Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi, I'm Maya favor. I'm a surface pattern designer, educator and creative
entrepreneur with over 100,000
students worldwide. I'm thrilled to have you
join me in this class, where we will talk
about how to master work life balance in
your creative business. Throughout this
class, I will teach you my best tips and tricks that will save you so much time and make space to create
a better balance. With years of experience juggling my passions,
personal life, and business, I've learned the hard way how crucial
it is to find a balance. This class is aimed at
students of all skill levels, whether you're a seasoned creative professional
or just starting out. It's a great class
for freelancers, side hustlers, or
even hobbyists, because you can use these skills to streamline your workflow and make room for more of the things that you
love outside of work. By the end of this class, you will have gained
knowledge of how to better achieve a healthy
work life balance. You will walk away
with a toolkit of strategies that
respects your need for creativity and risk. Challenging the myth
that balance is unattainable for passionate
creatives like us. I'm excited to share
what has worked for me and to help you find
your own path to balance. If you want to dive deeper
into mastering these skills, especially when it
comes to marketing, your creative business
with all of the to dos that you feel that you
need to do with marketing. I invite you to enroll in my
course creative content lab. It's your next step
towards working smarter, not harder with your online
marketing as a creative. It's a comprehensive guide designed for creatives
like you aiming to transform marketing from
a boring chore into a simple workflow that will free up so much time and space
in your creative business, so that you can spend that time on other things that you enjoy, such as your creativity
or your personal life. You can find more
information and join the course on arnwma com. But enough about that,
let's dive into this class.
2. Smart Planning: Let's dive into my first
tip, Smart planning. If you ever felt
like you're juggling 1 million tasks with
no end in sight, today's lesson is
your first step towards a calmer,
more organized life. We're diving into
smart planning. I'm here to show you how this isn't about cramming
your days full of tasks. Instead, it's about setting yourself free to
be more creative, more spontaneous, and
yes, more balanced. If you're worried that planning means locking every
hour of your day away, I've got some good news. It's actually about giving you more control and freedom.
So let's dive in. Planning is actually simple, but can feel hard to start with, especially for our
creative brains who tend to want to keep things
as free as possible. But planning is for us too. In fact, for me, planning is what frees up time
to be creative. Planning is basically
about knowing what you want to achieve and
setting up steps to get there. It's not about filling every minute of your
day with tasks. It's about having a clear
direction for the year and then breaking it down and making sure to keep your priorities. First, let's talk money. I always start my
yearly planning with my income
goal for the year. What do you want
to earn this year? That's your financial goal. It's important because it
guides what you focus on. Like, for example,
launching a collection of artwork or making a course
or growing your community. You can have an overall
income goal and then break it down into
areas of your business. I know that if you're new to
having a creative business, it can feel hard to know what your income goal of the
year is. But don't worry. The more you work
in your business, the clearer it will get. But if you just started
and have no idea, then just give it a guess. Maybe you sell products or maybe you collaborate
with clients, or if you don't do anything
that brings you income today, you might have an idea of what you want to do
to get an income. If so, you can go backwards, and let's say that
you sell products. So calculate how
many you can make of one product and how much you realistically think
you can sell this year, and there you have
your income goal. If you still have no idea, just give it a good guess. You can always change
your goals down the line. Next, think about
the big things that you need to do to hit
that financial goal. These are your actions. And action could for me as
an educator, for example, be to create and
publish a new course, or it can be to
grow my e mail list with X amount of subscribers. You can connect all sorts
of actions to your goals. For each action, there
are smaller tasks. Planning these out
over the year keeps you on track without
overwhelming your daily life. So for example, if my
income goal is to make X amount of money overall
this year, and of that, I want to make x amount by courses on skill
share, for example, I can break that
down to actions, meaning how many
classes on skill share do I believe that I need to
create to reach that goal? And then I bring that
down to smaller tasks. To make one skill set class, I need to do all of
these smaller tasks. When I know my main
goals, my main projects, what actions I need to take and the tasks included
in those actions, I can plan out this
throughout the year. Of course, you can
jump back and forth and plan out project
by project as well. You do, as you wish.
