The Day a Single Sketch Made Me Rethink My Creative Business
I was halfway through a sketch — one I’d already redrawn three times — when my son woke up early from his nap.
In that instant, I realised: it wasn’t creativity holding me back. It was time.
This past year has been anything but “business as usual.” I’d love to say that was intentional, but it wasn’t.
After having my son, I tried to slip straight back into work. My oldest was at school, and I convinced myself I could keep going like before — just squeeze it all into nap times. I pushed through an October drawing challenge, launched a new collection in November, and juggled it all around a newborn schedule. I was tired, but I didn’t want to lose the momentum I’d built over the past few years.
By December, burnout hit hard.
I thought the new year would bring clarity. I had plans: launches, licensing goals, fresh collections ideas. But every time I sat down to design, I hit a wall. The more I pushed, the heavier it felt.
In May, I joined Inkygoodness’ Design It, Make It, Sell It course. For the first time in months, I felt inspired to create again. But even then, something wasn’t clicking.
And that afternoon in July — when my son woke early, mid-sketch — it all became clear. The problem wasn’t my creativity. It was the math. With only a few hours a day to work, I was trying to run a licensing career, develop physical products, post consistently on social channels, and grow my portfolio all at once. It was too much.
There was no point burning myself out trying to move forward when the path itself no longer fit the life I was living.
“What excellent boiled potatoes” - Mr Collins
So I stopped. Completely.
Over the next few days, I asked myself the uncomfortable questions: Why are you doing this? What’s the goal now?Because somewhere between all the deadlines and launches, I’d lost sight of that. And what I realised was simple — the goal had changed. I had changed.
Creativity doesn’t disappear when life shifts, but the shape of your work has to. If your capacity shrinks, your systems need to shrink too. You can’t run a pre-baby, pre-burnout business on post-baby time.
So I stopped trying to draw faster — and started asking a better question: What could I build that works at the pace I actually live?
Since then, I’ve been rebuilding slowly — experimenting with how AI, automation, and structure can support the messy, human side of creativity. What started as a search for balance is now becoming an experiment: I’m testing tools, workflows, and systems to see what actually works (and what’s just hype). Every week for the next few months, I’ll share what I’m learning — the honest version, not the polished one. If you’re trying to figure out how to work smarter without losing what makes your work yours, you’re in the right place.
Next week: I’m testing an AI task prioritizer I built. Did it save me time, or just create more admin? Let’s find out.
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