Mushrooms, multi-tasking and deep focus with Hazel Gambles
Hazel Gambles lives in the port city of Cardiff, built on the busy waters of the Severn estuary, with the ancient peaks, vales and forests of the Brecon Beacons to the north.
In her spare time she collects wild mushrooms, in her four-day working week she manages operations at We Should Create - a product photography agency that helps e-commerce brands tell their story.
She spends her time managing client accounts, usually 20 at a time, mostly from the food and drink industries, leading marketing activities and planning photo shoots. With a role that sounds like it demands a lot of attention from the client side, I was looking forward to talking about how she balances those expectations with completing focused work.
Hazel, let’s get into it! How do communications fit into your role?
I talk with clients pretty much every day making sure their needs are met when we’re planning shoots. I act as a middle man between what the clients want and what we actually shoot and it’s my job to make sure that that’s communicated properly our photographers.
How you balance client expectations with completing focused work?
The reason I downloaded Tempo was because I have a bit of an issue with multitasking and I wasn’t putting as much effort into emails. Although I was replying to everybody, it was very rushed. Halfway through I’d get a message from somebody else so I’d respond to that instead and it all got a bit out of hand. Having time specifically to focus on emails means that they are higher quality.
The longest that it takes me to reply to a client, unless it’s last thing on a Friday, is a day. My team and I operate on the mindset that if something is super important they’ll call us.
What does doing your “best work” mean for you and how do you make it happen?
When it comes to emails, good quality means the email should be personal and not rushed. If I write a quick email it doesn’t come across as very personal. Customer service is really important, especially in our line of work.
We need to make sure that clients feel like they have a personal connection with us, that we are listening and can do what they want. So having even an extra five minutes to say, “Hey, how are you doing? Are you enjoying the nice weather?” makes a difference.
Time blocking is also really important. As soon as I start trying to do 10 things at the same time it just goes out the window. I’m a big fan of lists.
Do you have a ‘typical’ day?
It’s quite different day-to-day. The main thing that stays the same throughout each day is the email batches. I’ve set Tempo up to give me a batch of emails three times a day at 9am, 1pm and 4pm. The day can change depending on lots of different factors, so for example on a Monday I have a shoot planning meeting with the photographers and the rest of my team.
I work on shoot briefs throughout the day to make sure that we’ve got client comments on the briefs that the photographers can then take to the photo shoots. Then I have set days where I focus on marketing.
Sometimes it’s crazy that there’s so many different things that happen but I start the day by writing down what I’ve got planned and what I need to focus on. By the end of the day I’m able to tick it all off.
Are you a physical notes type of person or do you use other tools to organise your time?
I do love having things written down so I can physically tick them off and be like, yes, I’ve done it. But I do also use tools like Google Keep for general notes and then we also use Slack. I did use Forest for a while, an app that helps you focus for a set time and then it grows a tree in your forest, which is quite cool. But I am more of a physical notes kind of gal.
Me too. I actually used to write out my calendar in notes but I’ve grown out of that since double booking a few too many times. Anyway, I‘d love to hear how you create the optimal conditions for focus?
The first thing I do is turn off notifications on my phone and also on Slack. I make sure I haven’t got any distractions and shut the office door so that the cat doesn’t come in and try to sit on me. I have a nice playlist and then I just get stuck in.
What do you listen to?
At the moment I’m loving a Spotify playlist called Chill Vibes. I also love indie music, rock and heavy metal from all decades and the occasional bit of cheesy pop. This past week I’ve also been listening to some podcasts — I’m really enjoying ‘The Infinite Monkey Cage’.
What about the flip side? Do you have any habits that counteract productivity?
One hundred percent. I’m sure everybody has had these issues but it’s so easy to get carried away. For example, if I’ve been creating a post or looking at insights on Instagram it’s easy to think, “oh, I’ll scroll for a bit”.
Just being at home makes it hard to focus sometimes. I’m very lucky to have a separate room to use as an office but you can get away with more so just trying to be disciplined is important.
Speaking of working from home, what does a good work-life balance look like to you? I noticed that you don’t work on Fridays.
Not working on Fridays was something that I negotiated with my manager for my mental health. I can work on a Friday if I want as overtime. It depends on what we’ve got going on, but I think at the moment I’m really enjoying having a three-day weekend.
At the end of the day, I shut the door and have a shower. Usually I would commute home and that would be my wind-down time but at the moment I shut the door and then I walk downstairs to the sofa and that’s it.
I did have Slack on my phone for a while and that was making it difficult for me to have a work-life balance because in the evening or on a Friday I’d get notifications and I’d often quickly nip into the office then to deal with it. But I’ve deleted that now.
And finally tell me about the mushrooms!
Ah yes, I love a good mushroom. I do it locally, just in local woods and parks. I rarely actually eat the mushrooms, I just enjoy the challenge of trying to identify them. I also love gardening — anything that involves being outside.
Tempo is the email client that helps you focus. If you have a unique way of approaching productivity, we’d love to hear from you!
