How Do I WFH during the Summer without Losing My Sh*t? Tips from Branda Villacob and Melanie Battistelli [Ep. 153]

 
 

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Here’s what to expect from this episode:

Working from home just hits differently during the summer. As a former teacher, one of the things I definitely was not prepared for when I started my business was how much I would miss taking time off during the summer.

There's just something about that warm sunshine that just makes it harder to sit at a desk and get things done. Plus, around here, at least, schools are out at the end of May, which means my daughter is home and ready to go all the things. Our routines are off, and frankly, I just lose some of my usual motivation during the summer months.

At the time this episode airs, I'm also out on maternity leave. So I asked my friends Melanie and Branda to take over the podcast this week, and they definitely delivered! They're here to share some great work-from-home tips this summer so you don't completely lose your sanity and get stuff done while also having fun.

You'll hear tips on taking time off, having kids home during the summer, sharing a workspace, and more. I hope this episode helps motivate you to push through those days that just feel hard as a business owner this summer.

Mel and Branda have their own co-hosted podcast called Chaos to Conversations. So, definitely head over there and add it to your library after listening to this episode. Mel is a launch strategist and OBM, and Branda is an amazing copywriter, so they've got all kinds of good stuff in that podcast. But for now, let's hear their summer work-from-home tips!

And don't forget to let us know what motivates you during the summer! Tag us on Instagram @podcastingforeducators, @duxburydigital, and @therelevantcollective.

Topics Covered:

  • Setting realistic expectations and to-do lists

  • Sharing a workspace

  • Work from home tips when your kids are home

  • Intentionally planning, meetings, and taking time off

 
work-from-home tips

MEET Melanie and Branda:

Melanie and Branda are two entrepreneurs who are navigating the ups and downs of running a business. Melanie is an online business manager and launch strategist who has helped her clients generate a combined $1 million in revenue. Branda is a copywriter and content strategist who has helped over 50+ small business owners reach their pinch-me goals.

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  • Sara Whittaker 0:00

    I don't know about you, but working from home just hits differently during the summer. As a former teacher, one of the things I definitely was not prepared for when I started my business was how much I would miss some time off during the summer. There's something about that warm sunshine, that just makes it harder to sit at a desk and get things done. Plus, around here, schools are out at the end of May, which means my daughter is home and ready to do all the things. Our routines are off, and frankly, I just lose some of my usual motivation during the summer months. At the time this episode airs I'm also out on maternity leave. So I asked my friends Melanie and Brandon to take over the podcast this week, and they definitely delivered. They're here to share some great advice on how to tackle work from home life this summer without completely losing your sanity. Marlon Brando started their own co hosted podcast a few months ago called chaos to conversions. So definitely head over there and add it to your library after listening to this one. Brenda is an amazing copywriter. And Mel is a launch strategist and OBM. So they've got all kinds of good stuff in that podcast. But for now, let's go here some summer work from home tips from Branda. And Mel. Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whitaker, classroom teacher turn podcast manager, and I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators.

    Branda Villacob 1:46

    Whether you already work from home full time, or only working on your business from home during the summer, navigating the summer chaos adds a layer of complexity. We're bringing

    Melanie Battistelli 1:54

    you some quick tips and advice to help you get shit done this season without missing out on all that summer fun. So we gathered some information from both Brenda and I's Instagram audiences. And we saw some common themes that we just felt like we wanted to talk about working from home during the summer, with or without kids. We're going to talk about it all here today. I don't know about you guys, but and I don't know about brand new but we're about to find out sometimes because Brandon and I are both ex teachers, meaning we are taught for quite a few years and now we're no longer in the classroom. Sometimes I have that summer FOMO from being able to just kind of not you know completely turn off. That's not really the kind of person I am but turn it down at least in June and July. It's just not really possible as an entrepreneur anymore. Yeah,

    Branda Villacob 2:54

    it's really hard. I've definitely felt like I missed the summers a little bit so it's hard to be inside.

