The Beginner Photography Podcast

Prevent Burnout and Stay Creative with TahJah Harmony

• Raymond Hatfield

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#527 In this episode of the podcast, I chat with TahJah Harmony, an inspiring photographer who shares her perspective on managing connectivity and avoiding burnout. TahJah shares her invaluable insights on setting boundaries, balancing hustle initially, establishing business hours, and the significance of rest.

THE BIG IDEAS

  • Set Boundaries: Clearly defined business hours help maintain healthy relationships and provide time to recharge.
  • Embrace Hustle, but Balance: An initial hustle mindset is beneficial, yet balance is crucial for long-term sustainability.
  • Identify Rest: Discover meaningful ways to rest that truly relax you and prevent burnout.
  • Turn Off Notifications: Reducing distractions increases focus and time management, leading to more productive and creative sessions.

PHOTOGRAPHY ACTION PLAN

  1. Establish boundaries: Define specific business hours for client communications and stick to them. Inform your clients about your availability to manage expectations.
  2. Plan for Creative Rests: Schedule regular breaks during your day to step away from work. Choose relaxing activities, like gardening or coffee brewing, to disconnect and recharge.
  3. Manage Notifications: Turn off non-essential notifications on your phone. Use dedicated work times where communication is limited to family or essential contacts.
  4. Evaluate Your Tasks: Conduct an audit of all tasks related to your photography business. Use note cards to identify and outsource less enjoyable tasks, focusing on those that spark creativity.
  5. Pursue Non-Commercial Hobbies: Identify hobbies unrelated to photography and engage in them regularly. Protect these hobbies from becoming side businesses, allowing them to remain sources of inspiration and relaxation.

RESOURCES:
Visit TahJah Harmony's Website - https://www.quaintandwhim.com/
Follow TahJah Harmony on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tahjahharmony/

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Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Taja Harmony:

I hate admitting this. When a client would send me the sweetest email about how much they love their photos, and it's just like, didn't even spark anything in me. It was just kind of like, okay, onto the next thing because I'm hustling and I'm running. I could never have that moment of gratitude. I was just so driven and I just got to the point where I was exhausted. I don't even want to open my emails. And then that's really when I realized, this is what burnout feels like when the thing that was my creative outlet, the thing that sparked me and gave me so much joy is not fulfilling that. It's just draining so much out of me was really when I realized like, okay, this is what burnout is.

Raymond Hatfield:

Hey, welcome to the beginner photography podcast. I'm your host, Raymond Hatfield. And each week I try to interview one of the world's most interesting photographers to learn what it really takes to capture beautiful images so that you can start to do the same. In today's rewind episode, we are chatting with lifestyle photographer, Taja Harmony about filling your creative health bucket. But first, you know, this, the beginner photography podcast is brought to you by Cloudspot. With CloudSpot, you can simplify your business with studio management, organize clients, send professional contracts, and automate invoice payments and more. With CloudSpot, keeping track of everything just got a whole lot easier. So go ahead and grab your free forever account over at deliverphotos. com and only upgrade when your business is ready. Getting into photography today is I think it'd be extremely hard. We get into photography for this creative expression, but quickly we're just bombarded with messages and these ideas of, start a photography business. It's, easy money or we try to emulate photographers who we see online, who are making popular images in the hopes that maybe our work will get recognized too. But these things can quickly lead to burnout. And today's guest Taja Harmony experienced all of that as well. And she's going to share how she's able to avoid burnout by making sure that she takes time to fill her creative health bucket. So today we discuss how to set boundaries for personal and professional camera time so that we can show up with the right mindset, how to maintain your personal creative health and do more of the things that light you up and less of the aspects of photography that you dread. We talk about how baking and rock climbing has made her a better photographer and so much more. I know you're gonna love this one, so let's just go ahead and get on into today's interview with Taja Harmony. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'm excited that you're here today. You are one of these people who I found. It's actually a really crazy story how I found you. I was looking, for tools. to help better with photography workflows. And you left a comment on somebody's blog, and it was, very upbeat, it was very happy, it was very excited. And I thought, wow, this person is like really, obviously appreciative of what's going on. So I clicked on a link and it showed your name and then, wow, this sounds really bad. And then I Googled your name. and then there you were, you popped up, there was your website, there was, your podcast as well. And just digging in, I could tell that you are a force of somebody who wants to do good things in the world, who is really excited about what it is that you do, that you have a lot of passion. And sometimes I feel like that's lacking from a lot of other photographers. just in, in our industry, I suppose. So, wow, that was a really long, introduction. I apologize for that, but overall what I'm trying to say is Taja, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.

