Taking Back Time

Sunflower Wall Clock, Joy Gregory Studio 

Do you ever get to the end to your day and wonder where the heck it all went? Do you often feel like you slaved away for hours and yet got nothing accomplished? I think that’s a pretty common feeling for many of us, especially those of us who are self-employed and thus self-accountable, often working from home where distractions abound. Even when you create as a hobby or a fun part-time side gig, it can be really frustrating trying to carve out the time to get your artwork done. Finding the hours to create can be one of the biggest barriers to completing creative projects and living a life as an active and fulfilled artist.

I generally feel I’m pretty good with time management, but I have really needed a refresher and kick in the pants as of late. Being off my schedule with these restricted hours, my organization and process has had to change but I didn’t do it in a conscious and planned manner. I’ve just been kind of winging it.

Well, this past week, my laissez-faire attitude back fired and I didn’t get nearly enough done. I thought I had been prepared for all the changes we are getting into with closing down one magazine and starting a new project, but then old Murphy decided to test my methods. Several rather sticky technical issue arose on the back end of the website requiring 3 straight days of work on my end to straighten it out as my tech guy was sick and I couldn’t move forward with this week’s plans until it was fixed.

That’s left me only 3 days more to complete the subscriber credits calculations, draft those promised subscriber emails, as well as a newsletter and this blog. But, instead of proceeding in an orderly fashion with the time I had, I kind of ended up all over the place – trying to get all the work stuff done, get my workouts and physical therapy in, take care of the everyday household stuff, and still get some decent sleep was a challenge that I went at all willy-nilly and got next to none of it done or done well. So, today I decided to review my time management process and get back on track. With that in my mind, I started writing this blog, so guess what we are going to talk about today?

I know… time management is probably the least interesting, stimulating, or creative sounding stuff I could possibly bring up, but it is immensely important! And, wanting to save you poor souls from a fate similar to mine this week, I gave myself a challenge–could I talk about time management and make it fun and interesting and maybe even attractive? Let’s see!

Wrestling Hours to Your Will

Even if you are great at time management there’s always something new to learn. So, I’m going to share a handful of tips along with some literal and metaphorical examples, primarily through the art of polymer. Art is great for metaphors, isn’t it?

• Here is my #1 little tip that really gets my day going in the right direction – Prioritize what you need to do, starting with the most dreaded things first! Why would you want to start with the things you most want to avoid? Well, so they won’t be hanging over your head all day for one. You are also less likely to waste time procrastinating on things that don’t need to get done while trying to put off those dreaded tasks. And it feels so, so good to get those out of the way! Then you can focus (and accomplish) the fun stuff. I’m telling you… you won’t believe how helpful just getting those tasks off your list can be.

• You probably know this one, but do you do it? If at all possible, put away or turn off your phone. Also turn off any kind of mail or other notification on computers and tablets. You don’t need to answer people right away just because we have the technology to do so. Every time you stop to read a text, answer a call, look through your email, or check the latest update to your Facebook or Instagram page, your mind switches gears and you lose your flow. Most of the time, it really can wait.

Working on detailed techniques like these mandala cane earrings by Silvia Ortiz de la Torre, can go so much faster if you can stay focused on the project. Being interrupted would make this kind of work take so much longer than if you just sit down and work on it without distractions.

• You don’t need to work business hours – try instead to identify quiet hours. You’ll get a lot more done when there is nothing to distract you, which, for a lot of people, is primarily at the start or the end of the day. If you can break up your day, try working in the first few hours and the last few hours of your day. You see, if it’s too early or too late, you can’t make phone calls, run errands, or do anything else that is normally accomplished during standard business hours. Also, in the morning, many of us take a while to wake up fully, making it great creative time because our internal critic tends to be a bit sleepy too and, studies have suggested that your brain is more creative first thing, still cycling off REM sleep and hypnagogia (that state between dreaming and being awake). Then, at the end of the day, you’re more likely to let go of the to-do list of everyday life and can just focus on creative tasks.

