[00:00:04.690] - Gordon
Hello.

[00:00:09.810] - Taylor
Hello.

[00:00:10.210] - Gordon
My name's Gordon from Drayson Design.

[00:00:11.890] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.

[00:00:14.310] - Gordon
And welcome to "This Week with Taylor and Gordon," a weekly podcast and vidcast where we talk about things that have affected our businesses over the last seven days, or in this case, over the last month.

[00:00:24.990] - Taylor
Yeah, I think that's a bit of a lie to say over the past seven days and a weekly podcast, but we have reasons for it. So, the main reason was that I had surgery. So at the end of January, I had surgery for my Crohn's, and hopefully this should give me a better quality of life and help me be able to, as I was speaking about, I think it was last year, one of the last episodes of last year or last season, having routine and being able to be productive and the motivation, and keep that instead of dipping. So that's a big thing that's happened and a big change. And a lot of things in my life have changed in terms of the way I do things, how I do things, and when and why I do things at certain times. So yeah, big changes.

[00:01:26.760] - Gordon
And he's currently recovering. It was major surgery. So it meant that everyone around him, his family, were all spending time going to and from the hospital to check up on him, make sure he was okay, giving him a bit of company. I have a feeling you might have actually got sick of us coming in at one point. But I feel that when someone goes through a major life changing surgery like this, they need to know that there are people around them that love them. And that's what we did. That's why we went in. And I should say, we are recording this episode on the Tuesday before the Friday. So it's actually Valentine's Day.

[00:02:15.030] - Taylor
It is.

[00:02:15.560] - Gordon
So Happy Valentine's to all those in love out there. And if you're not in love, well, who cares?

[00:02:23.470] - Taylor
You love yourself.

[00:02:25.180] - Gordon
Yeah, love yourself. Exactly right. Love your friends and family.

[00:02:29.650] - Taylor
Happy past Valentine's Day.

[00:02:32.260] - Gordon
Yes, because it's now Friday. We will come on to why we're recording this episode very shortly. But Taylor needs to take it a little bit easy. He's got a new way of life to get used to. And so for the next six to eight weeks, he's going to take it a bit easy. Having said that, over the last couple of days, he's pretty much back to normal. I know he's still recovering, but for all intents and purposes, you're doing everything that you would normally do. You're working and...

[00:03:05.040] - Taylor
I'm probably doing more than I was able to. And it feels refreshing to be able to feel this new normal that I have. But, normal as before I was ever diagnosed, that normal feeling of not having to worry about my health as much. So yeah, it's a big relief and weight off my shoulders. But obviously also a big weight on my shoulders for the things that I've got to remember now and take into consideration.

[00:03:34.280] - Gordon
Create new habits.

[00:03:36.330] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:03:37.460] - Gordon
So yes, hopefully we will be a little bit more regular with our episodes. Weekly is what we aim for. It doesn't always happen, though, as life does get in the way. So...

[00:03:49.700] - Taylor
Why are we not going to be here?

[00:03:52.840] - Gordon
So yes, the reason we're recording this is because...

[00:03:55.490] - Taylor
I say we, you.

[00:03:57.780] - Gordon
Yes, the reason we are recording this is because I have two things coming up. On Thursday of this week, so yesterday when this comes out, I travel to Blackpool to the big magic convention that happens every year in Blackpool in February. They get the Winter Gardens a lot cheaper in February because...

[00:04:22.100] - Taylor
And B&Bs are cheap.

[00:04:23.190] - Gordon
...No one else wants to use it. Yeah, exactly. It is B&B city, honestly. Every single... If you've ever been to Blackpool and you've been near the Winter Gardens and that area.

[00:04:35.210] - Taylor
Residential area.

[00:04:37.220] - Gordon
Pretty much every single dwelling is either a B&B or a hotel. There's hardly anyone who lives there. It's amazing, really. And so there's going to be about three and a half thousand magicians that meet up. And for those who don't know, they normally hold a competition which is now called the "Family Entertainer of the Year." Used to be called the "Children's Entertainer National Championship." And that's the competition that I entered in 2016. And I was very very proud to have won that competition. That competition is not actually running this year. They've taken a break from it. But there's still going to be an awful lot going on. And it's pretty much, for me it's normally about 18 to 20 hours awake and four hours trying to get some sleep, for about three days. So it's a really busy time for me.

