2020-08-24

Series "Artist Entrepreneurs"

Authors

Judith Teitelman

brings over 37 years of experience in helping grass roots to large organizations strengthen their management and resource generating capacities and effectively plan for the future. She is also a mentor, professional advisor, and trainer to artists working in all disciplines, and is currently adjunct faculty at California Institute of the Arts team teaching Entrepreneurship. In her parallel realm, Judith’s debut novel, "Guesthouse for Ganesha,” was published in May, 2019.

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Time Management for Artists and Creative Entrepreneurs

How to Get What You Want Done

For artist entrepreneurs, successful time management is successful self-management. And successful self-management requires planning and organization and discipline—the ability to respond and commit to your needs and wants first and foremost.

Series "Artist Entrepreneurs"

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"No.”

Said firmly. Emphatically. Frequently with humor.

And, on occasion, said with the understanding that a "no” only for now is possibly. It’s a necessary response because you have determined your priorities and needs for the upcoming month or months—or perhaps a year or longer—and are committed to stay focused and engaged to achieve your goal(s). You are clear that whatever is being asked of you will derail your progress and your work. For now.

The word "no” is an self-managing or business-leading artist’s most powerful time management tool. But it’s also the hardest word to say. The core of discovering why this is true is likely because you don’t want to disappoint others or even yourself. Or to miss an opportunity. But without "no” you get lost in the mire of being pulled in too many directions, trying to please everyone else while not accomplishing your dreams, or to please your creative self without regards to basic needs such as income.

Nevertheless… change is possible; you can learn to articulate the word "no” with confidence, and you can get what you want done, done.

They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

Andy Warhol

Take Control

Change, real change, sustainable change, must start with motivation. Most commonly, the stimulus that fuels motivation only kicks in when you can no longer tolerate your circumstances.

Once you’ve arrived at this point—it’s the signal that things must change, and you are motivated into action. Then you ask: What do I do now? The response: it’s time to create a plan and commit to it.

Move Forward

Plan. The very word sends many artists and creatives into convulsions.

"It’s too restrictive, too limiting!”

"It will make me feel as though I have no flexibility!”

"I don’t like or want or need structure!”

"It won’t allow for other opportunities that I haven’t yet thought of!”

Oh contraire. As defined by Webster’s, a plan is:

an intention or decision about what one is going to do
a method devised for making or doing something or achieving an end.

Does that sound painful? A plan will help you overcome your resistance to change and help you manage yourself and therefore manage your time. Significantly, having a plan empowers you to spend your days being proactive rather than reactive. Setting goals helps you set boundaries. How often have you been deep in the middle of your work, in the midst of creating, when:

The phone rings and you immediately answer it?
E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram pings and you check the newest posting?
You’ve scheduled the day to write. Then someone knocks on your door and says, "Let’s go to the movies” and you do?

Committing to and creating a plan—your vision for what you want to achieve, including goals and priorities - will ensure that you get there. Why is this?

The simplest answer is that, once your goals are clear and you have invested the energy into developing a plan to achieve them, your motivation is fixed on an established course of action. People with written goals—those not merely thought about or dreamed—are, invariably, driven into action. Most especially if the document is kept nearby and reviewed regularly.

Once you have your plan in place, it will be much easier to say "no” to things that don’t fit within your determined priorities. As well as say "yes” to those opportunities that come your way that you didn’t anticipate, but will flow smoothly within your vision. Thus, you’re in a much better position to manage your day, your priorities, and your time.

Assess and Visualize

Two key components of any planning process are to (1) glean an honest understanding of yourself and how you currently use your time; and (2) envision what you’re striving for.

Individuals perceive time, use time, and respond to time in different ways. As a result, strategies that work for one person, will likely not work for another. There is no one way to be. However, what is important across the myriad types of perspectives is to be conscious of your own particular perceptions about time and how you use it.

Once you are clear about your attitude towards time and when you are most focused and productive, then you can discern what options are available to make your particular time perspective work to your advantage.

Critically, you must determine what "success” means to you. While it’s generally assumed that success means money, and for many it does, success likely means different things for artists and creatives, i.e. 20 hours each week to write, four weeks a year to travel, and so on. This depth of understanding, coupled with a clear vision is the beginnings of your plan—your ability to get done, what you want to get done.

Two exercises that will lead you toward a greater understanding of yourself, and towards developing your plan follow:

(1) Create two side-by-side circles on one sheet of paper

Label the left circle—TODAY, and the right circle—VISION. Starting with the left circle, create a pie chart of how you currently spend your time in a typical week. Note what percentage of the circle goes to a job—if you have one in addition to making art—to studio time, family, friends, pets, exercise, household chores, sleeping, and so on. Be honest.

Then, in the VISION circle on the right, create a pie chart of how you wish to spend your time using the same categories, but adding, if appropriate, any missing key components. Don’t forget to include how many hours a week you would like to spend creating art and how many promoting your work.

When you’ve finished both, analyze the difference between the circles.

What do the circles reveal? What did you find most surprising?

What areas or aspects of your life feel comfortable in terms of the time committed?

Which areas or aspects most need changing? Where can you carve out more time in your day? Week?

What can you say no to?

