Art as Business: Time Management

It helps a lot if you are good at time management when self-employed (as an artist - or anything else!). I’m constantly working on improving when it comes to this subject. I am no expert, but I will share what has helped me so far. (I'm actually originally messy - and also a mother - and without these efforts I would be lost in chaos)

-We all know how it is when you feel that it’s all messy: papers, appointments, remembering dates etc, right?


- But why is it like this?

PROBLEMS

• Vague goals and priorities
• No overall plans or concrete steps/deadlines
• Not any systems to keep order
• Not saying NO
• Not taking a break to (re)think or recover

- So how can you solve these problems?

ASK QUESTIONS

1. What are my goals?
2. How should I get there and where do I start?
3. What do I do with my time?

- So far I’ve been writing a lot about 1 and 2 in this Sunday series. But it is actually no 3 that will lead me towards my goals – or not … (next week I will report on my progress so far).


WHAT AM I DOING TIME-WISE?
I’ve constructed this list where I’ve been tracking what I’ve been doing for several weeks (since August 11). This has been a way for me to discover time drains – or actually verify what I’ve been suspecting.

My two main Problems are:

• I do too much voluntary work – especially considering I’ve actually said NO to doing it after many years of being on boards etc.
• I do too many different things in a day (we shouldn’t even mention in a week!) or have too many parallel projects going on. I’m not able to be really efficient because there is a certain starting-up time for every different task.

SOLUTIONS
Put time limits on my voluntary work (1 hour /week in average should be enough), say no and explain that I have certain deadlines to meet. Honor my own time. I’ve already done my part (7 years) and someone else could take over now.

Decide what activity I can do without, what could be done in less time - and what activity I can do later.

• Do I have any absolute deadlines?
• Will this activity lead anywhere when taking my main goals in considerations (will Manga-workshops for kids give anything more than some money now? Would the time be better invested in something else?)
• Cluster errands and foresee needs (when buying new watercolour papers buying more stamps …ok, still some left – but I’ll need more soon).
• Decide how much time some activities are allowed to take - and not always aim for perfection (writing this very post has a certain time limit!)
• Use calendar and address book better (I already started to improve on this one in spring)
  
• Have a look at the coming months and plan concentrated periods of work if possible (October = Public Commissions, November = own art) – and rewards (dinner out, a day off)

So far these posts about Art as Business have just been words and words: about what I want to achieve and how to do it. But will I really achieve anything? Next Sunday it's time for my first Progress Report - find out if I'm a phony or for real!

[this is part 8 in my Sundays series about Art as Business. Here you can read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6 - and part 7]