Unless you can’t function at your optimal level because of it. Disorganization is something I have challenged head on this year. I redesigned my office so that everything has a place. I organized my email so that I answer them quickly instead of waiting sometimes months in between. I have list apps on my phone and desktop to keep me on task, and I have a nightly and morning routine that keeps me organized as well.

Those have been huge changes for me, and the results have been spectacular. I no longer panic about missing emails or wonder as I fall asleep what I need to accomplish in the morning, and those small changes have been really big for my well being. Just by having my emails caught up on and always having clear goals planned, I have decreased my stress. I have more free time, I worry less, and I enjoy working more.

Here are all of the changes I made. The video also shows my new office, and I included some “extras” (re: ridiculous) clips at the very end. Apologies for the focus issues in this video. I think I need glasses.

1. Wake up early. When I am up early, I feel an odd sense of pride, as though I have already accomplished my first mission. I am taking advantage of my most productive hours, no one else is awake then, and I have time to fall into a routine.

2. Drink water. This is another one of those things that makes me feel motivated and healthy. I drink 3 liters of water a day. I drink one of those liters before I do much else in the morning. It energizes me and allows me to feel accomplished.

3. Stretch & meditate. I do this each morning in the open air and it makes me feel invigorated and alive. My body hurts less throughout the day (the Fibromyalgia can really make my joints hurt) and I feel inspired by the time I sit down to work.

4. ToDoist. This is an app that I have for my desktop that allows me to write out, per category, what I need to get done and then check it off the list when I finish. It also has tons of other features I haven’t even tapped into yet. Absolutely adore this app to pieces.

5. Email organization. I have my email categorized into three main folders: My immediate folder. Anything I put in there needs to be dealt with within 24 hours. My pending folder, where emails that require follow-up go. And my assistant’s folder, where emails that deal mostly with scheduling go. If I hit inbox 0 for my personal immediate inbox everyday, I feel significantly less stressed and I sleep better. I try to do this in the morning before any other tasks so that I am still excited to complete the other things on my to do list.

6. Happiness & resolution documents. I keep two text files on my desktop. One says “Happiness” and the other says “Resolutions”. The happiness document lists all of the things that makes me feel healthy and happy on a regular basis so that I can always check in on it to make sure I am doing what makes me feel good. My resolutions document simply lists all of the things I want to accomplish this year. It is always in sight and I can keep on track that way.

7. Inspirational quotes. The image on my desktop background is always rotating through inspirational quotes that I’ve downloaded in image form. Mostly from Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland, these quotes remind me all the time of who I want to be and inspire me to reach for more.

8. Hard drives. I keep my work backed up on two hard drives that are almost always at my computer plugged in. One I travel with and the other stays put. Because I have them out in the open, often plugged in, I never have to worry about finding a document because they are all, essentially, already on my computer waiting to be found. I organize my images based on folders of: YEAR — TITLE.

9. Uniform password. For my passwords on my computer and social sites, I have a root word for my password. Take LANTERN, for example. And then I add on a signifying word to that for each website. Let’s say we are signing up for Flickr, you would write LANTERNFLICKR so that you never forget your password and so that they are always different. I have two base passwords – one that my assistant and husband know, and one that is for personal use only.

10. Colornote. On my phone, just as I do with ToDoist on my desktop, I use a to-do list app. This allows me to write out a checklist or text document that I can later transfer to ToDoist if I am traveling.

11. Inspiring workspace. I have never had a space of my own that I have found inspirational, so this year I redecorated. I got new desks, a filing cabinet, and I even decorated my walls. I filled my office with props that I have used in photo shoots and hung my work on my walls (other artists coming soon). Everywhere I look there is a touch of something personal and special, and it makes me feel excited to sit down to work every day.

You can check out the video for what my new office looks like.

How do you keep organized? Any special tips that make you feel extra healthy, productive, or motivated?

If I had videotaped myself a year ago, or 6 months ago, or even a couple months ago dealing with this exact situation…it would have been uncomfortable. Disappointment is just not something I can stomach. But this time was different. I was different.

I had my initial gut reaction. I let myself have it. I didn’t break down, but I let myself feel the hurt. Quickly though, I moved past it, and I did so with three steps. Simple, but life-changing for me.

The first thing that I did was to immediately begin reciting positive mantras to myself, out loud. I just started spewing off anything I could think of that would lift my spirits and allow me to remember my worth.

The second thing that I did was to remember the big picture. What was happening hurt in that moment, but it would not define who I am or what my career is. It would simply be, and then it would be forgotten over time.

