Sam and I were talking this morning about how similar our work is. He is doing a PHD in Bio Medical Science, I’m a wedding photographer. See the similarities?!! Okay, maybe not. Let me explain… we both do self directed work, we need to be self motivated, and if we don’t do the work – no one will! Moving apartments (10 min down the road) turned last week slightly chaotic, and resulted in a bit of an unproductive week for both of us. We chatted this morning about the importance of scheduling. Creating our life with intention. This might seem highly boring, but what if amongst our work commitments, we scheduled time in to do nothing, to have a day off, time to surf the internet, time for unforced inspiration?? I constantly beat myself up about not being productive enough, or not getting enough into my day. I have resisted scheduling in the past because I thought it was too rigid and there was no room for spontaneity. Now, I realise why I thought that. It’s because I only scheduled my work in. Time to be creative, relax, hang out with Sam wouldn’t be scheduled, so it happened randomly, or not at all.

If I make room on my schedule for creative time/do nothing time/Sam time/facebook time/switch off time, I think it will result in not only a better work/life balance, but I might actually stick to a schedule because it has fun things on it! I’m slowly learning to be kinder to myself. Speaking of kind, last week my gorgeous friend Ruth and I went to the Yarra Valley and did nothing but drink coffee, eat cheese, talked, walked, took photos, drunk wine, had a picnic, and ate chocolate. Having that amazing, (necessary) indulgent day refueled me. I don’t need to make excuses to myself anymore, because having days like this every once in a while is as important as answering emails (I think).

Do you have a schedule? How well do you stick to it? I’d love to know if you currently schedule in your free/creative/non-work time and if it’s working for you?! xx