A Day in the Life of a Creative Entrepreneur.

As a writer, I get to experience everything three times: in my head, on paper and in reality. As an entrepreneur, I get to experience life in the augmented reality of wins and losses, relationships and services and it really is an awesome journey . But as a creative entrepreneur, (someone that builds a business from their creative talent) the ugly side is when these two hard hat careers don’t seem to mesh and balance seems impossible. No one really shares how hectic this dynamic career path is but I am here to share what it’s like as well as vital tips, tools and talented people that help me achieve balance as a creative entrepreneur! Stay steady and take note of any habits that may help, if implemented, to stable the scales of you’re unassuming life. What is balance? We all hear people speak of balance, but what really is it? Jon and Missy Butcher highlight exceptionally well that balance is equal amounts of attention given to three aspects of life: experiences, growth and contribution – these can be further broken down into 12 categories (which they do in their Lifebook- 12 Dimensions guide to mastery. Lifebook Overview [Jon and Missy Butcher] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=10-rdfzQPeU These aspects influence me to maintain my balance by equally feeding my mind, body and soul (especially) at the start of the day! This helps me to set the pace and intentions for the day so I don’t receive the short end of the performance issues due to imbalance such as: late projects, burn out and lack of creativity. I follow a simple yet effective and flexible timetable daily that allows me to have control yet freedom to express my creativity. “Structure is to stability as flexibility is to freedom” -shot from my artist notebook!  

Grounding

Grounding or my rising routine as I affectionately call it entails me [getting relaxed with breath]. I would rise in the morning expressing my gratitude for all I am grateful for and write at least five things down in my gratitude journal. I will clean my room to prepare for a fresh day and then take some time to focus on my breath through meditation (sometimes guided meditations or just frequencies such as 147 Hz or 528 Hz etc.) then set my intentions for the day. My next step is to [get grounded and move] getting grounded for me includes: meals, yoga (physical activity ). On a typical day, I do 30mins to an hour of yoga and have a smoothie with seasonal fruits, nuts, seeds oats and plant-based milk. Tip: If you’re into yoga, check out @kalissekellyyoga on Instagram, she taught me all I know! Grounding is how I stabilize myself, Balance comes from stable foundations!  

Time Blocks

Before heading to my time blocks to start the workday, I prepare myself (shower and getting dressed) and my workspace for writing, networking or working on my business building. (my three daily functions). Each time block runs a cycle of 90 minutes (except the first block) and it is proven that focus sessions of no less than 90 minutes per session catapults one’s productivity. To facilitate flexibility, being very unpredictable as a person, I just block the time and not state what I will work on. I look at my MVPs from the night before and commit each to a time block (MVPs – most vital priorities) In between each block I have white space… What is Whitespace? This is where I rest, replenish and re-create myself through social media, meditating, eating or music (any high dopamine activity). Other white spaces are used to research the day’s more trivial topics and last but not least, I will recap and review the work day; reflect on how I could facilitate more balanced as well as highlight myself for things worth praising. Meditate; free your mind!

Wind Down

At the end of the day, I wind down… this is where I close off all business-related communication. This is vital to maintain balance to not allow the days dust to create muddy waters of dreamy nights. I don’t often miss nights of sleep but if a creative project or poem is flowing I facilitate it, this may result in me going to sleep as late as 6am the next morning (tell you about passion!). Before bed I ensure to do three things:

•journal reflection of the day with gratitude

• jot down tomorrow’s MVPs

•ask a Dream Question (a question that I would like my dreams to answer)

-the days are crazy sometimes but I do ensure to start and end my days with gratitude!

Conclusion To be honest, balance is not easy to maintain but it is possible. My key is knowing who I am, I know I hate to be boxed in by structure but I also can’t be too free and not perform daily tasks that pushed me towards my goals so this flexible structure is perfect for me. It really is all that I need (plus discipline and patience) and if you’re someone like me this definitely will help. I hope these tools and my experience assist you in finding that balance you deserve as a Creative Entrepreneur!