The third thing that I did, and most importantly for me, is that I reacted quickly. We have the opportunity, during any given situation, to decide how we feel about it. I decided, right there and then, exactly how I was going to handle the situation (by writing out solutions and taking action immediately). This helped tremendously in making me feel like I had control over something that seemed out of my hands.

We are all creatives, and a lot of us pursue creativity either as a passionate hobby or as our professions. As such, we know what it is like to put ourselves out there and receive criticism. Many of us suffer from anxiety given the right situation. How do you overcome it?

Would you be willing to share a tip or two that you practice to overcome fear, anxiety, or criticism?

I created an image of a blue origami crane not too long ago, and accidentally saved over that high-res Photoshop file as a smaller image before I backed it up. Totally, 100%, stupidly my fault. I was upset about it. I wasn’t even sure of what to do, since a gallery had already expressed interest in showing it. It wasn’t just me I had let down. So I broke the news, and everyone moved on without a second thought, and I decided to not let it upset me.

What good is doing what you love if you dwell on the bad? Bad things will happen whether we want them to or not, just as the good will. The only difference from one life to another is how we choose to see those situations. I’ve seen people with almost nothing to live off of smile and laugh as though they had everything; and opposite, I have seen people with everything who are miserable. I like to think of life as an illusion. We make it up as we go, and our reactions to the world shape how we understand the world.

This might seem a bit dramatic for a lost file, but that event simply sparked change in me to live life to a greater degree: to care less about the truly unimportant and to care more about what matters. I made a decision in this instance to stop thinking about how sad I was to lose the picture, and instead create a new one that I love. I thought about recreating the image exactly, and I still might attempt it, but for the moment I was freshly inspired and decided to go a different direction.

I put more story into the new picture, adding a Mother Nature theme and titling the image “Empty Nest” to bring home the idea that we all lose something, and it is our job to see beauty in the darkness. There is always beauty waiting to be discovered, and one could argue that there is always darkness, too. We have this tendency to see the darkness all around us, so if we search for beauty we are always traveling, looking for light, and experiencing all the goodness there is in the world.

Do not push away the darkness; shine a light on it.

These are 5 ways that could help in overcoming adversity:

1. Let yourself feel it…

Let yourself be angry, sad, upset, etc…It is natural and healthy to feel emotions. But don’t allow those negative emotions to define you.

2. What if someone were watching…

React to situations the way you would react if someone you didn’t know were watching. We have a tendency to become complacent in how we react to the world because it becomes routine. But what if you had to make a good impression? How would you react?

3. There is always something out there…

Terrible things happen in this world, a million times worse than losing a silly file. No matter what the situation, you are at the center of it, and it can feel very dramatic. Remember that when you do move on, there will be more to discover and be impassioned by.

4. Channel your emotion…

Learn to see your emotions as inspiration for your art. Turn that emotion into an image, or whatever your artform is, and be inspired by yourself.

5. Know who you want to be…

Write down 5 words that describe the person you want to be in the future. This is something to work toward. How would that person react to the situation?

INSPIRED
KIND
LOVING
AMAZED
CENTERED

What are your 5 words?

Growth.
Confidence.
Success.
Happiness.
Rejuvenation.
Potential.
Possibility. 

These are 5 lies we so often tell ourselves:

1. Other people know best.

How often are you quick to believe what other people have to say about you, but even faster to dismiss your own opinions? We have a tendency to hear something negative about ourselves and believe it to be true, when our own feelings play a small part in how we perceive ourselves. Stop telling yourself the lie that someone else’s vision of you is the right one. You should be the first to form an opinion about yourself, and all else is for you to take or leave.

2. The future will be better.

I love telling this to myself. I love feeling like the future is going to be better. And this isn’t really a lie, as much as it is an instigator to a bad situation. If you always tell yourself the future will be better, chances are you aren’t doing a lot to fix the situation you are in now. Instead of saying “the future will be better”, do something about your life as it is, in this moment, right now. Make changes and live those changes. Tell yourself that your life is always changing because you make it so, and that you are in control of your situation.

3. Its out of my control.

Here’s the thing. Sometimes what happens to us does feel like it is out of our control. But what isn’t out of our control is how we react to the things that happen to us. We have the power to change any situation with how we react to it, so next time you’re feeling like you’ve been dealt a bad hand – handle it differently. See the positive side of all things, no matter how difficult, heartbreaking, or irritating it might be. There is a silver lining if you create one.

4. There’s a right way, and there’s a wrong way.

Stop lying to yourself about why things aren’t going your way. In other words, if one idea doesn’t work, try again, or try another. There is no right way of doing things. Never glorify another person for their success, create your own in your own way.

