5 Things You Should Always Make Time For As A Creative Entrepreneur

Hey boss babe! The Weekly Wine Downs are officially LIVE! Last Wednesday I went live on my Facebook page, and now you can watch that video on YouTube (or below). I'll summarize the points in the blog post below, in case you prefer to read!

Here’s the deal: we are busy. Super, crazy, overwhelmingly, busy. Running our own businesses is hard and entails so much more work than we could’ve ever imagined. I know how easy it is to fall into the habit of working 14-16 hour days and barely stop for water, let alone a healthy meal. I’m going to let you in on a secret though: working like that does not make your best work and will lead to burnout, exhaustion, panic attacks in the middle of the night when you remembered something urgent, and overall bad vibes.

How can I say that so confidently? Because, girl, been there, done that. Did that. For a long time. And let’s be real here, it sucks. It’s not why we got into this whole entrepreneur thing anyway, right?! We wanted freedom. We wanted long lunches and lazy mornings. We wanted to make our own routines, work from cute coffee shops, and inspire others. We did not want to wear the same clothes for 3 days in a row and have a headache from the top-knot our hair has been in for just as long.

At the start of this year when I was evaluating my schedule and blocking things off and prepping for some shifts I decided there would be 5 non-negotiables in my life and schedule that I would always honor, always make time for, and walk away from the long crazy to-do list to get done. I made myself understand that the things on this list are just as important as anything else I would NEVER miss (this might be picking up your kids from school, seeing relatives when they’re in town, etc. For me it was getting to the grocery store when I knew I was out of wine, or getting to Chipotle before they close. Just kidding. Kind of).

They’re things that make me my best self and therefore my best boss and best business owner. Something that you don’t always notice when you’re an employee is how your boss impacts everything - if they walk in grumpy and worn out and mean - the day is going to be shitty. So now, you’re the boss - if you walk into work feeling like crap, it’s going to be a crap day. I realized this when I listened to a friend who was upset about their mercurial boss and how they ruined the whole mood in their office. It dawned on me that hey I do that the same way in my own business…

My hope is that this will inspire you to establish your own personal non-negotiables and make time for yourself outside of your business. Without further ado…

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Creative Brainstorms

I’ve always valued time to be creative in both my life and my business, but I did get caught up in over-scheduling last year and only allowed myself ‘creative brainstorms’ at  set time. In retrospect, that sounds completely ridiculous. How can you say, “On Wednesdays from 2-3pm I’ll be creative”?!

My business does require me to think creatively often throughout the day, and that’s something I manage well at this point. However, whenever my brain starts to really be in a flow and make connections and start to solve things… I don’t stop it. I used to think, “oh I’ll figure this out later” but later didn’t always happen. This has happened fairly often recently, as I’ve been putting a lot of time into thinking about “the big picture” for TheCrownFox and scaling my business. I do dedicate time to meditation and journaling and reflecting, but sometimes (often, actually), hours later when I’m mindlessly doing something else my brain will start to work through those ideas and generate some really great thoughts - I’ve adjusted my reaction to that and accepted it and took the time to keep going down that rabbit hole and have a brainstorm session right then and there.

What that really looks like is keeping a journal and pen nearby, so when ideas start pouring, I can write them down. It also looks like being flexible and knowing that even though I was in the middle of making my salad (I literally eat a Caesar salad everyday, I don’t know what’s wrong with me), I might need to take ten minutes to write down what’s in my head.

Granted, there are times when this is just not possible. For example, driving. You can’t exactly start scribbling away then, but I do let my mind wander (safely, of course) and if I need to voice record something I’ll do that. For me, I’ve noticed this usually happens during my non-working hours, when I’ved ‘turned off’ my client brain, and am just starting to relax - magic seems to happen, and I’ve gotten much better at embracing it.

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Self-Care

Self-care is totally new to me. Not to sound like some sort of martyr that never took time for herself, because I totally did. I just never knew it as ‘self-care’ and I never knew how to embrace it and use it to the best of my abilities to feel calm, collected, taken care of, etc.

My self-care routine looks like a lot of baths, a lot of journaling, reading, working out. These are things that make me feel happy and good about myself and my life. And now, they’re non-negotiables in my schedule. Now, I don’t mean that I have ‘take a bath’ written in my agenda, but I do mean that if I am feeling overwhelmed or anxious or just anything other than great, I’ll stop and try and figure out a) what’s wrong and b) what will make me feel better. Sometimes it’s getting physical and going to have a good workout (okay, I’m not a great worker-outer, but Will and I recently changed our gym routine and it’s my ~dream~ gym routine, so now I get excited to go), and often it’s sitting in a really hot bath with some sort of meditation (I like the Insight Timer app) going.

