your boss’s job easier. Be resourceful.
Todd’s rhythms change throughout the year with his children, or with his speaking calendar. By season, essentially.
“The seeds of tomorrow’s brilliance are planted in the soil of today’s activity.”
Todd’s next book will be released summer 2015

Techniques

Break down large, difficult tasks into smaller bits. e.g. “Take one pill.”
Look for milestones on which to build motivation. Don’t start over every time.
Establish problem statements for each challenge or project. Your mind is wired to solve problems, not broad concepts.
Distill problems into The Big Three. The largest open loops in your life. Write those down so your mind can dwell on them.
Avoid relationships of convenience or obligation. Instead, build a circle of trusted people to discuss inspiration, challenges.
Develop a study plan which you can stick to.
Work on unneccesary creating.
Wake up early to chat with your circle.
Look out for unclear definitions of work.
Look out for unintentional stimuli (CNN, YouTube)
Do not check your email in the middle of the night out of fear-of-being-out-of-the-loop. That’s just absurd.
Let your rhythms serve you, not the other way around

Habits

Embrace the ebb and flow of productive seasons.
Work on being F.R.E.S.H. (Focus, Relationships, Energy, Stimuli, Hours)
Speak to your circle regularly
Prune your obligations to preserve energy.
Evaluate which tasks are effective, not just efficient
Create habits of design, not default. Avoid the need for approval of others; listen to our own internal compass.
Be ruthless about your time and energy; don’t let people chip away at your best hours.

The Busy Creator 14 w/guest Novelist Laura Thomas Jul 07, 2014

Show notes

Laura Thomas (@Laura_Raptor) is a writer living and working in Canada. Previously, she has published a full-length novel, but has changed her focus to the short form novella, especially in the Erotica genre. Laura has created a productive workflow and lifestyle that allows her to publish up to three stories per week to online and via electronic platforms like the Amazon Kindle.

Check out Laura under her pen name, Selena Storm, (@Selena_Storm) where you can find about 40 titles.

Show Notes & Links

Apologies to Joel Duggan, our first international guest
Laura lives in Hamilton, Ontario
Virginia Wade
EL James
Novels are 80,000 words; lately Laura’s works are 5000-7000 (better returns for the genre)
How stories are born
Laura is inspired by things that interest her
For some people, kink/fetish comes first; Laura does the opposite finding the setting first
There’s only so many ways to say “he put this in that.”
“I felt like I was north of The Wall” (a reference to the winter of 2013-14 and A Song of Ice and Fire)
Wrestlemania, inspired some of the content in her books
Laura does her own cover design
Laura’s husband is a comic artist
“New York Publishing”
Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Laura self-publishes her stuff because publishers take too much money
Scott Sigler, author and self-publisher, also goes it alone
The New York Times Bestseller List
Vanity Printing
National Novel-Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) should be succeeded by National Novel-Editing Month
“The days of the celebrity author are done.”
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, and the “Hit Model”
Publish or Perish (not just for professors)
Laura publishes 3 short stories per week
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, and The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by “A. N. Roquelaure.” (actually Anne Rice)
Silvia Day, prolific author in romance/erotica
Cosmopolitan, a communal effort for graphics, photography, print, etc.
Laura & her husband have a podcast, The Untitled Mike & Laura Project
Ghost Adventures
Bigfoot Erotica and other books by Virginia Wade
“There’s no such thing as an overnight success.”

Tools

A smart phone, for recording thoughts/ideas on the go
Living room PC, for streaming videos and Google Docs, etc.
MS Word
Amazon (Amazon Canada)
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble (in Britain, but not yet Canada)
Twitter is the number 1 platform for communicating/promoting
Tumblr
DeviantArt (for book covers with some text explanation)
GoodReads, hit or miss from a promotion point of view
Audible, and their star-rating
KDP Select, for Kindle
Reddit, if you find the right communities

Techniques

Use a crummy computer to avoid distractions while writing
Use a different computer in a different setting to see a document with fresh eyes
As the document evolves, use an e-reader to keep things fresh
Format the text for each format, following guidelines for each publishing platform and device
Write three books to sell as a bundle (buy two get the third free)
Try disconnecting from the Internet to actually get something done

