We all know in life that we get distracted while doing tasks, that we have busy schedules, and it seems like a never ending list of things to do. Business owners feel all the regular stress of everyday life paired with the stress of managing that and their business needs/ goals.
It is so easy to get distracted, to start to do something and get sucked in so much that you lose track of time and all the sudden instead of checking off things on the to-do list you are even further behind than when you started out. I am even guilty of this more than I personally want to admit.
So what are a photographers distractions, how do we manage, and how do I do everything I do?
Honestly, everything can feel like a distraction somedays. My part time job, my to be read pile calling to me, bills, wanting to spend time with family or my dog, or my occasional fall down the rabbit hole of social media and looking for fun and cheap travel.
So much of my life is spent not shooting but doing the tedious business office stuff that I tend to seek out any distraction. I have this blog and sometimes it takes me forever to write posts, to remember to write posts, and to psych myself up to do it. (If you are wondering while I love sharing photos, inspiration, information, and more; I truly do hate actually writing it— still waiting for my ideas to write themselves without my help.)
Of course then you have the regular life things of bookkeeping, doing bills, sending emails, and contracts plus collecting payments and whatever business needs that need your attention. Those things can be equally unfun and sometimes you get sucked into Netflix— or a lot of times— just because it can be so hard to make your mind focus.
If you are like me you are stupid ambitious and may decide to write a book; so now you have writing goals. Writing goals that also interfere with photography goals and work and scheduling. Not to mention the social media work and marketing you have to do for a book and a business together— yep it’s doubled and It is a lot.
So how do I find balance?
I am still working on it most days. A lot of the time I am up late in the night and awake by 10 am most mornings. I basically only have business social media because I am too exhausted to maintain personal accounts. I work part time in a bookstore currently as a means for extra money and mostly a low-key way to get out of my head and wind down. (Plus I am a big reader so book discounts never hurt either.)
What I can say about balance is making a schedule for things. I stop working on business stuff at 11 pm regardless of what I need to get done. I spend whatever time I stay up winding down from there. I refuse to answer emails before 12 pm. And I try to set aside at least one day a month dedicated solely to writing this blog— whole day, I know seems excessive but it usually takes me the whole day to write a months worth of posts.
I also only take on the sessions and events I can and want to handle— I am lucky enough to be in a place where saying no doesn’t hurt me. Writing the book is trickier because I find I need to be in the mood which means when my mind isn’t run down and fighting back but what helps is I am planning to self publish and I am working on my schedule not a publishers.
Take things slow. Take breaks. And knock your goals out of the water even if it takes a year or two.