How to Be More Creative (4 Tactics for Putting Creativity First)

[00:00:00] Emily Thompson: As creative business owners, it's easy to put business owner in front of creative with all the emails and marketing and customer support. Oftentimes we forget that the reason we started these businesses was to afford ourselves. Creative freedom. And we find ourselves boxed in and not doing our creative work, which is bad for you.

[00:00:25] Emily Thompson: And it's bad for your business because your business needs you to be creative too, which is why today I'm sharing with you a four tactics for helping you to put your creativity first.

[00:00:40] Emily Thompson: Welcome back the 10 Minutes to Being Boss a bite-size show, offering up tips, tools, and tactics for helping you do business. I'm Emily Thompson. I'm the host of the Being Boss podcast and co-author of the book being boss take control over your work and live life on your own terms.

[00:00:55] Emily Thompson: And today we're talking about putting your creativity first, but before we dive in, I do want to share more about our sponsor, Podia.

[00:01:03] Emily Thompson: Someone once told me that creativity requires safety, and safety and business often look like passive income. When you can make money while you sleep, it's easier for you to be creative when you're awake and selling a digital product is what makes that possible. And that's where Podia comes in. Podia is an all-in-one digital storefront that makes it easy for you to sell digital downloads courses and memberships.

[00:01:29] Emily Thompson: All in one place, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial. No credit card required and get 15% off for life by going to podia.com/bosses.

[00:01:40] Emily Thompson: Now let's talk about putting your creativity first. Like I said, before, being creative business owner, entrepreneur, it's easy to get caught up in all of the other things that you need to do. You're delegating to your team, you're managing your own to-do list, your marketing, you're writing those emails.

[00:01:55] Emily Thompson: You are delivering customer support and on the promises that you've made to your clients. And customers, but you have started this business, not only because you seek creative fulfillment, but because you believe that your creativity has value, but whenever you get deep into the world of business, you will find yourself making less and less time for being creative, would you have to counteract by being more and more mindful about creating time for yourself when you can be creative. So here are my four tactics for assisting you in putting your creativity first. My first tactic is for you to adjust your mindset around your creativity. As a creative business owner, and this can be creativity.

[00:02:44] Emily Thompson: Maybe you are an artist. Maybe you are a social media manager. Maybe you're just an accountant who wants to do things in a new and creative way, whatever it is, there is creativity in your bones that gives your business value. Oftentimes our society does not value creativity as much as it does a hard

[00:03:05] Emily Thompson: skillsets. However, I think the blossoming of our industry is showing the world that creativity has its merits. It is incredibly important, not only for culture, but also for our economy You need to address your own mindset so that you are fully aware and embodying the value of your creativity know that you are getting paid for your creativity? Yes, you are getting paid to service your clients and yes, marketing your business is part of what gets you paid to do your work, but your creativity is the most important thing for you to be spending your time on.

[00:03:45] Emily Thompson: Nurture your creativity and it will continue to give you and your business value over and over again.

[00:03:53] Emily Thompson: Once you've made that money mindset shift. It should be pretty easy for you to move into tactic number two, which is for you to do your creative work first. Make it a habit in your day to day or your week to week to set aside time every single morning, or maybe Monday for you to focus on your creativity first.

[00:04:15] Emily Thompson: This is an embodiment of that mindset shift that you're making, where you identify the most important thing that you can do to bring it yourself. And your business value is to cultivate and dive into your creative practices that make you the creative business owner that you are. So make it a habit and put your creativity first.

[00:04:37] Emily Thompson: Tactic number three is for you to put it on your calendar, make time for your creativity. Don't just dedicate your first hour to it. Actually, put it on your calendar that your first hour will be dedicated to your creativity.

[00:04:54] Emily Thompson: One of the most important exercises that I do every single week to make sure that I am putting my creativity first is I time block. Time blocking is something that I talk about all the time. It's a very simple tactic for taking your entire week and setting aside. Time blocks for everything important that you need to do so that you can get everything done in the way that you want to get it done.