Habits

Create a morning routine, as you would for a job
Keep the “lunch break” brief
Treat writing — and promotions — like a full-time job
Some kind of media (like television) in the background

The Busy Creator 13 w/guest Blake Stratton Jun 16, 2014

Show notes

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 13 with Singer-Songwriter-Musician Blake Stratton

Blake Stratton (@BlakeStratton) is a Nashville-based musician and songwriter. In his twenties he was a touring musician living the Nashville lifestyle. Lately, he’s switched toward collaborating and composing, as well as seeking to connect independent creatives through his blog and podcast, Life in The Woods. With Prescott, he discusses the virtues of waking up early, the struggle for continued creative success, and the strangeness of the music profession.

Show Notes & Links

Musicians, and their nocturnal schedules
“I do my best creative work in the morning time.”
Will Power, and its finite nature
Teenage physiology, and wake-up time
Before-school programs at work, to accommodate working parents
Blake is an introvert. He creates where no one else does.
Rush hour in New York is (at least) 2.5 hours
Blake’s podcast, Life in The Woods, catered toward “independent creatives”
Blake was, until very recently, a “working musician”
Prescott has “no idea what it’s like to be a musician”
Studio-style production of music, which we might call “staff writers”, as opposed to “independent artists”
Writing season, recording season, touring season
Ben Rector, independent artist
“The best songs happen in, like, an hour.”
Art is like mining. You have to extract it all without breaking it.
Where 90% of Great Writing Happens, a podcast episode by Blake
Todd Henry, who encourages us to “maximize the number of creative accidents”
Jonathan Coulton‘s project, Thing A Week
Music in the Classical sense. But not “Classical”. I just mean old-fashioned. Written.
Blake studied upright bass in the European classical orchestral tradition.
The Nashville Number System, how musician do it down there
Joaquin Cotler, also a musician
David Wood, podcaster
Killing It or Crushing It — positive terms, in fact
Getting Things Done by David Allen
lifeinthewoodspodcast.com/rate, direct link to rate Blake’s podcast
The Bellevue EP on iTunes, Spotify, and Band-camp

Tools

Evernote
Google Drive and Dropbox
Day One, journal app for iOS
DoIt.im, app for GTD

Techniques

No two songwriters have the same process
Allow yourself to have “seasons”, where you push hard for a while, and then relax.
Go on a “Songwriter Retreat” to purposefully (and forcefully) disconnect
Use Evernote to keep journals, song lyrics, etc.
Use a “Trigger” when you start a habit. Ask “what’s the domino effect?”

Habits

Waking up early. Something Prescott and Blake both do.
Create a “Gratitude Habit”, write down things you’ve done well.
High-Low, name one “high” and one “low” of the day. Do this before you go to sleep.

The Busy Creator 12 w/guest Will Hudson Jun 02, 2014

Show notes

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 12 with guest Will Hudson

Will Hudson (@WillHudson) is the Co-Founder and Director of It’s Nice That, a publishing company that champions creativity across the world of art & design. Together with Prescott, he discusses how It’s Nice That began as an art school project and grew into a publishing empire cum creative agency in London. We also hear about Will’s productivity habits, and how he manages the assault of so much email.

Show Notes & Links

Prescott and Will met a few times, in New York and in London
It’s Nice That began as a university project
INT publishes about 9 articles per day, across art, design, fashion, film, animation, etc.
The difference is “creative expertise” and giving all submissions equal weight
Printed Pages, quarterly magazine
Here London, annual creative symposium
Nicer Tuesdays, a monthly event
First Broadcast, audio-visual site
Company of Parrots, a shop
This At There, London events listing
Studio Audience, weekly podcast
Core offerings: online, monthly events, the magazine
INT Works is a creative agency that now operates independently from It’s Nice That publication methods
“Don’t get too content with the way we publish content”
Will’s background is graphic design and photography, but there was “academic interest”
Alex runs INT Works and client projects; Will runs editorial. Happened naturally that way.
It’s Nice That’s editor-in-chief, Rob Alderson (@RobAlderson)
“… become the Ambassador of the company, rather than the Sergeant Major.”
the commute from Brighton to London
“Email seems so defunct for a 21st century operation.”
Email: 10% need a reply; 20% get a reply for politeness; the rest is rubbish
Online editor Liv Siddall (@LivSiddall)
An article exists to: showcase the work, and to give context (not just a gallery)
Special effects dad creates videos of his son
Google’s search algorithms
Facebook’s sharing of page content
Banner advertising vs. new, interesting content
Vice
Steer, web development courses
WorkOutOfWork.com