It's your plan, and there's no right
or wrong here. But what we want to achieve
is a yearly plan that tells us if we have time
to do what we need to do, when we are going to do it, and when we need to finish it to start with
the next project. However, for me, at least, I can't know it all at the start of the year
when I make my plan. So what I jot down
in my calendar are those larger projects that
I know that I will do. And in between, I usually
leave room for some space for spontaneous ideas or other projects that can
appear during the year. After knowing my larger
projects for the year, I typically plan my next
quarter more in detail. So while I might have
planned in x amount of courses as the example of skill
courses during that year, I see this as a rough plan
that can change as I go. However, before every quarter, I sit down and I plan the
projects for that quarter. You could do this month
by month as well. But for me personally, I feel less stressed out
if I plan for a quarter, and at the same time as I
try to plan everything well, I still leave room for some
unknown things that might show up in my business that maybe I need
to do that quarter. I hope this makes sense. As my quarterly plan
usually is pretty solid. I don't always feel need to
make a monthly plan too. I already have the
monthly plan on my quarterly plan if
I made it thorough. If not, you can always
do a monthly plan too. What I do recommend, however, for everyone to
make your work life balance good is to
do weekly plans. So every week, either
on the Monday when the work week starts or on the Friday before
your end of the week, you sit down and make
a plan for the week. This will ensure
that you know what to do that week and
that you hopefully will be able to keep better focus on your plan
as you already know what you need to finish that week to stick to
your overall plan. But here's the thing. Plans
change, and that's okay. If something isn't
working, adjust it. The goal of planning is to make your life easier, not harder. Find a rhythm that
works for you, make your plans,
which will make you feel more in control of
what you're working with. But then you can
adjust it as you go. If you're listening to all
of this and are getting a huge lump of
anxiety, I get it. We are creatives and
we want to be free. That's why I suggest
that you take my ideas and my thoughts about planning
and make it your own. I'm a strong believer
that to be able to make creativity and business
blend well together, we need to be kind to our
creative brains and not force them to do something
that feels completely wrong. I personally get anxiety
when people share their Google calendars with time blocks on a full
schedule for their weeks. That's not how my brain works
when it comes to planning. If I constrict myself
too much, I won't do it. I need to have air in my
schedule for new ideas, for inspiration, for spontaneous things that I want to work on. That's one of the
best things for me about being a
creative entrepreneur. I can decide myself
how I want to set up my business.
And so should you? I love to learn from others, just like you learn
from me here, but it's important to
make the planning your own so that it suits you your
needs and your business. But if you don't
have a system for planning at the moment,
then give it a try. Set the financial goal, break it down into
actions and tasks, plan your weeks with flexibility,
and see how it goes. It's about progress,
not perfection. Planning is a tool to help you get where you want to go on your own terms and to help you achieve a better
work life balance.
3. Setting Priorities: Let's talk about setting
your priorities right. Knowing what to focus
on and what to let go of can not only save
you tons of time, but also keep you from
spending your energy on the fluff that
doesn't really move the needle in your
creative business. Okay, let's kick things
off by chatting about something super important
but often overlooked, figuring out what
you truly value, both in your personal life
and your professional world. Why? Because what we value deeply should
guide our priorities. It's like having a compass that always points you to
what matters the most. Helping you decide where to
spend your time and energy. With your values
and goals in hand. Setting your priorities
becomes clearer. Priorities is all about choosing where your attention goes
each day, week or month. They are the tasks and actions
that directly contribute to reaching your goals aligned
with your deeper values. Here is where it gets
really powerful. When you are crystal
clear on your priorities, making decisions about
what to say yes, two, and what to say no, two. It all gets so much easier. It's like having a filter
for your decisions. Does this opportunity align with my values and help
me achieve my goals? If yes, then great. If not, it's a pass. This way, you're not just busy, you're productive and fulfilled. Being clear on your
priorities means you spend less time on
things that doesn't matter. It's about quality not quantity. You start to see
what's really worth your time and what's just noise. This doesn't mean that you won't ever face less exciting tasks. We all do, but it means even those tasks have a clear purpose towards
your bigger picture. Set priorities for the week, one to three priorities, the fewer priorities,
the better, I usually aim for
one main priority that week in my business. Review your goals. Take a look at your
goals and ask yourself if they truly align
with your core value. If they don't, it might
be time to adjust them. Based on your goals, list out your priorities
for the next month. What actions will move
you closer to your goals. Prioritize these
in your planning. Start small by saying
no to the next thing that comes up that doesn't align with
your values or goals. Notice how it feels to make
space for what truly matters. Reflect on how well you
stuck to your priorities. What felt right, what didn't. Use these insights to
adjust for the next week. Sitting and sticking to
your priorities is about making intentional choices
with your time and energy. It's a commitment to
doing more of what fulfills you and less
of what drains you. As creatives, this isn't just
about getting more done. It's about creating more space for what truly inspires us.
