This is the Second of series on Time Management for the Creative Mind. These post will be apart of the Let's Talk Business post that will be posted every Monday. I hope that you enjoy these post and will share them with your friends. You can share the post on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest with the buttons at the bottom of the post.
Tip Number 5:
Don't Skip Meals: It might sound like something small but I know that sometimes when I get in the creative zone I really have to make myself take a break and eat. I have tried to work through lunch or not even think about it at all but after a couple of hours you will feel the effects of not eating and this will really derail your creative burst. So even it is just a snack or a smoothie make sure that you eat and take time to hydrate. So even if it is just a 5-10 min break in the long run it is worth is and will help you to be more creative and you will be functioning at a better capacity. A quick way to make sure that you can fit in lunch is to make a couple of smoothies, have one for breakfast and then save the other one for a midmorning snack or add a little bit of cheese and a few crackers on the side for a small lunch. Also don't eat in the studio. Take them time to walk away from the work and have lunch in the kitchen or take it outside and enjoy a break in the sunshine. Make sure you get enough protein and your brain will function at a better capacity than with the highs and lows that eating too many carbs can set off.
Tip Number 6:
Make sure to rest:
Rest means different things for each person. For me it means sleep. I need at least 8 hours of sleep to be able to function properly and when I don't get it at night I need to take a nap sometimes. This is not a bad thing, naps are very good for you and for people that have other responsibilities other than just being a creative a nap when you have even a short amount of time is a big help and will recharge you to get everything done. Sometime rest just means taking the time to just sit and have a little quite time, or take a walk outside. We creatives need the time to decompress and not focus on so much on work and this doesn't mean we can cut it off but we can change our focus and do it a little differently. I love taking the time to just be outside. You will be surprised at how just a few minutes out in the sunshine can really energize you and give you a new outlook on the day and the work at hand.
Tip Number 7:
Unplug, Unplug, Unplug: Shut off Facebook, Instagram, twitter, or what every other social media that you are attached to. I use the do not disturb function on my phone. This is a great way to cut off the notifications when you really need to focus. If you don't unplug you will get distracted every-time that you hear that ding or beep when you get a notification, and this will be just enough of a distraction to disrupt your train of thought. Start slowly if it is hard for you to unplug, but make it your goal to be unplugged for at least 4 hours at a time and I promise that you will notice a difference in the quality of your work. You can start with 30 min and add to it in 30 min blocks of time each day until you can get to that full 4 hours. It has made a major difference in the amount of things that get marked off my to-do list.
Check your email first thing in the morning and then you only need to check it once more after lunch and then at the end of the day. When it is email time only allow yourself 10 min for this anything more will be too much and will cause you to get off track.
When you are first getting started you need to go through your email box and unsubscribe to as many daily email list that you can, if you really like one try to see if they offer a digest format that comes out once per week and change your settings. This will also make it easier to stick to your 10 min email time slot.
If you have to keep up with your social networks and want to make sure updates are posted throughout the day there are services that will help you keep the updates coming without the commitment of being constantly connected. One service is HootSuite, this service will help you to schedule post all through the day in one session. I use this service to schedule sales and other promotions ahead of time. I spend about an hour at the first of the week and make sure that I have one post per day set up to post so that my followers at least get one daily post. If I see something during the week that I want to share I try to make sure that I share it at a different time than my scheduled post. This helps to keep your readers informed without overwhelming them with too many post in one day. When I post this way I have found that I gain more followers each day.
Tip 8: Exercise
This is a hard thing for us creatives and we don't realize how much it hurts us not to get enough exercise in our daily routine. We need to take the time to stretch and get up from our desks a little bit more. I have found that for every 30 min of work I need to get up at least once and stand up to stretch out. If you don't you will have to worry about repetitive stress injuries that sitting in one place gives us most of the problems. When you sit in front of a screen too long your neck muscles will be tense and you need to do a few neck stretches and your arms also need to get out of the position that using most modern technology can cause us to be in. Think about it, our wrists are not meant to use a mouse all day with out a little break and when you type get up and move instead of sitting there forever.
Some of the best exercises for the creative types is yoga and palates because the stretching involved helps break the muscle memory that can come from being either in a sitting or standing position for long periods of time
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