Some things truly just make more sense (or less) in hindsight. And honestly, some things were just never meant to work out.
At the beginning of the year, we have this tendency to come up with these big lists, these big to-dos, because we’re like HOT DAMN! I can do anything! It’s a New Year! And we end up with all these big shiny, rush-to-finish, lots-on-our-plate, false urgency tasks. We sit down, make a list, then run off to do the next task that maybe we don’t even actually need to do.
I am NOTORIOUS for this and honestly at least once a year I deep dive through my Asana and delete a bunch of project tasks that I haven’t touched in months because quite honestly… they just aren’t necessary. They are make-work projects, but the person they’re making work for is me. Like for instance, pre-planning my Instagram stories. Yes, okay, they do have a general theme and I do like my content to feel somewhat cohesive with what’s on my feed, but as a general statement… I don’t need to do this. And yet there it is, popping up in my Asana every week like Adele from The Other Side.
Well no thank you; I’m actually just going to post about my day.
And you know why? Because that plan didn’t work. And honestly, I never got the same engagement from pre-planned stories as I do from actually authentic, this-is-what-I’m-currently-doing stories.
It’s really okay if your plan doesn’t work, or if you fail with it. Trying something and realizing it doesn’t fit you isn’t a bad thing; it just means it’s not your thing. It doesn’t work for you, so it’s time to move on and try the next thing to see if that works better. Of course, you do have to sit with it for a little bit and make sure the discomfort isn’t just growing pains, but at some point, if you really dread doing something… don’t do it.
I listened to a workshop the other day and the speaker was talking about how she used to write in her journal and she *hated* it. And one day she was like: actually, F that. That’s not working for me anymore. I stress about it, I don’t like it, it became a job, not a form of self-care. So here’s a good rule of thumb: if your self-care routine stresses you out, it’s the wrong one, girl.
And the same goes for business. If the system or routine or whatever it is in your business that you planned now pops into your head and seems like a nightmare… it’s not for you. Systems and processes and tasks and plans are meant to support and streamline your business. If they are not helping you, they are the wrong ones for you, and that is okay. You’re allowed to outgrow them.
Planning things that don’t actually move revenue or joy forward is another big one. Moving the needle matters. If you’re spending time on menial tasks that don’t actually move the needle, stop doing that. Maybe you need to outsource, maybe you need to get help, maybe you don’t even need to be doing that task at all.
Then there’s creating systems because you think you should have systems. If you’re doing something repeatedly, like you answer the same client question five times, or you send the same deposit contract five times, that should be a system, or at least an email template. That’s a process that actually supports you. But if you’re building elaborate systems for things you do once every two years… you’ve got to prioritize.
Another big one: over-scheduling content calendars. It sounds so good at the beginning of the year. You’re going to be BIG on Instagram this year — influencer season. But now it’s June, you haven’t posted in four weeks except for a story of you crying, and that whole social strategy is out the window. And I’m going to tell you why real quick: it’s because you overcommitted. That is OKAY though, remember? Because you are allowed to outgrow your original plan.
Posting 1–2 times a week? Great, if that’s what you can actually sustain. Whatever you pick needs to be reasonable, and if you reflect mid-year and realize actually no, fourteen reels per day is not something that I can do (shocking to absolutely nobody), then you re-evaluate and build a plan that actually fits your capacity.
The biggest thing is that your business model and your processes have to match who you are, not standard industry advice. And given that a large majority of artists are neurodivergent in their own spicy, brilliant ways, this is something I work through with each 1:1 client I have. One system that works really well for one artist might be completely useless for another, because it doesn’t suit their personality, workflow, or energy. And that is okay.
Learning is part of the process. So is growing. What worked for you last year might not work this year. Creative businesses often evolve in a non-linear way. You know, those charts where the line is all squiggly and up and down, instead of going straight and up? Yeah? Normal.
Give yourself some grace. It’s okay to fail and be bad at stuff. That’s the cool part about growing and running a business — it’s never going to be (or shouldn’t be anyway), the same day in and day out, for years. It gets to grow with you, and THAT is exciting.
With love,
Erin
