June 28, 2012

Flakiness: Breakfast of Champions

I’ve always taken great pride in doing what I say I’m going to do – even if it no longer makes sense, even if I start to wish I’d said no in the first place. To do otherwise would be…flaky. And I hate flaky.

But, as I wrote to a friend recently, I’m creating a new relationship with flakiness.

I’ve realized that the ability to change course isn’t a hallmark of unreliability; conducted gracefully, it’s all about freedom and flexibility.

I’ve taken stock of all the areas where I place my energy and found that some of them just aren’t getting the results I want. And more importantly, they aren’t making me feel the way I want to feel: free.

I’ve been steadily clearing out those projects and promises from my life, but before I let each one go, the taskmaster voice in my mind whispers, “Tsk tsk, so flaky of you! You said you’d do this daily/indefinitely/until you succeeded…”

It’s tempting to hang onto that strange comfort of commitment and staying busy, but in the end it feels far more exciting and freeing to let go.

To that end, I’ve been slowly dismantling my small business over the past few months.

I woke up to find that I resented working on top of my other work, and that the thing I’d created in order to feel free was weighing me down, was preventing me from being present to other aspects of my life. Not only that, but I’d gotten myself tied deep into a business model that wouldn’t, even upon success, create the kind of life I truly wanted.

Letting go in that situation seems like a no-brainer. But charting another course is hard, especially when I confuse freedom and unreliability, or have connected some of my personal identity with my work.

So I let go piece by piece, responsibly, and with grace. With each letting go, I checked in: does this feel right? And it did. So I kept on.

I know there’s a path to what I want out there for me, and I’m clearing space for it. In the meantime, I’m chasing the feelings of freedom I desire through sunshine, adventure, beach trips, and snuggling my son. In short, I’m taking a break.

This will be my last post for Scoutie Girl. I’ve loved the opportunity to write here and commune with all of you. Thank you.

Before I go, let me offer my parting shot:

Are there things in your life you want to let go? What’s holding you back?

Are you getting what you want from your endeavors? Are you feeling the way you hoped to feel?

If not, what can you change?

With lots of love,

xo Maeg

Filed Under: Creative Call to Action, Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , , , 5 Comments
February 22, 2012

The Balance: Flexibility vs. Routine

image from Heidi Stock Digi Design

Working from home is awesome.

You can hop out of bed (or not!) and be at work in seconds. No long commute for you!

You’re close to your kettle, your fridge, your TV, your bed, your couch, possibly your significant other and children, your pets…

In short, you’re close to all the things that make life relaxing and sweet, but that can also distract the heck out of you!

Those of you who have a ‘regular’ job (or those of us who remember what it’s like) will know that having a J-O-B brings with it a certain routine. You have to get up at the same time, get showered/dressed/fed. You have an external force that drives the shape of your day.

There’s a certain rigidity to this, sure – but there’s also a certain sense of peace that comes with routine. You don’t have to make the decision to get up, dressed, and out the door anew each day – it’s just something you do. A habit.

For those of us who work at home (and especially those of us without kids to organise), it can be a real struggle to create this same sense of routine in our lives.

Part of the joy of working from home is that we don’t have to adhere to routine. We have a sweet, endless sense of flexibility to our day. If we want to brush off work and go for a bike ride, we can. If we want to sleep in, we can. If we want to have an impromptu 3-hour lunch with a friend, there’s nothing stopping us.

However, within this flexibility lurks the danger of laziness. No one but us is making us work/get up/exercise/answer those emails.

Spending every day in this flexible state can end up resulting in feelings of stress and overwhelm, where we just jump from one task to the other without any sense of calming daily structure.

I know I’ve struggled with this a lot in my own life; when I don’t impose some sort of routine on myself, it all just turns into a bit of a hot mess.

I asked my fellow creatives how they cope with this – to share one core routine or ‘keystone moment’ in their day that helps them to stay focussed and feel in control.

The existence of this constant balancing act between flexibility and routine came out loud and clear in their responses.

Ensuring I have a lunch break is really important. Also acknowledging that sometimes I can be flexible and work in the evening rather than only 9am-5pm ~ Cate Lawrence

* * *

Dedicating/ scheduling a day for certain activities such as bookkeeping activities. That way there is more or less a dead line to be met to have all information to be gathered by and provides a routine. ~ Megan Beverley

* * *

I generally write off my mornings! I’m a night owl and am not very effective in the morning, so instead of trying to fight it I see that time as being for catching up on the news, socialising online and having a good, leisurely breakfast. At lunch time-ish is when I get started with work and I generally do some sort of work until bed time. ~ Simone Walsh

* * *

I found getting up in the morning, eating a good breakfast and having a shower as if I was going to work helps. ~ Elle Roberts

