These past few weeks have been a little bit overwhelmed. I feel like I have been learning so much about myself and being stretched as a creative entrepreneur. Somedays I wake up feeling energized and ready to tackle a thousand new ideas & projects, other days I just want some coffee and Netflix. 

And to be honest, some days I find I do just that, I sit and tell myself my "creative juices" just aren't flowing quite as freely today. Then reality hits, deadlines and coffee will have to be my fuel, Netflix will have to wait.

Side note: have you ever taken the Myers Briggs personality test? If you have I would love to know what your personality type is, mine is INFP! ok moving on. 

Basically over the past year I have learned some valuable lessons and mostly the hard way.

1. Give yourself personal deadlines: No matter how big your ideas or projects are give them a deadline. I found that when I had a great idea I wanted to do someday that someday never happened, unless I set some sort of time period for it to be finished by. 

2. Schedule your day: If you work for yourself or even if you are starting a side business in the evenings, you have to schedule your time wisely. I try to schedule as much as I can, I try to schedule "free create" time, work time, email time, friend & netflix time... you get the idea. When you can look at your calendar and see what you need to get done it gives you something to push towards. Another reason why I do this is because I am NOT a morning person, this post gives you a good idea of the extent of it, but I schedule things ahead so that I can wake up, grab my coffee and look over what I have to get done during the day without using too much of my non-morning brain power. 

3. Give yourself a break: This may sound silly, but allowing yourself the freedom to have some rest and downtime is a priority, If you are constantly on "hustle" mode you will become burnt out. I have started a new practice of rest for myself. Over the weekend I pretty much turn of my phone. I don't look at social media, emails or my website. I step away from work. I give my mind time to rest, I do things I love, sometimes that does overflow into what some may call "work" but me having fun painting just because I wanted to is probably the best rest I could give myself. 

.... So those are 3 things I have learned about myself as a Creative Entrepreneur. I hope that maybe they can help you too, if you have any advice or something that you have used or leaned to help you please share in the comments, I love hearing every bit of it!  

+ Some News: 

I love you guys so much and your constant support has me ever encouraged, I always want you to be the first to know about new upcoming projects & art + design exclusives. So I've put together a newsletter. It comes out once a month (sometimes a little more if something exciting is happening!)

If you sign up you will receive one of my designs for free! If you have signed up in the past and weren't able to get this fun freebie, just email me (kendracastillodesigns@gmail.com) and I'll send you your free "Let's Do This" printable. If your not signed up feel free to sign up below. 

Ok if you have made it this far into my ramblings you deserve some sort of reward. Hope you all have a great weekend!