In the past I would’ve disregarded my feelings and just ‘worked through it’ which eventually would have resulted in feeling worse or snapping at someone or something not very becoming. Now, no matter how busy or crazy my schedule seems, I prioritize making sure that I feel good by giving myself time to work through whatever is going on. At the end of the day, you’ve got to look out for number 1.

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Real Connections

I’m pretty introverted. I like and need a good amount of alone time. This has affected my ability to really connect with people for as long as I can remember. Over the past year I’ve come to realize that I use this knowledge about myself to avoid doing things and stay in.

While staying in is fine sometimes, there is definitely something to be said about making real connections and making time for a life outside of business. Now, this could totally mean making a business bestie and connecting with them virtually -- but you should connect and talk about life sometimes too, not just your next marketing campaign.

This is still a work in progress for yours truly, but it is something that is important to me (and hopefully is to you too). Being obsessed with your business is great, but if it’s the only thing in your life it wont end well. One bad day or week of sales will send you into tailspin. One mean client will have you questioning everything. Instead, put some emotional eggs in other baskets, so you can find joy in cute lunch dates and trying the new espresso bar downtown.

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Gratitude

I know you already know how important gratitude is. It’s a hot topic! It’s everywhere! But, y’all, there’s some legit truth in it. Gratitude is important. It’s vital. Set time aside daily or weekly to devote to gratitude. This is something I’ve been working at for over a year now, and the days that I spend just 10 minutes writing out a few things I am grateful for are the days that feel like they run the smoothest and leave me feeling the happiest.

There are countless studies on why this happens, but in my experience it just boils down to not letting every little thing send you into a whirlwind and having that ‘big picture’ mentality that sometimes is so necessary to keep us from getting too stressed out.

My goal is to write 3 general things I am grateful for each morning (and they are sometimes as simple as being grateful for my pillow, or for having socks on my cold toes), and in the evening 3 things I’m grateful for that happened that specific day (like getting paid, or eating a healthy dinner).

This practice has helped me shift my overall mentality towards ‘bad’ events - I’m one of those look-for-the-silver-lining type people now. Gross right?! Just kidding. But overall, it does make for a happier me, which means a happier business, and that’s one step closer to success.

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Time to Unwind

Scheduling time to decompress and unwind between work and any activities after work, I’ve realized, is something I desperately need. For example, if I have dinner plans at 7, I need at least 30 minutes between work and that to relax, get ‘the day’ off my mind, and shift gears. I guess those with a more traditional 9-5 probably do this during their commute, but for us work-from-homers we have to create that routine and personal time.

It’s important because, inevitably, something will have been stressful in your day, and you don’t want to carry that into the rest of your life unnecessarily. It’s difficult when you work from home because those feelings start to cross-wires, since you aren’t physically leaving that drama anywhere. But, instead, you can create time to mentally do that. This can be whatever you need it to be - for me it sometimes looks like just shutting off my computer and mindlessly scrolling through Instagram for a bit. Or reading  book. Or going for a quick walk (but it’s a little too cold for that right now). Maybe it’s a quick 15-minute yoga flow, or mindless tidying and folding laundry. It just needs to be something that is calming, not work related, and in my opinion, quiet.

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These are my non-negotiables, but that doesn’t necessarily  mean they have to be yours. I do encourage you to think on some things that make you feel good, make you feel relaxed, and make you feel confident and start putting those things higher up on your priority list. Your business can’t run without YOU, so taking care of yourself should always be priority #1.

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6 Rules to Managing Your Schedule (and Avoiding Overwhelm, Stress, and Late Nights)

Hey there! The Weekly Wine Downs are officially LIVE! Last Wednesday I went live on my Facebook page, and now you can watch that video on YouTube (or below). I'll summarize the points in the blog post below, in case you prefer to read!

The last few weeks have each touched on the idea of scheduling in some way, but we haven’t really dove into what it looks like to REALLY manage a schedule - especially when you have A LOT going on. It’s hands-down one of the hardest parts of my business, and the reason that I have not done well at consistently blogging or writing newsletters in the past (but that’s changing this year).

Over the course of last year the way I worked with clients shifted in a big way. I became more like a member of their team, versus just a contractor, and that affected how available I wanted to be for them. I felt obliged to drop everything if someone had a request, to work late, or on weekends, if something came up last minute, and to basically disregard all of what my contract explicitly says about turn around times, scheduling, etc.

Here’s another one of those “learn from my mistakes” moments.

YOU are in control of your schedule and YOU can set boundaries of when you work on what. That was a big lesson I had to learn over the course of last year and something I started implementing more strictly later in 2017 and very diligently in 2018. For me, it coincided with some moments of clarity like, “hey I’m actually a really good designer and I am helping these businesses,” and other moments of realizing my worth - but we’ll get to that step in a second.