Taja Harmony:

Thank you so much for having me. That's so crazy. I always love to see like how, people end up finding each other. Cause it's always a crazy story like that. So I love it.

Raymond Hatfield:

It is. And I feel like that happened more oddly enough when we spent more time just like talking to friends and family and, who do you know, and, In building those relationships, but now that it's all on the internet. I feel like there's less of that So whenever you can find that little piece of gold, I suppose it's always very fun so yeah, excited to have you on today. We're talking about creative health. We're talking about Feeling better as artists, but before we get into any of that Can you share how you got started in photography in the first place?

Taja Harmony:

Yes. So I have always gone to performing like art schools. And so I started learning how to be in the dark room and developing photos when I was actually eight. it was a class that I could take when I was in school and it was just something that I kind of like. Carried with me. I was always like a socially awkward, child and things like that. And so when I would go to like parties or any kind of social events, I just had my camera with me. Cause it gave me a job and I was like, I'll just walk around and take pictures and I don't have to talk to people. and so I ended up going to college for art, but I ended up just really gravitating towards photography. When I graduated, I got a degree actually, Like I was an app developer. So it was really into like game design and animation. And so I did that for a little while when I graduated college. I got a job for the state as an app developer and, I just always did photography on the side. And it got to the point where it was like, I had to choose, like, do I want to continue doing like the tech stuff or do I want to do more photography? and so I was like, I'm young, I'm just going to take the leap and do photography full time. And that has been what I've been doing for the past eight years.

Raymond Hatfield:

Wow, okay. So a lot of questions right there. First of all, I love that story. I can relate so much. I was totally that socially awkward kid who brought that camera with me everywhere. It's easy because it's like suddenly you have a screen that you can like protect yourself, that you can stand behind. So I totally get that. So first question is this dark room experience that you had at eight years old, this was an option from your school?

Taja Harmony:

Yes.

Raymond Hatfield:

So like chemicals and developer and bleach were just given to eight year olds and you were able to develop your own photos?

Taja Harmony:

Yes, it was definitely very supervised, very like kid friendly and things like that. But, yeah, it was just like the, we would take our black and white film, with the 35 millimeter, and then we would like go into the dark room and they would kind of like let us like photograph it with the enlarger. And the teacher mostly did like the developing, developing part of it. but yeah, that was like, which is crazy to think this is what happens when you like went to school in the early nineties, it was okay.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, I know. I feel that that's hilarious. That's awesome. That's a very cool story. I wish that, I had a similar experience like that. I was in yearbook when I was in middle school and, um, I remember our school for some reason got a grant to get like a digital camera and it's funny. It's actually This isn't the camera, but this is the same style camera, but it's like the sony has a floppy disc. I had that

Taja Harmony:

camera.

Raymond Hatfield:

Seriously?

Taja Harmony:

Yes.

Raymond Hatfield:

This camera was this is what like started it all for me and I was very excited About digital photography. I thought oh cool. Like we're done with film Even though like, you know, I was in middle school. I had no idea what I was talking about. But Sometimes I feel like this held me back a little bit from learning and growing as a photographer. Cause I never had that darkroom experience, growing up. I never had like a photography class in school. I had yearbook, but it was just digital photography. It wasn't until pretty recently actually that I started to get into developing my own film. Sorry, I'm totally going off on a tangent there. let's get back to you. you were really into photography. tell me about this, difference between. coding app developing and then also going to an art college. how did that work? How did that work out?

Taja Harmony:

There's so many tangents to the story. I'm the most complicated, college story, but I started off as a music major and when I was going to school for that, I kind of was just like, Oh, I'm. Don't want to do this anymore. Like I just wanted to change and I wanted to do art, never taken an art class in my life besides like doing photography. but it was like, I've just never, I just wanted to change my major to art and the art school would not accept me. There are just like the Dean of the art college was just like, you don't have a portfolio. You've never taken art high school. Like you cannot be. So I showed up every day for a week until they allowed me into the program.