    Melanie Battistelli 2:58

    It is yeah, I'm not gonna and that's like, do you get asked that a lot as like a former teacher, I get asked that a lot like, Oh, don't you miss the summers and my friends that are still in the classroom? Like yeah, I still miss the summers. Like, arguably one of the you know, better perks about being a teacher, for sure. Yeah,

    Branda Villacob 3:16

    having the time off. But then also, you know, living in Texas, I'm like, it's what 100 degrees for 30 days, so I'm inside time

    Melanie Battistelli 3:23

    anyways. Yeah, I guess that is true. So I mean, I guess the challenge right is like usually unless it's 100 degrees, or 110 degrees like it is in Texas. Yeah, you want to get outside sometime during the summer, you might miss being a bit more social, especially if you know you previously had the summers off and you're feeling kind of like that lack of motivation. You'd rather be on vacation and you kind of feel I mean at least I know I do sometimes I definitely have had summer FOMO and last summer I worked on it a little bit and I'm feeling a little bit more rejuvenated about trying again this summer with like some better strategies so something that I try and do at least once a day is definitely get outside. I mean I'm in Virginia it does get pretty hot not Texas hot but it does it does get pretty hot here. So I try and at least get outside in some way shape or form. Yeah,

    Branda Villacob 4:23

    I like again it is hot here so I at least had the balcony I can sit out on which is really nice. But I did hear from like the Instagram audience to a lot of people especially if a pool in your backyard or you know you live in an apartment of the pool like getting outside to just work in that space too is really nice. That's never really worked well for me though. Do you like normally work well outside? Yeah, well it

    Melanie Battistelli 4:47

    depends. So I have like a deck attached to we have a pool in our HOA but it's like walking distance so I don't really usually work there but we do have a pretty nice Back on the back of our house. So sometimes I worked out there, but I don't know the glare kind of like drives you crazy. It depends on the time of day. But I will sometimes bring out my laptop there, like if my kids are playing the water table or whatever. But we're kind of aging out of the water table and aging like into the street pool. So that part is getting harder. In the morning. I like to work outside sometimes like before, it also gets super, super hot. Yeah, I

    Branda Villacob 5:27

    agree. That's like the best time for those southern summers. And then also, like, you're right, the glare on the computer is kind of the worst. So I kind of can avoid that in the mornings. Yeah,

    Melanie Battistelli 5:37

    definitely. I think another tip that we got was about like keeping your to do list realistic. And sometimes it might be good at the beginning of summer to kind of take an audit of what you have going on during the summer. Like if you have things that you've planned for yourself, right, like personal. Or if you have, you know, launches in your own business or anything like that, to make sure that your to do list is realistic. So you don't feel at the end of every day like walk, walk, walk, I didn't get anything done.

    Branda Villacob 6:12

    Yeah, I think especially if you're someone, like we both do a lot of service based stuff. So we have like timelines, right, that we have to get stuff to clients. But yeah, when you're doing more product based stuff and working during the summer, I think it's really easy to overestimate how much you can do. So like someone recommended, like, using little rewards, and I'll definitely do that too. I'm like, Okay, if I finish this thing today, then I'll you know, go on a walk, or I'll eat an extra piece of chocolate, I don't know. But something to kind of motivate yourself. I'll go get a Starbucks, I'll go get a smoothie. Just a good way to also continue to get out the house. But yeah, it can be really demotivating during the summer when you see everyone else outside doing fun things. So

    Melanie Battistelli 6:51

    Right. And as I mean also keep in mind, social media can be a highlight reel to spare. Like I feel like even more so during the summer,

    Branda Villacob 6:59

    though. Yeah, you're definitely right. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's maybe one of the hardest things for me, transitioning away from teaching and to doing full time work from home. A lot of my friends are teachers still. So seeing them off during the summer and doing stuff. I'm like, you know, I kind of wish I had that time. So where I see people on social media traveling, and I'm like, I don't have the budget for that this year. So it's kind of hard to see. But you're right, it really is a highlight reel a lot of times, yeah.

    Melanie Battistelli 7:26

    And you got to think about now we're off on a weird tangent, but I feel like you got to think about like, even though you might miss summer as if you're out of the classroom, or even if you're in the classroom, but you're trying to grow your teacher business, the flexibility that you're granted now, the rest of the year, even if you're not necessarily off for those, you know, eight weeks anymore.