5. I’m not good enough.

When I was in high school I tried harder than anyone I knew. I studied for hours a day and cared a lot about how well I did or didn’t do. Turns out, I didn’t do so well. When I’m about to tell people what my GPA was they pat me on the shoulder and say it couldn’t have been that bad…but then they always give me that face…that one that says: Oh, wow, didn’t see that coming. I went through those years of my life and some after believing that I simply wasn’t smart. That I didn’t have it in me. What I’ve learned since is that I couldn’t have been any more wrong if I tried. Certainly I have no memory whatsoever, and that hindered me greatly in school, but there is more than one way to be smart.

We are all good enough. We are all beautiful people. We all possess something unique and individual, and the sooner you stop lying to yourself about that the sooner you can blossom into the person you want to be and the person that others want you to be. If I had continued believing that I wasn’t good enough, I may never have pursued my passions in life. You never know how you are going to excel. You may surprise yourself.

So take a leap today. Stop lying to yourself about the things you can’t do. Become the person you were meant to be, and as always, promote your passion.

What lies do you tell yourself?
What lies will you stop telling yourself?

By preparing yourself to succeed, you take away the frustrating parts of running a business or being creative. So instead of having an idea and then trying to do it all at once, consider what can be done beforehand to make the actual implementation of the idea smoother and more efficient.

One easy example is cooking. If you go to the grocery store and think everything looks good, then get home and have no idea what to do with it, that can be a problem in many ways. The food goes bad, you lost money, and you’re stuck with a ton of rotting veggies…or at least that’s what happens in my home. So instead, go to the grocery store only when you have a recipe, buy what you need, and when you get home, prepare the food. I don’t mean cook and eat it necessarily, but if you bought fruit or vegetables you might consider chopping them up and putting them in storage containers for when you are ready to cook. Then, all you have to do is open the containers and throw the ingredients in.

Another example would be exercising in the morning. A lot of people like to wake up through exercise, but it can be daunting to be groggy and tired and to be confronted with a 3-mile run. So instead of waking up and having to prepare yourself, make yourself excited the night before. Lay your favorite workout clothes out so you don’t have to look for something to wear. Make a smoothie and put it in the fridge the night before so you have a treat to look forward to. All of these things will help with the motivation to follow through with something when that motivation might be lacking.

So, how does this relate to a creative endeavor?

These are 5 things that I am personally implementing in my life to prepare myself for success:

1. Keep a journal of creative ideas accessible at all times so that if you are inspired, you don’t have to try and remember your idea. You are always prepared to write it down. I keep a document in Google Drive so that I  can access it anywhere, and I also keep a notebook with me when I can. And heck, if I’m on an airplane and haven’t got a book, I write on the puke bag. Oh yes. Not recommended.

2. Have necessary contracts and pricing already worked out before you go into business so that you don’t feel tempted to compromise your worth or principles. My biggest hiccups in business have come from not having a streamlined structure for pricing or for doing business with clients. The moment I set a contract in place and firmed up my pricing for all of my services, I was able to complete my email inquiries twice as fast and with the peace of mind in knowing that I didn’t mess anything up.

3. Set 30 minutes or more for yourself per week to do what you are passionate about. The worst thing anyone can do to achieve success is to get burnt out, so even though life can be hectic and it might seem like there is just no time for inspiring yourself, I believe that is the worst mistake anyone can make. To not allow yourself free time to be inspired is to trip yourself up later down the road.

4. Clean your equipment before you come close to using it. This is similar to the food analogy above. If you are a painter, have your brushes cleaned well before you have that creative spark. If you’re a photographer, have your memory cards clear before going on a shoot. If you are a writer, make sure your desktop is clean so that everything is organized. Doing these things well before you are going to use your tools will help to make the creative task that much more enjoyable.

5. Write a rough daily schedule for yourself and put it up on a wall in your work area. You don’t have to follow it strictly, but it will help to keep you paced, focus on what is important, and be productive without multitasking. My daily routine is below!

I hope that these plans for success have helped…

What will you do to prepare for success?