(2) Conduct a "Time Audit”

Track your time to obtain an accurate understanding of how you spend the hours of a typical day and week. For a minimum of two weeks, record how you use your time in and out of the studio. Write down everything you do from when you first wake up in the morning to when you go to sleep. This will provide you with a true overview of how you spend your time and why you spend the time the way you do.

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.

Gustave Flaubert

Onward

Armed with a clear understanding of yourself and what you’re striving for, be aware that life will always include unexpected twists and turns. All this can and will take you away from your very careful planning—at least temporarily. Remain flexible and never lose sight of your goals. Remember, committing to your goals and priorities will often entail saying the word "no.” And that’s okay.

Time Management/Self-Management Tips

Below are a wide array of tips, ideas, and recommendations. Not all will be appropriate for everyone, but it is anticipated that something(s) noted below will provide the spark of inspiration needed to animate your goals into action.)

Attitude

First and foremost, be PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE.
Know thyself. Have a clear sense of who you are—your abilities, your likes, your dislikes, your skills, your strengths, your weaknesses, your temperament, etc. Such clarity will provide an understanding of how you best work and how, most realistically and effectively, to move forward towards achieving your goals.
Understand your attitude towards organization. Is it liberating or constricting? Likewise, understand your attitude towards disorder and disarray. Do you need everything neatly lined up before you can get your work done or are you more comfortable with piles? Either way is fine as long as you are clear about who you are and what you need.
Remember that the most powerful word in your time management vocabulary is "no.”
Have confidence in yourself and your judgment of priorities.
If procrastination is one of your key issues, find its root cause. Ask yourself, "What am I avoiding? Is it fear?” Find the cause and do what you need to do anyway. You will overcome the fear.
Know your capacity to handle stress. If you feel you’re being stretched too far, schedule a break, even a short one. Get the benefits of physical activity. Sports are great stress busters.
Do the most distasteful / worrisome thing first. You’ll be amazed at how easily the rest of the tasks get done.
Find ways to build on your successes.
Learn from your mistakes.
Catch yourself when you are involved in unproductive projects and stop as soon as you can.
Concentrate on one thing at a time.
Push yourself and be persistent, especially when you know you are doing well.
Develop discipline.

Planning

Do not lose sight of the fact that successful time management is the result of successful planning, however you best need to plan and project your day, week, month, year.
Find the system (calendar, action plan, etc.) that works for you.
Build in "buffer time” for each of your projects. Set false deadlines.
For one week, keep a detailed log about how you spend your time during each day and adjust your calendar / action plan accordingly.
Write ideas, thoughts, inspirations, goals and deadlines down on paper. And then look at what you’ve written and prioritize. Refer to these notes regularly. Thinking on paper, whenever possible, makes it easier to review and revise.
Put up reminder notes in your home and / or office about your goals.
Always keep your long-term goals in mind.
Organize and prioritize regularly. One of the best tips for time management is simply this—at the end of each day, make a prioritized list of tasks to accomplish the next day. And then, commit to doing it in order of priority.
Get the most important tasks done as early in the day as you can.
Clear out, de-clutter and organize your desk / work area at the end of each day. Put things back in their respective places. That saves time and worry later on.
If you have deadline work coming up, complete it early. This provides greater flexibility to manage the rest of your day / week / month. Also, this gives you the flexibility to meet unexpected requirements.
Look ahead in your month and do your best to anticipate what is going to happen so you can better schedule your time.
Make "waiting time” (in a doctor’s office, a traffic jam, etc.) useful time—to review notes, jot down ideas, etc.
In your day / week, carve out specific chunks of time to: answer mail (paper and email), to pay bills, answer phone calls, do the laundry, go to the market, etc.
Break large projects down into manageable tasks with realistic deadlines and timeframes.
Recognize that it will most likely always take you twice as long to complete a task as originally envisioned. Build in extra time to acknowledge this fact.
Create a broad division for your time. Decide how much you’ll spend on family, on work, social engagements and so on. Build in some time just for yourself.
Use weekends wisely.
Plan for time to have fun.

The "Outside World”

Don’t check your email too much. More than twice a day is probably too much. Once in the morning and once in the late afternoon should suffice. And to help you with this, after you’ve checked your email, simply CLOSE your email program and promise yourself that you will not open it again until after your next scheduled check.
Reserve two hours of each day dedicated to focus on your artwork—no interruptions, no phone calls, no e-mails, no Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or the like, and no cell phones.
To avoid wasting time on the computer, work for 10 minutes then allow yourself two minutes online. Repeat for an hour and you’ve accomplished 50 minutes of productive work and only ten minutes playing online, which might be 50 minutes more work than you would have done otherwise.
Screen your telephone calls.
Delegate and / or trade responsibilities whenever and wherever possible with your partner, a friend, or even a paid assistant. Perhaps s/he can do the laundry, clean the house, run errands, at least part of the time, so you can have greater flexibility to work on your creative work.
Ask for advice when needed.
Recognize that life will always throw you unexpected twists and turns. Your car won’t start; your child, parent, dog, cat, partner, falls ill; your boss wants you to work an extra day a week for the next month in order to finish a big deadline. All this can and will take you away from your very careful planning—at least temporarily. Remain flexible and never lose sight of your goals.

An expanded version of this article was first published in "Professional Artist” magazine in 2016, with another version published in "Thrive Global” in May 2019.

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