113: Creating in the Fringes

Back in episode number 93, I shared a behind the scenes audio diary of what it looked like for me to create my latest fabric collection and that it was something that I had created in the fringes rather than in huge chunks of time devoted to it. This collection really developed in the margins of my day. Now, while I'm a huge advocate for time blocking and batching, there's also something really beautiful about the ways our creativity can flow even in busy seasons when we're in the thick of the day to day of running our businesses or launching something new. So in this episode I want to share a few tips for creating in the fringes and how you can build this into your daily life and make the most of it.

I'm Bonnie Christine and this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure, doing the

most creative and impactful work of my life. But when I first set out to

become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today, I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

When I go into something like this, I think a lot about how I can lower the barrier to entry. You know how when you're starting something, the starting is actually what feels the hardest when it's a brand new collection or a brand new notebook, or a brand new course idea or whatever it is that you're working on that feels kind of big, kind of like a lot of work. The starting in and of itself is the most difficult part because always when I just start, things begin to flow. But I'll procrastinate the starting and so I think about ways to get me over the starting hump as quickly as I can, which also involves minimizing the barrier to entry. So for instance, if I am wanting to take a course, I will leave the browser up with all of the tabs and no other tabs, no unnecessary tabs, but all of the tabs that are included in that course up and logged in so that I can sit down and get right to it. Like I don't have to go find the login and get logged in and remember where I kept all of those and go fishing for the email or whatever. I just keep it all there so when I have 10 minutes, I can be productive. Same thing goes for our craft. So oftentimes we think we need this big block of time to get much done. But. But when you practice frequently, frequency in and of itself helps that starting feel much easier. So if you do only have 10 minutes and you've already lowered the barrier to entry, you can actually be really productive in just 10 minutes, which feels really, really good. So frequency is a huge part of it coming to it every single day. That way you don't feel like you lost momentum or have to remember how. And that kind of thing you just do all the time. And so even in 10 minutes, one day you can be productive. You're going to want to know what you're doing so that you can fit it in when you have time. You know, this is really about intention and clarity and preparation because when you're clear about what you need to do, you can seamlessly integrate it in with the tasks and unexpected pockets of time that you have in a given day. So I would start by just identifying those small tasks that you know you can get started on right away. This could be sketching or researching or brainstorming or whatever it is. But the key is to have these tasks outlined and ready to go. So when you find yourself with an unexpected 15 minutes, like maybe you're waiting in traffic or you're waiting at a doctor's office, you can jump right in without wasting time figuring out what to do. I love using the Notes app for this so that I just have a list of little things I can jump into in the fringes anytime. I can then have your tasks pre batched so that you can focus on one thing at a time. You know, the art of pre batching tasks really lies in grouping similar activities together to create mini workflows. This strategy is perfect for creating in the fringes because it really reduces the mental load of task switching. For instance, if you're working on a creative project, you might batch like tasks like initial sketches and color selection or refinement of your ideas. That way, by having these tasks batched, you can pick up right where you left off next time you come to it and then think about if you can pair your action that you need to work on with something that you enjoy. Like sometimes you might be able to watch a favorite show while you trace over some of your illustrations. On the iPad or. Right. Or you could listen to a book while you are painting. Combining creative work with an activity that you really enjoy can kind of transform it into this whole experience. And if you're someone who enjoys background noise while working or listening to a favorite podcast like this one or a show can make the process just kind of more enjoyable. Now, I go back and forth. If I really have to use my brain. I like silence. I like no noise at all. But if it's a little bit more mindless, I'm doing things with my hand kind of tracing over something, then I can do that in. In the fringe moments with entertainment going on in the background.

