Time Management for Creative Projects

The harsh reality of most design studios is that they work 24/7. At Essajees Atelier, we lock our doors at 6 PM sharp and still deliver more. These are the 4 unconventional rules that transformed our work: 1st rule: We embraced structure over flexibility. It sounds counter-creative, but our 10-6 workday is a commitment to perform better. During these hours, we're laser-focused. Every minute counts when you can't rely on overtime to catch up. 2nd rule: We treat Mondays like they're sacred. Between 10-1, we do project check-in meetings to discuss everything one by one. These are our plans for the week. Every task, every deadline, and every deliverable is tracked. No ambiguity is left to chance. 3rd rule: We've redefined what it means to be "creative." Creativity isn't about working when inspiration strikes. I think that's not a sustainable way of working. My team and I have trained ourselves to deliver work within constraints. Our designers are high-performing professionals who understand the value of their time. 4th rule: Finally, we're not afraid to make tough calls. Being a great person doesn't always translate to being a great fit. I've learned that maintaining our work culture sometimes means letting go of talented people who don't align with this approach. As a result, I have a team that's both highly creative and incredibly efficient, whose work-life boundaries isn't broken. We finish 30-35 projects yearly, working strict 10-6 hours. No weekend work. No 90hr overtime. No disturbances. Where most design studios operate with late nights, weekend sprints, and endless revisions. We chose a different path, and it's fixed our work culture. Do you value both your creativity and your time? #work #entrepreneurship #business #team

Between job hunting, building AI automations, and managing our new puppy, I've discovered a time management trick that’s changing the game. Curious? So, I had a revelation. You know those moments when you’re juggling a million things and feel like you’re barely holding it together? Yeah, that’s been me. But here’s the kicker – I found a way to manage my time without losing my mind. Intrigued? Let me spill the beans. 🗓 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 Ever heard of time blocking? It’s like scheduling your day into neat little chunks dedicated to specific tasks. Think of it as creating a series of appointments with yourself. I started by blocking out time for my biggest priorities – work projects, gym, even that elusive “me time.” And guess what? It’s been a game-changer. Here’s how it works: ▶ Identify Your Tasks: List out what you need to get done. ▶ Block Your Time: Assign each task a specific time slot. Be realistic about how long things take. ▶ Stick to It: Treat these blocks like actual appointments. No skipping! 🍅 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗼 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 Now, let’s talk Pomodoro. It’s a time management method that breaks work into intervals, usually 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break. After four “Pomodoros,” take a longer break, say 15-30 minutes. Here’s the scoop: ✅ Set a Timer: Work for 25 minutes. No distractions. ✅ Take a Break: Give yourself 5 minutes to stretch, grab a coffee, or check Instagram. ✅ Repeat: After four sessions, reward yourself with a longer break. 🧙♂️ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲 Balancing these techniques is key. Here’s what I learned: ✅ Mix It Up: Use time blocking for overarching structure and Pomodoro for intense focus periods. ✅ Be Flexible: Sometimes things come up. Adjust your blocks but don’t abandon them. ✅ Self-Care: Remember to block time for breaks and relaxation. Your brain needs it. Real-Life Example Just the other day, I had a packed schedule. Meetings, emails, and a looming deadline with a new client. I started with time blocking, scheduling each task throughout my day. Then, during each block, I used Pomodoro to stay laser-focused. Even with our new puppy demanding attention and my AI automation projects needing tweaks, by 5 PM, I was done with my to-do list and had time to unwind. Who knew time management could feel so liberating? Your Turn Give it a try. Start small. Maybe block out your morning or use Pomodoro for your next big task. See what works best for you and tweak it as needed. The key is finding a rhythm that keeps you productive and sane. So, next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember: a little time blocking, a dash of Pomodoro, and a sprinkle of self-care can work wonders. Have a great week and happy time managing! P.S. What time management hacks do you swear by? Hit reply and let me know! Let’s share the love and the sanity. 😊

