A lot of times when I am working on a freelance project I push all of my other to-do list things to the bottom in order to get the project done. Since, Hue – 5 months now, is my main priority, I find the only time I have to work is at night and it’s a small window, 10pm-ish to 2am-ish. It really all depends on Hue and his sleep schedule. Consistently working night after night can take a toll, but when a paycheck is involved a priority takes place. It’s a little harder when the projects I am doing are for myself. I want to do these projects, in the end they better me and my well-being but the priority gets a little lost. After I get Hue to sleep I am usually quite sleepy myself after all that cute cuddling.
I finished one of two big freelance projects I have lined up. The week after I was completely spent. I laid super low and just focused on Hue. I also was feeling super behind on expectations I was putting on myself. Like editing pictures of Hue, his birth announcements, blog posts (I have so many started!), and personal art projects.
First things first, I met up with a friend. Talked about everything and nothing. Kind of like brainstorming mentally of what I have just accomplished, how I feel and what I need to get done. I realized through our hang-out with Hue is that I have a lot of goals and I am having trouble getting any of the work done to complete the goal. I am really lucky to have so many creative friends who understand the struggle + hustle of being creative and how much work actually goes into getting anything creative done. My friend compared my feelings as to when you need a software update on your computer. I was in need of a major mental software update for sure.
In order to feel better mentally I wrote everything I had pushed back in order to get the big catalog project for pay done. One day when Hue was napping for longer than usual, I took advantage and wrote down all the things I wanted to get done down on paper. It ended up being two pages worth and I know I will remember more and add some more later. I immediately felt better.
Then I wrote everything down in my planner. I gave each project a day or a couple depending on the project. I know that I probably won’t want to work past 12 if I am just doing this for me. Knowing I will probably only last two hours I keep that in mind when planning out how long each project will take.
Each Sunday evening, I plan out my week with a post-it note style list, using my planner as a reference. I cross it off as the week goes along and helps me get the tasks accomplished.
I feel so much better since doing this. A week before June starts, I will fill out that calendar – pulling from my list. My plan is to have everything done so I can concentrate on creating art. I clean my desk so much more often now. It helps me especially after the big project slumps I feel after completing a freelance gig.
Cheers to another week to getting shit done. The hustle is real my friends.