Raymond Hatfield:

Whoa.

Taja Harmony:

And so once I was done and actually got into the school, I was terrible at art, like I was so bad. I couldn't even draw a cube. Like I was trying to like draw a cube and I didn't know how to, cause I've just never experienced it, but I loved how challenging it was. And my teachers were always like, you need to change your major. Like you are not an artist. Like you need to

Outro:

leave. Um,

Taja Harmony:

And that was also how I ended up taking a photography class. Cause I was like, I do know how to do this. Like I was like, I know how to take photos. And I was more interested in like what the computers could do with art. Like I loved Photoshop, when I was younger and I didn't even know that you could major in Photoshop, which was probably why the Dean wouldn't let me in. Cause I was like, I want to major in Photoshop. And he's like, that is not a thing. Like you can't be in here. And so I just, I loved how you could use the computers to express yourself and do things with art. Cause I was actually really terrible at doing it by hand. And when I was going to school, I just remembered how much I loved computer. I really enjoyed my computer science classes in high school. And when I was doing more and more of like the computer science part of it, I just was like, Oh, you can actually mix these two things together. And that's kind of how I got really interested in like video game design and animation. Cause I just loved how you can express things and like in the movement that you could do. and so I actually was one of the very first. at LSU to take computer science classes. And I was the very first person to double major in art and computer science that they actually ended up creating a minor so that people could do art and computer science and at LSU, at least because other schools were more like how arts and other schools were more accepting of there being this tech side to art while the school. College I was in, it was all like studio, museum, art collecting, like that type of art.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Yeah. I bet. Wow. That's very cool. That's very cool. that you found a way to blend those two things together and that they allow you essentially to do that. And that you found this, path for yourself. And, but I'm interested, I want to know a little bit more about kind of the photography side of things right now, which is When you were eight, right? When you're shooting with, you know, you're shooting 35mm. were you shooting, was it auto? Were you already shooting manual? Where I'm trying to get at here is, What was the hardest part about photography for you to learn when you were just getting started?

Taja Harmony:

When I was just getting started, I think the hardest part of photography for me to learn, I think it was mostly, Figuring out what I wanted to shoot. I had a really hard time. I think even all the way until college and I think I still struggle with that now. is that when I first held a camera and I remember like taking a photo. Oh, and holding a print in my hand. I was just kind of like, I can show people how I see the world. and it was just as very impactful and strong thing at the age of eight that I was just like, I can finally show people the way that I see the world, because I just felt like the way that I saw things was very different than everyone else, like how I process things and I was super imaginative and, things like that. And so. I just always had a very hard time of just like putting this pressure on photography to be able to like explain how I see the world or like give power to like my voice. I always wanted something to express without having the words to it. Cause I always felt like I didn't have the words, but I could visually represent things. and I think that it's still even at from that young age into even being an adult, I'm just like, I just feel like this pressure of being able to like tell these very strong stories

Raymond Hatfield:

I feel like you crawled into my brain and you said exactly my story as well. that's incredible. how old were you? obviously you enjoyed photography for a while. So at what point did you decide, you know what? I love photography. I want to make this a big part of my life.

Taja Harmony:

It definitely wasn't until college. Cause it was just kind of something that I did. I didn't even necessarily think that it Was it talent or a skill? Cause it was just something that I've just always just kind of done. It was always kind of like my safety thing. It was like how I, I just enjoyed doing it. and when I started college, because I had such a hectic schedule, I couldn't work and so I kind of was like, that's when I learned about wedding photography and working on the weekend. So I started my photography business when I was in college and I just kind of would photograph things on the weekends and like get paid so I could Spend all this money on art supplies because art school is so expensive. And, um, that was kind of like the beginning of the journey with it. And it really wasn't until I like truly graduated and I had the full time job. Cause it was like, that's like what you're taught. You're taught to have the nine to five, to have the full time job and to, and, and all of those things. And so it was like, when I had that, I realized like, wait, Photography is actually a job. Like people were actually paying me to do this. And it was so fulfilling hearing people say like how impactful their photos meant to them and how, especially things where it's like you, when you've doing things for so long, hearing people say like the photo that you took of my mom, on our wedding day was actually the photo that we used, for her obituary. And it's just like things when you're like. Wow, like I wasn't even thinking of, I was just thinking about photographing your wedding. I wasn't thinking about like capturing those people and those things and like just hearing those stories just really like inspired me into really becoming passionate and telling stories through photography. Wow,

Raymond Hatfield:

yeah, that's a powerful moment, isn't it? Geez.

