For Lent I gave up listening to business-related podcasts. I only listen to a few, but I could feel that all that business talk was affecting my work. I wanted to clear out the business brain and focus on what was at hand, both for my work life and personally.
Let me begin by clarifying what I mean by work. I have one primary part-time work-at-home job as a researcher and writer. I also take portraits, do some real estate photography, and sell stock photographs through my business, and my Skillshare class is still active (that was a lot of work on the front end, but now requires me only to facilitate it). I also lump posting on my blog and hello there, friend as work, even though I don’t get paid for either. I am committed to regularly posting on both, and I take it as seriously as my paid work.
So, back to the podcasts. My fast left me with was a huge queue of business podcasts to start bingeing on the day after Easter, so I dove head first into Being Boss and listened to nearly three episodes in one day. It was exhilarating and I had a flurry of ideas spinning around in my head as I listened. So I grabbed a pen and a stack of paper and starting brainstorming.
I started with a question: What things do I do? I made a list of things that I’m committed to right now. What I was hoping for in asking myself this question was to clarify where I might be able to cut or scale back, not because I feel overwhelmed but because I want better focus. I want to prioritize what’s important and be able to give my undivided attention to what needs it.
Then I asked myself another question: What do I want to do? I wrote down three thoughts:
- I want to structure my week so I have time to write, take photos, and work my research/writing job (because it’s my source of steady income right now).
- I want to keep doing work that fuels me and to share it.
- I want to be in charge of my own day and creativity.
None of this was surprising, but at least I wrote it down.
I love being creative and talking about how to live creatively in all aspects of life. I love to write. I love to take photographs. I love to read. I want to live well and work hard, and inspire others to do the same.
I think this answer is mostly in response to this blog, and this is some variation of my mission statement. What I want from this blog is to stay actively creative. I want to create, talk about creating, and be transparent about the process of creating. I’m much more interested in the philosophical side of creativity and habits, of creating space in my life for what’s important to me, of figuring out how to align my goals and values and life. So I’d like to say this extends beyond the blog into all areas of my life, including work.
But I also had time to think about how I work. I learned this week that I need to focus on one thing each day, and only one. So, if it’s a research/writing day, that’s all I’m doing during my work hours that day. If it’s a blogging day, I’m only blogging or working on hello there, friend. If I have photos to edit or if it’s a catch up on emails and write letter to friends day, that’s all I’m doing. Or if it’s a day I’m doing none of that and doing whatever the heck I want, that’s it. I practiced this last week and it worked great.
What I was hoping to get out of all of this is focus. I want to focus on what’s important and focus my time so I can get those things done. I think writing it down, scribbling out all my thoughts, and asking myself questions is helpful to figure out that focus. Since I love seeing the behind-the-scenes from other creatives, I want to be honest about my own process. Because I believe by sharing we can all inch a bit closer to where we want to be.
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