If you are an artistic freelancer, then you already know there are no set hours for a creative mind. When we think of an idea, we must write it down or record it in whatever medium we use right then. We can’t wait, or we might not be able to capture our creativity in the same detail as when it first came to mind. This past Saturday when I was preparing for a family gathering, a writing idea suddenly hit me, and I had to grab a pen and write it down before I forgot it. Unfortunately, I was also supposed to be making a dish to take so I’m blessed someone else offered to pick up the slack while I wrote.
A lesson I’ve learned as a writer is that creativity isn’t always convenient. Our ideas don’t always come to us at the best moments. I’ve had a writing fit hit me in the middle of the pastor’s sermon at church, and I had to grab paper and pen to record it because I couldn’t focus on anything other than the idea. There is a reason I have a notebook in my purse, two notepads in my car, and scratch paper, notepads, and notebooks all over my office space. When an idea strikes me, it must be captured that instant, or it just isn’t as complete when I think of it later. If all else fails, the notes and email apps on my phone have served as places to record my ideas.
Heaven forbid someone disrupts me while I’m writing. If my flow of thought is interrupted, I often struggle to find the phrase I was recording. My family is quite accustomed to pausing at the door when I am intently writing. They will wait for me to look up and acknowledge them. Mostly, they know that to interrupt me will be completely unproductive for them because I won’t process anything they say to me while my mind is preoccupied with a creative idea. I don’t do it on purpose. It is just how my mind works when I’m in creative writing mode.
Creative minds often don’t keep regular hours. My mind is much more productive on an irregular schedule than on someone else’s 9-to-5 model. Explaining this to analytical minds can be complicated. People who are comfortable and highly productive on rigid schedules will struggle to understand the creative perspective. There are tasks we do that require an analytical mind like paying bills, grocery shopping, and sending out invoices. We can only be creative with practical matters to a certain extent, and then we just need to get it done. However, when it comes to a creative freelancer, our work may look very different from an analytical freelancer, and that is perfectly fine.
If you work better on an irregular schedule, keep it up as long as it doesn’t hurt those around you or interfere with the duties you must do to stay in business. If you are an analytical freelancer, continue the methods that work best for you. Just remember that each person is going to operate best in their own way, and not everyone is going to produce the same results with the same methods. Use your skill set – whether creative or analytical – to your advantage instead of trying to fit someone else’s mold. Find your schedule and work it.
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Inspirational Verses for the Day:
Lord, make me aware of my end and the number of my days so that I will know how short-lived I am. In fact, you have made my days just inches long, and my life span is as nothing to you. Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor. Selah. Yes, a person goes about like a mere shadow. Indeed, they rush around in vain, gathering possessions without knowing who will get them. Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:4-7, CSB)
All Things Subject to Change 