Working smarter was never about doing more
Somewhere along the way, “work smarter” got hijacked to mean “squeeze more in.” Here's what it actually means to me — and why I built The Co Lab around it.
If you spend any time in photography circles online, you'll have seen the advice: batch your edits, automate your emails, systemise your enquiries — so you can take on more weddings, book more clients, earn more money. And look, some of that is genuinely useful. But the goal underneath it always seems to be the same: do more.
That's not the version of working smarter I care about. I got into this because I love photographing people on the best days of their lives. I did not get into it to spend my Tuesdays drowning in admin, or my off-season quietly dreading my inbox.
Efficiency shouldn't be a way to cram more work into your week. It should be a way to get your week back.
The maths nobody mentions
Say a better workflow saves you five hours a week. The hustle version of the story tells you to fill those five hours with another shoot. The version I believe in says: those five hours are the whole point. Spend them with your kids. Go for a walk. Do nothing. You already earned them.
Every tool I build for The Co Lab is measured against that. Not “will this help you scale?” but “will this hand you back an evening?” If it doesn't, it doesn't belong here.
Where this goes
So this is the thread that runs through everything — the tools, the journal, the retreats. Less friction, more life. If that resonates, you're in the right place. Stick around; I'm just getting started.
A note: this is a sample piece written to set the tone for the journal. The words are a starting point — edit, rewrite, or replace them with your own.