No day is a dull day for business owner Beck Wadworth.
The New Zealand-born entrepreneur famously started her An Organised Life luxury stationery brand out of her Sydney home, working all hours of the night on top of her full-time day job at Bec & Bridge.
She made the move to focusing full-time on her brand in 2017, and now, after relocating back to her home country, continues to expand her offering, since creating another brand extension My Organised Travels.
With so much on her plate, a typical day for Beck can include travelling between her Auckland home office and AOL’s Sydney HQ; coordinating long distance marketing and product plans with her team and external suppliers; working on designs for upcoming products; and attending meetings, fashion shows, events and launches. Never far from her clutches is the stylish HP Spectre Folio, the 100% full grain leather laptop that makes organizing, designing and coordinating team a total breeze – whether she’s working from home or in an airport lounge.
Read on to find out how Beck juggles her priorities, stays on top of her own health and wellbeing and makes time for relaxation throughout her crazy-busy day!
I wake up between 6.30am – 7.00am each day. If I have pilates booked in, I set an alarm, otherwise I like to wake up naturally. One of my goals this year was to do some form of exercise four times a week (ideally) – I alternate between a nice walk listening to a podcast or a reformer pilates class in the morning.
Next, I grab a coffee from Rosie in Parnell for [my partner] Jason and myself and we always sit on the verandah and enjoy this together. Then, I jump in the shower and do my skincare and beauty regime.
Once I’m ready for the day, I pop into the office, light a candle, put on my favourite playlist (think Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles!) and prioritise my to-do list for the day. I’m all about a very thorough to-do list – what I NEED to get done is so different to what do I WANT to get done. I always write it in my An Organised Life diary the night before and when I’m fresh (post-coffee) in the morning I go over it and work out my MITs (most important tasks). I spend my morning going through those and then usually keep my afternoons for other tasks, shoots, calls or meetings.
I always have breakfast around 10am – usually a smoothie (banana, spinach, mixed berries and The Beauty Chef GLOW Powder) otherwise, I make scrambled eggs, wilted spinach and avo.
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Although I have moved back to NZ, my small team for An Organised Life are all based in Australia so one of my key tasks daily is managing their workload and making sure our communication is really clear. We have lots of shared documents and spreadsheets that definitely help. The rest of my tasks include strategy, driving online sales, managing wholesale, design, production and anything to do with graphic design. Thrown into that mix is also shoots, events, meetings and travel. But as I mentioned – it is manageable when you prioritise.
Making my life a whole lot easier for all of these tasks is my HP Spectre Folio – I use it for everything – emails, lots of shared docs, notes and spreadsheets – from there, it helps me to create my to-do list for each day.
It’s also really useful in the design process and I utilise the HP Spectre’s built-in tools to be able to draw and make notes (literally) on all my designs when I’m critiquing and checking the products using my HP tilt pen. On another note: one of my other favourite features is the luxe leather cover – a first of its kind that makes it so premium – and that, coupled with its three laptop positions, means it’s perfect for reviewing documents and designs, presenting to clients, and then using it normally at my desk. It is also a dream to travel with.
I have an office in Sydney and a home office in Auckland – which I love. I’m so productive at home. I have purposely created my home office in a separate room – when I’m finished for the day, I close the door and don’t go back in there! This separation is key. I’m really self-motivated so I don’t get distracted often at home – and when I do – it’s a sign a need to relax and have some R&R. Knowing my purpose for each day and my priorities is what makes working from home easier too – you sit down and you know exactly what you need to do. There is no mucking around!
I love the flexibility of working for myself in terms of being able to squeeze in personal and professional errands in a day. The majority of my days are solely dedicated to professional but there is the odd day I book a hair appointment, or a fun lunch with friends who might be visiting, etc. I never feel guilty! It’s always planned into my day and I always make up those hours at some stage. I prefer to have my weekends free to relax, work or see friends so I like to get any personal errands done during the working week. Plus, if you ever see me at the hair salon, I always have my laptop in front of me anyway -multitasking!
I hardly ever go out for lunch, I pre-plan all my meals and do a big grocery shop online every Sunday! When I do go for lunch, it’s usually to meet a girlfriend on a Friday and we like to mix it up – my local favourites in Auckland have been Rosie, Odettes, Best Ugly Bagel, The Butcher’s Son, Amano and Orphan’s Kitchen.
If I’m feeling like I’m getting into that slump mode, I always take a break and sit down outside in the fresh air for 5 mins. It works wonders.
I always try to stop by 8pm latest unless I have an event I have to attend. I’m big on trying to [stop], however if I have ticked everything off my to-do list by 5.30pm, I have a nice relaxing evening. Other days I’ll be on a roll and in that case, I will carry on working while I watch Netflix until late into the evening! I seem to get a second wind in the evenings.
Jason and I usually have a late dinner – we cook dinner roughly six nights a week and I love being at home and relaxing in the evenings! Our go-to favourites are homemade pizzas, lots of salads and a lasagna.
To unwind, we usually watch a Netflix episode and then I do my skincare routine. I love to do a mask every second or third night and make the Beauty Chef SLEEP drink too. I’m also a huge fan of the “This Works – Deep Sleep Breathe In” which has a calming blend of 100% natural lavender, plus other goodies, so I can get a very restful sleep.
Interview: Kelly McAuliffe
Photos: c/o Beck Wadworth, An Organised Life Instagram
This article is brought to you in partnership with HP. To find out more about the HP Spectre Folio, visit http://www.hp.co.nz/spectrefolio.
