I dedicated a fair amount of time at the end of last year and the start of this year towards creating a twelve month plan for my business. It's not something I had ever really done before. Using the lessons I had learnt in 2014 and Lisa Jacobs' 'Your Best Year, Productivity Workbook and Creative Business Planner' as a guide, I planned out my collections, busy times and holidays for 2015. I wrote down my ambitions and dreams. I reflected and prioritized, planned and questioned. Not only my work life, but my family life and my free time. Thus, I now have monthly goals and plans that I break up in to weekly to do lists. As I tick each item off, I am better aware of how it fits in to the bigger picture and what the end result will be.
It feels like less of a scramble. There is less pressure to be constantly working in order to achieve my goals, because I can see the steps I need to take to get to them. Breaking everything down in to parts has made my dreams feel less overwhelming. Another one of the positive results of this that I am appreciating is the sense of creative freedom I have felt. I am able to allow myself time to indulge in other creative pursuits besides jewellery or business demands, without guilt! Instead I can see the long view, take the pressure off, and nurture my creative self. Which can only be a good thing in the long run for my sense of self, my jewellery design and the running of my business.
Part of this creative freedom meant I was able to take on Lisa Congdon's 'Sketchbook Explorations'. A wonderful four part course of short videos that introduce the viewer to Lisa's techniques, favorite materials and specific projects. It's been such an interesting challenge to pick up water colour paints again, purchase new-to-me water colour brush pens and work with a much brighter colour palette than I am used to. I'd highly recommend it, no matter your skill level, as a way to connect or reconnect to the page and experiment.
So here's to embracing planning and productivity, in order to live more of a creative life!
-
Other great resources -
Susannah Conway's 'Unravelling the Year Ahead'
Create and Thrive
Flourish and Thrive Academy
The Tiffany Han
It feels like less of a scramble. There is less pressure to be constantly working in order to achieve my goals, because I can see the steps I need to take to get to them. Breaking everything down in to parts has made my dreams feel less overwhelming. Another one of the positive results of this that I am appreciating is the sense of creative freedom I have felt. I am able to allow myself time to indulge in other creative pursuits besides jewellery or business demands, without guilt! Instead I can see the long view, take the pressure off, and nurture my creative self. Which can only be a good thing in the long run for my sense of self, my jewellery design and the running of my business.
Part of this creative freedom meant I was able to take on Lisa Congdon's 'Sketchbook Explorations'. A wonderful four part course of short videos that introduce the viewer to Lisa's techniques, favorite materials and specific projects. It's been such an interesting challenge to pick up water colour paints again, purchase new-to-me water colour brush pens and work with a much brighter colour palette than I am used to. I'd highly recommend it, no matter your skill level, as a way to connect or reconnect to the page and experiment.
So here's to embracing planning and productivity, in order to live more of a creative life!
-
Other great resources -
Susannah Conway's 'Unravelling the Year Ahead'
Create and Thrive
Flourish and Thrive Academy
The Tiffany Han
