By Christina Scalera

On any given day, it seems you have 10 million great new business ideas, a trillion more for the wedding business you have now, and ZERO hours to get any of it done.

I’m admittedly bad at the math, but I do know this doesn’t add up to substantial progress.

Owning, managing and running multiple companies, podcasts, and a law firm for creative entrepreneurs, I’m well aware that it can feel like we’re doing all the hustling and having no fun. This is a recipe for burnout, and let’s face it, there’s nothing good down that path.

Instead of winding up resentful, upset, or depressed, let’s get you organized and excited about spending more time doing only the things you love in your business. How?

1. Plan ahead.

In the wedding industry, you often have a good picture of what your next few months look like since brides book well in advance. Use this to your advantage!

Look beyond the week ahead and plan for the next month or even quarter. If you have 6 weddings in September, don’t wait until the last week of August to send your brides their questionnaires, and remember to follow up because they’re not ignoring you on purpose — they’re just busy like you!

2. Work in self-care and recovery time each and every week.

Easier said than done, am I right?

Before you throw your computer across the room, consider looking at self-care as an experiment. If it doesn’t work, you can always ditch it. But if it does? Ahhhhh.

The thing is, you’re not doing anyone any favors by overextending yourself. You’re way more likely to burn out, hurt your relationships (professional and personal), make mistakes, and be swimming in stress and anxiety.

Take care of your body, feed your soul and relax your mind, even if it’s only for one morning each week. Turn off the phone for a few days if you can (I’m unreachable except for emergencies and friends on weekends).

You’ll be amazed by how much more energized and creative you’ll feel when you gift yourself some TLC.

3. Trade services.

Y’all, one of my favorite things about being the boss is that I can trade my services for something I need or want. Artists often trade their own art for someone else’s pieces or jewelry, but I find it’s often underutilized in our world.

What do you need (housekeeping, bookkeeping, etc.) and what can you offer to someone else?

If you’re a photographer, you could trade a headshot or portrait session. As a calligrapher, you can create a handwritten “thank you” or signature design for another vendor. Florists can give credits for office or home arrangements. Get creative!

I am regularly trading mentorship for great photos for my Instagram feed, that I otherwise would have spent hundreds of dollars on.

4. Automate, automate, automate!

If you want more time and space for things like publishing more weddings or spending time with family, you need to get a grip on the admin stuff before it takes over your life.

Responding to emails, scheduling consultations, drafting contracts, blogging last week’s wedding… it piles up! And we all know that the work multiplies when you start booking more brides.

Find ways to improve your workflow without adding more to your To-Do list, even if it feels impossible right now. I promise, once you start doing something, anything, the path will become much clearer.

You can start small by batching tasks (e.g., edit/plan on Mondays, respond to inquiries on Tuesdays and Thursdays, blog on Wednesdays, schedule social media on Fridays) and slowly working in tools like Calendly for booking consultations.

5. Let some things go.

Truth bomb incoming: you can’t do everything alone.

If you have any plans to grow, you’ll need to let some things go, and likely before it feels comfortable. Whether you drop a service/product line entirely (hint: look at your accounting reports to see what ISN’T making you money) or hire a team to help, you’ll have to get comfortable with the idea of letting go and delegating to others.

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Christina Scalera is an attorney + business consultant for creative entrepreneurs. Her mission is to help creatives fulfill their life’s work by setting them up to have beautiful businesses from the inside out.