Relax.
It’s not how many hours you have to hustle, it’s the quality of those hours. For me, one alert, inspired, engaged hour produces more, higher quality content than four tired, forced hours.
What I’m saying is. Go do that thing that makes you feel good! Right now. It’s okay.
And exercise.
Then, take care of your mental health. By this, I mean unplug, pray, meditate, journal. Lay in the grass and look for shapes in the clouds.
Also… spend some time investing in the meaningful relationships around you: play, engage, listen, vent, unwind.
Do all of these things… and THEN create.
I’m preaching to myself here. Because, while I know these things in theory, there is so much guilt around not ‘being productive’ every frigging minute of the day that it’s realllly hard for me to truly relax.
But the problem is when my life is over-scheduled, my brain and body shut down. For me, the harder I try, the less I do. I’m seriously starting to doubt the ‘hustle’ culture messages that demand that we send emails on the toilet and learn Spanish while washing dishes.
But this leads to burnout and it murders creative production.
Hacking the hustle is also about timing. Because I work from home, I can move tasks around to do my creative work whenever I have the most focus and energy. I’ll save the dishes and the laundry for the end of the day after my mental resources are used up.
Also.
When it comes to deadlines… Plan out how long your project will take and then triple that estimate. This leaves space for family and global emergencies, which WILL happen. Then, rather than apologizing to clients and burning out with guilt, you actually have the opportunity to finish early.
Again, I’m preaching to the choir.
My plan was to write a blog post on how I break down my months, weeks, and days into small obtainable goals to build momentum and bring in income as a working artist and writer. But the thing is… there are a million resources out there for that sort of thing. After years of trying, I’m starting to figure out the obvious: overscheduling and overstressing simply don’t work. Yes, stating goals are important, but I’m finding that removing the ‘push’ from my life and working one or two happy, creative hours is so much more fulfilling and productive than forcing the hustle.
Again. If you really are determined to produce creative work, don’t compromise regarding sleep, health, self-care, and family. Even if these things feel like they take too much time, put them first and watch your ‘productivity’ actually increase while investing fewer hours.
Your brain will thank you,
With love,
Charity.
PS
And cat naps are good too. Lots of little naps… :)
