I decided to stop what I was doing and write. Because, well, I've been reading an amazing book lately and it held a mirror up to my work life and I didn't like what I saw. Honestly, as a creative, I've fallen into a rut of prioritizing the ‘urgent' instead of the important. I put quotes around ‘urgent' because most of what I think is urgent, isn't. Email, uploads, updates. The important creative aspects to what I do–photographing, writing, breathing, reading–somehow got tangled in late-afternoon attempts at productivity.

When I started paying attention, I realized my most healthy work hours were from 9am-1pm, taking 10-minute breaks every two hours…but usually during this time I filled my day with email and social media (i.e. distractions that make you feel like you're busy, but it's more about wasting time). So often I confuse doing for working.

Does the email have to be responded to? Yes. But does it have to be responded to during my peak productivity hours? No.

Lately I've been giving myself the permission to just be. In the moment, in life. When I give myself the freedom to think and dream, I'm happier when I work because I'm doing the thing I was born to do: create. I'm now saving my peak productivity hours for myself and my work. I turn everything else off and I just sit and work, not do things that make me feel busy. In an online world of proverbial blinking lights and billboards begging for our attention, I'm learning to stay focused on the road ahead, moving forward in the direction of my dreams.