Brooke’s Daily Schedule

6AM-7:30AM

Stretching/Yoga/Meditation

Breakfast/Grocery Shopping

7:30AM-10AM

Admin Work
(social media, emails)

10AM-12PM

Writing
(novel, self-help book)

12PM-1PM

Lunch

1PM-2PM

Ambitions
(documentary, convention, motivational speaking)

2PM-4PM

Admin Work
(presentations, emails,workshops, travel, file organization)

4PM-7PM

Creativity
(editing, shooting, writing, video production)

7PM-9PM

Dinner

1. Shoot with a dark background.

This tip is definitely one of those that should be considered with your personal style. For example, I was shooting with someone just last week who wanted to shoot a white dress on a white background to blow out the highlights and make her look angelic. That simply isn’t my style, but is still amazing nonetheless. In my experience, I find the image to be more striking when the subject is lit but the background is not, and one way to simulate this is to sink a black backdrop. Of course skin tones should be contrasting as much as possible in order to get that *pop*, so be aware of this when choosing a background. 

2. Even lighting.

When I am creating an image, I enjoy natural, even light, and so that would be my recommendation for underwater as well. But my reason for suggesting this goes further – if natural, harsh light from the sun is shining down on a subject underwater, you get reflections from the water on the skin which creates harsh highlights and shadows that can be difficult to work with. Using external lighting or photographing in indirect light can solve this potential problem.

3. Swim down!

When posing your model, give him or her a pose, have your model swim to the bottom and then have them hit the pose and start to float up. This will eliminate most confusion about what to do first because the model has a clear structure in mind: swim to the bottom, pose, naturally float up. This gives you more time to photograph the model and different options as well for angles.

4. Lens choice.

I prefer a 24 or 28mm lens when shooting underwater because of how murky the water can be. I find that anything wider distorts the subject too much, while anything tighter makes it too difficult to see underwater because of the potential murkiness.

5. Take more shots than you think you need.

The worst feeling is doing a shoot and then only later realizing that you didn’t get the perfect shot because a body part wasn’t quite looking elegant enough. So take more shots than you think you need, and you’ll be well prepared for potential compositing later.

6. Pay attention to the hands and face!

Have you ever tried modeling underwater? If so, you can probably attest to the fact that keeping your hands looking graceful and your face like you’re not underwater is extremely difficult. As a result, these are the two things you should pay attention to while shooting so that you don’t have to re-shoot. The hands will naturally want to balance the subject and so they often keep moving to keep the model in place, while the face is so busy trying not to suck water up that it often looks puffed, which is what I like to call “underwater face”.

7. The bubbles the bubbles the bubbles!

When shooting, specify if you want bubbles in the shot. This can be created from the model by blowing out or thrashing her body. You can also employ an assistant to create bubbles from under the water or above.

8. Avoid the murk!

If you are shooting in a murky, natural body of water, remember that you will have to take longer to shoot. When you are in place and your model is as well, hold your positions while taking test shots to see when the murkiness has subsided. When it does, ask your model to pose. You should be able to get about 1-5 good shots off before the dust comes back up and you have to wait again. Avoid locations like lakes and very choppy ocean water where the water is stagnant or moving too fast, as these spaces will be extremely murky. 

9. Wardrobe.

I often choose a contrasting color for my wardrobe underwater. Bright colors work well for me because I can always desaturate them later, yet at the same time they naturally stand out underwater where colors might get dulled down from murkiness. 

10. Bring a friend or assistant.

When shooting a model underwater, always have a helper standing by in case something goes wrong. Long dresses or heavy dresses become far less manageable when under the water because they can get tangled around the model’s legs or pull her down. I like to have someone standing by to jump in and help just in case this happens. 

11. The basic courtesies.

Underwater modeling is extremely challenging, and it is likely that your model will be tired, cold, and hungry afterwards. When getting started, let him or her know that they should clearly communicate how they are feeling or if they need a break. I try to ask after every few shots how the model is doing, and always let him or her know that when that person needs out of the water, we will get out immediately. I bring along towels and sweaters to wrap the model in when we get out, and either have a hot tea ready or drive to the local cafe to get warmed up. 

I hope that you find these tips to be helpful in some way! Underwater photography is something that I have long loved for the way that we can experience a whole new world in a photograph. Not all of these tips apply to everyone, so keep that in mind and as always, try something new and fun! I’m absolutely thrilled that I love my new little camera since it makes shooting anytime, anywhere easier and more fun for the ease of it.

This is not a sponsored post in any way – I simply did research online and purchased the camera which I thought would be the closest match to a DSLR….so far, so good!

The camera used in this video and for the resulting images is a Panasonic Lumix. Big thank you to the models: Kyna Lian for braving that hugely cold creek, and Marsha Denlinger for modeling not only for myself but also for my class at After Dark Education! Thank you to Rocio Mirelis for filming behind the scenes footage with my camera, and to Celine Michelle with Sweetlight for filming underwater with her GoPro!