[00:05:31.340] - Taylor
Full on.

[00:05:32.180] - Gordon
Really full on. And you've been. So you know exactly what it's like. Yeah, there's not a lot of time to be sitting around doing nothing when you've got so many people there. But this is one of the things that as the big convention for my industry, magic, I feel I need to be there. Just like Taylor goes to WordCamp, because that's the big convention for his main business. I do the same with magic, and that's why I go to this big magic convention. So that's happening, and then I will be leaving there on the Monday morning and flying to America. And I'm going to go out and see my friend Marc. And we planned to do this together this year.

[00:06:25.800] - Taylor
Yes.

[00:06:27.320] - Gordon
And we're not able to because Taylor has to recover. So therefore, he can't come with me. But it's a reverse from last year, because last year we were supposed to go out again and just meet up with Marc and hang out with him and have a bit of fun. And we didn't get to do it together because we had our test at the airport. Taylor didn't have Covid. I did have Covid. So he had three weeks in America and I had three weeks in the spare room. So it's so strange how this year we don't need a test. So I'm definitely going to be going, and it's flipped over. So you're going to be here and I'm going to be in America. So one of the things I wanted to talk about is traveling while working.

[00:07:15.420] - Taylor
I think that it's changed for you in the past year or so. I think it's a big thing.

[00:07:21.000] - Gordon
Yeah, it has. I've never had a laptop. I always worked on my big iMac, big desktop, big screen, sitting in the office. And that's where I did my work, and that's where I was always able to do work. And if I was working, that's where I would be. And if I was out somewhere, I didn't really have the opportunity to work. I might have had my iPad or phone with me, and I might have been able to do little bits and pieces, but just checking emails, for example, but not really anything major. However...

[00:07:54.530] - Taylor
It's also been quite recent that you've been traveling a lot more. In the past couple of years.

[00:08:00.380] - Gordon
Yes.

[00:08:00.380] - Taylor
Compared to the past 10 years, you've probably travelled a lot more.

[00:08:03.360] - Gordon
Yeah, it's true.

[00:08:04.040] - Taylor
And if you had gone away, it would normally have been for work, sorry personal, a holiday, you know.

[00:08:09.600] - Gordon
Yeah, and I wouldn't want to work there because it's a holiday. That's the whole point of holidays. This is sort of a holiday because I'm going out to hang out with my friend, and I do need, because I'm away for a while, I do need to be able to access emails and do work while I'm over there.

[00:08:27.430] - Taylor
Yeah, it's a bit longer than a week holiday.

[00:08:29.530] - Gordon
It is. So when Taylor decided he wanted his new laptop, which is just here, he had his old one to sell. And he came to me and said, "Dad, I need to sell my laptop." And I bought it from him.

[00:08:46.420] - Taylor
I think we've spoken about this before.

[00:08:47.700] - Gordon
So yes, you can go back and listen to the episodes all about that. But I now have the means to be able to do work pretty much wherever I am. All I need really is a plug socket and internet, and I can do work. So it's going to be a bit different for me from past years when I haven't had a laptop to work on. So I'll report back and let you know how that works for me.

[00:09:15.920] - Taylor
Has it changed the way that you have planned your holiday? Because obviously you plan very much around, 'I'm not going to be here so I can't do work.' Whereas now it's a bit less, it's a bit more relaxed where it's like, I don't need to buffer up a ton of stuff to do right before you leave because you can obviously do it while you're on the go.

[00:09:41.440] - Gordon
Well, one of the big things for me is responding to customers and dealing with renewals for websites and domains and things like that, which normally would have had to wait until I get back. And I get people who are saying, "It's expired. I've lost my website because you haven't renewed it in time." "No, no, it's all been taken care of, but I just haven't been able to send you the invoice and let you know that the work has already been done." This year is going to be very different because I can still do that. And as far as my customers go, they won't really know that I'm away. What I used to do is I used to send out an email saying, "just to let you all know, I'm away for a period of time. If you don't get a response, that's why." Well, I haven't done that this time.

[00:10:28.790] - Taylor
Yeah. I mean, in the past, when I went to America last year, I just had a little note at the bottom of all my emails that said, "if you do receive an email at a strange time, it's because I'm traveling in America," for example.

[00:10:42.210] - Gordon
Different time zone.

