[00:00:09.090] - Gordon
Hello.
[00:00:09.580] - Taylor
Hello.
[00:00:10.060] - Gordon
My name's Gordon from Drayson Design.
[00:00:11.770] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:00:14.070] - Gordon
And welcome to "This Week With Taylor and Gordon," a weekly podcast and vidcast where we talk about things that have affected our businesses over the last seven days. And welcome back, everyone.
[00:00:24.850] - Taylor
Hasn't been quite seven days from when we're recording this.
[00:00:27.000] - Gordon
Well, that is true. We are recording this early because on Thursday this week, which will be yesterday, when you come to watch this, Taylor's gone away, but we'll talk about that in a minute. We'll explain why. Any news first of all?
[00:00:45.550] - Taylor
Not from me, apart from Snippet Club. The Lifetime deal finished and it was, I think a success. I was happy with how many people subscribed and became members and the feedback that I got was very positive.
[00:01:00.210] - Gordon
Excellent. So now the people who want to join from now on are on a subscription?
[00:01:05.660] - Taylor
Yep.
[00:01:06.430] - Gordon
And with that subscription, you get the opportunity to request tutorials, so it's still a great deal. So go and have a look at it: Snippet Club. Snippets club?
[00:01:17.740] - Taylor
Snippet.
[00:01:18.450] - Gordon
Snippetclub.com.
[00:01:20.980] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:01:21.720] - Gordon
Perfect. There you go. Any news from me? I didn't have any shows at the weekend.
[00:01:28.690] - Taylor
That's very strange.
[00:01:29.000] - Gordon
Which is very strange. But it is nice to have a bit of time off at a weekend that I don't normally have, and I managed to do lots of things around the house. So, yes, I had time off. I got a few things done around the house, which I don't normally do. So, we've got a new security light outside the house, we've got some new lights up in the bathrooms. I set all my radio mic up and haven't had a chance to test it in the field yet. I am really hoping that it works well, because I've got the old one here, I haven't got rid of it yet, just in case. But I will be testing that this coming weekend when I've got three shows. So hopefully, fingers crossed, everything will go well.
[00:02:18.100] - Taylor
Great!
[00:02:18.970] - Gordon
Shall I start today?
[00:02:19.980] - Taylor
Yeah, you can start.
[00:02:21.040] - Gordon
So today I would like to talk about workday preparations. Now, this comes in two different tips, really, and they're things that I've found work really well for me and they might work well for you as well. We have a dog.
[00:02:39.850] - Taylor
Do we?
[00:02:40.470] - Gordon
We have a dog called Marty. And he's lovely, and he gets to go out in the morning for a walk. And so, during the time that I'm walking him, which is sort of 20/25 minutes at the beginning of the day, it gives me a bit of time to think about my day and think about what I did yesterday. Sort of reflect on my achievements, or lack of progress yesterday and thinking about what I've got coming up today. And it's really good time, good use of time, because I come out with some really interesting ideas of what I can do to improve on yesterday, or something that I did yesterday that I'd like to do better, and also it allows me time to think about what I'm going to be doing today and plan it ahead of time as it were. Instead of just sitting down at my desk in my office and getting on with work it gives me just a little bit of time to think about what's going on and I can sort of plan things out. So if I've got errands to run or I've got deliveries to deliver for example, I can sort of plan out the best time that I can do it and try and put them together so I only go out once for example.
[00:03:58.540] - Taylor
So yeah, it's an interesting concept because I know that in the corporate tech industry at least that's very common. So a lot of people might know it as "stand up" and it's normally a check in morning meeting where you stand up and you say, "this is what I was working on yesterday..."
[00:04:19.140] - Gordon
Yes.
[00:04:19.410] - Taylor
"This is what I'm working on today." And you give updates to the rest of the team. Maybe people that are higher than you. You just give them a little update essentially. And it's a similar concept I think, and it's something that I've started doing as well to get myself focused and organized because sometimes, like you said, just getting straight into work, you don't actually think... You don't think about the coming day or the coming weeks.
[00:04:44.880] - Gordon
Yep.
[00:04:45.310] - Taylor
And you don't plan it. You just get on with whatever's on your list, which sometimes you do need to plan because you may have things that are coming up that you need to make sure you can schedule around.
[00:04:55.740] - Gordon
Yeah, and the other thing is if you know sort of what you've got to achieve during a day then you can sort of plan out in your head how long you're going to give to each task. And that might be fluid, it might change but at least you've got sort of the ability to set times during your day. I know you've got a different sort of system, but for me I can set times. I know I need to do this, this and this and I'm going to give this 2 hours, I'm going to give this an hour and I'm going to give this 3 hours and that's a good length of time.
[00:05:28.150] - Taylor
Are you strict with it? So if you give yourself 2 hours and you go over 2 hours do you say "okay, well I'll put that on pause and come back to it," or do you?
