The Friday Habit

Time blocking is the topic on this episode of The Friday Habit, and Ben’s insights could be beneficial to you whether you currently use time blocking in your business or not. Time blocking is helpful in a business because it keeps you away from overcommitting, it makes you better at estimating how long things will take you, and you can have foresight in working with your clients to ensure that you are providing them with adequate time for their project. At Knapsack, Ben and his team rely on time blocking because of their structure of creating websites for clients in one day. They have a very well-established framework for each project, so they know the 4 different client sessions involved in each website build, how long they will each take, and when/if they can fit them in within the client’s timeframe. They aim to walk away from each project without any homework because they have accounted for every possible contingency within their time blocking system. During any given week, Ben has meetings scheduled on Mondays and Wednesdays (including 3 hours on Wednesday mornings that are set aside for support requests), he commits Tuesdays and Thursdays to client work, and Fridays are reserved for working on the business rather than in the business (The Friday Habit).While not every business has the ability to structure and schedule things out to the same extent as Knapsack, most service-based companies could employ time blocking to some degree. When you get a new order, instead of just putting it on a to-do list, go ahead and place a time block for it on your calendar and then stick to it when that time comes around. The more you do this, the better you will be at estimating how much time certain tasks take you, and you may find that this will help you adjust your pricing models to be more realistic and/or be more detailed about what is included in your different services. Even when it comes to your life outside of work, you could block off thinking time, gym time, time for various errands, or anything else that you may have trouble prioritizing.Your action item this week is to put every step of your next project into your schedule and then stick to those tasks when the times come. Ben also recommends that you time block at least 2 hours of your Friday to work on your business, and you can find more information about what this looks like at TheFridayHabit.com.Connect with us:To submit questions/comments: hello@thefridayhabit.com https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

With the end of the year quickly approaching, it is a good idea to recalibrate your business, looking inward to determine where you are, how you got here, and where you want to be. This episode of The Friday Habit is all about this topic and integrating this introspection into your process occasionally. Here are the four questions and where Mark and Ben currently find themselves on their answers:Why do you have your own business? Mark was unexpectedly laid off a few years ago and immediately decided to ramp up his side hustle into a full-time gig. Now that he has been working for himself for so long, he couldn’t see himself going back to working for someone else. Ben knew that he wanted to leave his full-time job to build his own thing, so he tested the waters in order to know whether his business would be viable. He loves the security, control, and freedom of having his own business and he is greatly fulfilled by helping his clients be successful.What kind of business do you want to build? Mark’s long-term vision for Brand Viva Media fluctuates in size and scope, but his overall mission of leaving things better than he found them remains constant. He wants to be intentional with the culture his business has, the services they provide, and work-life balance for himself and his employees. Ben aims to have the optimal sized team to accomplish Knapsack’s mission, working smarter and making lives better along the way. He has enough previous work experience to know what he doesn’t want to do, so he tries to swing the door the other way and serve as an incubator for innovative concepts and business ideas in his community.What kind of boss do you want to be? Mark wants to be the kind of boss that he would like to have, motivated by empathy and able to relate to his team. He wants to be self-aware and generous, lifting people up and providing value in every interaction. Ben wants to leave space for fun and productivity to coexist. He emphasizes the importance of hiring the right people who are motivated and coachable and then trusting them to do their jobs.What kind of life do you want to have? How does your business support that? Mark wants to have autonomy and freedom, providing an environment that allows him and his employees to pay their bills while still having plenty of time with their loved ones. Ben finds freedom in systematizing his business, being innovative within a set of boundaries and enriching the lives of his team members and clients every day. Your action item after this episode is to think about these questions and plot a course forward.Connect with us:To submit questions/comments: hello@thefridayhabit.com https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit podcast is Jeremy Slate, host of the Create Your Own Life podcast and co-founder along with his wife of the Command Your Brand agency. As we discussed in our last episode, Jeremy built his success on a series of hard-earned lessons. He found his passion in helping others grow and evolve their businesses, but none of it would work without a few core principles that drive his days – the first one being, without fail, getting to his exercise routine first thing. Jeremy follows his morning cup of bulletproof coffee with a trip to the gym for a very specific weightlifting workout (links below), something he tracks consistently in a notebook. Other key ingredients in his routine include a 10-minute cold shower and deferring calls and outside communication until after 10a, which gives him time to clear his decks mentally and practically before diving into the day. In terms of nutrition, Jeremy believes everyone needs to determine the balance of foods that best optimizes their individual metabolism. Ultimately the thing that creates balance and harmony elsewhere in his life is a commitment to family first. His wife (and business partner) helps Jeremy keep perspective and together they organize their business around life -- not the other way around. It’s all about small linear progressions. Anyone can get started today by trying one or all of the health and fitness practices Jeremy recommends. Links:https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht Connect with Jeremy:https://www.commandyourbrand.com/7reasons www.jeremyryanslate.comJeremy’s preferred workout:https://ast-ss.com/max-ot/toc/About bullet proof coffee:https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/style/the-cult-of-the-bulletproof-coffee-diet.htmlAbout Frank Zane - Mr. Olympia https://www.frankzane.comConnect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

