🧭 Shortcuts to Publish More

How do I work full-time, have a family and still write daily.

Jul 09, 2023

One of my most asked questions is how I fit everything into my work day. As a full-time teacher and parent of three young children, how do I have time to write?

Sometimes I am unsure how to answer it because there are weeks when it all goes horribly wrong. This was one of those weeks. My eldest last Sunday had an emergency appendectomy. The week has consisted of looking after her and not much else.

Whilst you were all reading your Sunday edition last week, I was wearing a rut in the carpet, waiting for my little girl to come out of surgery. Luckily I had scheduled your email, so you still heard from me. That is my first tip: if you struggle to fit everything into your day, schedule as much as possible when you have time.

When you schedule your articles beforehand, then, if something unexpected happens, you still have the content to see you through.

The other way I manage my time is through a series of knowledge-building systems which makes researching something that can happen when I have five minutes. I have spoken about these before, how I used Obsidian and Apple Notes as a second brain.

Something I haven't spoken about that I use frequently is Apple shortcuts. These are the little actions your computer can run in the background to save time. I have a list of shortcuts to all the applications I open regularly.

I have lost count of how many times I have split my screen between Obsidian and YouTube to be able to take notes as I watch. Although this does not seem to take time to set up, every time, it can add up. I have a shortcut which I have set up. I can command this through Siri or with one click, and my screen is set up automatically as needed.

Amongst others, I have a shortcut where I can throw shopping items into a text file, and with one click, the list is populated into reminders for when I am shopping. These are two of a vast array that I have built myself.

If you want to know how to build these, let me know in the comments, and I will write a longer article.

This is one of the number one ways I save time, allowing me to fit everything into a day. What do you use?

If you enjoy this email, please share it so more readers can find it.

Until next week stay safe

Sam 😊