You’d rather spend more time in your studio than get distracted doing other things, right? In all of my roles as an artist career mentor, writer, author, and director/curator of Manhattan Arts International and The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS, one of my greatest satisfactions is helping artists to be as productive as possible, without feeling overwhelmed.
Realizing the many obstacles you face daily as an artist, in my efforts to help you achieve your career goals, I provide advice I know on how to accomplish the most in less time.
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” ~ Albert Einstein
1. Be totally focused.
When you choose the project that has to be completed, set aside sufficient time without any distractions. Rehearse the task mentally. Quiet the mind. Focus your attention. Take each step deliberately. Become totally absorbed in what you’re doing, and a free-flowing momentum will transpire.
2. Be prepared.
Make tomorrow’s plans and prepare your “To Do” list the night before. Arrange the activities in order of urgency. Allocate a realistic amount of time for each project so you avoid overloading your schedule.
Also maintain your mailing list in a database format and keep it up to date, ready for your next promotional announcement.
Sort your paper and computer files and organize your materials in the best way possible to help you locate them quickly.
Get your materials organized for easy access. Set up an easy to use bookkeeping system and keep financial records up to date.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come.
We have only today. Let us begin.” ~
3. Create an uncluttered work area.
Your desk and your studio should be free from visual and sound distractions. If possible use a separate room for an office or arrange a space in a corner of your studio, bedroom or a closet.
Eliminate clutter and obstacles. Use a file cabinet or decorative storage boxes to keep your printed materials and photographs, promotional materials, books, and business receipts in an organized and easy to find fashion.
4. Keep a closed door to your private studio.
Your creative space should be considered sacred and undisturbed. Let others know that you want to be left alone with your creative projects.
You should also provide time to brainstorm, daydream, meditate and restore inner balance. As often as possible, set limits on your social and family demands that are interfering with your artistic production.
5. Break large projects down into smaller chunks.
If you are setting aside important projects waiting for that big block of time to be available you’ll discover that it may never arrive.
It is better to use the 20-30-minute strategy and tackle the project with small amounts of time on a regular basis.
6. Return phone calls, emails and texts, in priority order.
Not all messages are of equal importance. Instead of returning your messages in the order they came to you, decide which ones are the most important / urgent, and follow that order instead.
7. Do what you do best and delegate or exchange the rest.
Make a list of those things you excel in and enjoy doing the most. Then, consider which tasks you can delegate to an intern, friend or a family member.
For example, do you have a talent for website design and Photoshop while your friend is savvy when it comes to social networking? Suggest that you exchange tasks with them and you’ll both be happier and productive.
8. Maintain good health.
If your health is impaired, your career will be threatened. Avoid sitting at the computer or easel for long periods of time. Take breaks, stretch, and exercise frequently.
Avoid the use of toxic artist materials, as well as toxic environments and relationships.
You may frequently be tempted to work long hours in your studio and neglect your nutritional needs. Have plenty of healthy snacks, fresh fruits and vegetables and clean drinking water close at hand.
9. Ask for help.
When we are reluctant to ask for help we end up wasting time, become frustrated or make costly mistakes. Hire a professional specialist when needed. Are you procrastinating on writing about your art and promoting it because you don’t know what to write? Find out how I can help you.
10. Give yourself permission to say “No”
If your demands for exhibitions, commissions, teaching, and other art-related activities gets out of control, get comfortable with asking people to wait. When you’re asked to consider new collaborative projects, sometimes you may need to say “thank you, not now”.
You may even need to reevaluate your goals and eliminate some of them.
The world will not end if you get one less work of art finished, or if a client has to wait a few weeks longer for the project you accepted.
Be honest with them and let them know why they need to wait. They will appreciate you even more.
And, if you have too many orders, maybe it’s time to raise your prices.
11. Strive for Excellence – Not Perfection
The trait of perfectionism effects your profit margin and as Salvador Dali said “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” As a perfectionist you can waste so much time redoing projects and often may not complete them. Don’t let this happen to you. Instead, strive to do better each time you start task or creative project.
If you suffer from perfectionism, remember this… When weaving a blanket, an Indian woman leaves a flaw in the weaving of that blanket to let the soul out. Isn’t that amazing fact to remember the next time you waste time trying to be perfect?
