On Creativity and Time Management

I’ve realized lately that I am an absolutely terrible multi-tasker. Sure, I am capable of doing a lot of things: I can play the piano, I can sing, I can write music – I can cook, I can make a mean drink (I can even make two at one time!), I can design graphics, I can make and sell jewelry, I can organize and execute events, and I can even come up with some really fantastic business ideas sometimes…but I am pretty much the worst at keeping up with everything simultaneously, and managing my time accordingly. I’m also great at sitting outside and staring into space for extended periods of time. In fact, I might be better at that than at anything else.

When I was growing up, I was very self-conscious about the way I spoke. I had a tendency to speak so quickly that either people couldn’t understand what I said, or I would get so far ahead of myself that I would stumble through the last few words of each phrase. The speeches I was required to give in front of my high school class were some of the most terrifying experiences of my life, and sometimes even today, when I’m on stage, behind a piano and a microphone, I still hesitate to talk to my listeners between songs out of fear I will sound far more nervous or drunk than I am. I finally grew tired of being anxious about it and decided to tell myself that it wasn’t because I was poor at speaking, but rather because I was too quick at thinking that my words sometimes got jumbled. “My mouth just can’t keep up with my brain,” I would say…at least it made me feel better.

Please just don't make me talk. Photo compliments of David Fortner Photography.
Please just don’t make me talk. Photo compliments of David Fortner Photography.

I think that my multi-tasking ability is very similar. I get so caught up in and excited by each of my many goals and desires, that I end up neglecting one for pursuit of another, and stumbling over all of the tiny steps that are necessary to make each endeavor simultaneously successful in the process. My jewelry business is no exception. I started designing and making jewelry when I first moved to Charlotte in 2013, and either out of a desire to occupy my time or in the hope of potentially generating additional income, I began playing with chain and charms and beads. I made a matching necklace for my best friend and I, and enthusiastically posted photos of them on Facebook to share my excitement about the finished result. To my great surprise, I received several comments asking if they were for sale, and I inadvertently started my business on Facebook.

Several top selling varieties of my very first creation. I still love the way the Celtic love knot looks.
Several top selling varieties of my very first creation. I still love the way the Celtic love knot looks.

Initially, it was nothing more than an expensive hobby, but it ended up turning into something that many people were as excited about as I was, and it earned me a decent amount of income on the side. I introduced my leather beaded wrap bracelets to a boutique just outside of downtown Charlotte, and they have carried an entire wall of my products ever since. They even ran an ad in the Charlotte Observer and sent out a mass e-mail blast about my Carolina Panthers bracelets before the Super Bowl, and blew through more inventory in a two week period than I’ve sold in several months combined.

This is less than half of the stock I made in less than two weeks for my Charlotte boutique partner. No big deal.
This is less than half of the stock I made in less than two weeks for my Charlotte boutique partner. No big deal.

Speaking of multi-tasking, those few weeks before the Super Bowl were some of the most stressful I’ve experienced in a long time. Making 30 bracelets, suppressing anger toward the USPS for not delivering on their “2 day priority express” promise, calming the boutique owner and assuring her the bracelets WERE on their way, practicing and perfecting my set list for my Main Street Pizza performance, all the while working 5 nights a week and traveling back and forth from Columbus to Macon…I’ll just say that if I never had to do all that again in such a short period of time, I’d be just fine.

By far, one of my favorite forms of artistic expression, even if I am terrible at prioritizing it.
By far, one of my favorite forms of artistic expression, even if I am terrible at prioritizing it.

You can find my jewelry on Etsy and on Facebook, but my favorite kind of work is custom orders. If you have an idea and can help me visualize it, I want to make it for you. If you know of a place where you would like to be able to go browse through my jewelry, I want to reach out to them and form a partnership. If you know of a way that I can more efficiently manage my time and ideas so that I don’t feel like such a hopeless scatterbrain all the time…please share it with me. I could definitely use some guidance.

 

 

 

 

Chelsea Hughes

Chelsea Hughes is an artist and avid student of the bartending world. With over ten years of experience in the restaurant industry, working with seasoned professionals from all over middle Georgia, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Charlotte, she strives to bring a new and creative approach to bartending in the south. When you find her mixing and muddling a vast array of libations behind the bar at Meritage in downtown Columbus, don't be surprised if she talks you out of your bourbon and diet and into a cranberry spice infused Manhattan. She has a tendency to bore folks with her endless explorations of craft beer and bourbon and has an unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter. So, choose your words wisely when you patronize her bar, lest you spark a conversation from which you cannot escape. In her spare time, Chelsea enjoys crafting jewelry, listening to progressive dubstep (and occasionally some Beethoven), cooking, and playing in the dirt aka gardening.

Chelsea Hughes has 14 posts and counting. See all posts by Chelsea Hughes

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