Doing It For The Kids

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from health communications specialist Anneliese Levy. She says:

“How can I 'get a life' outside of work/kids?

I find being a freelancer really intense, in that all my focus is on looking for work, thinking about work, doing work, following up on work. And oh yeah, looking after my kids! Other than that I don't think I do anything else.

I think back fondly to the days when I used to have actual hobbies, did evening classes and had pastimes that were totally unrelated to the job I did. A lot of this was before kids but it also relates to when I became a freelancer about 4 years ago. I don't tend to switch off because I am always on the lookout for the next client or trying to keep up with research and reading related to my field. It seems like some other people have lovely creative hobbies or are really sporty, but the thought of trying to fit something else in feels too overwhelming.

Has anyone else has managed to reclaim some time to do other things outside of work and family?!”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Agorapulse.

Managing social media has never been easier. Schedule your content, get reports, and engage followers with one simple tool. Try Agorapulse FREE for 1 full  month.

Go to www.agorapulse.com/diftk

•••

Anneliese Levy's website
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from virtual assistant and founder of MuthaCollective, Annabelle Williams Dos Anjos. She says:

“How do you avoid ‘shiny shiny’ syndrome?

As a creative person I love doing so many different things. I often have to talk myself down from creating 5 new things/businesses that I just don’t have time for (and therefore wouldn’t do well).

How do you stop yourself from constantly running towards the latest, shiniest idea? And how do you know when something should remain a hobby?!”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Agorapulse.

Managing social media has never been easier. Schedule your content, get reports, and engage followers with one simple tool. Try Agorapulse FREE for 1 full  month.

Go to www.agorapulse.com/diftk

•••

Annabelle Williams Dos Anjos' website
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from software developer and 'multidisciplinary geek' Ross Wintle. He says:

“How the flippin flippity flip do I reduce this baseline of anxiety I have whereby every time one of my children coughs or has a borderline temperature of 37.9 I go into fight-or-flight mode expecting to have to slash my hours in half to do homeschooling again while we obtain/wait for the result of a COVID test?

Do people have some kind of "plan" for how to manage this so that it's not permanently stressing them out? How do I go about booking work in when I might have to take anything up to two weeks off at a day's notice?

(Context: I have two kids FINALLY both full-time at school. My wife is working pretty much full-time now and can only take limited time off. I'm aware we need to share the burden and her employer should flex as well as mine, but even so, this is a HUGE challenge and my nerves are shredded!)”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Agorapulse.

Managing social media has never been easier. Schedule your content, get reports, and engage followers with one simple tool. Try Agorapulse FREE for 1 full  month.

Go to www.agorapulse.com/diftk

•••

Ross Wintle's website
Ross's 'DIFTK Homeschooling & Isolation Resources App'

Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from content creator Becky Coote. She says:

“Project creep. We've all experienced it, but how do you deal with it in a way that doesn't piss off your client?

I'm working with someone who is ever so slowly, one email at a time pushing the boundaries further and further away from what we agreed. The problem is each individual email isn't enough for me to go "WOAH, hold your horses!" but when you look at the big picture, the amount of time I'm spending on this project is dragging my hourly rate right down, taking me away from other client work and generally winding me up.

How do you set the limits from the start and then police it during the project?"

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Agorapulse.

Managing social media has never been easier. Schedule your content, get reports, and engage followers with one simple tool. Try Agorapulse FREE for 1 full  month.

Go to www.agorapulse.com/diftk

•••

Becky Coote's website
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from career coach Abbi Buszard. She says:

“I’ve been running my business for 2 and a half years, with a small baby hiatus in the middle (compounded by, y’know, a global pandemic that stole all the f-ing childcare).

2 and a half years in and I still haven’t learned to ride the rollercoaster of emotions that accompanies doing your own thing. I feel like a dog chasing squirrels made of feelings:

‘Ooh a new idea, I’m so happy!’
‘Oh no a rejection, I’m so sad’
‘Ooh a new client, I’m so happy!’

How can I find some equilibrium guys? I drive myself mad — what about my poor family?”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Agorapulse.

Managing social media has never been easier. Schedule your content, get reports, and engage followers with one simple tool. Try Agorapulse FREE for 1 full  month.

Go to www.agorapulse.com/diftk

•••

Abbi Buszard's website
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from social media consultant and embroidery artist Claudette Anderson. She says:

“How do I navigate going from freelance into an employed role? Particularly when I’m going to be keeping my small business going on the side.

What can I do to make the transition easier and more manageable? How can I take the awesome parts of freelance life into an employed job? And how can I embrace the parts of an employed job that I’m not so fond of?"

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Nutmeg.

Nutmeg launched in September 2012 as the first online wealth manager in the UK with a promise to open up the previously exclusive world of wealth management. Nutmeg offers customers a high-quality investment service at a reduced cost, whether they have £500 or £5 million to invest. Nutmeg now manages over £2bn on behalf of over 80,000 customers, making Nutmeg one of the UK’s fastest growing wealth managers and the fifth largest wealth manager in the UK by customer numbers (Source: PAM Asset Management, January 2019). www.nutmeg.com

[Risk warning: Capital at risk. JISA rules apply]

•••

Claudette Anderson's embroidery website
Claudette Anderson's LinkedIn
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

EPISODE 50!!!