4. Master the Art of Batching: Let's dive into one of my favorite strategies for creating freedom and
space in my business. Batching. Batching
is a game changer, especially when you're wearing as many hats as we do
in the creative world. Let's break down what
it means, how it works, and how we can start
implementing it to make your work day feel more
manageable and enjoyable. What is patching? Simply put, patching is all about
grouping similar tasks together and knocking them out in a dedicated
block of time. It's about efficiency and focus. Instead of spreading
similar tasks throughout the week or month, you concentrate on
them in one go. This could be anything
from marketing activities to admin tasks. The beauty of batching lies in its simplicity and the
mental space, it frees up. When you batch work, you're not constantly switching
gears between different types of tasks, which means that you save
a ton of mental energy. Plus, it's incredibly satisfying to know you're
ahead of the game, how to start batching. If you are new to
batching, start small. Try batching your tasks for a month and see how it
feels, or even a week. Pick a category of
work you do regularly. It can be social media
content, e mail newsletters, or product design and
dedicate a block of time to create or complete a month's
worth of that work at once. Remember, the goal
here is to create breathing room for
yourself so that you will spend less time on repetitive tasks and more
time on what truly matters. I found that batching on a quarterly basis
works the best for me. It strikes the right
balance between staying ahead of my
workload without feeling overwhelmed
by the volume of tasks that need to be made
in one batching round. And a week feels
too short for me. It's like a blink of
an eye in my business, and I'm right back to
doing the same tasks. But quarterly, that's
my sweet spot. It allows me to plan, create, and then shift my focus to being present with my community
and other projects. Batching is flexible. What works for me might not work for you, and
that's the key. The key is to
experiment and adjust. Maybe you will find
that two months is your ideal batching period. Or perhaps certain tasks
are more appropriate to weekly batching while others are better on a
quarterly schedule. The point is to
find what maximizes your efficiency and gives
you the most freedom. Batching has transformed
how I work and live. It has given me
the gift of time, Tim to focus on what
truly important. Whether it's my members
in my membership, new projects or simply being present in the moment
with my family. If you take only one thing away from this lesson,
let it be this. Batching is more than
a productivity hack. It is a pathway to a more balanced and
fulfilling creative business. Start small experiment and
find your batching rhythm. Trust me, your future self
with thank you for it.
5. Automation Magic: Let's talk about the magic behind scheduling
and automation. True game changers in how you can achieve a better
work life balance. If you ever felt bogged
down by repetitive tasks, you are going to love this. Automation isn't
just the bzword, it's a strategy that can free up a massive chunk of your time, allowing you to
focus on what truly sparks joy in your
work and life. Now on to the star of
the show, automation. It might sound fancy, but it's really about
finding smart ways to take those repetitive
tasks off your plate. Just a few years back,
options were limited, and you would either
spend hours on mundane tasks or
needed to hire help. Today, tools like SAPR and
Later have changed the game. Examples of what
you can automate. Social media, schedule your
post in advance with later, spend a day planning and setting up a month's
worth of content, and then let it
run automatically. Emails. Use automation
to send out welcome e mails to new subscribers or thank you messages
to customers. Task Management, automate
reminders for important tasks or deadlines so that
you're always ahead of the schedule without keeping
everything in your head. The real magic of automation is the positive impact on
your work life balance. By automating repetitive tasks, you're not just saving time. You are buying peace of mind. It's about knowing
that essential tasks are taken care of, allowing you to be more present in your business
and personal life. Start small, pick one task
this week to automate. Notice the difference
it takes in your stress level and
how you spend your time. As you get comfortable, expand your use of these tools to cover more
of your routine tasks. Automation is a good
body with batching, which we talked about
earlier in this class. So if you're batching something, there might be some smart tool out there that can
help you automate it. Dive into automation, experiment
with what tasks you can automate and watch as you save your time and energy for
what matters the most. Trust me, once you start, you will wonder how you
ever managed without it.
