Why NaNoWriMo (& Other Creative Pursuits) Are Great for Business Owners

If you’re a business owner, it might seem crazy to devote a month to writing a novel (National Novel Writing Month). I’m not saying I’m perfectly sane, but I enjoy writing. And I’ll use NaNoWriMo to give me a goal, some support, and a deadline.

Doesn’t sound all that different from a business goal, does it?

Many business owners are creative, even if they’re in finance, law or whatnot

Our culture tends to paint things as binary. Like, only two genders (biologically wrong), two sides of the brain that each do something completely different (also biologically wrong), etc. One of these myths is that people have either a logical brain or a creative “artsy” one, but not both.

Interestingly, a lot of people hold on to this idea, even after they tell me that they know lots of logical people who enjoy other art forms and vice versa. I myself was in finance, and the whole time I was in corporate America I wrote, mostly on the side. 

I know plenty of accountants who like to make art, and the same with lawyers. I’ve known a number of financial planners who like to write. Lots of coders cosplay, and so on. It’s not really that unusual.

Taking time away from business doesn’t automatically mean a loss of profit

Somehow, too many of us absorbed the idea that the more hours we work, the more money we’ll make. (To be fair, that’s probably true for law firms with billable hours.) Therefore, if you work fewer hours, then you must make less money.

But that’s a fallacy. The premise, that working more hours makes you more money, isn’t a universal law. That means the idea that if you work less you’ll make less is not a universal law either.

One problem is we measure time by what factory workers were doing in the 20th century. It’s not the 20th century anymore, we don’t work in factories, and many of us don’t work with tangible items. For most of us, our working lives have nothing in common with factory workers in the 1900s, so why do we use the 8-hour day as a yardstick?

Probably because it’s easy to measure. Corporate is calling for people to come back to work in the office, not because it has an effect on productivity but because managers want to see people with their butts in seats for 8 hours a day. Regardless of output or results.

If you work longer than 8 hours, you’re not necessarily doing anything meaningful or moving your business forward. In fact, the opposite: you get about 4 to 4 ½ hours of focused, cognitively demanding work a day. Sure, you look like you’re working because you’re spending all the time in your office. But the results you’re getting might not be worth the extra hours.

It also means that if you’re able to get things done in fewer than 8 hours, you don’t need to feel guilty for not working a “full” day. You did work a full day, just not a 1900s factory worker day.

When you’re doing the right work at the right time for your brain, you get a big productivity boost that helps you work fewer hours without losing any revenue or profit.

How can business owners rest and recharge their way to more productivity?

Your brain isn’t a machine or computer or anything else. It’s a fatty blob of electrical and chemical signaling that requires conscious downtime in order to make sure everything in the brain and the body is running properly. 

The human brain can focus intensely for about 45-50 minutes at a stretch. Then it needs a break. Taking in more information (emails, social media feeds) is not a break. Taking a walk, playing with kids and pets, getting a drink of water, staring out the window for a few minutes are all good ways to reset.

It’s also a good idea to reset at the end of the day, before sleep. Many of us flop down in front of the TV and stream something. It’s easy, it’s low-stakes, and unfortunately, it’s not that great for the brain. Passive consumption doesn’t benefit the brain at all. Evening is a great time to play a musical instrument, games with the family, read, paint, draw, and - yep - write.

Not writing like this, which is nonfiction and makes certain demands on the brain. But creative writing, which is a completely different animal. Novels, plays, or whatever challenges you to think more creatively.

How does a busy business owner make time for something like NaNoWriMo?

I’ll never forget a networking group I used to attend before the pandemic. One of the guys was talking about this service he found that would read to you the summaries of great books so you didn’t have to read them yourself. (I think there’s a case to be made that from time to time everyone should attempt a difficult read, but that’s a convo for another time.) 

This app also summarized business and leadership books. He was so excited about finding this service and rhapsodized about how much time he saved doing this. And in the very next breath, no lie, he started talking about his favorite streaming show. I pointed out that if he cut back on the time he spent in front of the TV he’d have more time to read, and he looked at me like I had three heads.

If you need your streaming time every night, just cut back on it a bit for something more active, like game night or painting or whatever. That’s my plan. I watch a lot of horror movies this time of year, but I’ll reduce my streaming time to play with my novel for the month.

Recap (tl; dr)

Anyone can be creative, even if they’re in a logical or mathematical type of business. It’s beneficial for entrepreneurs to spend time being creative away from their companies, as that boosts productivity and encourages creativity.

Are you worried that if you reduce hours you’ll lose money? Schedule a free consult to see if I can help you reclaim some time and grow your profit.