Look. You've read a bunch of those. It's always the same:

  • be consistent
  • wake up at 4AM
  • say "I'm Batman" 10 times in the mirror (I do that one!)

We're not doing any of that here.

My name is Jordan and I actually work with creators full-time. This stuff doesn't just "sound cool" – it's the practical stuff that you can use to aCkshUaLly manage your time.

(and I'm giving you everything – 100% for free btw)

Let's get into it:

The BIG problem with being a creator running a business by yourself

You need to do everything.

Content, admin, taxes, binging Squid Game Season 2 in 1 day (it's for business, ok?), talking to sponsors, building products, and. so. on.

It's a lot.

One of my clients must've broken all records by working 16-hour days for 4 years, building his 1,6M audience on TikTok. (and the platform… not in the best place)

But have you had a day in which:

  1. You got inspired to make something cool
  2. Something minor happened – you just had to talk to someone, or do this little thing for 2 minutes
  3. But that ended up taking way more time…
  4. … and killing your spark (bleh)

This is very common.

And it happens because people mix manager time with maker time.

Manager Time vs Maker Time

Note: this idea isn't mine – it's from Paul Graham who is a superstar in the entrepreneurship space – I worshipped him in 2012 when I was building my first startup.

The premise is simple – you have two "modes" of operation:

Mode 1: Manager

This is you crushing taxes, for example. (After the 17 days of obligatory procrastination.) Or organizing your notes. Or planning.

Or… managing stuff.

(you get where the name comes from)

The idea is simple – the manager wants to fill EVERY SECOND with something productive. Time is money. The goal of life is productivity. That kind of thing.

Basically, the mode where every non-creative task goes.

Importantly, you also extrovert (talk to people) in manager mode.

Now, what does your manager need?

A packed schedule.

Any "breaks" and "spare time" are usually wasted because the only way to get through the work is to throw time at it. (Can't speed up time in a meeting… or doing laundry.)

Mode 2: The Maker

The maker is your Van Gogh – the artist inside.

And this dude (the gender-neutral term "dude") is a darn genius.

But also a bit… high maintenance.

"who… me?" — your maker (which sounds wrong… but you get it… ok?)

Your Maker is ridiculously creative & can bring the best out of you. The work this dude gets out is just… wild.

But your Maker is also, well, lazy. Can't create all the time. Can't just work non-stop for hours.

Basically, you need time & space in Maker mode.

So the best thing for your Maker?

Looooooong stretches of uninterrupted focus.

Real long.

The Problem

Your maker needs lots of time.
Your manager fills up every second.

Mix them up & you get a mess.

For example:

  • try writing an interesting article (or video script)
  • but do 1/3rd of your laundry every 20 minutes

How good of a script do you get?

Not great.

The Solution

We separate your Maker and your Manager in two separate corners of the room. (Basically.)

So both get their own time in your calendar.

We need to separate them:

A) By time of day
B) By day

We're going to do A in this post because that's what I do and that's what I'm confident in teaching. But experiment with B if it feels better.

The Creator's Time-Management Blueprint (Overview)

First, this is how the thing looks:
(I know you're curious)

Keep reading so I can show you the subtle nuances of using this & a few saucy tips that I (intentionally mua-ha-ha) saved for the end.

And, if this has been useful so far, join Creator Income – my newsletter in which I talk about, well… Creator Income (how to make your own money as a creator).

So what does this pretty picture mean?

Let's start from:

The Mornings

Aka, the big block of orange at the start of every day:

Btw, I like doing stuff daily, but I'm absolutely in love with what I do. And I do it with my future-wife so it's family time too! You should cut out the weekends (or any # of rest days) so you can be there for your loved ones.

The mornings are your Maker time.

I've tried every technique for organizing those:

  • KanBan
  • Pomodoros
  • Kage Bunshin no Jutsu
  • Getting Things Done

(okay, okay – that third one is from Naruto 👀)

And all of them work sometimes, but there has been one thing that works every single time.

(get ready, it's a doozy)

Wake up… and get to work.

No timers, no fancy techniques. Just sitting down first thing in the morning & working on creative stuff.

(That morning can be 4AM, sure, but it can also be 11AM… or 1PM. We're organizing your waking hours here – you can decide when those are.)

You simply wake up, do your bathroom stuff, open your laptop and start tapping those keys. (or whip out an old-timey typing machine – that's cool too)

I, personally, split this into two longer work sessions (around 3 hours each) but I don't track those too carefully. I just create.

The only limitation is – either create or do nothing.

(yes, that means no social media, sorry)

(although you I do cheat with this one once in a while)

This is perfect time to:

  • write articles
  • record videos
  • create posts for social
  • do video editing
  • work on your book

Or whatever else creative work you have.

you, creating

Oh.

And you want to create in YOUR WAY. Spend half the time watching birds out the window or scratching your butt if you need to.