[00:10:42.860] - Taylor
And you know, that was fine. People just knew that they weren't going to get a reply at nine am in the morning in the UK because it would be about four in the morning in America. So it just made them aware. I didn't have to tell them anything. I just left it in the footer of my email signature, and it was there for people to notice and just make them aware.

[00:11:05.270] - Gordon
Yeah. So yeah, I will report back on that, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to the freedom to be able to carry on working wherever I am. And in fact, even before I go away, we've sat in the lounge here, both working on the same project on laptops, sitting next to each other, similar to how we are now, which I would never have been able to do before because there's not as much room in my office for another person to sit there because I'm always there on my own.

[00:11:39.940] - Taylor
Also, I think we sit in the lounge because neither of us can take sides. It's not like I say to you...

[00:11:47.090] - Gordon
Neutral territory.

[00:11:47.980] - Taylor
It's not like you saying, "Here, come into my office," or me saying, "Come into my bedroom." It's like, neither of us have our monitors. Neither of us have all of our stuff that we're used to. We just have the laptops. And so it's a bit more focused and also no one gets a one up on each other.

[00:12:04.500] - Gordon
You say bedroom, it's more of an office than a bedroom.

[00:12:06.890] - Taylor
It's got a bed in it.

[00:12:06.890] - Gordon
It does have a bed in it, but it's more of an office, I would say. More of the room gets used as an office than a bedroom.

[00:12:14.180] - Taylor
But it just makes it neutral. It means neither of us have to argue about whose going to whose basically.

[00:12:20.840] - Gordon
So one other thing I want to talk about is, we are working on a new project currently for me, which is my digital video library access for customers who want their DVDs but don't have a DVD player. And something that I've decided quite early on is to only create what's needed at the time. So for example...

[00:12:52.520] - Taylor
An MVP.

[00:12:54.020] - Gordon
A what?

[00:12:54.770] - Taylor
MVP, Minimum Viable Product.

[00:12:57.410] - Gordon
Yes. Okay.

[00:12:57.800] - Taylor
So getting the features and the functionality over the design first.

[00:13:02.240] - Gordon
Not so much actually. Yes and no. I do want the design to be useful and user friendly.

[00:13:10.700] - Taylor
No. MVP is normally a minimum viable product so you get the workings done and you get something that has some sort of design, but you're not spending your entire time either focusing on all the design or going into the very nitty gritty tiny parts.

[00:13:25.700] - Gordon
So for example, we were talking about having a filter so that people could search for videos in their library that they had access to. Well, until there's a customer with a great deal of content in there, that's not going to be needed. I don't need to filter and search for... Because they're going to be like two, three, four, five videos at a time that they're going to have access to. And I don't need to filter those because you can see them all on screen at one time. So there's no need for me to have that system built. You need to think about it for the future and build it in a way that will allow you to add it in the future instead of having to rebuild it completely. But it's not needed right now.

[00:14:15.670] - Taylor
It's about making a list of everything that you want the end product to be, and then going through that with a fine tooth and going, "Okay, which ones actually need I need for the MVP, and which ones are nice to have? Which ones are they can come in the future." They're not necessary to be able to launch and get the MVP out.

[00:14:33.700] - Gordon
Because originally, one of the things I wanted was for people to be able to go onto the site and fill in their details and make payment and have access to the video when it becomes available. Well, I don't actually need that because it's a manual system I can use at the moment because we're talking about maybe 40, 50 people at a time that might purchase something. And okay, 40 or 50 times doing the same thing is quite monotonous, but it's, you know, there's not the volume there for me to need to automate it at this point. Once it gets to the point when I do need to automate it, then that's what we'll do.

[00:15:13.930] - Taylor
Or you have some free time and you think, "Let me see what I can put together." But obviously, I think the MVP is, trying to get that minimum viable product, is something that a lot of us sometimes forget, and we go into the details a bit too much. I've had it. I've spoken about this before about Snippet Club. I missed the launch and the opportunity window to launch Snippet Club for a first time, and I didn't want to make the same mistake. I spent so much time making all these fancy features that I thought would be really useful and in the end didn't even end up launching it and rebuilt it from scratch again. And so for me, the MVP of just getting something and then getting the content out and being consistent is far more important and will help build the capital to then be able to invest more time in making the platform better.