Okay, picture this. Have you ever spent hours scouring through your video or maybe your podcast content trying to find that one place that you said that one thing? Or if you've forgotten or never found it and you had to rerecord everything? I've been there and it's so frustrating and honestly a huge waste of time. But it hasn't happened to me ever since I started using Searchie. Searchie is the software that I use for all of my videos and all of my podcast content because it not only transcribes it, but it makes it searchable by keyword. And so for you to see this in action, I have an example set up for you over on BonnieCristine.com resources. Again, that's BonnieCristine.com resources and you can actually play with Searchie and see how it looks on one of our videos, because once you understand what it does, it's a game changer. I also host all of my workshop and my class, my membership and course material through Searchie as well. So students can search for any question that they have and go to the exact time in place where I talked about that one. And just imagine this. If I ever do a Q and A and they want to know if I answered their question, all they have to do is search for their name and see if I did or not. It's literally like having your very own personal search engine for your content. So no more wasting time scrubbing through your video or audio to find that one golden nugget. With Searchie, you can easily find what you're looking for in seconds. Just type in a keyword or phrase and Searchie will pull up all the relevant content. It's a game changer for anyone who creates audio or video content. But honestly, that's not all. Searchie's new AI powered transcription and captioning tool makes it easy to Create accessible content that everyone can get access to. And with their customizable player, you can embed your videos and your podcasts on your website or social media channels in a way that looks and feels so professional. So if you are ready to take your video or your podcast content to the next level, head on over to BonnieCristine.com resources and just give Searchie a try. It's incredible. I think you're going to love it, and I can't wait to see how it revolutionizes the way you create content.

So a couple of examples of how I did this for the fabric collection. The first one is that I created a mini painting pack, and I kept it with me in my purse at all times. So this pack included just one bottle of ink and then a sketchbook and my paint and, like, a little thing that I could fill with water. And so I just had it with me and pencils, too, in case I didn't want to paint and just sketch. But I had it with me everywhere I went. So even when we were at a restaurant waiting for our table or waiting for our food to come, I could just grab my sketchbook and mindlessly kind of be productive. Specifically because I needed to generate a lot of art before I even got over to, like, the computer with this particular collection. And so I just kept it with me. And that was the first time that I had done that. And I really loved it. Like, I'm an artist, so why would I not have the ability to create art anytime I. I am anywhere, right? So I love this mini painting pack. And some of my best work came from 10 or 15 minutes where I was just able to pull it out and get right to it. This is also something that, like, your children will love to see you do. I don't feel the same way about pulling out technologies so much. I'm a little bit more careful with that. But pulling out art supplies and being able to work on something creative with them by your side is really beautiful. And half the time, Ollie would end up, you know, painting or drawing with me. Another example is especially when I did move to digital space, specifically when I was working on transitioning those sketches into illustrations. I use the iPad Pro as an intermediate step. So I take a sketch on paper to the iPad Pro, and then I take it from the iPad Pro to Illustrator on the desktop. And so the iPad Pro time is really flexible. So I remember I was at a Mastermind and I had some workshops I was attending and a couple of webinars I was listening to and I would just have it with me because that step is a bit mindless. It's literally just tracing over my sketches to get a good black and white version of it. And so I'm not having to be creative even though my hands are at work. And so I can very easily attend a conference or attend a mastermind and kind of just have that being done in the background. And so I got a lot of it done that way as well. Can also do that in the car, on the plane. Now, the part that doesn't feel like I can do in the fringes is like the big creative output of actually designing the patterns. I have to be in my space with my big desktop, with all the space and time in the world. And so that is when I kind of transition. But a lot of the beginner work, like a lot of the creative work can be done in the fringes. And specifically when you're running the business and if you're like me, sometimes I have a hard time really shifting from business to art and business to art. And so I typically shared before that in years past. I do like business for months and then I do art and fabric design for months and then I flip flop back and forth. But I've gotten to a place where I can't take a month and fall silent from the business perspective. I have a team counting on me and students counting on me and places I have to show up. And so this collection felt different, a little bit more difficult, but learning how to really work on it in the fringes without, you know, for the record, while still maintaining my boundaries. Right. So I'm not talking about working during family time or on the weekends. I'm just Talking about those 10 or 15 minute fringes that we all typically have, you know, have in our day to day. We can really accomplish so much. Just 10 minutes a day is the equivalent of 152 hours per year. That's incredible. So when we are intentional about it ahead of time, so when we know when we do have 10 minutes, what we're going to jump into right away, no matter what it is, we can really make significant progress on whatever it is over the course of a year. So I wanted to share that with you today. I hope that you can find some time to work on something that you've been feeling like you don't, haven't had the time that you've wanted to pursue it in and just set yourself up for success, lower the barrier to entry. And then the next time you have 10 or 15 minutes in the fringes. Dive right into that and then make it a practice of every day chipping away at it, just bit by bit. It, my friends, create the beauty that you want to see come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.