Taja Harmony:

Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

I know that as, new photographers, new photographers oftentimes feel that The photography itself is what can fulfill us creatively, right? It's a new skill. Maybe, you know, you're working that nine to five here. We have this new thing. It's photography. It's very fun. It's creative from a creative health standpoint. When did you first feel burnout from your photography? Sorry, this is a kind of a roundabout question. tell me about when you first felt that burnout as having photography as a creative outlet. And then feeling the burnout from that. Do you remember when that was and can you tell me what that felt like?

Taja Harmony:

Oh, that's such a good question. I think it was when you first start your business. And this is also the mindset that you need to have when you first start your business. Everything is, Hustle, hustle, hustle. It's this constant drive of being motivated of like, you know, you have the girls with the Beyonce cups. That's like, I have the same amount of hours in a day as Beyonce. And so like, I can be as successful and everything is like, it's hustle, stay humble, hustle hard. And it's just like this constant, I Always felt like I had to go, go, go, go, go and just run as fast as I could. It was like, as soon as I was done with my nine to five job, I was coming home and I was editing, I was responding to emails. I was working on my website. I was building this business. But then once it was built, I still had that hustle mentality where I would. Just like chasing after every dollar, getting all the clients constantly being on social media. And I just realized after like that five year mark of doing that, that I was like, I am tired. I cannot hustle anymore. And it was like, especially when I would even get a new inquiry or even getting, which is going to sound so terrible. I hate admitting this. when a client would send me the sweetest email about how much they love their photos, and it's just like, didn't even spark anything in me. It was just kind of like. Okay, onto the next thing because I'm hustling and I'm running and I just have to get now I have to get the new thing. It was like, I never took that. I could never have that moment of gratitude. I was just so driven and I just got to the point where I was exhausted. was like, I can't respond I don't even want to open my emails. I don't want to open my camera. It's like, if I had another had to do another shoots, all weekend long, it was just. It was too much. And then that's really when I realized, this is what burnout feels like when the thing that was my creative outlet, the thing that sparked me and gave me so much joy is not fulfilling that. It's just draining so much out of me was really when I realized like, okay, this is what burnout is.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I can relate to that as well. that's a tough feeling. How do you define, creative health?

Taja Harmony:

I love that. So creative health is definitely something that, I was having coffee with one of my friends and she was talking about like her physical, her mental and her spiritual health. And she was like, I feel like all of these things are being fulfilled. I'm like, I'm working out, I'm eating well. I am like enjoying my family. I feel very spiritual and connected. The world. She's like, but I still just always feel so burned out that it's not connecting to my work. Cause she was a joy maker. And so she just felt like very uninspired to create things, even though everything in her life was going very well. And I felt the same. And I was telling her how I felt the same way. And I was like, what if as creatives, we had like this creative health bucket that needed to be fulfilled, just like our mental, spiritual, and physical health, because a lot of times we read things about like. Self help where it's like, you know, turn your mind off your computer Enjoy the time with your family take a bubble bath like all of those things But the unfortunately as creatives like what we do is so conceptual that our minds go everywhere with us So it's like even when i'm watching a movie i'm like analyzing the light and looking at it thinking about emails when i'm on vacation, i'm constantly just like If I could just check my emails, I would feel so much better. it's like, I needed like a hard reset. Cause our minds are so used to always going. And so it was kind of like understanding, maybe like there's this aspect of what we do, where we actually need to figure out how to creatively fulfill this self help that we would, need. And so that was kind of the, the. The beginning of the creative health podcast.

