Studio Update

Well hello there! It’s been a while. Dusty and I have been in midst of finishing up some great projects. A digital store for Ember Yoga, digital and print annual report for the Kula Project, and other amazing projects with good people. I will be writing Behind the Scenes / The Making of’s for each of them, but mostly I just wanted to say HEY! It’s been too long! How is it already March? Where is 2016 rushing off to? Here’s a few things going on:

No Makeup March

This deserves a full post in itself. It got to be March 6th and I realized I hadn’t worn makeup all month. So I decided to go all in and commit to this as an actual thing. Both amazing and terrible things have been happening to my skin, ego, and time. It’s crazy how changing up one little thing can teach you so much about yourself.

A Business Coach

I’m so excited! I met with a business coach a few weeks ago. I am so excited to have some help working out the kinks in my business and in the way I think about it. Specifically how I relate to it and how it relates to my family. If you want to meet her, (you want to meet her), you can find her here. Here's to clarity! 

We’re Not Moving

So we were moving. Then we weren’t moving. Then we were. It was all confusing. After crunching the numbers, we just couldn’t justify the move. We were looking forward to starting out in a new place, so it was kind of a gut punch to realize we weren’t able to do it. Good thing Woodstock is awesome! I grew up here, in this same house. I remember the Cub Foods and the Country Corner, before there was a Target or Starbucks in sight. Now Woodstock is all fancy with a hoppin’ downtown, green trail, and a growing arts community.

The Paint Love Art Auction

Paint Love is hosting it’s first ever art auction! It’s on April 17th from 6 - 9 PM at the beautiful Solarium in Decatur. Tickets are $20 in advance. Catering is from Victory Sandwich Bar. Artist Miranda Kyle will be leading a metal pour, like this project but on a much bigger scale. You don't want to miss it. Plus if you're interested in donating art, you can score free tickets! Let me know. You can find more info on the event here.

Projects in the Works

I have been painting and lettering a ton of circles lately. I'm considering branching out the circle project to more mediums. I’m partnering up with Heidi Rew and her blog Parties for Pennies to create Parties in a PDF. The first few have been collaborations with other designers, but there’s a really exciting, illustrated, one coming out soon! On the internal side: Dusty and I are in the midst of reorganizing and redesigning our site. The cobbler's kids are always the last to get shoes, ammiright? 

Thanks for hanging in there with us! What’s going on with you? How are things? Are you ready for spring?

Hugs!
Mad + Dusty

Pizza is Knowledge: Time Blocking for Creatives

I have trouble staying focused. If I’m unsure about what I’m supposed to be doing, I will avoid the task. I'll end up watching Parks and Rec while I try to “figure it out.” Knowing this about myself, I attempt to make sure I always know what I’m supposed to be doing. I spend 10-15 minutes every week organizing my tasks, aka time blocking. It helps keep me sane and avoid the OMG, It's 4pm and I've done nothing but a number on these cookies feeling!

Also, I like to look back on the week and see exactly what I did. Time blocking is like making a budget for your time. If you've budgeted your time for a yoga class or down time, you don't have to feel guilty closing your laptop for the day. Time blocking helped me cut a lot of unnecessary work out of my life. Cheers to that, friends!

Here’s the basics of time blocking. 

One:

Start by listing out all your tasks. Think of this as a general list of the different types of work you do. Categorize and organize until you have a general list? My list looks like: projects I’m working on based on client, social media + blog, and business admin, etc.

Two:

Estimate how long you’d like to spend on each category. Things take as long as the time you give them. For example, I only want to spend like one hour working on the accounting each month, minus the big tax months. I’ve become very structured with my time accounting. It’s become like a race. (Don’t worry I double check my math!) Giving yourself a time limit also ensures that you’re only working on the essential.

Three:

Then it’s as simple as plotting it out on your calendar. Know your strengths. I know I’m most creative and effective in the morning. Around 2 or 3 pm, I start fading out. I plan my most creatively intense tasks for the morning and let things like revisions, meetings and email wait for the afternoon. I also leave about 15-30 minutes between each block for overflow and (theoretically) to go on a short walk with Murphy!

Once you start doing this, you may notice your calendar is getting pretty intense. I use google calendar to keep everything organized time wise. I also keep lists in my paper planner. I couldn’t let go of the joy that comes from crossing something off!

It takes a while to get used to protecting your time like this. Leave yourself room to be flexible. Try not to get too bent out of shape if something swoops in and ruins your flow. Just pick back up where you left off. You’ll get the hang of it!

Download one or two of these mobile backgrounds for a gentle reminder. Pizza power!

This post is brought to you by my friend and coworker, Julie Ann McKevitt! Do you have a topic you think I should cover?! Leave a comment below!

Hugs!
Mads

Game Trailers, Hugs and the State of Entrepreneurship

So this week, a content provider called Game Trailers shut down. GT is made up of a group of dudes + Elyse. I've grown quite fond of them over the years. They live-stream, podcast, and produce a ton video game related content. I don’t watch them personally. For me, they were the friendly background chatter that meant Dusty was home. I didn't always understand everything they were talking about. But it's hard to see people that passionate about a subject and not be more interested in it. I know they were special to Dustin and to the gaming community as a whole. Despite being so special, they were all fired in one fell swoop this week.

Hours after being let go, they streamed a heartfelt farewell on Twitch. In the end Brandon Jones, founder of GT, gave a speech and I heard every single feel I have ever felt about losing your job, your business, and your dream.

Skip to the one hour mark unless you want to watch a bunch of dudes play Grand Theft Auto!

View Here

Last year, I was let go from two jobs and it did a brutal number on my heart. I had all these doubts. Was I a valuable person in any way? Did I do any good work at all? Looking back, if I had not been let go,  I never would have left. I’m not one to let go. I am a stick-it-out-to-the-end type of person, even if what I’m sticking to is not right for me. I feel like if I let go, I’ve failed in some way. I think that might be an entrepreneur thing.

This stream made me hug our business a little tighter and release it a little bit more at the same time.

There is so much hard shit you have to do when you run your own business. There's a lot of responsibility that doesn't look beautiful and trendy in an Instagram feed. The trade off is being able to make the big decisions about your work. It's such a gift. Brandon's speech helped me let go a little bit of the permanence. When I start something, I usually think that it will be a forever thing. Diets, decaf coffee, clean bathrooms, these things don't last forever. Maybe dreams don't last forever either? If so, that's okay. It sucks, but it's okay. 

As entrepreneurs, we will never know what’s to come, but we can’t let that keep us from pursuing our passions. We can’t base our value as humans on the work we produce or the way the world sees us. Good or bad.

The only thing we can really do is work hard at something we love and enjoy each stage of our journey as it is. 

There’s a balance to this that I have yet to nail. But I know the only way to build balance is to be open to falling, right? What do you think? Where are you at in the state of entrepreneurship? 

P.S. I totally jacked this title format from my friend Angie Webb’s amazing series on getting things done. Go read. It’s amazing!