On this special holiday edition of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark bring listeners their very timely gift guide for entrepreneurs and clients. These are things that Ben and Mark have either received, given, or purchased for themselves and they are now self-proclaimed unofficial brand ambassadors. Here are the gifts they recommend and why:Miir water bottles – These water bottles are vacuum-insulated and feature a very minimal design as well as helping to fund clean water projects worldwide.Link: miir.comShure MV7 podcast microphone – This would be more of splurge purchase for friends or clients who are looking to launch a podcast or improve the quality of their existing show. It is easily the best mid-level microphone out there, featuring XLR and USB inputs, a headphone output, and compatible software.Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G7JN6J7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 CRKT Techliner pen – A good pen is something that will have a daily impact on your life, but most people would never buy a good pen for themselves. This pen is minimal in design and has a handy magnetic lid. Link: crkt.com/williams-tactical-pen.htmlBluetooth speaker sleep mask – Mark uses this sleep mask every night to block out light and to fall asleep listening to music, a podcast, an audiobook, or the Portal app.Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T6FNLQV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Ember mug – This is the ultimate mug for hot beverages and most likely a mug that people would not buy for themselves, so you can knock their socks off with this gift. The Ember mug is connected by Bluetooth to an app on your phone which will allow you to control and maintain a specific temperature for your drink.Link: ember.comPersonalized leather field notes sleeve – No matter how advanced technology becomes, you can’t replace good ol’ pen and paper, and this personalized leather field notes sleeve is the perfect addition to that small moleskin your entrepreneur friend carries around in their pocket.Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085YF2Y2N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Apple gift card for the Soulver 3 app – If your gift recipient is constantly looking for a way to solve the word problems that come up in business without having to try to make everything fit into an Excel formula, Soulver is just what they need but they don’t know it yet. Give them a gift card to Apple and let them find out what they have been missing.Link: https://soulver.app/Connect with us:To submit reviews: hello@thefridayhabit.com https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit podcast is Jeremy Slate, host of the Create Your Own Life podcast and co-founder of the Command Your Brand agency with his wife. Jeremy went to college with the hopes of becoming a college professor one day, but after he finished his Masters’ degree and entered the job market, he realized that he was either overqualified or underqualified for every job he was interested in. Jeremy had bad break after bad break before he taught himself how to build websites and he launched his first (unsuccessful) podcast before landing on the Create Your Own Life podcast that has served him well and turned his career around. Things started to click for Jeremy when he realized that he could be a successful lifelong learner, and he launched Command Your Brand with his wife as a way of combining his love for learning with passing along his acquired knowledge to businesses looking to get more involved in their public relations. Public relations is the avenue for making good works known, literally spotlighting the organization’s relationship with the public. Jeremy’s 3 main tips for people wanting integrate more PR into their operations are: (1) Know what is news worthy or interesting, (2) Employ the small pond strategy, and (3) Have a plan for what you will do with the PR. He also recommends learning how to write a great press release, making a list of the “small ponds” you are a part of, and learn the terminology so you can get the word out.Links:https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht Connect with Jeremy:https://www.commandyourbrand.com/7reasons Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark discuss the idea of making time and space for thinking, planning, and reflection, as inspired by the book “The Road Less Stupid” by Keith Cunningham. What if you were to spend the same amount of time thinking as you do mindlessly scrolling through social media? You may be surprised by how much clarity you can gain from setting aside this intentional thinking time, even if it is only 15 minutes a day.In his book, Cunningham outlines the 5 core disciplines of thinking time:Find the unasked question – Ask better and better questions of yourself until you nail down the core problem. Separate the problem from the symptom – Don’t stop at just diagnosing the symptom; there is always a root issue that needs to be uncovered and addressed.Check your assumptions – Don’t rely on your feelings or perceptions about how things are going; rely on facts and try to be objective.Consider second-order consequences – Think about the long-term implications and the potential domino effects of your actions.Create the machine – Design the process, execute, and surround yourself with the adequate resources.Also within the book, Cunningham offers self-reflection questions for further discovery. You may also find it helpful to set a timer during your thinking time, have specific materials and a dedicated space for thinking, and to bake thinking time into your schedule and then commit to doing it even if you have other things come up. Your action item after this episode is to block off 2 hours of dedicated thinking time for next week.Links:“The Road Less Stupid” by Keith Cunningham: https://www.amazon.com/Road-Less-Stupid-Keith-Cunningham/dp/0984659269 Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/ https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Our topic on this episode of The Friday Habit is emotional intelligence. Mark and Ben start out the episode by posing a couple of hypothetical scenarios and talking through the emotional intelligence implications of the typical responses to the situations. Emotional intelligence is your ability to understand and manage your own emotions and recognize the emotions of others, which are key components of being a good manager and leader.The four competencies of emotional intelligence are:Self-awareness – This is knowing the effect of your emotions on yourself and others. Studies have shown that while 95% of people think they