Lindsey Taylor Creative

"Marketing's north star will be evolving in 2021. Marketing has always been about understanding people and acting on that knowledge. A key difference in 2021 is that marketers are able to know more than ever. It's the rise of the psychologist, and the rise of the digital marketer."

WOW its been a minute since I’ve posted from this account but I swear I’m still here! My day job at a medical PPE company got a little extra intense as soon as the pandemic hit so I focused more of my free time on doing things to stay sane, have a fun summer and check an acreage purchase off my bucket list. I did make time for a few photo sessions though, like this fall engagement shoot with two of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. Hoping this whole pandemic thing can go away one day soon so they (and so many other couples) can get their wedding plans back on track

A word on deadlines in a job environment where priorities change often and quickly: I know it feels like there’s no point in project planning and you might think you’re better off being reactive. You’re not. Give yourself deadlines anyway. These deadlines need to be realistic, and it’s okay for them to change but don’t just miss a deadline and ignore it. Be accountable, set a new deadline, and communicate with whoever you need to about the new timeline. No business survives w...ithout flexibility but if your deadlines do change, make sure it’s for a damn good reason and not because you’re letting yourself take the easy way out. And did I say communicate about it? I’ll say it one more time for good measure. Communicate about it. Unless you are a one-person freelance operation, you probably have a long line of people depending on your deliverables to hit their own deadlines. Communication shows respect for their time and helps you work better as a team so everyone can meet their deadlines. See more

Productivity while working from home has been a hot topic lately. I’ve heard from people who are thriving with new found flexibility in both their schedule and their weekday pants, and I’ve heard from people who can’t wait to get their lives back. I don’t care if you’re a go-with-the-flow type or someone who schedules their day by 5 minute increments - everyone needs at least a bit of structure to make sure things get done. I’m a highly structural thinker by nature. I love ...to-do lists and making plans, so I’m in my element when I have complete control over how I spend my time. Here are a few tricks I use to make the most of my time and my sanity, whether I’m working from home or in the office: 1. Give yourself three big things to work on each day: One work thing in the morning, one work thing in the afternoon, and one personal thing for the end of the day. Of course you’ll have to do more than three things in a day, but this strategy gives you a good balance of structure to work on the big stuff with flexibility to deal with everything else. 2. Create a task list segmented by what you have to do today, tomorrow, this week, and this month. I move tasks around a lot but this keeps urgent stuff top of mind without letting me lose focus on long term stuff. I use a combo of a day planner and an app to do this. 3. Be deliberate about how you spend your time. If you think you’re going to need to work a longer day (or week, or month) to get things done, plan for it as much as possible. Have food ready for yourself so you don’t end up eating junk because you’re working more than usual, plan a day to give yourself a break and plan what you’re going to do. Even if your plan for a break is to do nothing, make it intentional to avoid the anxiety caused by accidentally wasting 3 hours watching Netflix because you didn’t know what else to do. I swear I could talk about this stuff forever, so now I want to hear your strategies. What do you do to give yourselves some structure and stay productive?

Really interesting read from ZGM (an Edmonton-based creative agency) on how COVID-19 is affecting advertising decisions and consumer behaviours.