[00:05:35.470] - Gordon
Sometimes. Yeah. Because it is fluid. It does change. And your whole day changes sometimes if you get an inquiry... For me, if I get an inquiry through that I need to deal with; it's a big job coming up for example I need to spend time sending a quotation or I need to talk to the client and talk things through, or do a confirmation. That's additional work that I hadn't already planned, but it's quite important because it's work that's coming in which I need to address and deal with. And so sometimes it doesn't always work, but it's a good way to sort of get your head around what needs doing and gives you an idea of what your day is going to look like. So that's what I do in the mornings when I go for my dog walks. And if you haven't got a dog, then, you know, maybe just have a cup of coffee and sit down and just have a think about what you're going to be doing for that day.
[00:06:32.230] - Taylor
Or go for a walk.
[00:06:32.570] - Gordon
Use that time. Or go for a walk.
[00:06:33.790] - Taylor
A lot of people, I think, in lockdown started going for regular daily walks.
[00:06:37.600] - Gordon
Or a run.
[00:06:38.220] - Taylor
Because that was the only option they had really, to get out.
[00:06:40.830] - Gordon
Yeah, that's true. So that's the first tip. The second tip is something I've been doing forever. And I can't remember if I was told about it or if I sort of came up with it on my own, but it's something I always do. And that is... Here we go, there's a question for you, Taylor. When do you check what your schedule is for the day?
[00:07:08.210] - Taylor
The night before and then in the morning.
[00:07:11.440] - Gordon
Yeah. So the night before is, for me something that I've been doing forever now. So it's pretty much the last thing I do before I shut my computer down, or before I go to bed. I will look at tomorrow's diary and see what's happening that day. Now, there's many reasons for this. The first reason is, for me, I can be thinking about this subconsciously while I'm sleeping. So if it's a creative task that I've got coming up. Like I'm designing a poster or something along those lines. My mind, by looking at it last thing at night, my mind is sort of thinking about it and I go to sleep and my unconscious brain thinks about it and I come up with ideas that maybe I wouldn't have come up with had I just looked at it first thing in the morning and then got on with it. So that's the first reason. But more importantly is, if you've got something coming up tomorrow that you forgot about or you haven't prepared for, then by looking at it the night before, it's giving you, what is it, 8 hours? To sort of get yourself ready. So if you have to do an all-nighter for whatever reason you have the ability to do so, you have those 8 hours. I don't recommend it because sleep is important, but you do have a "oh my goodness. I've got this meeting tomorrow, I need to do some notes. I haven't done them yet!" So scheduling is an issue here. You need to sort that out. But by looking at it the night before, you can suddenly go, "right, okay, it's going to take me half an hour. I'm going to do that now before I go to bed, or before I finish work." It could be the last thing you do before you leave work is look at what your schedule is for tomorrow. But it's much more important to do it the day before than it is to do it on the morning of the day, because your brain will be thinking things through and it gives you that extra time and there's gonna be other reasons why it's a good idea as well. You know, you can, if you've got a meeting planned and all of a sudden you realize you can't do that meeting because of something's come up, then at least you can message that person and let them know sort of the day before. Albeit late at night or end of the working day. But at least you can give them a bit of notice rather than suddenly speaking to them on the morning going, "oh! You know that 10:00 meeting we had. I can't do it. So sorry." And realizing at 9:30. Which is never good. So it does give you the opportunity to deal with things like that. Have you found any other advantages to doing that?
[00:09:58.990] - Taylor
No, I think most of the reasons...
[00:10:00.300] - Gordon
I've mentioned most of them, haven't I?
[00:10:01.710] - Taylor
Most of the reasons are why I do it as well.
[00:10:03.880] - Gordon
Yeah. So that's something I've been doing forever now. And I highly recommend last thing before you go to sleep, before you leave your work day, have a look at your day tomorrow, see what it entails, just so it's fresh in your mind, really. That's it. Right. What are you doing? Why are we recording this this week?
[00:10:22.710] - Taylor
So, last week, I very kind of last minutely decided to go to America. So yesterday, for when this goes out, I will be on a plane, or I was on a plane going to America.
[00:10:42.280] - Gordon
Talking about the future, in the past. It's so strange.
[00:10:46.390] - Taylor
So this came about because I have a friend who is modelling at New York Fashion Week and basically said, "do you want to come along?" And they went a couple of months ago, I think, and they literally told me the day they were flying and said, "do you want to come?" And it was a bit late notice. And then they asked me again when they were going to Italy for a similar reason, said, "I'm going to Italy, do you want to join me?" Now they're getting an all expense paid trip, so hotel and travel, which I'm very jealous of, but they said, "do you want to come and join me?" And I said, "well..."
[00:11:19.300] - Gordon
Can I spend time with you?
[00:11:20.460] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:11:20.800] - Gordon
Come and hang out.
[00:11:21.460] - Taylor
So I said yes. So I booked a flight, I booked flights for ten days and in that time I'm going to New York, which is obviously where New York Fashion Week is, and then I will be spending a week in Ohio, which people always go, "Ohio? Why there? There's nothing over there." Mainly because I have a friend, a couple of friends that live there and I wanted to go and see them. So that's what my trip is going to be.
[00:11:49.290] - Gordon
So this was very last minute. And the nice thing about the job you do is that you can do this, because you can just up sticks, grab your computer, make sure that wherever you're going has got internet, and you can carry on working.
