Tag Archives: creative entrepreneur

CREATING THE FIVE-HOUR WORK WEEK

06.22.10

So, I vowed to do a five-hours-per-day work week this week.  First, I banked my allotted Monday and Tuesday to create a 10-hour work day on Monday.  I’m working on a personal project that requires visiting where I grew up on Tuesday and Wednesday.  That project probably won’t see the light of day, but push has come to shove for creating it.  To me, personal projects don’t count as work.  That leaves ten hours to work on Thursday and Friday, which is more than enough if I follow these guidelines, and the utter lack of work that happened on Wednesday rolls nicely into Saturday.

And so I present…

How to have a five-hour work day for a week.

  • Ignore Twitter.  (Primo timesuck.)
  • Ignore Facebook. (Seconday timesuck.)
  • Check e-mail ONLY twice daily and respond to e-mails immediately. (I have a habit of reading e-mails on my iPhone, which means I have to re-read them later in order to respond without tiny keys and misspelled words courtesy of Apple spell-check.)
  • Create a task list and put the task list in order so that no thought is put into prioritization during the work day. (Takes five minutes, saves thirty.)
  • Pay attention to zero blogs, forums, online magazines, and other things that aren’t urgent.
  • Reward yourself for banking five hours or less in a work day.  Maybe it’s a nice long bath, a visit to the dog park with your furbaby, or a big ol’ heaping ice cream cone.  Setting a goal and meeting it is cause for celebration!
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erika - June 24, 2010 - 12:14 am

Do you think it only worked well for a week, or you could easily continue that pattern? I guess if you ignore all the timesucks, it could work long -term. then again, if everyone was ignoring twitter and facebook, this whole social media marketing thing would collapse! =)

Marla - June 22, 2010 - 6:54 pm

LOVE! I’m going to try it…soon…

IMPATIENCE IS EASY.

05.27.10

Impatience is easy.  You’ve been in business for three years and you have yet to make a million dollars.  To have 10 clients a week.  To book a celebrity wedding.  To afford a three-month European tour from your earnings.

Impatience is easy.  You don’t have the right clients.  The right branding.  The right website, blog, blog-site, mobile site, Facebook page, or social media connectivity.

Impatience is easy.  You need to learn more, and faster.  You should be further along by now.  You should know how to baby-whisper newborns, make acne-ridden Seniors looks like fashion models, and fool the eye into thinking the size 24 bride is a size 4. You should be able to work magic.  And land magazine covers in your sleep.

Except…you’re doing the best you can.  You’re learning and growing.  You’re adapting to the needs of the market, honing your craft, and navigating the sometimes-terrifying world of being an entrepreneur the best way you know how.

So cut yourself some slack.

When you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, with miles to go…enjoy the view.

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Michelle Posey - June 4, 2010 - 4:50 pm

Coming to this late, but … you always seem to say what I’m thinking.

Debbie Schwab - June 2, 2010 - 1:15 pm

Ditto to jasonschafer’s comment. you are a strange beast…. like you have magic powers or something?

jasonschafer - May 28, 2010 - 9:48 pm

you kinda freak me out. the number of times that your posts weed through all the stuff in my head and pull out the thing that resonates so deeply is just plain weird. thank you.

Jen - May 28, 2010 - 1:26 am

It’s like you are reading my mind…thanks so much for this post!

Rebecca - May 27, 2010 - 2:58 pm

I. LOVE. Your blog.

brandcampblog - May 27, 2010 - 2:02 pm

So glad you all enjoyed this! :)

samaria - May 27, 2010 - 12:02 pm

NEEDED THAT!!!!

Michelle Sidles - May 27, 2010 - 10:43 am

Thank you for that little friendly dose of reality. :) It’s a good reminder to just be in the now.

peachtree studio - May 27, 2010 - 10:39 am

so flippin’ needed this today. like so!

Laura - May 27, 2010 - 9:27 am

Thank you for this little gem this morning!! Amen is right :)

melissa oholendt - May 27, 2010 - 9:17 am

Amen.

Jen - May 27, 2010 - 9:09 am

encouragement is one of your gifts, I think :) thanks for this this morning!

IT’S BUSINESS TIME.

06.23.09

Before you have a brand, you need to have a business.

A tale of two Moms, today:

MOM A: I’m  a stay-at-home Mom interested in generating income from my fledgling photography business.  I work whenever I can nab a moment between diaper changes, tantrums, episodes of lousy kids’ shows, and nap times.  I work from my living room, as this allows me to babysit while working.

MOM B:  I’m a stay-at-home Mom interested in generating income from my fledgling photography business.  I work Monday through Friday from 11-1:30 while the kids are at daycare (read: Grandma’s house), and have a dedicated space for my little startup.  (It’s just an Ikea desk with front doors added to contain the chaos.)

Whether Mom A works 3 hours or 30 hours per week, I guarantee she isn’t going to be as productive as Mom B.  Why? Mom B isn’t multi-tasking, she’s giving the business her undivided attention.  Likewise, she isn’t ‘trying to fit business in,’ but actively making room for business to happen.

These are, of course, simplified cases, but the premise remains the same: what would happen if you carved out time for your fledgling business, whatever it may be?

This week, make time and space for your business to grow. Rearrange your desk. Pencil yourself into your own calendar.  Hire a sitter for a few hours’ worth of uninterrupted concentration.  And if you haven’t dusted off your business plan in the past six months, take a look.  Examine your goals, and identify simple ways to work toward them.

If you don’t have a business plan and you’re a photographer, go here and buy this now.  If you have a business plan, but need help with pricing your photographic artwork, go here and buy this now.  If you’re not a photographer but still need help, check out The Creative Entrepreneur.

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Jocelyn - June 30, 2009 - 4:35 pm

Wow, these posts are really helpful! I’m a new mom and also just started my photography business. I’ve been thinking a lot about how and where business fits in with my life. Thanks for the challenge!

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