049: Andy Shaw on Comedy, Parenting & How to Stay Productive

Here at Simply Designed Life Podcast, we've mostly discussed work-life balance from the female perspective, but what about the male perspective? I think it was around Episode 10 with Jennifer Ghymn on Writing and the Interculture Life around the 14-minute time mark that we wondered how men juggled work-life balance. To follow up on that conversation, and in honor of the Father's Day weekend, our next couple episodes will be dedicated to the male perspective of productivity within the context of work and family life. First up, we have comedian Andy Shaw of Instafather, and then next week it's Super Joe Pardo, who's the founder of the Mid-Atlantic Podcast Conference and host of The Business Podcast. We'll hear these "Super Men" discuss their journeys and hacks for getting it all done. At any rate, I'm stoked to introduce our next guest whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the fabulous Blog Connect Conference in Philly, hosted by the amazing Chrystina Cappello and team ;). But before that, I wanted to announce that I am excited and honored to be competing in this year's Podcast Movement's PMx Competition. What is PMX exactly? PMx is an adaptation of TEDx talks with a competitive spin. I will have 15 minutes to give my talk in front of four judges, competing with 11 other contestants for the chance to receive the PMX championship belt, be recognized by the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame, and be automatically selected to speak at Podcast Movement 2019. PMx will be on Monday, July 23d from 9am – 3pm EST at the Marriott in Philadelphia, PA. Less than 40 days until I take the PMx stage at @PodcastMovement - no pressure right? A big Shout out to Cypress Resources who will be sponsoring the competition. According to a Communications Research Study, people fear public speaking more than death, and so for me, this should be an interesting challenge to see whether or not I could rise to occasion, own it, or "Bring it On" like in that cheesy, but feel-good, 2000 rom-com with Kirsten Dunst, but most of all, impact those who share the same fears as myself but take courageous action and speak out in spite of those fears. Anyway, enough about the competition and me, let's get into the conversation with Andy Shaw. Who is Andy? Andy Shaw is a full-time college admissions marketing director, a father of twin 3-year-old girls and a 5-year-old boy, an improv comedian with The Oxymorons, a social media consultant, and an avid fan of Black Mirror on Netflix even though it is terrifying. He's made a goal of helping new dads gain confidence with Instather.com, sharing his own stories and practical advice on fatherhood. He's the upcoming author of The New Mom's Guide to New Dads, a book based on helping moms figure out what dads are thinking and how to get them more involved by raising expectations. While all of these jobs and roles may seem like a lot, Andy has watched his incredible wife give birth to twins so he's just gonna keep quiet. Quotes from Andy On Parenting If I accidentally yell in the heat of the moment, my kids are gonna take that a lot more personally than if I just yelled at a stranger who just cut me off on a highway, right? My kids, I have to see them every day, they just don't disappear right down the highway. (13:17) On Tackling Most Important Things (MIT'S): So Pomodoro, 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off, but also priorities so I can list out my priorities for the day, whether it's for career or at home and I always do them in chunks so I always make sure I'm tackling my biggest priorities for the day. So at the end of the day and the week, I know no matter even if the kids are crazy or everything falls apart, I got some of my biggest tasks done. (16:58) Know Thyself You can't be the best at everything. If you’re trying to be the best at everything, you’re probably the best at nothing. Pick a couple things... The more aware you are of what you like and don’t like, know what your strengths are,