Tools

One sheet of A4 paper (double sided) for the week
Paper and Pen, to make sure.
Macs, with email.
Evernote
A3 sheet of paper for Editorial planning
Google Doc
Folders of screen-grabs
Highrise
Pocket (formerly Read It Later)

Techniques

Mix old-school and new-school methods
T.R.A.P. your email (Toss, Reply, Action item, or Pass). Leave off the last P for procrastinate.
Pick up the phone to save time on Email
Have a Monday morning meeting with everyone. Keep it to under an hour.
Build a system that will be stressed down the road
Host editorial meetings to preview ideas and prioritize publishing order
Write your blog posts with future discovery in mind
Approach change positively, as a challenge, even when it’s from Facebook
Move email conversations to Twitter to keep them short

Habits

Do an hour’s work on the train during the morning commute; use the time to clean up thoughts and work through email
If someone emails you personally, respond. Even if it’s short.
Take a screenshot of your [company's] website everyday
Get the early start — 1.5 hrs in the office before everyone else arrives
Change your routine so you can see things differently, and re-evaluate priorities

The Busy Creator 11 w/guests Michael Sacca & Alex Rolek May 19, 2014

Show notes

The Busy Creator episode 11, w/guests Michael Sacca and Alex Rolek, co-founders of Brandisty.com

Michael Sacca (@MichaelSacca) and Alex Rolek (@AlexRolek) are the co-founders of Brandisty.com, a website that allows companies to put their brand on the web. The duo started out as a small agency doing web design and software development before shifting towards a B2B product. Along with Prescott, they discuss the origins of Brandisty, how they went about getting early feedback, and the day to day scrappiness of running a small web software company.

Show Notes & Links

Brandisty is a small software company, about 5 staffers plus contractors
TinyFactory, the agency from which Brandisty was born
Brandisty’s inception was born from frustration — “can I get a transparent PNG?”
Valio Con, a design conference where Brandisty was introduced as a beta product
The Busy Creator on Brandisty
Delete Blood Cancer on Brandisty
TinyFactory started as an agency
Michael studied the music business
Alex studied finance and real estate development
Entrepreneurs struggle to install productivity habits
Distractions at work are annoying
The difference between marketing and sales
The conference was to validate the idea
“customer service is our marketing”
Say Rhythm rather than Routine.
Alex endorses a lifestyle of moderation

Tools

Brandisty.com, (obviously)
HTML5
Node.js
AoHell (RIP)
Visual Basic
Amazon Web Services: Route 53, EC2, Virtual Private Cloud, S3
SublimeText, the text editor of choice
TextMate, also good
Git and custom Git servers, rather than GitHub
GoLang, a language for lower-level image processing
Trello, for project management
Do.com (RIP), Jira — other project management software tools
Salesforce, the owners of Do.com
gChat and Skype to keep track of remote workers
Google Docs for company-wide assets
Medium, well-read site but doesn’t convert well
Reddit, as an underrated communication medium
Designer News and Hacker News
Inbound.com / Hubspot.com
GrowthHackers.com
HOW Forums (RIP)
Creative Mornings
Likemind

Techniques

Use a blackboard in your office. Keep it old school
Keep a Kanban board with projects; rearrange as necessary
Use small post-its on the cards
Don’t use a mobile phone app to do your laundry (it’s not needed!)
Use the Rubber Duck test
Template your email responses and communication tools
Set “Do Not Disturb” mode for the working day, counter-interuitively
Generate potential leads, do some research, ask them to become beta testers
Generate leads from content and social media
Aim for better quality traffic, not necessarily more
Give up coffee or alcohol; observe results.
Don’t forget to read books, in addition to blog posts, to learn other people’s perspectives