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Rule 1: Set Established Time Blocks

We’ve talked about this earlier this month - but I’ll reiterate the concept. Plan out the schedule for your week that has blocked off times for general needs in your business. Maybe it’s Monday morning - 2 hours for creative brainstorming and content generating, or Friday afternoon - 1 hour for reflection, tracking stats, and balancing books. Maybe you block off one hour in the middle of your day everyday to get up, walk around, stretch, and have a good lunch. It’s totally up to you, but it needs to be a total non-negotiable.

Here’s mine, if you want some encouragement and examples:

Monday - 9:00-10:00am - CEO TIME: The tasks within this time can vary, but I start my week doing something for MY business (not my clients). Lately it’s been focused on goal and intention setting, journaling, and visualizing “the big picture” for my biz. And you know what? It’s been working - I am starting to really narrow in and focus on something that will be BIG for TheCrownFox and that I’m super excited about.

Tuesday - 4:00-5:00pm - CONTENT TIME: I usually write content over the weekend, because it’s when I feel the most relaxed and natural, but I do have this time blocked off to edit and perfect everything, as well as schedule newsletters, create graphics, etc.

Wednesday - 4:00-5:00pm - FB LIVE:  I go live on Wednesday’s at 4:30pm on my Facebook page. I give myself time beforehand to relax, read over my outline, and prepare mentally (going live is still stressful for me).

Thursday - 9:00-10:00am - CONTENT TIME: I take time Thursday morning, before client work, to get my video up on YouTube, schedule my 2nd newsletter, create a content upgrade, etc. This has to be ready by Friday, so I do it first thing Thursday just in case my day ends up getting crazier-than-expected.

Friday - 4:00pm-5:00pm - CEO TIME: I use this time for reflection. I journal about gratitude for what I’ve accomplished that week. I think ahead to the next week and write some intentions and goals. I unwind and try to let go of any anxiety that the week has stirred up.

Your blocks will probably be different - but as you can see it’s just an hour or so a day that I have blocked off, put in my Google Calendar and my paper planner, and don’t budge on. Seriously. It’s MY time to make sure my business is still running and operating the way I’d like. You need that too - or perhaps you need more than that. Later in the year, closer to launches of different things, I’m sure I’ll expand those times because I’ll need more time for my  business and to actually create things.

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Rule 2: Set Established Days for Meetings

I mentioned this last week - I don't love meetings. I get nervous if it’s a new person, it breaks up my creative flow if it’s a client meeting, and I have to put on makeup. Blegh. Not to sound ungrateful, but it’s just the truth. So, I now only take meetings on two days: Mondays and Wednesdays. Want to know why? Because Mondays were just the established norm for a few clients, when I made this decision. And Wednesdays I’m going to put on makeup anyway to record the Weekly Wine Down, so we’re good there, too.

I’m fairly strict on this decision. What it took me a while to come to terms with is that a meeting at a random time on a random day isn’t just the 20-30 minute meeting I have on Google Cal. It’s time to get ready. Time to mentally get ready. I have to stop a creative flow of whatever I’m doing before hand, or try to time things out so that I’m not in the middle of something. And then I have to get back into that flow afterward. PLUS if it’s a potential client meeting, there’s always the chance they stand me up and it was all for nothing (this still happens, no matter how successful you get).

So, decide what is best for you. Obviously sometimes this one has to have a little bit of wiggle room. If Oprah wants to meet with me on a Thursday, you better believe I’m going to figure that ish out. But, mentally, it is just a big ol’ SIGH OF RELIEF to wake up on a Tuesday and know I can just WORK and not have any distractions or bumps. Give yourself that sign of relief, friend.

Also, on a personal note, I've mentioned how I am more introverted and need quiet/alone time to refuel. The final decision to move into this schedule was after I had a week with in person and virtual meetings every day, by Friday afternoon I was so mentally fatigued from being "on" - and I realized that meetings every day actually exhausts me more than working 12-14 hour days. You may be different, but pay attention to how you handle different stresses and create a schedule that minimizes stress for you.

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Rule 3: Use Scheduling Software

Now, to really ensure that the aforementioned 2 rules stick - use something like Calendly or Acuity to schedule appointments with people. No emailing back and forth and getting fed up and finally just saying whatever time is best for them. Nope.

Be professional and send over your open times. Calendly has a free version guys! Free! (As of posting this, I learned that apparently Acuity does too!) It syncs with your Google Calendar too, so if you actually set up these blocks and make them repeat every week, you’re solid.

My Calendly has my two days of availability (with my Rule 1 times blocked off). If someone wants to chat, I send that over. It says in the sign up form that we are meeting on Zoom in my meeting room (also free). It’s quick. It’s done. There’s no room for questions or mindless emailing back and forth. Cha-ching!