Raymond Hatfield:

tell me more about that. what did you discover in that time? How did you start to grow and start to fulfill your creative health bucket?

Taja Harmony:

Great. So I think that this looks different for everyone. And it's really about like auditing and analyzing everything that you do. so one of the very first things that I usually will tell people to do is take note cards, like Individual note cards and write down everything that you do from for your business So it can be something anything where it's like we respond to emails. We do taxes we do wedding photography, or maybe you edit this and that's just like writing down all the things that you do so that you can actually visually see how exhausted you are, because you'll have like a stack of note cards individually, where you're just like, ah, one person cannot do all of these things, as much as it's like, we love to be that person that can do, but you can't do all of those things very well. And so what I do is I kind of go and do this, like Marie Kondo, the kind of method where it's like looking at every individual note card and just be like Do I like doing this part of my job? Like does this spark joy or it could I hand this off to someone else? and so that kind of also begins that journey of you understanding like I feel like I don't like responding to emails and doing client work or any of that client back and forth. and scheduling is, is very draining for me. I might need to hire a virtual assistant. So it's like, or if you're just like, I love taking photos, but I don't love editing them. I might need to hire an editor. so it's mostly. just kind of going from a very like logical standpoint of a backbone standpoint of just going through everything that you do and figuring out like ways that you can like pass that on to other people so you can do focus on the thing that makes you very passionate which is probably you know like the creativity and the actual Go work. And it takes that brain space away. also like finding a new passion, which is very hard, especially in this day and age, because usually when we find a passion we try to make it a business. So it's like, if you start like, it's just like what we do. even if you start like, I love doing calligraphy and I love writing and doing these watercolor works, and then you start posting them on Instagram and then you're like, I can sell these, I'm going to make that into a business. And so we're constantly figuring out how to do things like that. So finding something that actually restores you creatively, that. Isn't necessarily a side hustle. Like don't try to create another side hustle. I'm mine has been cooking and also like, so baking is very important to me. And then rock climbing, having those creative outlets to have something like physical taken out of me also like. Brings back a new fresh set of eyes like to my work when I started like being around different people and with rock climbing that just kind of really inspired me and as well as doing things like baking just little things like that can actually re inspire and fill you up when you go back to your client work.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh my gosh, that was a pretty clear definition of when something should be a business and when it shouldn't be a business. that's a very analytical look at things and I appreciate that because in this artistic world that we live in, a lot of times there's this gray area of what, you know, of, when you can make money and when is it okay and when you should keep things artistic. So, I appreciate you sharing that and how to essentially how to be a happier business owner. that's what it was. That was great. let's go back to art college for a moment. I'm thinking about this because Art college is this place where I went to film school. So I don't know if it's, it's not exactly like an art college. We didn't, draw anything. but the idea of creativity was kind of fostered and it was kind of promoted to, to grow within us. And I'm thinking about back at that time, I didn't feel any sort of creative burnout, really. Was there anything for you that you saw maybe there was a spark of where burnout could come from?

Taja Harmony:

That is such a such a good question. when I was due in art, in art college, I took all the classes. I would also inspire people to take all the classes because I knew that I loved art and I knew that I really liked the technical side of things, but I didn't necessarily know like how that would marry together. and so I just took a ton of classes and Which was such a really great experience because I got to use different mediums I would have never been exposed to if I didn't go to college and I also got to, just use different software and technologies that I didn't even know existed, which was really, really great. And it wasn't until. My last year in college and it was during one of the second to last critiques and like in college Like if you have gone to art school, you only go to school. You only have to go to class on critique days Everything else is like studio hours So it's just like you making and doing and everything but when it's like critique days Like when you actually bring your project in like that's like literally the most important day of class and I remember just my computer crashed and I lost a bunch of stuff that I was doing. And, I just felt super uninspired. I really realized that I just really stretched myself super, super thin. And I didn't go to critique, which I still cannot believe that I didn't do it. But I just remember one of my, friends, she was the classmate. Told the teacher was like, Taja's not feeling well. And so she's not coming to critique. And the teacher was like, I was waiting for her to unravel. And I was like, so just the fact that someone saw that I was like hustling and just doing everything and like, and just was like, this girl's about to crash. I didn't even know. And like, just having that, that feeling of being like, I cannot even get out of bed or even have the courage to just show up and be like, Hey, like everything I had on my computer crashed. And like, I need to extend my date. that was kind of like a wake up call for me of being like I am doing too much like I Really need to go back and figure out I don't need to like carpe diem every single second of my life And I don't need to take Every single class because I might never get to take that class Like I was such a like I just wanted to fulfill every second of my life and really not realize Your body needs rest so much that it will force you to rest. And the most inconvenient time for you, it's going to be like the most important moment in your life where you're like, I have to a thousand percent be there, and that is when your body's like, you know what? We're not showing up today. you need to chill, you need to stop. And so it's so much, it's so important to build that in for yourself. So when you do have such a big event, like you can actually show up to it because at the end of the day, your body. It's gonna stop like it totally does.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh my gosh. what did you do after that? As far as school went? Were you able to get an extension? And then did you just take a week off and just sleep the whole time to try to recover what happened?

