The 7 Things I'm Doing Differently in 2023
How I’m getting prepped for this yearThis year I decided on a different approach for getting my year sorted. With homeschooling 3 kids, client design work, teaching and painting it’s essential to be organised to get anything done and also have the evenings and one day of rest in the week.
So I decided to make my word of the year: PREP. I’m prepping art supplies, days off, homeschool outings, photos and all things in between and so far it’s worked well. I’ve had a new peace in my days that I hadn’t experienced before.
So, here are the 7 things I’m doing this January to have a lovely year:
- ART SUPPLIES
I bought all the canvasses I think I’ll be needing for the year considering upcoming exhibitions and collection releases and Sam (my husband) made floater frames for each one. It is pretty amazing to be married to a carpenter and having the frames ready to go helps with having a good flow for taking photos and submitting to retailers whenever a piece is ready.
- SETTING GOALS
One of the first pages I added when I created my Studio Planner for creative businesses was take goal setting and approaching it in the same way we used to do when I was a product manager in tech. Part of it is knowing what’s needed but another part is envisioning how that goal can be reached.
- PRODUCT PLANNING
Different this year as well has been product planning for me. I love painting but so much of my career has been in product management that I feel hard-pressed to let it go. So I’ve been working on coming up with products that will be released in the coming year and I’ve started to order in all the supplies. As I’m writing this they’re starting to stream in and I’m getting excited about designing and executing the products and packaging. The upcoming products have to do with Valentines / Valentines day and am really looking forward to taking the photos and sharing the details with you!
- PHOTO STUDIO
With the goals and products planned I have a better idea of the photos I’ll need to take and inventory whether I have props that work for the products in terms of style but also size and colouring. Going thrift shopping every so often with a plan takes the pressure off and makes the photography so much more relaxed and lovely.
- CONTENT PLANNING
Content planning is not my strong suit but again, knowing what’s coming up has enabled me to take this slowly and to not feel rushed.
- HOMESCHOOL
The way I make homeschool and work happen is by setting a strict routine for the kids when and how we do our lessons. I know a lot of homeschool families are much more flexible about this but the teacher in me can’t seem to let go of working in lessons. With 3 boys I’ve found there is much need for running outside (them, not me!) and breaks between their lessons and having set times for this takes any discussion out of it.
- TIME OFF
Finally, I’m planning in time off in advance. These mostly coincide with the kids’ (home)school holidays (we use the Dutch system I grew up with where there is a holiday after roughly every 6-7 weeks but with a shorter summer holiday) but I’ve already found it helpful to book in website and design clients and to create estimates with accurate timing included.
So, that’s what I’m doing this year. I have been off a while from social media because of personal stuff but I’m hoping to show up here once or twice a week to share what I’m doing and to let you know about releases etc through an monthly email.