12. Keep Daily Accurate Expense Accounts
To determine your profit / loss for your art business keep a daily record of every income and expense. Categorize your expenses by type, such as: office expenses, professional services, art supplies, utilities, etc. When it’s time to design your art business plan, project your cash flow and do your taxes and your end of the year summary, it will be effortless.
There are many programs you can choose from with time-saving functions, charts and graphs such as Quicken and Excel.
13. Determine Your Value Per Hour
Decide if your art is a business and not a hobby. Prosperity will not occur without this important step. Keep a log of your time spent in your studio. When your art starts to sell you can determine how much you are earning per hour. (If an average painting sells for $1,000 and takes 20 hours to create your hourly rate is $50 an hour, not including other overhead costs, etc.)
At some point, you can decide to save time and earn more money by hiring someone to help you do the uncreative work so you can spend more time creating art. If you can get an intern (free) you have just increased your value per hour!
14. Maintain a Current Art Inventory List
Do you know how much art you have ready to be sold? Do you know the total value of your current inventory? Create an inventory sheet which lists your art, medium and retail/wholesale prices.
This will not only give you an optimistic sense of “money waiting to be collected”, it will save time when you are asked to provide a list for insurance purposes and options for prospective clients.
15. Prepare Your Images For Print and Online
Many times when I asked an artist for a 300 dpi jpeg to accompany a magazine article I was writing I was shocked and disappointed hey didn’t have one so they missed a golden opportunity to get publicity.
When you or your photographer shoots your work immediately prepare a range of sizes and resolutions to have on hand.
Note: You can use 72-100 dpi for your website/blog and should have 300 dpi jpegs for print — books, magazines, catalogues, postcards.
16. Label The Back of Your Art
A good practice is to provide detailed information on every work of art you plan to sell, whether you are selling from your studio or through a gallery. This label should include your name and contact information, title, medium, and size.
For your own information assign a number to each work which will correspond to your inventory list that will also include time spent on the piece.
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” ~ John Wooden
17. De-clutter your Email
Remove yourself from old subscriptions that no longer serve any purpose.
If you’re on LinkedIn, you have the option of how frequently you receive email updates from the groups you belong to. Scroll down to the bottom of the email you receive from them and you’ll see this: “Don’t want to receive email notifications? Adjust your message settings.” Then click that link. You can change your preferences there and save time and space in your mailbox.
18. Schedule Social Media Posts in Advance
This alone could save you so much time and boost your social media marketing efforts! In addition to using social media to interact personally with potential customers directly, if you have general announcements to post and are a multi-social media user, schedule your tweets, updates and comments in advance.
I currently use Buffer.com and have used Hootsuite.com. You can choose from free and low-cost plans depending on how many social media platforms you use and other needs. From one site you can schedule updates for LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in advance. Another useful time-saving platform to schedule Tweets is Tweetdeck.com.
Additional benefit of using one of these tools is you can view all streams in one location.
From the two platforms mentioned above (and there are more options out there) you can schedule posts, view your streams of friends and followers, mentions, DMs, and more, all in one place at the same time.
“It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants.
The question is, what are we busy about?” ~ Henry David Thoreau
19. Avoid the Costly “Free” or Cheap Options
The least expensive computer may cost us time and costly repairs when it doesn’t function properly. The less expensive and poor quality art supplies may generate inferior results.
Sometimes a bargain or sale is a good option and sometimes it is a waste of our hard earned money. So, look for value instead of focusing on the price tag.
20. Rest and Refresh
Avoid burnout by scheduling time to rest. If necessary, set a timer to remind you.
21. Take the time to develop a road map for your art career success.
Learn how to create an art business plan, financial plan and production plan. Read How to Create Your Art Business Plan.
I wish you much success in your time-saving efforts!
Thank you Renee, this is really helpful. I’m so grateful for your advice – it keeps me in check.
Great outline of organizational tips, Renee.
Perhaps you’d like to talk to me some time to see how micro compartmentalized I have had to become with my Mom here at home on hospice with not much time to live. I have had, as I always do, in times of chaos, sadness and difficulty, made the most strides in my work than I have for a while. Excluding the work on my website of course.
Can’t tend to everything!
Best to you.
Karen La Du
All I can say is THANK YOU for this sage advice. Some of it is still too daunting…but I’ll get there.
I am SO grateful for all of your insights.
Thank you.
You’re welcome Louise. You’re wonderful for commenting. Like you, I’m still working on tackling the challenge of stretching time. My desk is covered with “To Do” lists! 🙂
All the best,
Renee