CREATING A WORKFLOW

As a creative, I often ebb and flow through a variety of task types in my business. Some days I’m busy with the “business-y” things: paying bills, writing blog posts, planning social media content, or polishing listing descriptions. Other days, I get to dive into pure creativity: sketching, designing, dreaming up new collections, or experimenting with colors and textures. For a long time, I let the day dictate my work. If I felt inspired, I created. If I felt like I should catch up on admin, I did that. And for a while, it worked. But as my business grew, the scattered approach started to show cracks. Deadlines crept up. Files got lost in the shuffle. Ideas piled up in notebooks and never saw the light of day.

I realized I needed something more sustainable, a workflow.

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” –James Clear

A workflow isn’t meant to box in your creativity or turn your business into a rigid 9–5. It’s about finding a system that helps you move from inspiration to finished product without getting stuck or overwhelmed along the way. I like to think of it as a supportive framework, flexible enough for creative flow, but structured enough to keep making progress.

When you’re running a creative business, the biggest challenge often isn’t coming up with ideas. It’s bringing them to life in a consistent, organized way. A workflow helps you:

Capture your inspiration before it slips away.

Stay on top of repetitive tasks without reinventing the wheel.

Organize your files and projects so nothing gets lost.

Create a rhythm in your business so you know what comes next.

And maybe most importantly, it frees up mental space. When you don’t have to hold all the little steps in your head, you have more energy for the creative parts.

Here are a few simple ways you can start creating (or refining) your own workflow:

1. Capture the chaos.

Ideas are wonderful, but they can quickly become overwhelming if they’re scattered in sketchbooks, sticky notes, or screenshots. Choose one central place to capture them. Trello, Notion, a simple Google Doc, or even a paper notebook you commit to using consistently. The key is having one “home base” for ideas.

2. Sort by theme.

Instead of letting all your ideas swirl together, group them into themes. For example: holidays, seasons, surface pattern collections, or blog topics. This makes it easier to develop full product lines or marketing campaigns instead of hopping from one random idea to another.

3. Define your phases.

Break your work into repeatable phases. For example, if you’re designing products, your phases might look like:

Collect inspiration

Sketch ideas

Create digital files

Apply designs to mockups

Upload to shop with descriptions

Once you know your phases though, you can always see what step you’re on and what’s next.

4. Automate and template where possible.

If you notice yourself doing the same thing over and over, create a template. Maybe that’s a social media post, a listing description process or keyword research. Automation doesn’t take away the artistry, it clears space for it. For example, I created card & tag templates in Canva so that all I have to do is add my finished design. My logo is already populated so it takes me seconds to complete the design file.

5. Schedule your creative energy.

Some tasks require more focus, while others are lighter. If you know mornings are your most creative time, schedule designing or writing then, and leave admin tasks for later. Protecting your best energy hours can be a game-changer.

Creating a workflow isn’t about becoming rigid. It’s about giving your creativity the structure it needs to thrive. Think of it like scaffolding: it holds things steady while you build the art and business you envision.

“Creativity thrives best when constrained.” –David Ogilvy

When you have a system to guide your energy, you no longer waste time deciding what to do next, you can simply start creating. And over time, your workflow will become as unique as your art. Start small, build it step by step, and let it grow with you.

Warmest regards,

P.S. If you want to see my workflow, consider a trial of my membership where I break it down, step-by-step.