Time is your most valuable asset: how I manage team of 59 specialists while running a medical device company In the world of medical device development, every minute counts. After helping bring 150+ projects to life at OVA Solutions, I've learned that time management isn't just about productivity - it's about creating space for innovation that actually matters. My 5 non-negotiable time management principles: 1. The 2-hour Deep Work Block Every morning, I block 2 uninterrupted hours for the most complex problems. No emails, no calls. Your brain needs runway to solve complex problems - give it that space. 2. The "Three Things Only" Rule Each day, I identify only three meaningful outcomes I need to achieve. Not tasks - outcomes. When you're developing medical devices that people's lives depend on, you learn to distinguish between busy work and work that drives real impact. 3. Energy Management > Time Management I track my energy patterns, not just my time. My creative thinking peaks from 9-11am, so that's when I schedule innovation sessions. Technical reviews happen from 2-4pm when my analytical mind is sharpest. Work with your biology, not against it. 4. The 50/10 Method 50 minutes of focused work, 10 minutes of complete disconnection. This simple reset prevents decision fatigue - critical when one decision could affect patient safety. 5. Weekly "Possibility Time" Every Friday afternoon is sacred - it's for exploring new technologies with no immediate application. This seemingly "inefficient" time has led to our biggest breakthroughs in surgical robotics. What I've learned running a medical R&D company is that resilience comes from rhythms, not random sprints of productivity. When facing high-pressure deadlines and complex challenges, your internal systems become your greatest strength. What's one time management practice that's transformed your work? Share below. #TimeManagement #MedicalDevices #Leadership #ProductDevelopment #Innovation

If you want to move faster, learn to say “no” like a toddler. One of the biggest unlocks in my own productivity journey wasn’t a new tool, a new app, or a new calendar hack. It was realizing this: Being busy isn’t the goal. Being effective is. When you’re building, especially early on, it feels like you should say yes to everything: Yes to the extra meeting. Yes to the new project. Yes to the “quick” favor. But time is a finite resource. Every yes costs you something. Here’s what’s helped me (especially running multiple brands at once): - Say no to what doesn’t move the needle. Focus ruthlessly on the 20% of work that drives 80% of your results (Pareto Principle). Not all tasks are created equal. - Use time blocks. Treat deep work like meetings—with yourself. I block 2–3 hour windows for high-impact work with no meetings, no emails, no Slack. - Sprint, don’t marathon. The Pomodoro Technique (25 min sprint + 5 min break) keeps energy high and decision fatigue low. - Handle it once. If something takes less than two minutes, finish it immediately (the “One Touch Rule” from Getting Things Done — worth a read if you haven’t already checked it out). - Save your best energy for your hardest tasks. I schedule creative work during my highest energy hours—and leave admin for later. - Plan tomorrow today. Before I shut down for the night, I map my top 3 priorities for the next day. It clears mental space and stops decision fatigue in the morning. - Protect your “no.” If a meeting, task, or invite isn’t critical to your goals, it’s okay to (politely) decline. Every “no” is a “yes” to something that matters more. - Build white space. I purposely block unstructured time every week—for thinking, brainstorming, catching up, or just breathing. Productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about choosing better. Saying "no" can feel uncomfortable at first. But every time you do it, you’re reclaiming your focus, your creativity, and your ability to actually build the future you care about. Because you’re not just managing tasks. You’re managing your life’s energy. Share your best tip, I’d love to learn.

Time doesn’t manage itself. Designers who master it get ahead. Here are 6 practical tips to take control of your day: 1. Batch Similar Tasks Together: - Design tasks often require deep focus. - Group similar tasks, like editing or reviewing, into one time block. - This prevents constant switching between tasks, which wastes mental energy. 2. Focus on Must-Do Tasks: - Identify 2-3 key tasks each day that have to be completed, no matter what. - Focusing on these ensures you get the most important work done, even if the rest of the day gets hectic. 3. Use Client Deadlines as Motivation: - Turn your client deadlines into mini-goals. - Break them down into daily or weekly targets. - This helps you stay ahead of the curve and reduces last-minute stress. 4. Set Boundaries for Creative Time: - Reserve specific hours of the day for creative work when your mind is sharpest. - For example, block off mornings for design work and leave meetings or emails for the afternoon. 5. Limit Revisions by Communicating Early: - Clear communication with clients about expectations and deliverables reduces the need for multiple revisions. - This saves time and prevents going back and forth on the same project. 6. Embrace “Good Enough” to Avoid Perfectionism: - As a designer, perfectionism can slow you down. - Know when a design is good enough to send off. - Spending extra hours for tiny tweaks won’t always bring added value. P.S. Which time management tip are you going to implement today?

