This week’s “The Organized Creative” Series is featuring Clémence of Oh The Lovely Things. Clémence has a gorgeous blog full of beautiful inspiration, DIY projects, and so much more. (To learn more about The Organized Creative Series – a look inside the organized (or not always so organized!) lives of our favorite creative types – bloggers, designers, event planners, artists, chefs, social media gurus, and beyond – check out the original post.)
1. Take us through a busy day in the life of a blogger/jewelry-maker.
My day starts, without exception, by drinking half a liter of green tea. I can’t spend a good day if I haven’t had my cups of tea! Then I write my to-do list for the day and usually read and reply to emails for an hour or two. The rest of the morning is spent working on my thesis (on literacy in early childhood). After lunch, I work on blog content for about three hours, and when I’ve finalized a post, I work on blog management and sort through my emails. Then I go back to my thesis for an extra hour. Every alternate day, I go to the gym for a one hour workout around 7:00 pm. After that I work on my jewelry – either drawing/designing a new line, packing up orders, or creating new pieces. Then I spend about half an hour on Pinterest, social medias and my favorite blogs. Now time to read, watch a show, or relax with my better half or friends. Well, I’m lucky enough to be able to change my schedule as needed, but this would be my typical daily routine.
2. What’s your go-to day-to-day planner of choice? Are you a pen-to-paper kind of girl or is it all technology for you?
Both! Planners are vital for me. I plan my days myself, which is wonderful but can be tricky as I can easily spend 14+ hours in front of my computer and suddenly wonder where has time gone. I get easily distracted and can lose hours because I have 10 projects going on at a time, 20 tabs open at a time, and I just can’t focus anymore. I have mild ADD (attention deficit disorder) and get very overwhelmed when I have a lot to do. I need to write down a daily detailed to-do list and stick it up in front of my desk so that I can keep track of what I have to do. I plan my blog with a very basic weekly blog planner that I designed myself (free to print here if you’re interested). But I also use online tools like Google Calendar, Thought Boxes, that allows you to make list and plans that you can transfer to your Google calendar, and Hootsuite for social media planning.
3. What one tech accessory can you not live without?
My laptop. I just can’t spend a day without my laptop!
4. Is your organization more OCD or organized chaos?
Both. I tend to be messy, but I work better when I’m organized. For that reason, I organize like crazy, both online (color coded emails and calendars, detailed folders in my reader, insanely organized desktop, etc) and offline (to the point that I know exactly how many pencils I have). But once everything is perfectly organized, I slowly revert back to my old habits and make piles of things, or leave something anywhere vowing to put it in its proper place later, or read an email and promise that I’ll reply to it tomorrow… Then it gets crazy and out of hand, I get overwhelmed by the mess and suddenly can’t stand it anymore. I spend hours tidying up or catching up on my work until everything is back to perfectly organized… until next time. My organization really lacks of constancy.
5. How do you get and/or stay inspired?
It may sound a little cheesy, but I glean inspiration from everywhere. An old object, a found feather, a book, a walk in the forest, a shape, a texture, a smell, a memory. As I live in a beautiful town, read and hear beautiful stories, and see beautiful artworks by talented people, I’m surrounded by sources of inspiration. They spark ideas and get me excited to work. If I get stuck, clearing my mind by stepping away from work for a bit always works for me. If I really, really lack of inspiration, I just forget about work for a day and enjoy some me-time.
6. How do you organize and keep all of your inspiration?
I have a notebook dedicated to jotting down ideas for future DIY projects, things I’d like to blog about, or new jewelry designs. I sometimes tear off bits of magazines and glue them in this notebook. I also have a box filled with random tiny treasures that I don’t know yet what I’ll do with, but feel that I need to keep in a safe place.
But I keep most of my inspiration online : on my Pinterest boards or alternatively on Evernote for things that I want to keep private. I also recently started using Skitch, an Evernote extension that allows you to write on your notes – very useful!
7. Where do you get your best work done?
At home, at my desk… a matter of habit.
8. Any advice for fellow creative ladies trying to achieve the balance between work, blogging, and reaching their goals?
It’s hard for me to give an advice when I’m myself still trying to find out how to find balance. But I’d say: first, work hard but allow yourself some time to relax and disconnect… I think that this is a super important one. We are often too hard on ourselves and keep working more, doing more. There’s always more to do. I am terrible at “unplugging” but I know it’s vital. Second, find an organization tool that works for you and use it – have a schedule but be open to flexibility. And if you’re anything like me: don’t multi-task. Focus on one thing at a time. Third, get help when you need it. There is no shame in asking for help, never. Apart from that, I think it all depends on who you are, what your goals are, what works for you… Everyone has their own equation to balance their work and play. I find it helpful to prioritize: write down my top priorities for the year, the month, the week and the day. It allows me to keep track of my goals and mentally prepare for what’s next. Oh, and although I know it’s easier to say than to do, be patient, and always believe in yourself.
Poketo Ideas Notebooks // Mugtail Fawn // Mini Potted Succulents // Poppin Tape Dispenser // Uniball Gel Pen in Gold, Silver and White // Sugar Paper To Do List // Mac Book Pro // Pinterest, Evernote and Gmail Icons
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Thanks for the introduction to Clemence!
You will love her blog!