* * *

I start with a morning walk with my dogs and a friend and we chat about our day to come, then breakfast and all the ‘get ready for the day’ stuff then go to the studio. I have different admin tasks each morning, I love creating my daily ‘to do’ list. Afternoon is for making and creating. I always have a lunch break and plan meetings at the local cafe so I can see people and not go stir crazy. ~ Lorna McKenzie

* * *

I work on the 45/15 rule: Each hour I’ll do 45mins focused work, 15mins check emails, twitter, or put a load of washing on, etc. I tried to be a good little worker but can’t focus for 8 hours straight so this works a treat for me. ~ Poppy & Bliss

* * *

Flexibility is the key, if I’m not in the right headspace for book work, then I’ll sew or do some social networking. I would probably put at least 8-10 hours into my business 5 days a week, often more. That’s with 4 children, it’s amazing what you can achieve if you’re passionate about what you’re doing. ~ Middlemost Clothing

Everyone seems to have a slightly different mix of routine and flexibility. Some work on an hourly basis, some daily or even longer.

I think the key is finding your own balance.

Find the point where you feel calm and in control of your work/life while still feeling the freedom that working from home can bring.

So, if you work from home – how do you walk the tightrope between flexibility and balance in your life?

Filed Under: Dialogue Tagged With: , , , , , , , 8 Comments
July 12, 2010

creative thinkers: flexibility & balance with stephanie fizer

80 hour work week or 4 hour work week? Work til you burn out or work til you should rest? Ignore unnecessary tasks to keep producing or break from work to tend to the details of life?

It’s no wonder this is a hot topic in our crazy world of nonstopness. The hands of the clock seem to be going ever faster and the responsibilities we face grow ever more numerous. And as we think more about balance, we have to consider the flexibility we can allow ourselves. Whether you earn income from a creative business or you are thinking about your own job creatively, the question of how much flexibility you can afford (read: handle) is inextricably tied to questions of balance.

I recently spoke with Stephanie Fizer, a full-time artist & illustrator, about this topic.

Tara: You recently talked about the “Fine Art of Slowing Down” on your blog. You’re working smarter, working less, and producing more. I’ve seen a lot of discussion around this lately – and we’ve even talked about it on Scoutie Girl. Do you think the 12 hours and out of control work ethic are important at the beginning of a business? Or can you skip ahead to the “working smarter” part?

Stephanie: It’s funny because I was seriously just thinking about this the other day! And you know, I really don’t think you can skip ahead, I think you have to put in the long, hard hours to really appreciate the business that you’ve built and to really appreciate how wonderful it is to work smarter and work a bit less. But you know I’m one of those stubborn people that has to do everything the hard way first before I can really see the better way to do things.

Tara: I don’t think that’s stubborn! I think that’s just normal.

Stephanie: Well that’s good to hear.

Tara: That seems to be the consensus around the issue. Yeah, it’s good to talk about taking lunch breaks or 4 hour work weeks – but if you want to do something great, you have work your ass off first.

Awesomeness comes easier as you go along.

Stephanie: And you know even though I’m working smarter and all that, I still catch myself working long hours.

Tara: I think we always will. Comes with the territory of doing what you love – and ya know, I don’t think I’d want it any other way.

In reading your “Quit Your Day Job” interview, I found out your parents run a small business. It’s great to have that kind of support! Unfortunately, not everyone understands being self-employed or running a creative biz. How do you respond to others who don’t understand that you have “a real job?”

Stephanie: I can’t even count how many times I’ve had to explain to family–even to my parents–and friends exactly what I do on a daily basis and why I can’t just drop everything whenever they call. There is always a certain flexibility with this whole work-for-yourself gig, but if you give yourself too much flexibility, you’ll never get any work done at all! I’ve found that it’s helpful to set boundaries with those people who don’t believe that I actually have a real job, like letting them know that there are certain hours of the day when I am usually working hard and very focused and that during those hours, I can’t just drop everything for a three hour lunch or a dip in the pool–although as miserably hot as it’s been it’s hard to turn down a dip in the pool!

Tara: So true – both about the flexibility & about the HOT.

Stephanie: I had to have the flexibility talk with my parents too, which cracked me up because they are business owners too and have always dealt with the same thing.

Tara: It really makes me wonder what the line between flexibility and work is. As a society, we’re edging towards more flexible work environments but, as a work force, I really wonder if people can handle it!

I’m with Stephanie on this one. I need boundaries for those around me. My ability to have any sense of balance in my life is tied to my ability to rein in the flexibility I feel around my creative career. If I want to achieve balance, I have to accept a less flexible work arrangement (note: it’s still pretty damn good…). And if I want to maintain ultimate flexibility, I have to accept a less balanced life.

What do you think? Do you prefer balance or flexibility? Or can you have your cake & eat it too?

Read the first part of my interview with Stephanie on creative ownership.

Filed Under: creative thinkers Tagged With: , , 10 Comments