6. Embracing AI Tools: Let's dive into AI tools. This is such a discussed topic, and there's definitely
both pros and cons and who know what
the future brings. However, if you don't
jump on this train now, you'll probably soon
going to be left behind. Let's talk a bit
about leveraging AI tools to supercharge
your creative business. The star of the show, Chat Pit. But that's just the beginning. We are surrounded by AI
tools that can transform the way we work from graphic design to social
media management. My journey with Chat PT, in particular, have
been a game changer. It has helped me
with everything from class outlines to language
chicks and idea generation. Let's explore how these tools can become your
digital sidekick, freeing up more time
for what truly matters. Why embrace AI tools. AI tools are not about replacing the human
touch in your business. They are about enhancing our
capabilities and efficiency. With AI, task that
once took hours of time can now be
streamlined and automated. This means more space for creativity for other
things in your business, and more time for
your personal life. Chat PT is my go to AI tool. If you're not a native
English speaker like me, Chat PT can help you
polish your writing. If you're struggling with
class outlines or blog posts, It's there to help organize your thoughts and even
provide research assistance. It's like having an assistant, who's on call 2047. Ready to support you. There are, of course, a bunch of different AI tools out there. But in this lesson, I
will share more about my favorite tool that I've been using since it was
released, Chat DPT. As it's what helped me save
the most time and energy, meaning that it has
positively affected my work life balance as I
save time by using this tool. I've used Chat pit for
more than a year and it's become irreplaceable
part of my workflow. Here are a few ways
that I use it. For me as an educator, I create class outlines. Just like this class, Chat
PT helps me structure my thoughts and plan my lessons effectively.
Language chicks. It's a fantastic tool
to make sure that my English is on point as a
non negative English speaker. Idea generation. Whenever I'm stuck for ideas, Cat TPT is there to
spark inspiration. Research assistant, if I need a quick fact or if I want
to check my facts from a Tik Chat PT can gather information and save
hours of searching. Starting with AI tools
might feel daunting, but the key is to dive
in and experiment. Pick a task that you
do regularly and explore how an AI tool
could help streamline it. Remember, the goal is not
to replace your creativity, but to give you more
time to focus on it. As you become more comfortable, you'll find new and
innovative ways to incorporate AI
into your workflow. Embracing AI tools
like Chat PT is about making a strategic choice to
work smarter, not harder. It's about leveraging
technology to enhance our creative
potential and free up time.
7. Mindsets and Habits: So let's talk about one of my favorite things
mindset and habits, particularly focusing
on the transition from work to personal life. For those of us passionate
about what we do, switching off the business
mind and being fully present in our personal lives
can be a real challenge. We will also talk
about how maintaining realistic expectations can lead to a healthier, more
satisfying life. One effective strategy that
I found is establishing a transition ritual to shift from work mode
to personal life. This ritual can be something
as simple as a short walk, a specific playlist to signal
that the day is ending or doing the dishes
and cleaning up for a few minutes before
your family comes home, if you work from home like me. The key is consistency. This ritual becomes a signal to your brain that is
time to change gears, helping to calm down the work related thoughts and making space
for personal time. Another crucial aspect is setting realistic
expectations for ourselves. It's easy to fall into the
trap of wanting to do it all. To learn our limits is vital. Accepting that perfect
work life balance may not always be achievable, and that's perfectly okay. Just remember, balance
can shift and change. What works now might evolve, and allowing yourself the flexibility to adapt is crucial. Let me share a personal
story about how I change mindset for a
better work life balance. So I have always thrived
on working in springs, meaning that I work
intensely for a set of time, maybe a few weeks or maybe days. And then I have more time to chill after
the sprint is finished. So that used to mean that I could work until late
in the evenings and truly enjoy it as I got into
this flow of my sprint work. After becoming a parent, I thought I needed
to change this completely to make room for family time as I didn't want
to work in the evenings. But instead of forcing
a change against my natural rhythm and how I
enjoy working, I adapted. I still work in focused
intense sprints, but I set strict work hours. By 5:00 P.M. I transition
to family time. So this adjustment
allow me to maintain my preferred work style while ensuring I'm
there for my family. And yes, the work might take a bit more time as I don't
work in the evenings anymore, but I'm happier and healthier
when working this way, as I don't overwork anymore. Adapting our mindset
and habits to support a balanced life isn't
about drastic changes. It's about small shifts
that make a big difference. By embracing rituals, setting realistic expectations
and working in a way that suits us best, we can create a fulfilling
life both in and out of work. Remember, it's about
progress, not perfection.