[00:05:17] Emily Thompson: I have created some free training on this that I really recommend you check out if you haven't already, it's a Being Boss Staple and is something that not only I utilize in my life and business every single week and every single day, but I have a whole crowd of bosses who were singing the praises of time-blocking as well.

[00:05:38] Emily Thompson: You can find a link to my Time Management Training in the show notes or description of this video or podcast. However, it is that you were consuming this piece of content.

[00:05:49] Emily Thompson: Because whenever you put things on your calendar, you are identifying them as being important to show up to. And your creativity is one of those. Create a boundary around your creativity so that nothing can get in its way. And so that you can dedicate yourself to. Focusing on pursuing your creative endeavors and activities and otherwise cultivating creativity in yourself and in your business.

[00:06:15] Emily Thompson: And then tactic number four, I think works. If none of those other things really work for you or you can do them. In addition to all of the other things that I've mentioned is that you can set aside and should set aside for yourself. Creative only days. These are entire days where you were doing nothing other than your creative work, turn off your email, shut your office door, get out your paints or your spreadsheets or whatever it is, whatever tools you need to do, your creative work.

[00:06:49] Emily Thompson: And let yourself be creative all day long with absolutely no distractions.

[00:06:56] Emily Thompson: I'll do this for an entire day. If I wanting to dedicate myself to writing, or if I'm wanting to. Dedicate myself to designing a new product or a new offering or some other sort of creative product or project in my business, I will also set aside entire days for me to be creative in my business. For me running my business, building my business, creating my business is my form of creativity. So I will set aside a whole day to just work on my business, to be creative within the confines of my business.

[00:07:33] Emily Thompson: And I recognize this is some of the most important work that I do. Not only am I setting aside this day and not allowing anything to touch it, but I'm allowing myself to go deeper into my creativity in a way that I can't do in a one-, two- or three-hour trunk on any given day. I've dedicated an entire day to my creativity And I'm able to show up that much more creatively within that space and create work that I am most proud of

[00:08:01] Emily Thompson: And if I can tell you a little secret, sometimes I'm not really creative the entire day. A lot of my greed Vivity needs space. I need space to be greeted and as creative business owners, we often find ourselves with so many things in our way that we don't give ourselves this. Space. We need to be truly creative by dedicating an entire day.

[00:08:23] Emily Thompson: I'm able to give myself that space. Maybe I spend an hour or two in the morning, just lazing over, over a cup of tea. And then I take a walk in the afternoon, whatever it may be. The idea is I'm giving myself the time to be creative, even if I'm only. Squeezing a couple of good creative things out of it, that creativity is that much more valuable to me and others because I've given it the proper space.

[00:08:50] Emily Thompson: It needs to grow and bloom and be what it really needs and wants to be. As creative business owners, it really is our job to nurture our creativity, to give ourselves plenty of time to be the creative beings that we are. And creativity does require time. So, prioritize it for yourself so that you were showing up to cultivate and nurture the part of you that you are betting on as a creative business owner.

[00:09:23] Emily Thompson: And with that, you have a couple of easy tactics and hopefully a good little pep talk for you to show up for yourself and your creativity. So adjust your mindset, know that you are here to be creative, so prioritize it. It has value. It is what you are betting on. It is what you are getting paid to do.

[00:09:43] Emily Thompson: Second, do your creative work first, prioritize it above all other things and your creativity will show up for you too.

[00:09:51] Emily Thompson: Number three is to put it on your calendar, put some boundaries around your creativity, promise yourself that you will focus during that time and do not let anything touch it. And then number four finally is to give yourself a whole days or weeks, if you want to be very extra. I love that for you, where you can be creative only, give yourself the space

[00:10:14] Emily Thompson: you need to be the creative business owner boss that you are here to be. And with that, I send you off to be creative and I send you off with the most creative of creative wishes I can create. Isn't that so extra? I love that. I'll take it. Good luck. And until next time, do the work, be boss.