[00:16:13.120] - Gordon
So I think this is going to be, for me, this project is going to be customer focused. So as people come to me and say, "Can we do this? Can we do that?" I'll listen to the customers and see what they actually need and want and build those in, rather than things I think they might need, which might never, ever get used. It allows me to bring the product to market a lot quicker, and that's a big plus. Anything you want to say about new approaches to projects?

[00:16:45.600] - Taylor
I think one thing I've been trying to do is scheduling in my personal projects as if they were a client project, and having the same mentality of making a list of the things that I want or the features, what I want the website to do, and adding tasks and working on it as if it was a client project. Setting aside time every week, or every month, however often I decide I want to work on the project. But making sure I'm writing tasks down to do and making sure... Because they all get done when I write them down and I've got a note of them. Whereas when you just keep it in your head and go "Oh I'll just figure it out as I go along," the project, you don't have clarity over the project.

[00:17:33.160] - Gordon
Plus you could end up just taking up your whole time on your own personal project and not actually getting client work done. So if you schedule it in, you know that this is the time that I'm going to be working on my project. And then after that finishes, that time slot, I'll be onto the next time slot, which is this project for this customer. And it means that you keep your cash flow coming in, which is really important for a business.

[00:17:57.420] - Taylor
So I've done that with taylordrayson.com quite a bit. Whenever I get ideas or come across something that needs fixing, or come across an idea of something to add to the website or implement. Normally, I would just go, "oh, bang," go straight to my computer and be like, "I want to implement it now." Whereas now I just add it as a task in my project manager. And when I decide that I've got a bit of time, I look at the list and go, "Okay, what can I do? What time frame have I got? How long do I think this task or a task is going to take?" And I just work on it. And it helps a lot from getting distracted and just taking over and spending a lot more time than I should.

[00:18:38.220] - Gordon
And you also can prioritise that way as well. So if you come up with several things you want to put into the project, when it comes around to looking at it and going, "Right, I've got some time to work on it," you can look at the list and prioritise what actually needs doing there and then, which is a much better way of working.

[00:18:58.760] - Taylor
So yeah, I mean, just yeah, just treating the project as a client project and setting yourself deadlines as well, because that's another thing is without a deadline, you can't measure your goal and your success.

[00:19:12.200] - Gordon
And they're never finished.

[00:19:13.620] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:19:14.280] - Gordon
You just keep going and going and adding things to it.

[00:19:17.640] - Taylor
I've been helping mum with some goals and habits and things like that. And the biggest thing about when you're setting goals or some habits for yourself is one, make them realistic, make them something that is attainable. And also it needs to be measurable by something. So if you want to lose weight, saying "lose weight" is not a goal because there is no way to measure whether you've lost weight. Saying, "I would like to lose a certain weight," so two kilograms or whatever, is something that you can hit. And you can then measure that against obviously the scales because you can measure yourself to see how much you've lost or gained. And that's the biggest thing is without something that's measurable, you can't really improve. And it's very hard to have an ending point, at least. So it's similar with a deadline for a project.

[00:20:13.630] - Gordon
Our dog went to the vets today and lost exactly two kilograms, which was good because he was overweight. So that's great news. So lots of other things have happened. We'll leave those for future episodes. We will try and do an episode next week, although it'll probably be a Zoom one. Yes, it may not be next week, in fact, just thinking of my schedule. So it may be the following week, but it will be a Zoom one next, I hope. All going well. That's it from me.

[00:20:49.020] - Taylor
That's it from me as well.

[00:20:50.500] - Gordon
Thank you so much for joining us. As always, please like, share, and subscribe. We're on YouTube and on Facebook.

[00:20:58.100] - Taylor
You can also go to our website thisweekwith.co.uk to find all of our past episodes. And it also reminds me that we mentioned that we have a couple of ideas that we want to add to the website, but because of the MVP that we were trying to get out for the new website, they haven't been done yet, but we can schedule those in and work on them so they get done, and we'll put a deadline on it and we can then make sure that they get done.

[00:21:24.160] - Gordon
So assuming we manage it next week, if not the week after, we'll be with you again at 1pm on Friday. Until then, my name is Gordon and I'm from Drayson Design.

[00:21:34.880] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.

[00:21:37.430] - Gordon
Goodbye.

[00:21:37.960] - Taylor
Bye.

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