    Branda Villacob 7:51

    Yeah, for sure. Another kind of big point that we came across, when we were asking people their struggles for the summer was sharing a space. And I think this can mean a lot of different things. For me personally, I share a space with my husband. And if you ever been on a zoom call with me, then you will see a lot of times I have like a barrier behind me so that you cannot see my lovely dear husband sitting at his desk behind me. But you also could be sharing space with kids, you could have a roommate or be living in like a small apartment, something like that. And so maybe your workspaces and your living room, right. So I think there's a lot of again, the complexity that comes with summer and being at home and maybe a space you normally aren't. That kind of adds extra layers to making work hard. They don't share space, though. Do you Millie? I know you and your husband swapped spaces this year or last year? We

    Melanie Battistelli 8:43

    did at some point? Yeah, I think 2023 We swapped places. And that I think it's important if you do share a space to talk about your different work styles, which led to like Joe and I switching spaces because I'm in the basement and doesn't have a door so I can hear you guys can't see me but I'm wearing giant noise cancelling headphones. And sometimes I wear them during the day even when I'm not on calls. Because you can hear everything like right upstairs. Right now. I have a three year old too. So she is home all the time. My mom comes over and helps out with childcare and like I'm also right downstairs so I help out as well in between like work so and he was not thriving, being able to hear the kids and he's on a lot more meetings than I am so we switched spaces. And that was all went back to like communication when we realized he would be a much happier human being with a door to close. And it was actually in our bedroom which i After setting up like my corner space in our room I actually hate hated it. I hated working in our bedroom. So we're both Much, much happier now.

    Branda Villacob 10:04

    Yeah, I think that's also kind of going back to our tangent about the highlight reels. I think everyone that I see on social media has like the most fancy office and setup and it's like our own individual room. But I think the reality is, a lot of us don't have that luxury of all having like the most fancy office space. So if you ever felt that pressure, that that's what has to look like a lot of people are sharing spaces, or working out of their bedroom or and things like that, right. So cut yourself a little bit of slack there. But kind of like you said, Melanie, I think the work styles are really important. I'm definitely someone who gets more work done in the morning, my husband is the opposite. He gets more work done in the afternoon. So we've had to set a lot of boundaries and create some really clear rules in the house around what it looks like to work in the same space together. And that was pretty challenging for us when I first started working from home, because he would want to talk all morning to me, and I'm like, Dude, I'm like trying to get stuff done, you know, and he's just a talkative person in general. So I get it, because I'm the same way in the afternoon. I'm like, let's chit chat. And he's like, I'm busy. So I think creating those really clear rules, what does it look like? If you're on a video call? Do you want the person in the room with you? Do you need to be able to close the door? Do you need no interruption? Maybe you need to put a sign up where noise cancelling headphones, whatever that looks like for you to make that collaborative space more functional, or that shared space more functional? And of course, like if you have kids, too, if you don't have help there, what does that look like to possibly have to work in the room with kids? I know some people will have like a little table setup where the kid can come in, you know, color, whatever play while they're in the room. So I don't know if I know you usually have someone who kind of helps out that I don't know how it works for you, Melanie, where it is you're trying to work and parent.

    Melanie Battistelli 11:44

    Yeah, and the summer looks a lot different as well, because your kids are home usually. And at least in this area. summer camps are super expensive. Plus, me my oldest at the time of this earring, she's going to be six but she's super shy, like a summer camp is not like that's just going to cause way more stress and tears for everybody than just having some activities and stuff for her to do at home. So I think like that is something really important to think about with kids too. First thing is I always tell myself, that everything is like a phase. Because it's so true. I remember when so I didn't start my business. My oldest was, gosh, she was two, because I was pregnant with my second. So it seemed impossible, right? Like, how am I going to do this with two little kids. And then it's a new like having a newborn and being up all night. And now it's funny because I look back with an almost six and a three year old. And well at least I could like where the newborn like There's pictures of me wearing Celia when Lucy was at at preschool. And I mean, she slept a lot of the day, and it seemed really hard. And I would have to take breaks and stuff to feed her. And that seemed impossible. But now like they're both home, and they're both like noisy and needy. And that seems impossible. But you know, before I know, they'll both be at school and like full time and things will be, I guess a little bit more status quo again, but that doesn't help anything for summer. So what I tried to do last summer, and what I'm going to be more intentional about doing this summer is going against everything that I like to do during summer and like actually plan my day and plan my breaks with kids, like literally plan the week, we're going to go to the pool this day, I'm not going to work in the afternoon, you know, this day, on this day, we're going to go to, you know, the Discovery Museum or something like that, and all you know, get up and work early because my mom and my mother in law do help out a lot. But two kids is a lot harder than one kid, you know, for kids is a lot harder than two kids. You know, it's it's a lot of it's a lot of work plus, you know, I started this to be able to be around my kids even more. But sometimes I think goes back to like, the summer FOMO because if I was a teacher like I you know, still in the classroom, I would just have, you know, time basically all you know, all summer so I think getting really intentional and planning when you're going to do what can be super helpful. I also don't mind working early mornings, or night sometimes I just like to know what I'm doing. So I think if you can plan sort of, you know out exactly what you want to do each week, not like weeks in advance. I'm talking like Saturday or Sunday. Just take a look at the next week and see what you can what you want to Do For the week, just planning that out can be super helpful. I also batch my meetings, which can be something that if you don't have a lot of help with your kids, or some people don't have any meetings at all, but at this point in, in where I am with my business, I usually at least have two to three meetings a week. So especially in the summer, I put them all on Tuesdays, and just knock them all out. And then like that kind of day might be like last for going out and like doing different activities, but at least it's only like, one day, you know?

