Balance Is Not an Achievement — It’s a Practice
One of the core values many of my clients and I share is a desire for work-life balance. With over two decades of collaboration with hundreds of incredible forward-thinking entrepreneurs, craftspeople, and artists, I am keenly aware that balance is not an achievement, but a practice.
Starting and managing a business can be stressful. When we are stressed, everything becomes inflated, including priorities. This can bring disorganization to project flow for creative initiatives, which can result in increased budget, false starts, or missed opportunities.
Over the years, I have noticed that clients who regularly scheduled time to intentionally review the various aspects of their brands often achieved better outcomes and were more in touch with the vision for their business. I nurture this practice in my own business and also encourage clients to create scheduled check-ins with me to continue engaging with their brands as they evolve.
Intentionality & Better Outcomes
By fostering a purposeful approach to work flow and brand engagement, we can build on creative initiatives that impact work-life flow in a number of ways. For many clients, quarterly Brand Engagement sessions are sufficient to keep the energy alive.
You’re less likely to end up in a scramble because an event, conference, or deadline snuck up on you.
Engagement eases budget and increases efficiency. Minimizing “re-do” design and creative initiative projects that missed important opportunities can save hundreds or more in design time, printing costs, and your own time.
Engagement helps reduce stress. Inflating needs under the hold of urgency or worry is common when we’re stressed. Stress has a tendency to fan a spark into fire and predisposes us to create unnecessary urgency. When we step back from the space of urgency, different solutions come to light. Often these are better than the initial urgent thing that we thought we needed.
Working In the Flow
Quick timelines happen, and they can be beautifully in flow. Working intentionally in fast flow is a reality in our fast-paced world and it is possible to do it well. Flow within quick timelines is easier to achieve when you and your creative professional are regularly engaged with your brand and creative initiatives. With regular engagement, everyone is in the loop on business growth, obstacles, and successes.
The antithesis of urgent energy is the project that drops off entirely. This also happens when we have too much on our to-do lists. I’m pretty easy about riding the wave of project drop-off, and allowing clients to come and go as needed as long as I’ve been paid for work complete. It’s also worth nothing that as gap-time increases, likely so will costs and timelines. Getting back into flow and re-familiarizing takes time, which will be reflected in the cost, especially for complex projects or Web builds. Meanwhile, other projects on my to-do list are prioritized which may add further delays to an on-hold project, even after a client is ready to jump back into work.
Better Work / Better Life
Bringing intentionality to creative initiative workflow improves outcomes, and this approach to a sustainable work/life is fundamentally tied to its practice. I can say this unequivocally with the experience of having collaborated with hundreds clients with different kinds of businesses over the last 20 years. Over time, creative initiatives become clearer and there is more enjoyment in the process. Bringing balanced, purposeful energy to brand development and creative projects is a practice that we can cultivate, addressing needs with intention instead of as they arise. And this helps you better focus on the work that you love.