Taja Harmony:

I was able to get an extension and my teacher was like, I'm just very fortunate of all the teachers that I had. It was this one that was just like, like it was, it worked out fine. But it really was the beginning of things where I was just like, I remember my brother telling me, he made a comment. He was like, when you rest, when you have your downtime, he's like, you're watching YouTube videos on how to. Do photography or how to do art? And he was just like that's not resting and he was like you're reading books On how to do the things that you're in school for all the time He's like that's not resting and I was just like Well, then what's rest? And it was like that. I was like, I was like, what's the difference between watching like us a reality show on tv or in watching A youtuber on every like second of like breaking down a camera and explaining every technical detail Like how is that not rust? and so that was really like the beginning of me realizing that I didn't know what rust was

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh my god, so, tell me about that line then, where and how much, education do you do versus what do you do to actually rest now? Cause I'm interested, cause now, I'm the same way, when I'm done in front of the computer and I'm hanging out with the family, like if they're just watching TV, I'm thinking, I don't want to watch this, so I'll just watch tutorials on my iPad or something, so I'm really interested to hear what you do.

Taja Harmony:

Yeah, and I feel like this looks different. Like, of course, this looks different for everyone. So it's kind of just figuring out like, what works really well with for you. And at first mine was the easiest thing was like getting into mindless television, which was actually really hard for me. Because it was so hard for me that like, I couldn't sit down. And just watch TV. if I sit down and watch TV, it's like, I have to have food. I'm checking my phone. I would start cleaning because I'd like, I'm like, I can't sit still. Like, I was just like, humanly impossible for me to sit still. I hated going to the movies because I was like, I have to sit in this room for an hour and a half. I was like two hours. It's not even, it's like more than that now. And I'm just like, I. Need to talk. I need to do something. I need to like be out into in the world. and so like, I remember being like, I should be able to watch a 30 minute episode and not pick up my phone of something. I should be able to do that. And it was so hard to do. And once I kind of got to the point of just being like, of just kind of turning off my mind and being able to like actually watch an episode of something without like. Trying to do something else. that's kind of like when I realized, okay, like this is what it's like to have your mind turned off that was something that kind of helped me with that. But then I realized I really like plants, like watering my plants and taking care of my plants. I got really into like making coffee. I'm like one of those, Instagram people who was like, I grind my own beans and I like, you know, have my little tea kettle. it was trying to take away the instant from my life. I think was like, I was like, you know, I love coffee and I love when I get a good cup of coffee. Like when they do the pour overs, instead of me just like having a machine that does it for me, maybe I can actually learn how to make it myself and kind of like slow down and let that be like a way that I don't have like this instant gratification. I actually work a little bit for it.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh my gosh, that's so great. Try to take away the instant. Take away the instant. that's a fantastic way to just kind of, summarize this whole episode, essentially. Everything that we're talking about here, you're absolutely right. taking away that instant. I'm gonna let that marinate for a while. That's good. That's really good. When it comes to coffee, do you have a favorite kind of coffee?

Taja Harmony:

I love. Just black coffee. Especially, I'm really big into the French pressing my coffee. I try to like get really into the pour over because it's like it's beautiful and that's usually what everyone likes. But I love just black French pressed coffee. It's my favorite.

