Rhythm & Rules

Dancing to a new beat.

Since becoming an entrepreneur, (me! an entrepreneur! wow.) at the beginning of June, I've been struggling to find my creative rhythm. While working in the corporate world I forced my creative rhythm into my employer's schedule. Now with full control of the on/off switch of how & when to work the lights have been flickering rapidly on & off at Jessie Marie Studio.

The piece of my day that throws a wrench into most anything I've learned from Tony Schwartz, Todd Henry & other work energy experts is a certain blonde 2-year-old. You have to expect the unexpected as a Mommy Freelancer. And the unexpected doesn't always fall into a nice, neat rhythm. The following questions had to be answered: What will my new creative cadence be? And how will my sweet Cadence join in on the new beat?

I entered into my summer quarterly retreat with with these questions as my main focus. Old systems had carried over from my time in the corporate world. I never knew anything else. Conflict & struggle of what to do & when resulted daily. Mommy Freelance world is different. Much different. I had to start over. New rules were needed.

After an in depth reflection of the first six weeks as a Mommy Freelancer I created some new rules:

1. Ditch my Daily Record Sheet

2. Add a simple notepad that holds my to do list for the day

3. Open gubb (project manager) & iCal (schedule) in the morning, review often

4. Fully engage with Cadence for 30 minutes, then work on my personal agenda for 30 minutes

5. Only guarantee myself 2 hours of work time during Cadence's nap 

(I was trying to cram my 8 hour corporate day into Cadence's 2+ hour nap. Opps.)

6. Pre-plan what I will do during those 2 hours during Super Why! in the morning (go PBS!)

7. Move quiet time out of work time

After week one of creating these new habits I have worked less hours, but have accomplished more. Funny how that works. I must be finding my creative cadence with Cadence's help.