    Branda Villacob 15:35

    Yeah, do you do anything specifically on those kind of days where you do have long meetings.

    Melanie Battistelli 15:40

    So that is where like, if I didn't have my mom, for example, like I would probably get, I would hire a mother's helper that day for like, four hours. Is is probably like the solution that I would do. I also I know some moms feel super guilty about screen time, as do I. But again, it goes back to like planning and if you do it intentionally, like we're going to watch a movie on Tuesday morning, like that's, you know, it's what we're going to do, while Mommy has like her two meetings, back to back, like I think as long as you're using it intentionally, then there's less to feel guilty about. I also have like, different you know, toys and activities that you can bring out for like, specifically, when you're on calls. My youngest, it's just, it's a challenging age three, like, you know, my older one can understand but like two to three, I think has been his is pretty tough, because the attention span is like, much shorter. So meetings are the toughest bit though I think like you can get around almost anything else pretty easily with intentional planning and like being flexible. Yeah,

    Branda Villacob 16:56

    and kind of going with that, like intentional planning, too. I think it's really important to plan. And kind of you kind of already touched on this a little bit, but like your time off that you want to take. So if you know, maybe you want to spend a Friday and you're like, you know what Friday is going to be the day I don't do any work I just spend with the kids or I just spend with myself or my husband or whatever your plan is to get that like on the schedule, sooner rather than later. I think that's like probably the biggest lesson I learned working from home summer or not, if I don't say I'm taking the time off, I'm going on vacation, it will never happen. It has to be on the schedule, the time has to be marked, so that no one can take up that time. I can't schedule a meeting, I can't put things on my to do list for that day. So we just touched on that a little bit in episode one talking about quarterly planning. And we're talking about quarterly planning in that episode. But technically, the summer falls over some of those quarters. So you can go back to that episode. That is a great one to kind of look at that planning and just start marking things off and decide how you want to handle your to do list for that time period over the summer. Also setting a time to like walk away from the work. I think it's easier when you don't have kids for sure. I know. Like you've said, sometimes you just have to do the early mornings or the evenings. I don't have kids at this point in my life. So I kind of just do like a typical workday like a nine to five kind of thing. I'm like, okay, By four o'clock, I'm getting off work done. Sometimes I might come back in the evening of my entrepreneur brain can't turn off. And I want to get a few more things done. But in general, having that kind of cut off time is really helpful. And being able to have days to like look forward to. And yeah, I don't know, I don't know about how many like vacations you guys normally take during the summer. But we normally have a fairly long one because my family lives out of town. We don't live near our families. And so we have to block out usually a week or two. And that can be tough to plan around, especially when you have a lot on your to do list. But sometimes I just go ahead and mark two weeks off, even if I haven't booked the flights yet, just to know like it's gonna happen. So I'm gonna go ahead and pre plan for that. Yeah,

