Navigating a Small Creative Business: Staying Focused can be Challenging

A few weeks back, it hit me that it's already March, and I totally missed posting in February! It's not like I didn't think about it—I actually had a picture ready and some blog ideas, but life got in the way and I got distracted! That seems to be the theme for me this year. Sometimes, I feel like I'm being pulled in a million directions with everything I want and need to do for my business. This usually leaves me feeling a bit scattered as I try to figure out what needs to get done now versus what should be done for the long-term growth of my business. Both are important, but they take different amounts of energy, often leaving me stuck between the two. I'm really struggling to stay focused!

I even tried getting AI to write this blog post for me. It came up with an awesome piece on prioritizing, time blocking, delegating, and reviewing and adjusting your goals and priorities. Honestly, I probably could have learned a thing or two from it! But in the end, I realized that wasn't really the direction I wanted for my blog, and it felt a bit hypocritical since I'm dealing with those exact issues myself. Although, prioritizing isn't really my problem. I'm pretty good at figuring out what I need to do to move forward in both the short and long term, and I've set goals for the upcoming year. One thing I've improved on compared to previous years is reviewing my goals at least once a month and checking my progress to see if the goals are still relevant or need tweaking.

I'm pretty good at planning and time blocking too. I love using a paper planner and try to map out my week in advance with clear activities and time slots. I enjoy using planning stickers and fun pens to organize myself. Once I'm done, I feel better about myself and more in control of my life. But this feeling can be misleading! That's where the problems start... sticking to the plan and staying focused! My week rarely goes exactly as planned!

This year, I've started making work orders whenever I kick off a production run. I'm trying to keep track of the designs and materials I'm using, the steps involved, and how long each one takes. At the end, I note how many pieces of jewelry I made and the total time from start to finish. In the long run, I think this will be helpful for keeping tabs on inventory and figuring out how to streamline my process. In the short term, it helps me stay organized and plan better for what I'm making (I have a plan before starting each work order). But, I quickly realized (just two work orders in) that I tend to underestimate how long some steps take, and sometimes I lose focus, which makes certain steps drag on longer than they should.

At this point, I am not worried about underestimating how long the workorders are taking, but I am concerned about getting sidetracked and losing focus during them. And even though I mentioned earlier that I thought I was good at knowing what I needed to do both long and short term, I do think the pull between the two also play a factor in getting sidetracked. At this point, I don't really have any answers but wanted to write about what I am struggling with and learning so far this year. Wanted to see if any other creatives or small business owners run into the same issues? Any suggestions or insights? Also, by writing I feel like I have clarified the problem better in my mind and can start looking for ways to address it (a topic for next month's blog maybe?)

Above, my 2026 planner and some stickers...and below is a shield necklace made earlier this year for the March Show at City Art Gallery...