How I Stay (Mostly) Sane as a Freelance Artist with a Toddler and a Newborn
A realistic productivity system for creative parents who are doing everything, everywhere, all at once 🎨🍼
Being a freelance illustrator with multiple jobs is already a circus act - add a toddler who’s almost 3 and a 3-month-old baby, and suddenly the circus is on fire.
Between deadlines, naps (theirs, not mine), and never-ending snack requests, I needed a system to keep the chaos just structured enough to function. Over the past few years, I’ve built a rhythm that lets me juggle commissions, content creation, writing, and motherhood without completely losing my mind.
This isn’t about perfect routines or productivity hacks that assume you have eight uninterrupted hours. It’s about how to stay creative, flexible, and (mostly) sane when your work life and home life are constantly colliding.
1️⃣ The Sunday (or Monday) Planning Hour
Every Sunday evening (or Monday morning, if the night was... baby-ish), I spend one quiet hour setting up my week.
I open Notion, check my boards, and map out the big picture:
◆ What deadlines are coming up?
◆ Which days do I have childcare or help?
◆ What’s realistic, not idealistic?
It’s not a fancy ritual - usually just me, tea, and a sleeping baby on my chest - but that single hour keeps the rest of the week from imploding.
✨ Pro tip: Treat this planning hour like a meeting with your future self.
2️⃣ Notion: My Second Brain
I swear by Notion (but any project tracker works). I have two main boards:
◆ Social Media & Content Board - for planning posts, carousels, and Reels.
◆ Creative Requests Board - for commissions, client work, and deadlines.
Each board has columns like Idea → In Progress → Sent → Done.
Everything new goes straight into one of them, so I’m never scrambling through emails at 11 p.m.
💁🏻♀️ Why it works: The less your brain has to remember, the more energy you have left for actual creativity. And you’re interested, these are the other tools that keep my freelance life running.
3️⃣ Reminders for Literally Everything
I set reminders (with a timer!) for everything - and I mean everything.
◆ Client deadlines
◆ Invoice follow-ups
◆ “Take your vitamins”
◆ “Switch laundry before it fossilises”
If it’s not in my reminders app, it does. not. exist.
It might sound over-the-top, but it frees up so much mental space. Instead of juggling invisible to-dos, I let my phone be my external brain.
4️⃣ Day-Blocking: My Secret Weapon
In my pre-kids era, I thought multitasking was efficient. Then I tried answering emails with one hand while breastfeeding and realised I was just doing two things badly.
Now, I use day-blocking: dedicating each day to one creative “stream”:
◆ Monday: catch-up day for anything left unfinished last week (I call it my spare day)
◆ Tuesday: art commissions (usually book illustrations)
◆ Wednesday: video + content creation day
◆ Thursday: personal art and pitches (sometimes paid work bleeds in if needed)
◆ Friday: editing + writing for courses and social media
That way, I can stay in one mental zone instead of hopping between wildly different tasks.
🖤 Bonus: it makes it easier to restart after interruptions (which, with kids, happen every 3–7 minutes).
5️⃣ Flexibility: Learning to Let Go
I used to treat plans like law. If something got cancelled or delayed, I’d spiral. Then I became a mum, and life cured me of that perfectionism real fast.
Now I plan with the assumption that something will go wrong: naps will fail, the baby will cluster feed, a deadline will slip. And that’s okay.
If work runs late, it’s usually fixable.
If house jobs don’t get done, it’s not the end of the world.
Most people are kind when you explain that your toddler has the flu.
✨ Perfection is incompatible with parenthood. Progress is enough.
6️⃣ My Support System
Let’s be honest: I don’t do this alone.
◆ My partner splits housework and parenting 50/50.
◆ Our babysitter picks up the toddler twice a week.
◆ Grandma covers Fridays (and sometimes Saturdays).
◆ And my baby? Somehow born understanding he’s the second child and just… goes with it 😂.
Having help isn’t a luxury; it’s survival. Even two extra hours of support a week can unlock an entire creative project.
7️⃣ The Big Picture
If you’re a freelance artist or creative parent trying to do it all: you don’t need to do more (and I’m not the only one who thinks that), you need a system that matches your reality.
Mine is built on:
◆ A one-hour planning session
◆ Two Notion boards
◆ Infinite reminders
◆ Day-blocked work streams
◆ Flexibility + grace
◆ A shared support network
It’s not perfect, but it’s sustainable. And right now, that’s the real goal.
👀 Steal whatever part of this system works for you and leave the rest. Even small changes can turn chaos into something that feels (almost) manageable.