    Melanie Battistelli 19:01

    that totally makes sense. We haven't done as many vacations the last couple of years. But usually we don't do anything too crazy. Just head to the beach for a week or so. But with Lucy being in school full time, I used to like to go to the beach in September, like the beginning of September. I felt like that was the best time but I don't want to pull her out of school for a week. But I digress. Well, we'll get into a new routine and habit we just haven't yet. I thought of one more thing while you were talking though, about like, walking away, which is you know, well actually two more things, which is sometimes easier said than done. Going back to like planning breaks in your day. I feel like if you can plan and this is sort of speaking to kids, if you're trying to and I learn this the hard way and I still learn this the hard way, you know, probably at least once a month. If you are trying to work and pay attention to your kids at the same time. I've been here more times than I you know would like to admit So you will end up like, frustrated with them. And then also like mad at yourself for getting frustrated with them. Because, you know, they're little and they just want your attention. So that I would say is the best part of like planning intentionally. And then the other thing that I do, especially during the summer, if I'm working, sometimes in the morning, or sometimes at night is I have like a master backlog task list. That is stuff that might not be super time sensitive, like it might not be client work. But I always also try and just lean into like what I feel like doing at that point in time, if it's something that's not time sensitive. It's a slippery slope, though, because I guess it means some things might never get done. But I mean, I don't know. I don't know about you. But like, I definitely write better in the morning. Like if I'm writing an email or something. There's almost a 0% chance I'm doing that after 2pm.

    Branda Villacob 20:56

    Yeah, actually, I was just having a conversation with someone about this on Instagram the other day. And she was saying, like, when do you work better in the morning, I'm like, honestly, it kind of changes a little bit day to day, I typically do write better in the morning. But sometimes yeah, like I wake up and I'm stressed or overwhelmed from the things that have been going on. And I need almost like a little dopamine hit of like, I want to just do something that I want to do. And I think that's good to pull it off with that list of, you know, your master backlog, or whatever you call it. I just have an all my like, weekly to do list tracker. And I'm like, Okay, which of these things actually sound fun that I just, I want to just have a creative outlet, I want to do something I want to do. And I think that kind of goes back to we were talking about like staying motivated during the summer, like it is a hard time to stay motivated already. Because you you want to be at the house, you want to be traveling. You want to be enjoying outdoors. And if everything on your to do list every single day is stressful, overwhelming and things you don't love. You're gonna wake up every day, not wanting to sit down and get it done. So sometimes you need that little dopamine hit, you know? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, for sure. I think the last thing I would kind of say about the schedules and time off, again, setting reasonable expectations and to do lists, but also setting expectations with other people that you work with. If you have any contractors that you work with, letting them know that you're going to be taking time off, and that you're not going to be available. And setting you're out of office messages turning off your notifications. Like if you're taking the day off. If you've said, I'm not working on Fridays, or I'm going on vacation, it is so easy to leave all the apps on your phone going off the entire time that you're out of town, or on your day off and getting distracted and going back to work. So try to let as many people as you know, who might be messaging you were looking for you that you're not going to be available. And even if you're a totally solo team, and it's just you delete the apps or turn off your notifications, I like pause all my notifications so that I can't get anything while I'm trying to take time off because it is so easy to slip back into work mode.

    Melanie Battistelli 22:52

    Yeah, that's smart. I'm terrible at that. So I'm gonna try and do that. I'm actually going on vacation in 10 days from when we're recording this for like five days, so I'll do my best to take your advice panda.

    Branda Villacob 23:04

    Yeah, it really does work cuz I'm addicted to my phone. So if I don't turn it off, I'll be right back on it.

    Melanie Battistelli 23:09

    Yeah, my believe it. Working from home during the summer bring some extra challenges. Schedules are changing. Kids are home and the sun is inviting you outside. Be sure to set reasonable expectations for yourself. Create a schedule that fits your need for fun, and stay flexible through this chaotic season.

    Branda Villacob 23:26

    If you enjoy this episode, you can tune in each week for chaos to conversions for practical, no BS strategies to grow your online business. We drop a new episode every Tuesday, and we're covering topics such as launching business, mindset, copywriting, and more.

    Sara Whittaker 23:39

    We hope to see you there. Thanks again to Brandon mal for taking over the podcast this week. I hope it helps motivate you to push through those days that just feel hard as a business owner this summer. I especially love the advice about giving yourself a little reward after getting certain things done on your to do list. For me a nice cold beverage is always my go to reward during the summer, whether that's a Coke Zero, and iced coffee or a glass of wine at the end of the day. If you loved this episode, tag us on Instagram and let us know what motivates you during the summer. And don't forget to check out Brandon Mel's new podcast chaos to conversions. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

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