How I Fit In Time to Create Even as a Busy Creative Solopreneur
If you’re like me and most other women in today’s hectic world, you’re likely trying to balance out a bunch of things in your life, whether it’s raising kids, taking care of an older family member, going back to school, working a full time job while also trying to grow a business, whatever your life looks like currently, making time to create can often end up feeling just like one more thing on your to-do list.
This is why today, I’m sharing with you how I approach making time to create, even as a busy creative solopreneur. Without further ado, here are my top 5 gentle reminders to help me put the act of creating, front and center no matter what’s going on in my life:
Start by clearing your mind. As soon as I start to feel overwhelmed with my various life demands and responsibilities, I give myself 10 to 15 minutes to get everything out of my head and onto paper. I like to write everything down in no particular order and as fast as possible. This is less about creating a to-do list and more about mind dumping, meaning, getting all your thoughts out of your head and onto paper, so you can see what’s taking up space. This instantly brings me back to center and helps me feel more in control of my thoughts, which then allows me to tune into my authentic self and true desires.
Prioritize your time to create. Once my head is clear and I’m in tune with my authentic self and needs, I create a simple plan for my week. I like thinking about my life and planning in weekly and monthly chunks. For the sake of this post, we’re gonna stick to weekly planning. For each day of the week, I pick the top 3 things that I absolutely would like to get done. This is where I prioritize my time to create and I add it to my schedule. I literally have to write it into my plan or it doesn’t get done.
Stay flexible with your capacity. This has been one of the biggest game changers for me and my creative practice, allowing myself to create as much or as little as I’m comfortable with depending on my capacity and energy levels at any given time. As busy modern women, we have so much on our plate already and our capacity will look very different at various stages in our lives. Stay flexible and be compassionate with yourself as you learn to navigate different seasons of your life, which brings me to my next point.
Reject the idea of “all or nothing”. I like to remind myself that creating something is better than creating nothing at all. I think many of us have bought into the belief that if we can’t spend hours or a whole day on our creative practice or projects, we might as well do nothing. This mindset is very black and white and not very helpful especially when we have a lot going on in our lives. And, it also contributes to feelings of low self-worth and creative block. Avoid this at all costs! Instead ask yourself, what can I do with the time I have today?
Decide on what you’d like to achieve during your creative practice ahead of time. One of the biggest pitfalls that I experienced early on in my creative journey was not setting clear goals for my creative practice. I have found that even just naming my goal/intention before my creative sessions is super helpful. For example, if your goal is to create something for fun to help you decompress after a long day of work, then your creative time will look very different than if you wanted to make progress with your fantasy novel. Setting a clear intention for your creative practice allows you to experience more satisfaction and start to give you a better idea of how long projects take to complete.
To summarize, if you're wanting to create with more frequency and ease, prioritize whatever time you do have, stay flexible with your capacity, avoid the “all or nothing” mentality, and get clear on your creative goals before you sit down to create. Slowly you’ll start to notice your progress and begin to experience more confidence and calm with your creative goals.
If you’re struggling to create your art or can’t seem to move beyond the “all or nothing” mentality and need support getting past these hurdles, book a Creative Kickstart Session today! These are my laser focused sessions where I help you to identify your primary creative blocks, jumpstart your creativity, and leave with a simple plan to get your desired creative project off the ground in just 30 days! Find out more and book.
Renata is a creativity coach guiding women of color creatives to breakthrough creative block with therapeutic art making. She’s currently offering a free copy of her therapeutic art making workbook when you sign up for her email list. Sign up here to get your free copy.