are self-aware, only 10-15% truly are. The quarterly team check-ins discussed in Episode 26 and participating in a 360-degree feedback loop are great ways to gauge your self-awareness.Self-management – How do you handle stressful situations? Do you overcome setbacks easily? What are your coping mechanisms? The answers to these questions are a good indication of your self-management.Social awareness – Social awareness is your ability to “read a room” and be perceptive of others, recognizing the dynamics and emotions that are at play on your team at any given time. Another way to describe your social awareness is as your level of empathy and understanding of those around you and how those things affect the way you communicate and collaborate.Relationship management – Are you coaching or mentoring others? Do you properly address issues, or do you tend to avoid conflict? These are key indicators of your relationship management, but if you are self-aware and socially aware, you likely already know the state of your relationship management.Your action items after listening to this episode are to go back and listen to Episode 26 about quarterly team check-ins and to take the Psychology Today Emotional Intelligence test (link below).Links:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/personality/emotional-intelligence-test Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben summarizes the main points of one of his favorite books: “Fix This Next” by Mike Michalowicz. As we all learned in that one college psychology class, humans have needs in life that fall into 5 basic categories as defined by Maslow, from most basic to most complex: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow explained that certain needs must take priority over others as we go through life and it is important to prioritize the most basic before moving up the hierarchy.Michalowicz believes that a similar concept can be applied to businesses, and while two hierarchies might seem like a lot to place into the already-full hands of entrepreneurs, hopefully you will find that understanding the different levels will simplify things for you. He defines the business hierarchy of needs, from most basic to most complex as: sales – creation of cash, profit – creation of stability, order – creation of efficiency, impact – creation of transformation, and legacy – creation of permanence. In “Fix This Next”, Michalowicz outlines 5 questions for entrepreneurs to ask themselves about their businesses pertaining to each level of the hierarchy, providing a framework for areas to focus on before moving on to the next level. By asking yourself these 25 questions, you should be able to easily identify gaps and problems that need to be addressed and establish principles that will guide your actions moving forward. This is a great read for anyone who has built their own business or brand and anyone who wants to in the future, but this book does not fully serve its purpose if you don’t take action after reading it. Links:“Fix This Next” book: https://www.amazon.com/Fix-This-Next-Change-Business/dp/0593084411“Fix This Next” Book Website: https://fixthisnext.com/Free Resources mentioned: https://s3.amazonaws.com/MikeMichalowicz/FTN/FTN-Graphics-Charts.pdf Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/ https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

This episode of The Friday Habit podcast is this second part of our interview with Claire Chandler, author of “The Whirlpool Effect” and thought leader on great company culture. She begins by offering an exercise that founders can do in order to gain clarity and make decisions more easily. Claire suggests writing down and drawing a circle around the core principles your company started with. Then, draw another circle that includes what’s currently working well. The third and last circle should describe goals for the future. Once you have all three circles, move them together to create a venn diagram and see which ideas overlap. This exercise not only helps get things out of your head and onto paper, but finding that sweet spot of the overlap also helps create clarity for decisions that need to be made. Claire explains that this focus and clarity can be hard for founders who tend to have “shiny object syndrome.” She talks about how to confront this tendency and also goes over the FOMO (fear of missing out) that many founders feel when making an important decision. Being a founder involves uncertainty, risk, and unknown, but Claire reminds listeners that most barriers to success are mental. Her advice in this episode will help founders fight what’s holding them back from making their business everything they dreamed of.  Connect with Claire: https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-Effect-Claire-R-Chandler/dp/B07DP4T39Jhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/clairechandlersphr/https://www.clairechandler.net/https://www.talentboost.net/https://twitter.com/claire_talenthttps://twitter.com/TalentBoost Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/ https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit is Claire Chandler, author of “The Whirlpool Effect” and thought leader on great company culture. During Claire’s career, she has noticed that startups and small companies tend to have really good collaboration and culture, but as the companies begin to scale, they fall apart. There is a disconnect, she explains, between the people and the culture once a second generation of employees are brought on board because they do not have the context of the culture that has been laid out by the founder from the beginning.Her biggest recommendation for leaders before and after they notice this culture disconnect is to be crystal clear about the mission of the business, employing self-awareness and authenticity as you are communicating with your employees and stakeholders. Until this clarity is achieved and communicated, it will be impossible to replicate the culture and mission for new employees and receive their buy-in to the organization. After building this foundation, it is time for the founder to approach the “Founder’s Dilemma” of being hands-on in the business while training your people and trusting them enough to delegate tasks to them with your full confidence. Claire wraps up this first part of the interview with the concept of “telling them why” when it comes to giving directives and making decisions, which will help your employees understand your reasoning and learn for next time. Connect with Claire: https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-Effect-Claire-R-Chandler/dp/B07DP4T39Jhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/clairechandlersphr/https://www.clairechandler.net/https://www.talentboost.net/https://twitter.com/claire_talenthttps://twitter.com/TalentBoost Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com