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from graphic artist and designer Rachel Brown. She says:

“I’ve worked from home in one form or another, in both employed and self- employed roles, for five years now. There’s been ups and downs, and I’ve learnt along the way how to manage the work/home balance and what I need to do to keep my wellbeing up (I don’t always follow my advice but at least know the theory by now!). My husband, however, came off furlough last month and is now navigating full time working from home for the first time. I can see him falling foul of many things that I did in the early days of working from home that didn’t create the best balance.

So how can we, as experienced work-from-homers, support our other halves/family members to get used to life outside the office?

ALSO, how on earth do I get used to having a home office buddy who slurps his tea SO LOUDLY and swears at his computer when the internet drops out, because I am NOT DEALING WELL WITH THAT!!!”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Nutmeg.

Nutmeg launched in September 2012 as the first online wealth manager in the UK with a promise to open up the previously exclusive world of wealth management. Nutmeg offers customers a high-quality investment service at a reduced cost, whether they have £500 or £5 million to invest. Nutmeg now manages over £2bn on behalf of over 80,000 customers, making Nutmeg one of the UK’s fastest growing wealth managers and the fifth largest wealth manager in the UK by customer numbers (Source: PAM Asset Management, January 2019). www.nutmeg.com

[Risk warning: Capital at risk. JISA rules apply]

•••

Rachel Brown's Instagram
Rachel Brown's Etsy
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from coach, mentor and consultant EJ Trivett. She says:

“With Lockdown 2.0 looming precariously ahead, what are our lessons from the first wave, and what could we put in place NOW to proactively protect our businesses (and sanity) ahead of the game?”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Nutmeg.

Nutmeg launched in September 2012 as the first online wealth manager in the UK with a promise to open up the previously exclusive world of wealth management. Nutmeg offers customers a high-quality investment service at a reduced cost, whether they have £500 or £5 million to invest. Nutmeg now manages over £2bn on behalf of over 80,000 customers, making Nutmeg one of the UK’s fastest growing wealth managers and the fifth largest wealth manager in the UK by customer numbers (Source: PAM Asset Management, January 2019). www.nutmeg.com

[Risk warning: Capital at risk. JISA rules apply]

•••

EJ Trivett's website
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from writer and educator Fiona Tapp. She says:

"Congrats on your British Podcast Award! I won an award in my field last year and I have been wondering how to best market the fact without sounding like a wanker. It’s sometimes hard to shout about your wins (especially as a woman) but if you have been recognised surely you should be able to celebrate?”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Nutmeg.

Nutmeg launched in September 2012 as the first online wealth manager in the UK with a promise to open up the previously exclusive world of wealth management. Nutmeg offers customers a high-quality investment service at a reduced cost, whether they have £500 or £5 million to invest. Nutmeg now manages over £2bn on behalf of over 80,000 customers, making Nutmeg one of the UK’s fastest growing wealth managers and the fifth largest wealth manager in the UK by customer numbers (Source: PAM Asset Management, January 2019). www.nutmeg.com

[Risk warning: Capital at risk. JISA rules apply]

•••

Fiona Tapp's website
Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Detective Stella King AKA Anonymous. They say:

“I’m so sick of my husband’s negativity about my business! I started it 7 years ago with a view to running it when children came along and since then, I’ve been able to pick it up and put it down around my son and various life events.

I’ve always felt the need to hold onto my part-time supermarket job so I feel like I’m ‘doing my bit’ but have been increasingly resenting the fact that my business takes a back seat to everything else — how am I supposed to make the same or more money if I’m not given the opportunity to work on it!?

His view is if I’m spending ANY time on it, it should equate to money coming in and it doesn’t matter how many times I try to explain to him that I need to put the hours in before I reap the rewards, he makes comments like “I don’t want you to get your hopes up” — Obviously not with comments like that!

He doesn’t understand it and he never will, but can anyone advise on things I could do to get him more on board before I start looking for a new husband!!?”

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

•••

This episode is supported by Nutmeg.

Nutmeg launched in September 2012 as the first online wealth manager in the UK with a promise to open up the previously exclusive world of wealth management. Nutmeg offers customers a high-quality investment service at a reduced cost, whether they have £500 or £5 million to invest. Nutmeg now manages over £2bn on behalf of over 80,000 customers, making Nutmeg one of the UK’s fastest growing wealth managers and the fifth largest wealth manager in the UK by customer numbers (Source: PAM Asset Management, January 2019). www.nutmeg.com

[Risk warning: Capital at risk. JISA rules apply]

•••

Frankie Tortora's website
Steve Folland's website
Steve's podcast - Being Freelance

Doing It For The Kids website
DIFTK Facebook Community
DIFTK Instagram
DIFTK Twitter

Support DIFTK on Ko-Fi