Creative work doesn't have to mean chaos. I built a system that lets me get more done (and still have energy for life). My step-by-step breakdown: 1. Weekly Creative Cycle: Structured days for input, ideation, planning, creation, and review. 2. Time-blocking: Dedicated slots for deep work and creative tasks. 3. Tool stack: Using Notion, Trello, and mind-mapping tools to organise ideas and content. 4. 3Es Framework: Creating content that Educates, Entertains, or Empowers. 5. Templates: Pre-designed formats for posts and emails to save time. 6. Scheduled rest: One day for content scheduling and unplugging. This system saved me from burnout when juggling multiple high-stakes projects. It transformed my workflow from chaotic to controlled, allowing for better quality output and more personal time. Remember, creativity thrives on structure. Give your ideas a framework to flourish. #Creativeframework #creativity

I stared at the blank document for 20 minutes. My "creative time" had vanished into Slack notifications and browser tabs. Your best ideas aren't dying from burnout. They're dying from a thousand tiny distractions. And it matters more than ever: Creative thinking is ranked in the top 5 work skills for 2027. Most people think TIME is their most limited resource for creativity. It's not. It's ATTENTION. I used to protect my calendar religiously, blocking out creative hours. (and this helps). But I never protected my mind. While I scheduled focus time, I left every distraction door wide open. Here are the 4 focus thieves killing your creative thinking: 1️⃣ Mental clutter → 47 browser tabs open across three windows → Half-finished projects scattered everywhere   → Random ideas captured on sticky notes, phones, and napkins What helps: One central idea capture system. Close everything except your current project. Your brain can't create when it's managing chaos. 2️⃣ Dopamine loops → "Quick" social media checks that turn into 20-minute scrolling → Notifications pinging every 3 minutes → Email refreshing becoming a nervous habit What helps: Phone in another room during creative work. Turn off all non-essential notifications. Schedule specific check-in times instead of constant monitoring. 3️⃣ Calendar chaos   → Back-to-back meetings with zero transition time → "Quick syncs" scheduled right in your creative blocks → Days fragmented into 15-minute pieces What helps: Block minimum 2-hour chunks for creative work. Treat them as non-negotiable appointments with your future breakthrough. 4️⃣ Other people's urgencies → "Do you have a minute?" interruptions → Fire drills that aren't actually emergencies   → Saying yes to every small favor What helps: "I can help you with that at 3 PM" becomes your new default. Protect your creative blocks like you'd protect an important client meeting. Defend the creative time you have. That's where breakthroughs live. Your brain needs uninterrupted space to make unexpected connections. that's where the magic lives. Design for deep work. Protect it fiercely. Say no to the small stuff so you can say yes to what matters. What's your biggest attention thief? Share this with your network if it resonated. 🔗 Like practical, visual frameworks like this?  Join 8,500+ leaders who get mine each week: https://lnkd.in/eZ9jUrKk 👉 Follow Maria Luisa for creative thinking strategies and leadership frameworks