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Rule 4: Elaborate on Specifics

I’m going to tell you something that I used to be guilty of. I’d send over a contract and spend so much time wishing and hoping that it was “good enough” and no one would question anything in it. I wouldn’t go into detail about anything like my working hours, or the best way to contact me, because I never wanted to risk rocking the boat. Granted, it said it in the contract, but I didn’t specifically mention it on the call beforehand.

Well, that bit me in the ass like 3 times and I was like YOU KNOW WHAT?! NO MORE. So now, in my onboarding or potential client calls I go down a straight up checklist:

1. You cannot Facebook message me and we cannot be friends on Facebook. Period. There’s pics of me in college in there, no one needs to see that. Also FB messages are reserved for personal friends, distant relatives, and random people from high school trying to sign me up for their latest MLM.

2. My working hours are 10-5pm EST. EST. EASTERN. EASTERN STANDARD TIME. I emphasize this a lot if I know someone is not EST. Because a last minute request at 4:00pm Pacific on a Friday night is 7:00pm Eastern on a Friday night and I am probably out having a cocktail, let’s be real here.

3. Phone calls must be pre-scheduled. If you have my phone number because we’ve spoken over the phone at some point (something I don’t do anymore), do not call me randomly. I will not answer. This same rule applies to my parents and grandparents, so honestly, I don’t expect people to be offended by this. Call me a millennial, but talking on the phone sucks and I need time to mentally prepare for it, as well as find my headphones, turn off re-runs of House Hunters probably playing in the background, etc.

4. Turn around times for projects. Yours will vary, but mine says ‘for normal projects like blog post graphics and things of that nature 3 days turnaround time.’ For anything larger, we will discuss a turn around time at the time of assignment. Now, I do say at this point in a call, that I understand there are emergencies from time to time and I do my best to go out of my way to help clients BUT if it’s a consistent issue we will need to discuss the potential of RUSH FEES (words that clients usually understand).

My point here is that you should create these boundaries. And tell people about that. Don’t do like I did and shirk away from that authority and responsibility. You know what having these sorts of established rules that you are confident enough to speak about does? It says “I’m an authority and I am professional. I have the experience to run this as a real business, and that should make you, paying client, feel better.”

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Rule 5: Actually Charge Rush Fees

This also falls into the category of treating your business like a business. “REAL” Businesses (because you might be reading this and thinking of yourself as a freelancer, or a newbie, or whatever) charge rush fees for rush projects. Seriously. Go to your local printer and ask to have something ready by tomorrow. IF they can do it, they’ll charge you a rush fee.

And you my friend, you are a legit business owner. You have permission to treat your business like all the other real businesses out there. Protect your time, your sanity, and yourself - IF you can do something (keyword: IF) and if you WANT to make the exception (keyword: WANT), then go for it. But charge a rush fee. I swear on everything, if you don’t, it will become the norm. That client will have rush projects all the time. They will not learn to respect you or your time.

You don’t have to be mean or snappy. It can simply be, “Yes! I can squeeze that in, but it would be considered a rush project. It will be XYZ for this one to get back to you by tomorrow. I’ll wait for your confirmation before getting started., I’ll need to know by XYZ time to make this work.”

Here’s tough love: do NOT say, “is that okay?” or “Can I?” or anything else that sounds wish-washy about this matter. Say the truth - I CAN do it, but it IS a rush, and now I am pushing other paying clients’ work out of the way to get yours done. I have to compensate myself because I’m putting those relationships at risk, OR I’m staying up until midnight, OR I’m flaking on my own needs like time to watch The Bachelor, or be social, or cook dinner for my kids.

If it’s not okay, you better believe they’ll answer back REAL quick. And if it is okay, they’ll also answer back REAL quick because they’ll want you to go ahead and get started. Either way, you’ll know the answer and I’ve never had anyone reject a rush fee, honestly (I bet they use them in their business too!)

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Rule 6: Know Your Worth

All of this leads me to my final rule in managing your schedule and avoiding overwhelm. It’s the simplest sounding but the hardest to implement. You are awesome at what you do and people want to pay you to do it for them (and make their lives easier). That is absolutely incredible and something you should be so grateful for, but don’t forget that it boils down to the fact that you are doing something amazing, helpful, and needed.

If someone is going to walk all over you and have no regard for your time and schedule - they are not a good fit. But YOU need to take action to set yourself up for the most success and best schedule before anyone else is even involved. Set boundaries, set repeating events, and commit to actually doing them when you say you are going to. It took me a while to decide on a word of the year, but two weeks ago I realized it was “consistency” -- and I encourage you to be more consistent too. It’s the quickest way to find success in anything you do!

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