What are your anchors for a productive day?
When you don’t have the energy…
But you know you need to DO THE WORK
Your time is a precious thing, and whilst making the most of your day can be a little overwhelming.
It’s super important to remember that your creativity deserves as much prioritisation as other aspects of life that are important like family and career.
Whether you have just begun your creative journey in finding your passion in life or you are a creative process pro, it is essential that time is used to your advantage - not only so you can remain focussed throughout the day, but also so you can achieve everything you set out to do each day.
Don’t get me wrong, it is completely okay to run late, forget, miss a step or get a little messy… SOMETIMES (I’ve been guilty of that once or twice).
But managing your time and setting aside a portion of your day for each task you need to complete can make a huge difference between always staying on top of schedule or always catching up.
This week, I am making sure to keep my ‘anchors’ at the forefront of my mind as a way of staying on track and making the most of my time.
Remembering my anchors and choosing to exercise one or more of them daily (even if it’s 5 minutes) is one of the best ways, I have found, to stay grounded and on task especially when my day feels a little crazy.
If you aren't sure what your anchors are; here are some of mine that I rely on daily and find bring me peace amongst the chaos:
> MINDSET & MEDITATION: Journal & prayer: This is where I spend time connecting with God & my higher self. So I stay connected and clear on my purpose and vision for my life
> MONEY: check in & belief work. This is something I’m working on more this year! It’s vulnerable to face the emotional triggers that many of us have around money (especially when you put selling your art on top of that!)
> MAKING ART: Work on my current focused project to build my art, share my voice & grow my business. Sometimes this looks like painting. Sometimes it looks like writing posts like this. Other times it’s making the content for my courses. Taking photos of my art & a thousand other things that’s involved with being a professional Artist
> MARKETING & Sales: - Inviting my community into my art & creative world. Sometimes it’s in my social media posts. Or taking selfies & timelapses of my artwork. Always, I am focused on inviting you deeper into my world. Sales for me is about service! I know my art will be an experience beyond what just the amount of money is involved!
> MULTIPLY: this is about the behind the scenes work that helps me multiply my work (repurpose content, share my artwork, reach more people). This may look like ensuring my artwork is available for licensing. Or it’s outsourcing my content so that my words (& my art) has multiple chances to be felt and heard.
> MOVE: Moving my body. I confess, I am still very bad at this. But it’s on my list & somedays it’s 10 minutes of running around with the kids!
> ME TIME: getting alone time to think, play, unravel, hear my own thoughts. As a mama, as a creative, as an Artist & Muse? I need this SO MUCH. Creativity needs space to breathe and unravel. As a leader and mentor, I need space to hear my own thoughts and make space for inspired messages and ideas to drop in
> MUSE MENTORING: client work, engage with community, build relationships. This can be paid stuff for clients. This could be commenting and engaging with my community — actually being ‘social’ on social media.
> MAMA TIME: quality eyeball time. There is a difference between being in the same room as my kids and actually making eye contact (eyeball time!) with my full attention and presence. I know when my kids get extra moody and whingy — they need more mama eyeball time
I find the best time to remember your anchors is at the beginning of the day before you begin any work!
If you start your day with the questions:
At the end of the day, how do I want to feel? What do I need to get done in order to feel that?
You’d be surprised how much they motivate you to get the job done!
With so many ‘categories’ it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. I’ve had to allow and embrace that it may only be 5-10minutes.
Some days I may miss a couple anchors. I just make it up the next day. IT IS ALL OK
As long as I have taken a tiny step forward towards my desires and goals, I know it is all adding up in my favor!
I don’t have enough time to waste on feeling guilty and chasing perfection in ticking everything off my list!
Making sure you put equal time into your creative work & desires, as well as everything else in your life can feel intimidating
(I know as a mama that putting yourself first may feel IMPOSSIBLE some days)
So if you need any help or support on getting started - if you know you’re not giving your art the best chance to be better, bolder & feel confident about selling it — don’t hesitate to get in touch with me here to snap up a 1:1 call.
The trick is to have a strategic plan in place and find clarity on what ONE thing is holding you back & ONE thing you need to focus on NEXT. Not the 100 steps after, just the next one.
