Net Profits
By Cathleen McCarthyPHOTO:
RORY^ MCDONALD/GETTY^ IMAGESEVER NOTICE HOW EASILY your
day can get away from you? For
me, this tends to happen first thing
in the morning, when I do one little
thing instead of the other little thing.
Respond to an email, for example,
and suddenly I’m off putting out
someone else’s fire. Next thing you
know, the day’s so far gone, I can’t
get it back on track.
I find many artists and creative
entrepreneurs struggle with this. Our
livelihoods depend on being able
to access that dream state where
creativity resides, while harnessing
the discipline to market and sell the
results. My most productive days
happen when I get don’t give myself
a chance to get off track.
MORNING RITUALS
This is where a morning ritual comes
in. The most productive people Iknow have a launch routine they
follow to a T. Jewelry designer
Kristen Baird is one.
“I’ve found morning routines have
been imperative,” Kristen says. This
especially important since she has
two full-time assistants who need to
be briefed before her own workday
begins. “Creating super-regimented
routines helps me make sure my time
balance is going well.”
A lot has been written about the
importance of morning rituals. In his
book Deep Work: Rules for Focused
Success in a Distracted World, Cal
Newport explains how famous artists,
writers, and scientists like Carl Jung
managed to get so much accom-
plished. The one thing everyone had
in common? A strict daily routine — in
particular, a morning ritual.
For jewelry artists, there are often
two kinds of morning rituals. The kindat the desk is for taking care of busi-
ness. The kind at the bench taps into
design mode.
An artist’s studio ritual often tells
you a lot about their design process.
Lilly Fitzgerald begins sketching
as soon as she sits down. Judith
Kaufman pulls out her stones and
moves them around until a certain
juxtaposition of color or form fires her
imagination. Others tell me a walk in
the woods can send them scurrying
to the bench full of ideas. Something
about a random sighting of bark or
moss on a rock lit their creative fuse.
But there are days when you have
to tap that other side of your brain,
the taking care of business side. In his
book Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes,
Remarkable Results, James Clear
explains how even a minute change
to your daily routine can help you
achieve the most pie-in-the-sky goals.10 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST
Start out right, and your whole day will reward you
Small
Habits,
Big
Success