Structure and Spaciousness
A reflection on what I've learned 6 months in to entrepreneurship, my work style and workflows, and what I am still grappling with.
I began my startup consulting venture, Fractal Studio *officially* in June. I wanted to reflect on where I’m at with my business today, about 6 months in. So often you get the 10,000 foot view after someone makes it, becomes a success, whatever you want to call it. My intention is to pull back the curtain from the beginning. Starting with what it currently means to me to work for myself and how that takes shape within my days.
On Structure
When I first launched, I attempted to give myself as much structure as I could, afraid of becoming lost outside the confines of a traditional 9 to 5. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, structure and rigidity are *very* within my realm of comfort, so the challenge has not been in creating a structured routine, but structure that invites spaciousness.
When I launched, I split my time between three clients. These first three came from my immediate network: a founder I know personally, a CMO I was connected to, and a contractor from my previous work. I am grateful to have launched in somewhat of a safety net, with the stability of income and long-ish term engagements.
During these first few months, I was focused on navigating changing client deliverables and developing my own workflows. I had completely paused going to events or any form of business development. I was working on each client every day, breaking up my day by client blocks. My mom joked that I was working more than I had ever worked and it was true! But there was another truth: I wasn’t working very effectively; I was keeping my head above water, not strategizing or bringing as much value as I wanted to be.
After my Time Away, a 1:1 retreat I went on in June with Kit, the beloved coach I mentioned in my last post, we crafted a few changes to my structure. The first change I made to my structure was to A) combat the constant code-switching between projects and clients and 2) adapt my schedule to my work style.
I am a morning person. My brother will tell you that my occasional afternoon naps and snoozing of alarms argues in opposition, but I swear I really do my best work in the morning, say 9/10 to 1 ish. I dream of being a 5:30am girl, but alas I need a full 8-9 hours in order to survive. Sleep is a skill that runs deep in my lineage! I treasure it!
To become a more effective worker, and thus pave the way for more spaciousness and freedom, I implemented the following loose structures. I am willing and eager to test new theories, so reply directly or write a comment to share your own structure strategies as a founder/business owner/entrepreneur/freelancer/anyone. I could read people’s routines all day - please indulge me!
Long, slow mornings - sometimes this includes some type of movement, sometimes it absolutely does not besides a mandatory dog walk for Rigatoni and morning sunlight. I could write an entire post on morning routines (for another time).
Deep work, regular work - My mornings are sacred and are reserved for a deep work block. I usually take some kind of break in the afternoon. My afternoon/evening block is for tasks, smaller to-dos that take 15-30 minutes and are usually lower in brain power (emails, editing, QA, etc.)
Before: I was working by client instead of type of work, which meant I had big projects throughout the day and tasks scattered throughout. Big projects for later clients usually got pushed.
The impact: My work feels so much more aligned with my energy throughout the day
1 Client focus per day. Deep work blocks are reserved for a different client each day, sometimes the client being my own business. During regular work blocks, I work on lower level tasks across clients. Since this is usually lower brain power work, it’s not taxing to switch between clients.
Before: I was breaking up my day by client (client 1 in the morning, client 2 in the afternoon, client 3 in the evening). By the time I got to the evening block, I was spent and could not focus on bigger projects.
The impact: I love having a whole day dedicated to a single client - it helps me know where to put different projects/tasks within my week and allows me to go deeper for more strategy work and higher-value work.
Only 3-5 things per day. 1-2 projects, 2-3 tasks.
Before: I am transitioning from previously having 3-5 for each client or each life category per day, which left me feeling drained and not productive because I would never finish my list
The impact: Ah the spaciousness. This is probably the most helpful change I’ve made - it gives me a natural end to my work so
Tip: If you have a lengthy to-do list either digitally for everything or even just one for the whole week, make a new list for each day. When you’re done with the list, you’re done.
The changes above have made a drastic impact on my workdays, but I’m still very much new at this. Here’s what is still not quite working:
Getting sucked into communication portals. On days I am disciplined to leave Slack unread and my email tab closed, I am increasingly more productive. As a Fractional, the challenge is setting boundaries like a consultant and offering the flexibility to engage like a team member. I still haven’t figured out the right balance.
Restricting calls and meetings. I have a strict no meetings policy on Mondays and Fridays (that still sometimes gets broken) and thought restricting meetings to Tues-Thurs would help, but I find that days with even few, but scattered meetings feel discordant and leave me drained. My vision is to have a single day (Tuesday) for calls and another day (Wednesday) for in-person meetings, but I am still dancing between my dreams as a solopreneur and my client’s needs.
Breaks and time off. How do you take time off if you work for yourself (or have clients)? I would love to know! I am great at keeping Fridays for fun or enjoying a long weekend, but have yet to figure out how to build in an actual vacation (read: not working remotely in Italy, though not at all opposed). Breaks are tricky because I haven’t figured out how to bypass the mental hurdle of not feeling free until my work is done. And for varying amounts of time, say 15 min to 3 hours, what do breaks look like? Maybe this is too rigid a framework for breaks…I’m a work in progress!
On Spaciousness
Right now, I am in the midst of my first ebb (of many). I transitioned away from two out of three clients, which has given me a lot of time to focus on my business, and really treat it like one. In the space I’ve created, I have redefined my offering, pivoting from reacting to what clients need most to honing what I can do to create the most value for clients, likely landing somewhere in between. I’ve been doing the work I do for clients (positioning, landscape analyses, audience personas, messaging, marketing strategies) on my own business. A test of my own systems, if you will. I love building and business so the extra space to do this has felt fun.
This is the instability they speak of, but I’m trying to think of it more as a liminal space. Financially, it feels more stretched, but okay for now. I’m both leaning into some trust in the Universe and also taking all the aligned action I can. I have more time for events and doing my own marketing (I’m posting regularly on LinkedIn - not begrudgingly! - and am excited about some more creative methods I’ll share about soon)
On the path to fill 2 fractional clients (holler if you need some GTM help!), I’m also filling in the gaps with other endeavors. In the past 2 weeks, I’ve had 3 small businesses approach me with opportunities to help them launch (or re-launch). Small businesses feel like home to me and I haven’t figured out a way to support them sustainably, meeting my needs financially or their no-one-size-fits-all approach, but I’m excited for the opportunity to try again, with some new insight and some extra time (holler if you’re a small business owner wanting to chat!).
I find it so easy to get stuck in the waiting, waiting for a new chapter, waiting for whatever is coming next, but I’m coming to realize (late, I’m sure) that we are inevitably always waiting. So I’ve been trying to just be in the space between.
I’ve had the space to feel inspired, excited, and even rejuvenated (I have a list on my phone of the most luxurious things I can do to take advantage of working for myself - baking a coconut cake for no occasion or baths in the morning are top of the list right now).
What next?
If you’re a startup founder curious about go-to-market support or if you’re simply interested in what it might look like for you to begin something of your own, my phone lines are always open! You can book a 30 minute call with me here, anytime.
You can also always just “reply” to this email!
About me
I’m Briana, I currently work with pre-seed to seed startups on Go-to-Market (GTM) in a fractional capacity. I also write this newsletter, on building a portfolio career as a new entrepreneur, my favorite things (design, wellness, spirituality, business, fashion, food, coffee), and other musings.