Raymond Hatfield:

do you have a favorite like blend of coffee, I guess? Like light roast, dark roast, or somebody who's like really into coffee. What do you prefer?

Taja Harmony:

I gravitate more towards light roasted coffee, especially since I have French press because it's like, it makes it just, just stronger. And like, also, you don't have as much as that, like, it has just like more flavor profile to it. so I gravitate more towards the lightest, lighter roast. And there's actually this really cute coffee shop. Right across the street from me and they make their own beans and it's called French Truck. they're in New Orleans and in Baton Rouge and I love their coffee. That's usually the appearance that I get.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh, that's so cool. you know what I love? There was, forget what the show was, but there was the show that I watched a long time ago that just kind of profiled, Artisans, I suppose, but it was over everything and they I didn't know this was a thing but in Japan There's this chef and he raises his own chickens and because it's not a farm raised chicken because it's not pumped full of antibiotics He's like you can serve it like medium rare if you want to which I had never heard of before I didn't even know that this was a thing I thought that all white meat pork chicken had to be served at like a hundred and you know, 90 degrees or whatever it is But he has figured out a way like he has spent his entire life Focused on these chickens and he knows everything about chickens and when you talk to him You could just sense that this man is a professional like for something that most people just totally take for granted He finds this one very small thing and he just dives deep into it And I find that really inspiring and I'm totally oblivious to the whole coffee world So I kind of feel that same way like oh tell me more about coffee So I appreciate you sharing that with me I never would have guessed that a lighter roast would have been more flavorful and I've never even tried a pour over, I'm gonna have to try that.

Taja Harmony:

You should, you should.

Raymond Hatfield:

Now I got a whole bunch of things that I have to do after this episode.

Taja Harmony:

I'm giving you a whole, I'm gonna like talk about rest, don't hustle, and I'm like, but also here's a whole list of things you should do after this episode.

Raymond Hatfield:

That is perfect, that is hilarious. I want to get back to it. You mentioned talking about, being able to watch a full episode of something without being on our phones. And I'm right there with you, but at the same time, our phones are very, powerful tools. We use them for more than just endless, you know, mindlessly browsing. So are there any sort of apps or programs that you use on your phone to, that helps you fulfill your creative health bucket?

Taja Harmony:

I am not necessarily going to give you an app, but I'm going to To tell you when it comes to notifications is to, uh, turn them off. unless I like, actually sign into Gmail, I don't have like Gmail on my phone, like email and my phone do not go hand in hand. Like I have to be at my desk. On my computer in order to respond to emails. I have time that set that for, I don't have any kind of notifications on my Instagram or Facebook, like anything like that. I just don't have my notifications turned on because it's, you really should try to get to the point where you're blocking off the time for that. And like, right now we're recording this episode during quarantine. So it's like, I don't even need the notifications because I'm on the apps. No time that I'm doing anything. I am just on them. but if I could tell you anything to do like with your phone is to get as many of the notifications off, as possible. I think the only time I'm really alerted is for text messages, but I don't let my clients text message me. So I know that's usually from like friends and family.

Raymond Hatfield:

obviously you've heard of like FOMO, fear of missing out. Have you ever experienced any real ramifications of turning off notifications on your phone or has it all just been everything's been fine? Is this something that we just, you know, create in our heads?

Taja Harmony:

I wasn't experiencing FOMO. I was experiencing a lot of resentment for something that was totally my fault. I can remember, like, Spending time with my family. and I was like, you know, just being with them. I have this little brother who's like 20 years younger than me. And so I was just like spending time with him and having this moment. And I just get this email, like this email from a client who just wanted something. And it's in her email. It just sounded so urgent and it could have been how I read the text message. Also at the end of the day, she doesn't know that I'm with me, but I was just like, why would you send this to me on a weekend that I'm doing something on the Like, it's like, it's so late. but that's when she had her free time, but she's not, you know what I mean? that's when the moment that I realized I was like, this is not healthy. Like, this is not something that I need to be doing. And at the end of the day, like, I can't get to this now because I am with my family, I'm not in front of. can't respond to this. So when I realized that when I did get to my computer, cause when I did get to my computer and I actually like sent her the email, everything was fine. Like I made it a bigger deal than like what it was, but it was because I was able to read it and to see it. And that really just like takes you out of a moment. it's like almost like a, punch. And it's just like, it, it really just like, Take so much out. And so I kind of realized like, I need to set these boundaries to maintain a healthy relationship because like, what if I responded to her and I was just like, how dare you send an email to me at eight o'clock at night? Um, and I said, it makes me sound like I'm being so like sassy to my clients. I'm totally not. I'm like, but it's like, it realized to me that like, I needed to set those boundaries so that I can show up the best way that I can. Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, absolutely. Set boundaries and take away the instant. This is great. This is great. Oh my gosh. this'll be my last question for you. I know that we're running out of time. Is there anything that I haven't asked you or that you, haven't said that you want to make sure that maybe those who are starting to potentially experience burnout understand, about their own creative pursuits?

Taja Harmony:

Yes. So, cause I know that your podcast is for beginner photographers and, I want to really just show that. That is so true. This hustle mindset is what you need in the beginning to be successful. Like if you are working in the day, like you stay up all night on your website and responding to clients and handling things and putting yourself out there and hustling as hard as you can, like that is a part of the process of doing it, but then you get to the point where you have to kind of create a stride. Hustling is not sustainable. It really isn't at the end of the day. when you get to like where you are, like, you can't keep that up for five years. It's like, kind of like with kids, kids have so much energy and they can play, play, play, play, play. And the older that they get, the more that they realize, I am not running all the time. Um, it's like, that's. That thing, it's like you become older, you become wiser. And just when you start out with that hustle and that grind really kind of start paying attention. Like when you're getting more clients, okay, I'm getting more clients. So it's like, I can't be there every second of the day. I might need to start incorporating business hours. I might need to start, like just start auditing yourself and start thinking about thinking about things In that way, and one of the things with the people who I interview In my podcast they talk so much about like walking in the middle of the day so far everyone that I have interviewed they all just talk about if they can just like they work and they work very hard in this like You know, from this time to this time, but then in the middle of the day, they'll go and like walk their dog or just jog around or just like go explore outside a little bit. And then they come back with like a fresh set of eyes to like, and they realize that they can solve a problem so much quicker. That has also just kind of been like an overarching thing that I've noticed from people who have experienced burnout and they try to prevent it by just like taking a break from their work in the middle of the day, because it's so easy once you start to not stop.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, absolutely. And once again, I mean, just kind of separating yourself from whatever it is that you're working on just for a few minutes really does help really does help. Yes. Well, Taja, I have to say thank you so much for coming on and sharing everything that you did today. it's been a pleasure chatting with you. For all the listeners, who want to find out more about you or follow you online, can you let them know how to get in touch?

Taja Harmony:

Yes. So you can find me definitely on Instagram. That's usually where I'm the most up to date. And it is at Taja Harmony and it's Taja like the Taj Mahal. So it's T A H J A H H A R M O N Y, which I'm sure you'll have linked somewhere.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh, it's all going to be in the show notes. Absolutely. Absolutely. anywhere else you want to share about the podcast?

Taja Harmony:

Yes. And so I also have a podcast called the creative health podcast. we did our first season, like a year ago and I had to creatively for my health, take a little break from it. Um, but we are starting it back up again, which I'm hoping will. We will start this up within like the next couple of weeks. So I should have a next episode out. yeah, that's basically where I interview people who have been in their business for at least five years and have experienced burnout. And we just kind of like share our journey and our story through that.

Raymond Hatfield:

That's wonderful. That is wonderful. I'm excited for season two. it's going to be great. So again, Taja, thank you so much for everything that you shared today. And, I look forward to following you in the future and, keeping up.

Taja Harmony:

Thank you so much for having me. That was so much fun.

Raymond Hatfield:

Come join more than 6, 000 fellow listeners of the podcast over in the free and amazing beginner photography podcast community to learn and grow your skills by heading over to beginnerphotopod. com forward slash group. Thanks again for tuning into today's episode. Until next week, remember, the more that you shoot today, the better of a photographer you will be tomorrow. Talk soon.