Habits

Get everyone together for planning and vision; let people work independently from there
Monday morning meeting: plan the week, review stats, update on all departments
Friday meeting focused on marketing and to review stats
Handle communication and responses in the morning; focus on productivity the rest of the day
Alex favors the “anti-routine”, and fear of monotony. Varies his wake-up and work-out times.
Michael favors a strict routine (due to fatherhood). Gym in the morning, breakfast, show, and off to work.
Wake up before the sun rises.
Try networking events in the morning, rather than those in the evenings

The Busy Creator 10, w/guest Erica Heinz May 05, 2014

Show notes

The Busy Creator Podcast episode 10, with guest Web Designer Erica Heinz

Erica Heinz (@ericaheinz) is a web designer in Brooklyn, NY. As a veteran freelancer, she’s work for a variety of clients and sectors, lately focusing on fast development around humanitarian and public sector projects. She’s also a teacher of web design, and of yoga. Together, Prescott and Erica discuss tools of the trade, best practices for web designers, how to continue to learn, and how to avoid becoming overwhelmed by systems. This episode features the most in-depth show notes to date, with a ton of links to websites, tools, and tips.

Show Notes & Links

Previous web designers on The Busy Creator Podcast, Niki Brown
Erica does Humanitarian Work and Rapid-Responce work
Occupy Sandy, built in 6 Days
Peace Talks in Ireland for the Council on Foreign Relations
A microsite for Richard Branson’s B Team, done in 3 weeks
Prototyping
Prescott hates the term “Product Designer” in the realm of Web Design
“Visual Designer” is a term that was fast outdated
Description vs. Rank in terms of job titles
Erica started in illustration, switched to design for the problem-solving
Terms like “New Media” for early Internet instruction
From fashion to packaging to software, Erica’s freelance career
Erica is an early adopter, but not bleeding edge
Studiomates, bunch of smart people
Using SASS to streamline a web workflow
BusyCreator.com is really just the basics
A Book Apart‘s books
Parsons, The New School for Design
ADOCHD (ADHD with OCD thrown in there)
“I have CDO …”
Blister pack of pills … for OCD
“The Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone“
Not everything is a checkbox (I’m looking at you, Basecamp.)
Getting Things Done philosophy
“GitHub is the new View Source.”
“HTML elements are like the alphabet.”
Jen Simmons on Drupal.org
Jonnie Hallman on Ruby on Rails
“Do things the long, hard, stupid way.“
So-called “Hacker/Garage Culture”
“A really good website lasts two years, and then it’s gone.”
Agile development
EricaHeinz.com

Tools

SASS
Digital Typography on the web: Adobe Typekit, @font-face, etc.
HTML5 (with fallbacks)
Codekit, a way to compile code locally on your Mac
Coda, a text editor
SublimeText, another text editor
Emmet, CSS shorthand
Chrome, and its extensions
Safari, fewer extensions but many the same
Awesome Screenshot, extensions
1Password, a Mac/iOS utility to store passwords
Pinboard, social bookmarking for introverts
Instapaper
Dropmark, quick-saving of images, links
Pocket, formerly Read It Later
Stylebot, add a new CSS
Bit.ly, for shortening
Gimme Bar, for random stuff
Browser Resize, for viewing your site in multiple sizes
Pepperplate, for recipes
Momentum, for new tabs
Basecamp
Kanban Flow
Dragdis, a browser add-on to quick-save items
Sprint.ly, collaboration for development
Waffle.io, a Kanban board for GitHub issues
TeuxDeux
Multiple Inboxes for Gmail
Coloured Stars add-on
Pivotal Tracker (which Erica refuses to use)
Slack, combines IRC and file changes, great for team communication
Subversion
LayerVault, version control for Photoshop
Editorial.ly, collaborative writing
Dropbox, with previous revisions
Google Drive
Skillshare
Bourbon/Bourbon Neat
CSS Mixins
Code Academy