Ever wondered how most influential leaders juggle countless projects, roles, and responsibilities? The answer might surprise you: Timeboxing. This powerful technique isn't just about managing time—it's about maximizing creativity and driving innovation. So, what is timeboxing? Timeboxing involves allocating a fixed, uninterrupted period to a specific activity before you start. It's like putting your tasks into boxes of time on your calendar. You give your full focus to one task at a time, with a clear start and end point, transforming the intangible (time) into something tangible (a box on your calendar). Benefits: 💡 You can enhance your focus by dedicating specific blocks of time to tasks. 💡 It creates a sense of urgency, reducing procrastination and encouraging task completion within set periods. 💡 Through prioritization, timeboxing helps you to focus on what moves the needle. The technique and benefits might sound familiar to many of you, but the real challenge lies in execution. Here are a few steps I follow to make timeboxing work: ✅ I began by timeboxing my routine tasks, which helped me understand how long things really take. ✅ I always add a buffer for unexpected issues when allocating time for each task. ✅ I've found that scheduling short, timeboxed breaks keeps my productivity high throughout the day. ✅ At the end of each week, I review what worked and tweak my timeboxes accordingly. This constant refinement has been key. Timeboxing has revolutionized the way I manage my workday, helping me stay focused, productive, and in control. Have you tried timeboxing? What strategies have worked best for you? Let me know in the comments below. #productivity #work #management #timemanagment #techniques

Want to scale your creative output? Start with systems. My first move in every leadership role has been putting operational frameworks in place. Everything else flows from there. Here's my toolkit for building scalable systems that empower creative teams to do their best work: ☑️ Project management is non-negotiable. Use a project management tool like Asana, Trello or Smartsheet. This gives everyone visibility into projects, deadlines and dependencies. It also captures communication that would otherwise get lost in separate side conversations or emails. ☑️ Timelines should live somewhere accessible to all, whether native in your PM tool or in a linked Google Sheet. They're your project's backbone. ☑️ Use weekly team check-ins to coordinate, troubleshoot and recalibrate as needed. Get everyone on the same page. ☑️ Templated scopes of work save countless hours. Customize them for each client, but don't reinvent the wheel every time. ☑️ Deliverable templates provide a framework without stifling creativity. Think templates for pitch decks, content audits or web projects. Templates can establish consistency, serve as a jumping-off point and speed up production. I learned these process principles as a journalist. When you're publishing daily, clear editorial processes keep the wheels turning. Working at Leo Burnett refined this further, where processes were so thorough they earned ISO certification. And when I first stepped into roles at other agencies and in-house tech firms, the first order of business was always putting these systems in place, which allowed for quality creative work at scale. If you’ve been following along, I’m giving away my playbook. These "constraining" systems and processes are exactly what give creative teams their freedom. Build the system first. You’ll be pleased with the creative work it enables.

𝐉𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟒 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞? 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝.🎭 One month, I found myself handling 4 projects at the same time. Different deadlines. Different team members. Different expectations. At first, I thought: “I got this!” By Week 2, I was overwhelmed. 💬 Teams notifications piling up 📧 Emails left unread 📝 Deadlines creeping closer It was chaos. But here’s what I learned that helped me not just survive—but actually deliver all four projects successfully. 🔹 𝟭. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 I used to treat all tasks equally—huge mistake. Instead, I started prioritizing like a CEO: Impact vs. Urgency → What moves the needle the most? Tasks I can delegate vs. Tasks I MUST own 🔹 𝟮. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 Handling different teams meant tons of calls, updates, and meetings. Solution? I grouped discussions into structured updates instead of responding to every little thing. Weekly syncs → Big picture Asynchronous updates → For non-urgent matters 🔹 𝟯. 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲-𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 I used to jump between projects all day. It was exhausting. Then, I started: ⏳ Morning = Deep work on Project A ⏳ Afternoon = Meetings + Project B ⏳ Evening = Reviewing & planning for tomorrow This stopped my brain from context-switching every 10 minutes. 🔹 𝟰. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 (𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗼𝗼 𝗠𝘂𝗰𝗵) I learned the power of scheduling everything. Even my ‘thinking time.’ Because if you don’t control your calendar, your calendar will control you. 📌 Lesson? Multitasking isn’t the flex. Managing your time is. You can’t give 100% to everything—but you can be 100% present in what you’re doing right now. Ever been in a situation like this? How do YOU manage multiple projects without losing your mind? Drop your best tips below! 👇 #TimeManagement #Productivity #CareerGrowth