The Labrador Method
I'll be really honest. I'm not naturally a systems person. I've had to train myself to be a systems person, and I do think that systems are what make creative people brilliant.
The system I built has a name: the Labrador Method. It's the reason I can run a business around school pickup and still take Fridays off. And it's the backbone of my course, the 21 Day UGC Creator.
In this post I'll walk you through three things:
- Where the name comes from (yes, there's a puppy involved)
- The five rules of the Labrador Method, and how to use each rule this week
- How I designed the 21 Day UGC Creator around those five rules
Where the Labrador Method came from
For years, my brain resembled something akin to a Labrador puppy. It was generally friendly, eager to please, and would chase any ball you threw for it. Left to its own devices it could get into a LOT of trouble, and sometimes it just crashed out all together and slept for 12 hours straight.
But, if you've ever let a Labrador puppy into your house for a prolonged period, you'll also know the trail of chaos that follows. None of it is deliberate or ill-intentioned, but it's there all the same, and it becomes increasingly difficult to live with.
There comes a point, loveable as they are, when the puppy needs training. Not to stop being a Labrador (thank goodness), but to put all that energy somewhere useful. Because here's the thing: a trained Labrador is the dog we trust to guide a blind person across a busy road, locate a missing person in a disaster area, or sniff out illegal substances or explosives. Same dog. Same energy. It just has a system. And that system takes it from lovable to exceptional.
I got so overwhelmed running my agency that I ended up with an ADHD diagnosis. Nothing cured my Labrador brain, and I wouldn't want it to. What turned things around was building a set of rules that work for my brain. I called those rules the Labrador Method, because the method doesn't change my brain. It trains it.
If your brain's a bit Labrador too, these five rules might be exactly what you've been missing.
The five rules of the Labrador Method
You know me, I have my funny little sayings and my funny little rules. These five are the ones that do the heavy lifting.
Rule 1: Good enough on purpose
"The best I can with the resources I have available."
I had the first YouTube video that I'd filmed sat in my computer for literally 6 months before I released it. Six months of a finished video doing absolutely nothing, because I kept thinking it could be better.
Good enough on purpose means you decide what "done" looks like before you start, not halfway through.
Use it this week: before you start your next task, write one line describing what finished looks like. When you hit that line, you stop and press publish.
Rule 2: Just the next day
"All you need to do is the next day."
A Labrador brain tries to hold the whole plan at once, panics, then crashes out on the sofa. You don't need the whole plan in your head. You only need today's step.
Use it this week: at the end of each working day, write down the ONE thing you'll do tomorrow. Tomorrow, do that thing first.
Rule 3: Think first, then do
"We should never think and film, and we should never think and edit."
Overwhelm only happens when you are trying to do, or feel like you should be doing, 2 things at once. So planning and doing never happen on the same day. I have a script day, a filming day and an editing day. When I've actually sat down and I've got into my editing zone, I can bash out three videos in almost the time it would take me to edit one.
Use it this week: give each day one kind of task. Write every script on Monday, film every video on Tuesday, edit every video on Wednesday.
Rule 4: Give everything a deadline, including decisions
"I give myself permission not to make a decision until a deadline, but then I make a decision."
An undecided decision chews through your energy like a puppy chews through a slipper. A deadline lets you park the decision without feeling guilty about it.
Use it this week: write down the decision you keep going round in circles on. Pick a day and time, for example "next Friday at 3pm". Decide then, and move on.
Rule 5: Make it boring
"It ends up feeling a little bit boring rather than overwhelming."
Do the same thing, in the same amounts, until the results are predictable. Then you can turn your work up or down like a tap. In my business, if we send more emails, we get more customers. If we send fewer emails, we get fewer customers. It's a tap that we can turn on and off.
Use it this week: pick one task that brings in work, such as emailing brands. Choose a number you can stick to every week, and keep to that number for a month before you change anything.
How the Labrador Method is built into the 21 Day UGC Creator
When I designed the 21 Day UGC Creator, I deliberately made it with Labrador puppies in mind, with the idea that actually all you need to do is the next day. The course is the Labrador Method applied to getting paid as a UGC creator. Here's where each rule shows up.
Rule 1, good enough on purpose: you see what "done" looks like before you make it. On Days 6 and 7 you script, film and edit your first UGC ad, and I show you my own finished example ad, so you know exactly where the finish line is. Your first video doesn't sit on your laptop for 6 months like mine did.
Rule 2, just the next day: 21 days, one job per day. Day 1 is finding your niche. Day 2 is building your offer. Day 3 is your packages and pricing. You never have to hold the whole plan in your head, only the lesson in front of you.
Rule 3, think first, then do: planning and filming happen on separate days. Day 5 is researching and planning your ads. Day 6 is scripting and filming. Day 7 is editing in CapCut. And when you work with brands, every script gets signed off before you press record, so filming day is just ticking shots off a list.
Rule 4, give everything a deadline: your client projects run on dates. Days 19 and 20 cover onboarding clients and managing your UGC projects, with a deadline for every shoot and one round of revisions written into the contract. It's amazing how much more efficient brands are with their feedback when they know they've only got one opportunity to make revisions.
Rule 5, make it boring: brand outreach becomes a numbers game you control. Days 10 to 12 set up my brand outreach system: 50 brands a month, 5 emails each, on a two-week cycle. Do that every month and your enquiries stop being luck. They become a tap you turn up when you want more work, and down when the school holidays hit.
Ready to put your energy somewhere useful?
A Labrador puppy doesn't need to become a different dog. It needs a system. Most of the women I teach don't lack talent or drive. They're juggling work, children and everything in between, and nobody has handed them a tried and tested system for UGC that fits around real life.
That tried and tested system is exactly what the 21 Day UGC Creator gives you: one clear job a day for 21 days, a script day before a filming day, a deadline on every client project, and an outreach routine boring enough to rely on.
If this has caught your attention, then here are two ways in:
- Want to see how UGC works first? Watch my free 25-minute Masterclass
- Ready to start Day 1? Join the 21 Day UGC Creator
Same energy. Just a system. And I promise you, that system takes you a LOT further than you think. ๐พ
Rooting for you,
Sarah x
