Funmi Oyatogun is a geographer and experienced designer. Her two identities feed on each other. She loves exploring the world and sharing her knowledge with others.
She has built her business, TVP Adventures, using social media, primarily on Twitter. With her content and company, her goal is to open up the African continent for the world.
I had a chance to talk with Funmi about how she balances building her business, remote team, and social media following working from her home office.
[bctt tweet=”In this month of #GoodGoodLiving, @funmioyatogun shares how she’s balancing social media, life and business. Read more…” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
Here is what we can learn from her…
Visual person? Write things down
Funmi has found that writing things down in her physical planner helps her stay on track of her work and relaxed. The night before, she finalizes what she will focus on, and writes down any new appointments for the next day.
She writes everything out nicely in her planner and arranges them in order of importance. She also uses symbols to help her categorize her tasks. You can make a routine of writing out your work in planners therapeutic, using fun colorful pens and even stickers.
Work from home? Create a separate home office
One of the first things Funmi learned when she set up her business was that she should not work on her comfortable bed. She then got a desk and chair in her room but still always wound up in her bed.
She decided that it was necessary that she physically travel to another space in her house.
The physical transition also helps her get into work mode. She finds it easier to concentrate and has fewer distractions in her home office. Funmi also recommends that you put up your goals and or vision board somewhere you can’t escape it.
As she spends about 8 hours in her office, she has a comfortable swivel chair and a space that helps her stay productive and creative.
Social media critical to your success? Schedule it
Funmi’s business started and relies heavily on social media but she is still learning how best to balance using it with getting her other work done.
She tries to engage with social media first thing in the morning and later in the day, giving herself a large chunk of time in the middle of the day to focus on other work. 
Like Funmi, you should try these 4 tips to keep from mindlessly scrolling through social media:
- Plan content in advance ‘when your brain is fresh.’
- Try to respond only to important notifications throughout the day
- At the end of the day, skim and select direct messages to answer. Not all messages deserve your attention
- Focus on responding to longer threads and comments at the end of the day
Know thy energy levels
Perhaps the most common theme throughout our conversation was the importance of knowing when to do certain types of work.
Funmi wakes up very early. Even if you don’t plan to be up at 4:30 am, you can still plan your day around when you do your best work and feel most productive.
She knows that it is best for her to do mindful tasks that require a lot of brain power and creativity in the morning. She finds that the stories she produces in the morning are drastically different from later in the day.
As her energy wains throughout the day, her brain slows down by 4 pm, she focuses on tasks that are more routine.
[bctt tweet=”If you don’t take care of your body, it won’t take care of you – @funmioyatogun ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
Remember to recharge yourself
Funmi spends a lot of time giving out and sharing her thoughts and content. After completing routine tasks, Funmi starts ‘feeding’ herself by reading, catching up with the news and watching documentaries.
She makes sure to feed herself (literally) three times a day. She works out with a trainer in the morning first thing at last three times a week as well. 
During our conversation, she warns, if you don’t take care of your body, it won’t take care of you.
How do you balance the creative process of developing content with responding and reacting to posts and comments? Do you make sure to ‘replenish’ yourself after spending all day posting and giving yourself out?
Want to learn how to build a health conscious routine? Read our Good Good Living Part 1 series w/ Yasmin Kumi.
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