Reaction Time

In thinking about time this past few weeks, I've noticed this week I've struggled with time more in terms of hours and days.

I'm super grateful to be busy, and to have had a bunch of commission work, and a several projects on the horizon. When I set out to build my art business, I took to heart advice from my dad who told me I needed to have short term and long term revenue. I needed to do things now that would bear fruit immediately, and parallel process the projects that could bear fruit in several years from now.

If this was all a more clearly defined plan, written on paper, I'd be hitting on all cylinders. But my goals and objectives are buried in note books, or plans conceived on a whiteboard only to be wiped away. I'm sort of ok with this. I'm being "productive", and most importantly, my financial needs were met for Jan and Feb through me selling art (which still amazes me).

So I don't want to complain here, but I do want to make it clear that I'm still not doing it right. I still have a lot of work to do to "figure it out". I don't feel balanced.

I'm not reading, I'm not making personal work, but I did decide yesterday to do something spontaneous. It was snowing pretty heavily, and it was cold inside my apartment. A friend texted me to see if I wanted to come pick up some freshly made bagels as he's been doing some R&D.

I didn't feel like going out yesterday, but I said yes, and am so happy I did. On the drive there I decided that while I was out, I'd go to Belle Isle. I hadn't been there in way too long, and it's been wayyy longer since I've seen it covered in snow.

So I had myself a little adventure.

I drove around the island real slow, and stopped multiple times along the way to get out, take some photos, and soak it all in.

I haven't been budgeting time for myself, or for moments of inspiration, or moments of spontaneity. I feel like they need to be in my calendar (ie: 4-6pm do something awesome), because I've been so focused on filling my days with work to build my business.

I still have that mindset of "I gotta make it or make it", and my hustle is real. But the reason for my success this time around is not because I'm going to work myself into the ground like I did doing SCM and sushi. I need to create balance in my life. And know that balance will be the key to success, not overworking one aspect of my life.

Reading, walking in nature, visiting museums, going to galleries, cooking healthy food, supporting my restaurant friends, etc, are all part of my work now. These should be scheduled in blocks of my day just like doing commissioned art, or working on my website.

I'm not trying to be critical of myself with these acknowledgements. I simply want to work on being very intentional with my time, and not to over ride reading time, or time in nature with a potential business opportunity. Saying no to things is hard, especially when you're trying to start a business.

But I think the more confident and protective I am over my time, the more I will be able to grow my business, and be efficient with the blocks I commit to "working". Instead of reacting to what everyone else wants from me, I need to define what I want on a daily and weekly basis, so I can assess which things can be scheduled and which things need to be set aside for later.