Vision and dreams are good to have. In fact, they are a vital part of life. They give you hope, inspiration, and focus.
Who doesn’t want to think about the possibilities that lie ahead? Be it financial security, travel opportunities, starting a family, or creating a legacy, thinking about the possibilities gives purpose to our work and our play.
Your dream to live the writer’s life, provide for your family on a flexible schedule, and to contribute meaningfully to your clients are all good reasons to be a copywriter.
But… as with so many things in life, there is more to it.
Unless you are working as an in-house copywriter, you are also a business owner. You make up the one-person band leading marketing, sales, accounting, production, and fulfillment.
This reality doesn’t align with your vision of the writer’s life. How to manage it all? How can you have a productive day and a creative day, each day, and still fulfill the dream?
Let’s start by trying to manage the monster in the room. It is what can be controlled versus that which cannot.
Time.
There are only a finite number of hours in a day, week, or month. We all think we don’t have enough of it — but we do — if we really take stock of what we do each day.
Recently, Susan, an AWAI copywriter, found she was trying to fit 20 hours of ‘stuff’ (work, self-care, meetings, family) into each day!
She told her accountability group, “It’s no wonder I feel like I’m always behind. That’s too many hours a day to try keeping all my work to Monday through Friday, which doesn’t happen. I get it done because I use my weekends. And my evenings. But I don’t work out as much as I want, and I don’t cook as much as I want, and, and, and…” The list goes on.
Sound familiar?
Investing… or Managing?
Elaine Sellers, Time Investment Consultant, provides us this perspective on time. Sellers believes we are most productive when we adopt the mindset of understating how we INVEST in our time versus MANAGING time.
She explains, “When you know how to Clarify your direction, Choose your priorities, and Focus your time, you’ll make real progress on the work that serves you and your business best.”
When you think about investing your time the same way you think about investing your money — it changes the game. You manage your budget for day-to-day spending, but you invest your money for long-term growth.
Imagine doing the same with your time. Manage the minutes but invest in hours or days for the long-term.
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen Covey
Time for a time-out break! If you feel it’s hard to find a productive day on your calendar, then it’s time to align your vision with your reality.
- Make the time in the next week to ‘audit’ your time. Starting with just one week is a great start.
- Write down everything you do. Work projects committed to, meetings, activities necessary to your life (workouts, family time, cooking, carpooling).
- Record the time it takes to accomplish each task and activity. Include responding to emails, research, writing, and client calls. For personal activities, don’t forget driving time, cooking time, and personal phone calls and texting. Include that time you scroll social media too! Be real, be honest.
This could be a real eye-opener, as it was for Susan. This time audit is just the start — it’s the first step to making every day be productive, fulfilling, and moving you closer to your dream.
Susan recognized that something had to give in order for her to achieve the writer’s life she desired. After her audit, Susan committed to:
- Time track (Toggl or whatever) the work she was doing to see why it’s taking longer than it seems like it should.
- Cull out things on her list that aren’t aligned to her goals.
- Prioritize and then time block her calendar for those priorities.
- Rinse/repeat until she has a reasonable, doable work schedule that leaves evenings and weekends free (and maybe even a midday break) to work out, cook, and, and, and… all those things she wants to do for herself and her family.
You can do this too!
There is no need to say yes to every project or learning opportunity. There are days meant for keeping fingers flying over the keyboard and other days where networking or doing bookkeeping are the most productive ways to invest your time.
Identifying your priorities and how to make them work in the time you have each day will let you know which client, which project, and which training to take on.
You are in control of your business, your life, and your time. Ilise Benun, Business Coach and Mentor to creative professionals and copywriters, says, “When you have your own business, you get to decide what matters and what counts.”
Make today matter. Take time to align your time, your priorities, and your vision to move you closer to having productive days and realizing your visions and dreams!