8. Self-Care: Let's talk about self care. It's easy to get caught
up in the hustle, constantly pushing for the next big thing
in our businesses. But I want to talk about slowing down and taking
care of ourselves. I have noticed a huge
difference in my productivity, creativity, and
overall happiness when I'm stressed versus
when I'm in harmony. Self care isn't just a luxury. It's a necessity for
maintaining our health, managing stress, and
ensuring that we can continue doing what
we love sustainably. First off, it's vital to recognize the signs
of stress for you. Are you feeling
overwhelmed, irritable, or disconnected from your
work or personal life? These are signals
that it's time to step back and
prioritize self care. Self care doesn't have to be complicated or
time consuming. It's about the
small daily things that contribute to your
overall well being. Here are some things
that works for me. Taking walks. A simple walk, especially in the sun can do wonders for my mood
and stress level. Getting ready for the day, even if I'm working from home, putting on a bit of
makeup and fixing my hair makes me feel more
prepared to start my workday. Eating regularly, maintaining stable blood
sugar levels is key for me. I make sure to eat
balanced meals and snacks throughout the day. Exercising and sleeping well. Regular physical
activity and getting enough sleep are fundamental for managing stress and
staying creative. We all know this right. Yet sometimes it's so
hard to actually do it. I get it. Sometimes
life gets in the way. However, managing your
own creative business is a job where you need to take care of yourself to be able to
do this in the long run. Yes, you can hire people if you want
help, but in the end, you are the boss of everything, and you need to keep
the wheels turning and making sure that
everything is on track. If you break down, so will
your business in the long run. So self care for me personally, isn't something that
I can do without is crucial for both my creative business and
my personal life. Sometimes after a particularly
intense work period, you might need something
more to reset. Find what acts as
a reset for you, whether it's a day in nature, a creative workshop, or simply turning off all your
devices for a weekend. The importance of
slowing down in a world where burnout
is often mentioned in casual conversations
is crucial to understand the real impact prolonged stress can have on our
bodies and minds. Slowing down is an
assign of weakness. It's an act of strength. It's recognizing that to continue being
productive and creative, we must first take
care of ourself. What self care to you? I encourage you to
reflect on what makes you feel good,
relaxed, and happy. Start incorporating those
small self care practices in your daily routine. And remember, it's
okay to slow down. If you're feeling
close to burnout, it's time to prioritize
self care more than ever. Managing our stress
levels through self care is not just
about preventing burnout. It's about creating
a life where we can thrive both personally
and professionally. Let's commit to taking
care of ourselves with the same passion and dedication we bring to our
creative businesses. Because if you don't take care of yourself, it will be really, really hard to continue to have a successful creative
business in the future.
9. What's Next?: That's all for this class. If you want to dive deeper
into mastering these skills, especially when it comes to marketing your
creative business, I invite you to enroll in my
course creative content lab. It's your next step
towards mastering smart sustainable
marketing strategies tailored for us creatives. If you feel like marketing
is overwhelming, you are not alone. Many creatives express
that it feels like a chore that drains time and energy from
their true passion. That is exactly why I created
the creative content lab. It is more than just
a set of strategies. It's a comprehensive guide designed for creatives like you, aiming to transform
marketing from a dreaded shore into a simple
workflow that will free up so much time and space in
your creative business so that you can spend that time on other things that
you enjoy more. So if you're ready to
change your marketing game, join me in the
creative content lab. You can find more
information at nwmya.com. With all of this said, Thank
you so much for watching. I hope that you
enjoy this class. If you did hit the follow button by my name to keep up
with my future classes. You can also visit my
profile page here on Skillshare to access all of my classes
available to watch. If you have any questions
at all or comments, please don't hesitate
to post them in the discussion section
of this class. And feel free to leave a review to let me know if you
enjoy this class. It means the world
to me. Thanks again for watching, and I'll
see you next time.