• Don’t multitask. Simply put, you’ll do less with less quality when you multitask. It may feel like you’re doing more but multitasking requires you repeat and review things over and over again as you switch your focus between tasks. Not only is this inefficient, chances are you will make mistakes, forget some necessary thing, and won’t be able to identify things that need changes, all requiring fixing or redoing later which means more time. Focus on one thing at a time, do it right, and do it well. It’s also a much less stressful way of working.

Can you imagine trying to work on multiple sections of this little piece by Leah Radlett, at the same time? You can see that she works one color at a time and progressively from top to bottom across her little 4” x 4” canvas. Consider it a bit of a metaphor for how you need to work on anything. Work focused and progressively so that you do it well and ensure it gets completed.

• If you want to speed up, especially if you’re at all competitive, use a timer and challenge yourself to get tasks done within a set time. Your oven timer will work although there are apps of all kinds for this as well. Simply set yourself a goal, like 30 minutes to get through your emails and social media notices, or limit time on your breaks, especially those breaks where you sit down and start watching a Netflix show and next thing you know you’ve binge watched for 3 hours. Put the timer out of reach, too. Then you have to get up to turn it off and that should break the spell of any Facebook rabbit hole you went down or Game of Thrones episode you were re-watching.

• Group similar tasks, ones that require the same type of mindset, into the same work session. For instance, I do all my accounting on Mondays (because I dread it, so I try to get out of the way first thing!) and do most of my writing the second half of the week. My most visually creative days are midweek and weekends. I tried doing a couple hours of each kind of task every day but constantly switching gears meant I was having to take time to get into a new mindset several times each day. Staying in one mindset for a good length of time is much more efficient, less stressful, and you’re also more likely to finish something and feel accomplished at the end of the day.

Below, Barbara Fajardo shows her studio table where she is focusing not only on the same techniques but the same shapes. Working this way (or with the same type of back end business tasks, or online work, etc.) allows you to complete a lot in a short period of time due to uninterrupted, focused sessions. This is not just for creating a lot of the same pieces either.You can make a many unique pieces quickly by switching it up within a similar approach, like Barbara has done with her lovely mokume gane earrings on the right.

• If you only do one thing every day to help manage your time, have that be making a list at the end of the day for the next working day. Make the list with the most important and/or most dreaded items at the top. This way you know what you’re going to do when you get up and you’re less likely to fritter away the morning in a fog of aimlessness. When you get one item done on the list, cross it out and go to the next. This will keep you focused and far less likely to be sidetracked by the laundry (when that’s not on the list at least) or an online shopping excursion. It is also easier to stop thinking about work at the end of the day once it’s written down, all safe and sound in black-and-white. You can mentally set it aside and truly relax with the family or friends, and, hopefully, fall sleep easier because you don’t need to think about your next work day until you get up.

So now, what tips might you have that you find to be of paramount importance in guaranteeing you have the hours in the day that you need to do what you want to get done? Help out all us poor souls and insert a comment at the end of the post. Remember, if you get this by email, click the title of the post to go directly to the website, then scroll down and insert a comment. This is an area where our shared wisdom can really boost us all!

Do as I Say and, Now, as I Do

So, I am writing this at the end of my Saturday with a working Sunday ahead of me and I’ve got to make my list, so off with me! I promise I will take some time off to relax (I love how many of you write to tell me to ease up and take care of myself. I promise I do try!) But I’ve got to get those active subscriber emails out.

I’ll also get a newsletter out early in this week to give you all an update. I’m hoping I will have more details on the Virtual Art Box as well as some new (to our shop, not new publications) stock of books by Christi Friesen in the shop. These are the first of the books I’m adding to the shop so you have more options to spend store credits on or buy for Christmas gifts as well as being the start what I hope to be a fantastic one-stop shop for all the great polymer related books you might want.

If you’re not on the newsletter list but find you are interested in the timely news there, you can sign up on the homepage at https://tenthmusearts.com/

In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful, easy-going, productive, and creative week!