Jade Hall is the Digital Marketing Manager at Weaving Weblets, a full service advertising agency based in Newtown. She also runs her own business on the side, Jade Lauren Media, specialising in social media management, website design, logo design and graphic design.

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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I starting in marketing as a Business Owner. After graduating, I travelled Europe for 9 months solo and worked at the same time. The majority of my clients were in the real estate industry, with whom I provided social media content creation and management for.

After I returned, I decided that I wanted some agency knowledge, and to learn as much as I could from a niche digital marketing agency to expand my skill set. I now work as a Digital Marketing Manager at a marketing agency in the heart of Newtown, while running my business after hours and on the weekend.

2) What does a typical day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

A typical day in the life of Jadey:

7:00am: Wake up and drink a cup of tea while reading through my emails (for both the agency and my business) and actioning anything urgent.

8:00am: Work on adding Negative keywords and optimising the Google accounts I manage for the agency.

8:30am: With my eyes still on Google Maps assessing the traffic to Newtown, I create daily tasks for myself and the team in Asana for the day whilst also updating clients on the progress of their accounts with the agency.

9:00am: I usually set off to work which takes me around 1.5 hrs.

9:30am: I make any urgent phone calls during the drive to clients or listen to podcasts/Spotify.

10:35am: I arrive at work, check my emails and sit with team members to discuss progress of accounts and action any work to be done.

11:00am: Depending on the projects in the pipeline, my day can alter entirely, from meetings, phone calls, proposal writing, content writing, website auditing, PPC work, reporting, SEO work, competitor research, social media management, integrations of current CRM systems, email marketing etc.

2pm: Lunch time.

3:00pm: Ensuring that all my tasks are completed as well as checking on team members progress on projects scheduled.

5:30pm: Here, I usually make sure that I am completing 30mins-1hr of training a day, if I am too busy, I complete this at home and work on the urgent tasks for the agency.

6/6:30pm: I usually leave the office to head home (traffic is usually better at this time!)

7:30/8pm: Once home, I usually spend 1hr-2hrs a night on my business depending on the urgency/size of the project while eating dinner.

10pm: Meditate.

10:30pm: Sleep.

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

My current role is quite flexible in work hours (which is great for traffic), as long as i am completing my hours per day.

Every now and then, I am able to work from home, which is a huge stress relief for me due to the travel time (1.5hrs). I usually find that I get lots more done from home and can juggle many projects at once, while still contacting the team over zoom.

4) Do you have any tips, tricks or shortcuts to help you manage your workload and schedule?

As you can tell, my days are jam packed! I have currently started implementing the time-boxing technique, which seems to be helping me complete all my daily tasks.

It also helps me prioritise the tasks from large to small and break them down into digestible amounts, to have them delivered on time.

Telling yourself that you are only 1 person is something that I think is really important when days can become overwhelming, this one is a learning process for me, but I am open to learn about other tips and tricks to help manage my time!

5) What does work life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

I am not going to lie here, I struggle greatly with work life balance. My life is very work orientated and I find that I can be so caught up in delivering work and ensuring that clients/team members are happy, that I often forget that it is okay to take a break.

It has evidently become extremely important for me to take time away from work, which is why I always strive for at least 4hrs each weekend, where I don’t touch my work, emails or phone (still a work in progress) and make time for something that makes me happy, whether it be hanging with friends, my family, reading, getting out of the house or cooking.

6) What do you think are some of the best habits you’ve developed over the years to help you strive for success and balance?

Definitely meditating, taking a break from the phone, surrounding myself with family and ensuring that I get least 8hrs of sleep a night!

Unfortunately, I am a huge workaholic, that tends to over think and stress about the small things, leaving me feeling very burnt out/ sick often, which is why I am stressing just how important it is to take care of yourself.

7) Are there any books that have helped you improve over the years?

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is definitely a stand out and was actually gifted to me by a friend who mentioned that this book changed their approach to many aspects of their life.

It is a book I consistently go back to depending on what I am going through in my life at the time. It usually leaves me with a huge peace of mind.

8) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?

Lists, lists and more lists. If you ask anyone, they will tell you how organised I am in all aspects of my life.

Everything has a place and everything that needs doing is on a list, that is shared between my phone, desktop at work, laptop and notepad next to my bed. This de-clutters my mind and allows me to focus on one task at a time.

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

Again, I think it is extremely important to take time out for yourself no matter how busy your life/career is.

I am a huge culprit of not taking time out for myself and working myself to the bone (experiencing the implications of that) , but in learning to be more gentle with myself, I am also starting to notice the benefits that 30 mins a day can provide.

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