Techniques

Clarify team roles as to who does what (e.g. UX, front-end design, back-end dev.)
Stay ahead of the curve to avoid headache later
Use Post-Its on a wall; colour-code for different aspects
Keep a postcard wall (outside of the computer)
Rearrange your Top 3 on the board, use small Post-Its on top of the index cards
Find a set of tools that work for you. You don’t have to be up-to-date on everything.
Go for 80%; let go of the compulsive tweaking of the last bit.
Use three-letter client codes
Use bullets to indicate time requirements (e.g. •••big effort, •not so much)
Learn how to build stuff from scratch
Be honest about what you should be doing in each moment
Try yoga or breathing techniques

Habits

Systematize your projects for sharing and collaborating.
Maintain the system, but not to a crippling degree.
Keep email separated by inboxes
Keep learning. Keep updating your workflows and skills.
Erica’s workflow Phase 1. Content and Site Map, Brand
Erica’s workflow Phase 2. Visual expression, typography, and details
Erica’s workflow Phase 3. Development, frameworks
Comment your own HTML and CSS code (e.g. “// Trust me, keep this.”)
Change your routines every once in a while
Erica is a night owl, enjoys being “out of sync”
Break your day into 2- or 3-hour chunks
Keep “busy” work for later in the day, when your brain is tired

The Busy Creator 9, Evernote for contact management w/guest Bob Stanke Apr 28, 2014

Show notes

Bob Stanke (@BobStanke) is the Director of Digital Media for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Over the years, he’s become an expert in Evernote, and has created several workflows he uses everyday to manage his bookmarks and other important information. In this episode, he shares with Prescott how he designed a system to use Evernote for contact management, including how that translates to use on mobile devices and how to create searchable data for future use.

Show Notes & Links

Google+ Podcasters Community
Evernote manages every aspect of Bob’s Life
Minnesota Timberwolves
BobStanke.com, media consulting on the side
Bob’s original blog post, Evernote as a Contact Management
Evernote is a blank slate
Bob likes to gather as much info as possible (name, address, birthday, spouse’s name, etc.)
Evernote beats Outlook/Contacts because it’s on all devices. It’s a central location.
Evernote lacked a reminder system, a way to create automated events. It’s now included.
No automation, unfortunately (ex. Thank-you emails)
It’s not a perfect system. Bob would love to develop his own.
Lifehacker
Evernote for sharing between teams/households
Bob’s podcasts: Minnesota Tech News Daily, The Springpad Podcast
Another blog post, How to Manage Web Bookmarks in Evernote
Bob like animated GIFs (who doesn’t?)
Bob uses Google+ for photo management; Google Drive for documents
How I Use Evernote and Google Drive Together

Tools

Evernote, of course
Google+ (+Bob Stanke, +Prescott Perez-Fox, +The Busy Creator)
Outlook
Apple Address Book/Contacts
IFTTT (If This Than That)
Zapier
Basecamp and Podio, project mgmt tools
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Microsoft Access
Evernote Business Account, for sharing with employees, contractors, virtual assistants
FollowUpThen.com
Mailbox for Android (part of Dropbox, actually)
Kippt
Cloud.app (on the Mac)
Google Drive
Carousel by Dropbox, for photo management

Techniques

Use pre-defined notes
Build your own workflow, if you have a complex, custom need
Set up an email-into system to create Notes on the fly
Make custom fields (ex. Pet) as you need them
Use a #Hashtag in a Note to create fast-search capabilities
Integrate Evernote with Android phones to make calls quickly
Use Evernote to create podcast show notes
Use FollowUpThen for job-hunting, get better responses

Habits

Record notes about people after meeting them
Use FollowUpThen to stay in touch with people, especially after meeting
Add metadata to a bookmark when adding to Evernote

The Busy Creator 8, w/guest Ashley Milne Tyte, Journalist & Radio Producer Apr 21, 2014

Show notes

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 8 w/guest Ashley Milne-Tyte

Prescott chats with Ashley Milne-Tyte (@ashleymilnetyte), a journalist, radio producer, and podcaster living in New York City. Together they discuss the daily grind of journalists and the process for recording and editing audio segments for radio and podcasts. We hear Ashley’s workflow and habits, and her plans to improve productivity as spring approaches.