I've found that mornings are perfect for that because there's simply fewer distractions. (Or baggage from the day.)

Next we have:

The Lunch…ing…s?

It's red on the diagram:

This is where you eat lunch 'n' stuff. Make another one for breakfast if you do that.

(how many times per day normal humanpersons eat again? I just do dinner because I can't bother 😅)

NEXT.

The Afternoons

Again, this is super-flexible in terms of when. Basically, AFTER your morning session(s).

This is your manager time.

And it's where this guide gets spicy 🌶️

In the afternoons, you work on your business. You know, like a manager.

In my example, I split those into two 1.5-hour blocks. (Or I aimed to, it's kinda off now that I look at it.)

But what you do is:

  1. Dedicate 1 to 5 slots for manager activities.
    Those can be as short as 20 minutes or as long as 1.5 hours. Try stuff & stick with whatever feels ok.
  2. You use those slots to work on your business.

Sounds like an "oversimplification" but it kind of isn't.

How I do it:

I have 4 slots in my afternoon. 1 hour each.

They are all dedicated to paid client work.

Wait, what do you mean "Paid Client Work"?!

Oh, yes.

This is a philosophical question for me, but I believe creators should make their own money. I believe both social networks and sponsors are underpaying creators by a LOT & the best way to fix that is to take everything in your own hands.

Aka by working for clients in some way.

This can mean the typical services route – they pay you to do something (e.g. design) and you do it for them.

Or it can mean talking & understanding them & building a product that you give them in exchange for money.

But I really talk about this stuff in Creator Income. Never Productive is all about productivity.

So, where were we…

Oh, yes. The Maker time.

I do it like this:

I have 4 slots in my afternoon. 1 hour each.

They are all dedicated to paid client work. This is time I spend in calls (or chat) with members of Creator Income who have joined my paid community.

(Sometimes, I might do some admin, but I try to spend as much time with clients as possible – it pays better.)

But – you might NOT have enough client work. Sometimes, I don't. Or any at all. Or you might NOT want to do client work. (Although I recommend that.)

So, if you:

  • have a spare slot, planned for client work
  • but you don't have any client work

You spend the slot getting client work.

Otherwise known as: Marketing.

Which creates a beautiful system.

Early on, your calendar looks like this:

oh, noooo

Pretty "client work" empty. And totally normal.

But what that does is it gives you ALL your maker time to grow your business. Aka to find new clients. Aka to market.

So you spend your time on social media, Reddit, Meta ads, Google ads, talking to friends, or anything that can bring business.

And you spend a big chunk of it.

Then you'll get to this:

and this:

And, naturally…

The more your calendar fills up with client work, the less marketing you need to do.

Now.

You absolutely can build a product as your client work. That's epic.

But you still need to talk to people.

The best products solve the most painful problems – and it's impossible to know what those are if you don't actually talk to your audience.

So spend that time building, but also spend that time looking for people who have the problem you solve & you can connect with them & understand them better.

(I do recommend the product route if you already have a heftier audience – 50k on YouTube and 50k on most other networks.)

Now, there's another cool thing about maker time (a real money-maker… get it?) – keep reading to find that in a bit.

The Hot Sauce

(because "The Next-day Planning" sounds suuuuper boring)

(but it's actually very useful, so stay with me)

How you end your days is how you start your days. Super important lesson I learned growing my last engineering agency to over 70 people and had zero spare time.

So, before you wrap up the day, use whatever leftover momentum you have to prepare for your next day.

This is important because you can get out of bed with your brain 90% off and still absolutely crush it.

But don't worry, it's super simple.

Super simple next-day planning:

  • Plan 1-3 big items to tackle tomorrow morning
  • Check your progress towards your goal(s)

Yep, that's it.

And yeah, as you know, you should have goals – quitting your job, 1M subs, buying a house, getting to $69k/month – whatever floats your boat. Just tracking it makes it happen faster.

The Bonus… uh… Sauce

Remember Manager Time?

Of course you do – we mentioned it 40 seconds ago.

A lot of client work happens over calls. So you might need to send out a calendar link so people can book time with you. (Obligatory automation for anyone btw)

Buuuuut…

It's super lame to open a calendar & see someone who has 100% open slots. Big turnoff.

So. Book yourself.

Book time for yourself, with yourself to work on your business. To market, do taxes, or any other manager task.

This way you can – honestly – be booked full. Because you are, in fact, working during that time and you have actual appointments.

It's neat & a great way to get a bit of an edge early on. (when it's hardest)

Plus, this makes the process more conscious for you, so you do your entire manager work better. (plus you can brag to your cousin about your "entrepreneur calendar being 100% booked for the month")

Anyhow, that's it.

I hope this helps you.

If you need help making your own money – Join Creator Income.

Stay Awesome,
— Jordan

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