[00:12:02.010] - Taylor
Exactly. And my two favourite cities are London and New York. Very much, because they're both very bustling cities, people walk with purpose and things like that, but they're also different in the way that London is very historical and old, and New York is very kind of new and modern. Well, London's still modern, but London has a lot of history to it, whereas New York doesn't have as much of that just because of the time that it's been kind of around. And I just love the kind of the vibe of both cities. And so one of the reasons for wanting to go to New York is just to sit in a café and kind of work from there. Because it's always been a dream of mine. Just because I work, I'm self-employed and I can kind of work essentially remotely. That I've always thought just being able to sit in a café by Central Park and look out at the city going by and working has always been a dream of mine, and so I thought, because I've got no responsibilities, or no commitments, that why not go, really?
[00:13:03.640] - Gordon
Now's the time to do it. Yeah, definitely. When I was your age, I was similar. I went and visited friends in Canada, stayed with them for a couple of weeks. I was a Blue Coat at a holiday park, so I did that when I was 18. So it would have been sort of three, maybe four years ago from the age you are now. And I kept friends with a few people and I went and spent time with people in Somerset and in Devon and Yorkshire and all over the place. And it was nice just to be able to do that, just get in the car, in my case, and drive off. Or get a plane to Canada and see my friends there. And now is definitely the time to do it. While you have no mortgage or significant half or children or anything.
[00:13:54.040] - Gordon
I just thought it'd be a good experience, nice experience to travel by myself, because I've done it once, obviously, when I went to America. Well, I've done it twice when I went to America in February, and then also again in Porto. But, yeah, I just thought it would be a fun experience.
[00:14:11.960] - Gordon
So, what's on the list? You're going to obviously spend time with your friends that are over there. Anything else on your list to do?
[00:14:19.470] - Taylor
I want to do Brooklyn Bridge.
[00:14:21.190] - Gordon
Okay, go and see Brooklyn Bridge.
[00:14:23.510] - Taylor
Mainly because when we went in December 2019, which was just before Covid, I was sort of ill and so I wasn't able to walk around New York for a long period of time without sitting down or whatever, and on that specific day that we kind of went over to Brooklyn, I was struggling and we didn't manage to walk over the bridge, so that's something I really want to do, and just walk it, essentially. I think I'll visit the 9/11 Memorial again because it's quite a surreal experience. I've done the museum, which we did, but I think just obviously going to the memorial. Maybe on one of the evenings, get the Staten Island Ferry, because getting the Staten Island Ferry back towards New York during kind of sunset time gives you a really nice view of the city with obviously the sunset in the background, which obviously is really nice.
[00:15:26.920] - Gordon
So the good news is you'll have your phone with you, which has got a camera on it. Not a great camera when you're talking about a whole skyline of Manhattan, but will you be taking any other camera with you?
[00:15:39.810] - Taylor
I might do. However, I'm also conscious of weight and I've got to carry it around. I've got to look after it, obviously, for being stolen.
[00:15:51.880] - Gordon
Security reasons.
[00:15:52.930] - Taylor
More than anything, really. So, yeah, it all depends on, I guess, how much I want to be carrying that around, because it's not something that, especially in New York, it's not something I can just leave at the place I'm staying.
[00:16:07.090] - Gordon
No.
[00:16:07.760] - Taylor
So I want to be careful. But also the camera on your phone is actually very, very good. And I've got, obviously, the wide angle lens on my phone, which is an iPhone 13 Pro, which I have. So, yeah, I've got the wide angle lens, a high quality camera, so it does a good job. So, I wouldn't say that...
[00:16:26.430] - Gordon
Okay, perfect. Well it sounds like you're going to have a lovely time and I do hope that when you get back, you will tell us all about it. It does mean that we may not have a This Week With for the next couple of weeks, because Taylor's away for ten days, starting on a Thursday, so there's two Fridays that it covers there. So we may try and do a zoom one, which we have done before, that might be quite good, just to catch up with you and see where you are, what you're doing. Maybe we'll try and get that happening, but if not, we'll be back as soon as Taylor returns from his trip and he'll tell you all about it. Anything else you want to say?
[00:17:09.990] - Taylor
I think that's everything.
[00:17:11.590] - Gordon
That's it for today, then. Thank you so much for joining us. If you have enjoyed it, please like, share, and subscribe. It really does help us.
[00:17:20.100] - Taylor
You can also go to our website thisweekwith.co.uk to find any past episodes and topics we may have spoken about.
[00:17:27.160] - Gordon
And I should have said we're on Facebook and on YouTube. Until whenever... It might be next Friday, it might be the Friday after. It might even be the Friday after that. But whenever it is...
[00:17:39.070] - Taylor
At some point in the near future.
[00:17:40.530] - Gordon
It will be one of the next three Fridays and it'll be at 1 o'clock. We will see you then. Until then, my name is Gordon and I'm from Drayson Design.
[00:17:49.540] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:17:52.440] - Gordon
Goodbye.
[00:17:53.070] - Taylor
Bye.