Also, please note that Ashley is looking for an intern. If you’re interested in working alongside a podcast and radio producer in New York, please get in touch with her, via her site.

Show Notes & Links

The Broad Experience podcast
Women in the Workplace theme, including tangential themes like sex
Episodes include: Emotions at Work, How Aging Affects a Women’s Career, The Man Show
Ashley worked at Marketplace, the Public Radio business show
Metro, the commuter newspaper
The Financial Times, The Daily News, The Independent,Women of Influence — where Ashley has written
The New York Creative Class Busy-body
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
The Handspring Visor and Palm Pilot, which didn’t sync
NBC News
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Radio Boot Camp at Columbia Journalism School
Dan Ariely
BBC Global News Podcast
Grammar Girl Podcast
This Week in Tech
On Waking Up Early, an article
The Broad Experience on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud

Tools

Post-it notes
Google Calendar
Getting Things Done methodology
Final Cut
Adobe Audition
Skype or Google Hangouts for hosting podcasts
Voice Recorder on the iPhone
Workflowy

Techniques

Use memory and self-discipline
Have a physical to-do list, cross things off
Get things out of your head — as soon as you think of it
Create a system for repetitive tasks, like conducting podcast interviews
Have interviewees record themselves using an iPhone and app
A lot of editing for podcasts; more than just a conversation. But not recommended.
Keep your podcasts short and punchy

Habits

Control Everything, a bad habit that affects women more than men
Gym time in the morning
Pilates on Saturdays
Twice a week, spend an hour taking care of things before getting dressed

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 7 with Designer & Blogger Courtney Eliseo Apr 07, 2014

Show notes

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 7 with Designer & Blogger Courtney Eliseo

Prescott chats with Courtney Eliseo, graphic designer and founder of the popular design blog Design Work Life. They discuss keeping organized as a solo designer, the workflow of writing blog posts, and the balance of running a content business while staying relevant as a practitioner.

Show Notes & Links

Seamless Creative, Courtney and her husband’s design practice
Graphicology
Design Work Life on Pinterest
Courtney on Skillshare
perez-fox.com, Prescott’s design blog (since January 2006)
Prescott went to grad school
RSS, for reading blogs
The “brass ring” is clientless work
Courtney lives by her to-do list
Design Work Life is a show-and-tell blog. No problem with that.
Both Courtney and Prescott use Harvest for time-tracking
Omnifocus for to-do lists. Good because it’s based on GTD
Courtney’s husband is a web developer
Past Busy Creator guest Armin Vit is half of a husband-wife team
Prescott’s grandparents are a husband-wife team, married for 70 years.
Paul Graham, from Y Combinator wrote about Maker’s Time vs. Manager’s Time
Customizing Apps in Podio
Work.com and Do.com, both by SalesForce
Asana, a checklist turned project management app
“It’s impossible to find the perfect handbag.” —Jill Fox
Software as a Service
AJAX
“… emailing back and forth — especially files — especially MS Word docs — it’s just terrible.”
Jackson and Graham, contributors to Design Work Life
Courtney wants to experiment with a virtual assistant
Courtney is up at 6:00; at work by 7:30
Businessology, with Jason Blumer & Dan Mall

Tools

Techniques

Dedicate one day to separate aspects of the business (client work, blog, finances, etc.)
When designing a brand identity, think of digital from day one
Use the to-do list over the calendar
Build workflows and automation for recurring tasks, such as resizing images for your blog
Listen to podcasts while you work

Habits

Stick to a plan
Meet with your boss every other week, review time
Generate a time report in Harvest
Create a “Dollar Jar” at work. Give $1 every time you email about a project instead of post on Basecamp (or your tool of choice)
Wake up early. (oatmeal optional)

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The Busy Creator Podcast with Prescott Perez-Fox

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected