Ever see a professional belly dancer who is constantly producing material and “accomplishing so much stuff”? Wonder how they do it all without losing their minds?

After 7.5 hours of sewing today, marketing, and tons of writing I had to do, I thought it would be fun to talk about the juggling act that is part of being a professional belly dancer and most importantly how to deal!

No matter whether you are a belly dancer or not, this blog is for you if you are wondering how to “fit it all in” schedule wise and not go insane. Whether you are a mommy/daddy, business owner, salesman, student, day job holder or all 5, this blog is for you.

The Truth

1. Underneath all the smiles, all the awards, all the travels, workshops, connections, and gigs, is a very overworked, relentless, and strong person. What people see as success comes from blood, sweat, tears, lack of sleep, and mucho balls lol!

2. If you think a “doer” does not have moments of hysteria, anxiety, or exhaustion you are wrong. We are all human lol! We all have our moments, but what separates the great feats of accomplishment in an individual from those that don’t achieve much is the determination to strive on no matter what, and take every hit as just that , a “hit”, and not letting it slow one down!

So How Do You Do it All?

Simple in theory… every day is planned out a week ahead with big priorities being broken down into smaller chunks throughout the week. Everything has an order of importance and “very important”, “somewhat important, and “non-important” items are all weighed accordingly.

• Stir it up! Do a “few hours of something that is VERY important to you each day that MUST be completed (getting  a piece of choreo done, writing content, teaching, urgent emails/calls), mix that with a few hours of the “somewhat important” tasks such as social marketing, phone calls, and emails, and for in between and mental breaks, do the non-important items such as calling friends, reading your facebook newsfeed, or pinterest for my pintobsessed peeps….

• When you plan your week ahead make sure to include family time, honey time, and friend time in doses appropriate compared to your workload. This is important in making you not get burnt out. We are highly social creatures and to feel balanced we need to make time to nurture that as part of our overall health not only as businessmen, but as humans.

• DO not make the mistake of labeling everything as important. If you want to get things done, you have to learn to look at things objectively and be cut throat with yourself as a business owner. That means no sitting on social media all day and wasting hours of valuable productivity time. KNOW your limits and stay away from things you KNOW will distract you from your goals.

• Watching t.v., hanging out with friends every day, and other “fun” stuff is not an excuse to not get something done. In fact watching t.v., hanging out with friends, and phone calls to friends are the last thing on my “to-do” list. Only once items are completed do I allow myself those wonderful treats, otherwise, time is a ticking and it needs to go to something productive.

Ok so how do you organize your packed schedule and not go insane? Tell me business owners (whether professional belly dancer or other discipline), what is your method?