Arty Business Ep.9: Time Management (Patreon)

Hello Patrons and friends, and welcome to another edition of the ARTY BUSINESS series, where I share some of the things I've learned in the process of building my own Arty Business.

Today, in our second-to-last article of the series before we move on to more art and process specific guides, I want to talk to you about managing your time. This topic feels a little difficult to discuss because it's something that I've had trouble with since I was a kid and periodically go through periods where I feel like I'm doing a very bad job with time management. But that means I've had to really hunker down and learn some useful strategies to get things down on my own, especially now that I've become my own boss.

I'm sure you know this, but there's a billion trillion different techniques and tips and tricks for time management and productivity. There are apps and Methods and planners and TedTalks and playlists. Sometimes you procrastinate by googling "how to stop procrastinating" (or is that just me?)This article is specifically on techniques that have been helpful for me. As with all my advice, feel free to chose whatever nuggets resonate with you, leave what doesn't, and make your time your own.

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F I N D I N G   T I M E

 + Early Bird/Night Owl! Start paying attention to when you are most productive and creative. I suffered through much of college because I tried to follow the rest of the students and stay up all night working on my projects, when all I want to do after 8 pm is eat dinner and watch movies. Once I followed my natural rhythms I was much happier and got my projects done on time. 

+ Part-Time Art! If you have a day job or children that take up a lot of your time, then first of all pat yourself on the back. You're working so hard and it's admirable that you're looking to fit a hobby/side hustle into your days at all. Next, take a close look at your schedule and see if there are any chunks of time that you could devote to art, even if it's only 10 minutes a day, or an hour on the weekend. Maybe you can cut your TV time in half and replace it with creating, or maybe you can wake up 30 minutes earlier or go to bed 30 minutes later. 

+ Be realistic! with the amount of time and energy you have for art. Perhaps you have just enough time in your busy schedule to draw for an hour a week, but absolutely not enough to try to open an Etsy or table at conventions. If you have time for an hour a day or creating but spend all that time scrolling through Instagram, then maybe your priorities need to be adjusted (looking at you, Ragon. No shame, just looking at you.) Maybe your schedule is wide open and you just need to buckle down and do it. Do your best to be honest and realistic with yourself.

P R O D U C T I V I T Y

+ Write it out! Write down EVERYTHING that you need to do, want to do, etc. The system that works best for me the past few years has been a Passion Planner, because it's specifically designed to help work towards goals effectively. It also helps squash my almost constant fear that I actually am very much not productive and never have been, because it helps me record and highlight all of my accomplishments. Write your plans and events on a calendar and look at it every day. I legitimately think I would never have started this career if I hadn't started actively using a planner. Choose a system that works for you and thank me later.

+ Break it up! This is time management 101, but it's worth reminding you: write down your goals/projects and then break them into all the smaller pieces necessary to complete them! Start with that first tiny step and then check it off when you're done. You'll feel accomplished early on, which will encourage you to keep going.

+ Social media! Delete Instagram from your iPad and phone before working hard on a project! Whatever your distraction apps are, either completely delete them or use one of those blocking apps to help keep them away while you focus. I get so much more done when Instagram is deleted.

+ Dedicated! It is so helpful to productivity to have a clean area and specific time devoted to your project. When I first started Ragonia, I would sit down at my hand-me-down desk in a corner of my kitchen at exactly 8AM, light a candle, and then I'd see what I could get done before 5. I'm much more lax now, but I really think that dedication right in the beginning helped my business get off the ground. I should really give this technique a try again.

+ Music! Have or make specific working music playlists, so you don't spend all your time looking for music or a show to watch or whatever when you should be working. I absolutely cannot listen to podcasts, tv, or music with words while I'm writing or in the ideation/sketching phase of illustrating. Spotify has a great selection of playlists in their "Focus" genre, maybe find some that inspire you. I have a few favorite playlists that I use, I'll link them at under the resources.

P R I O R I T I Z E

+ Daily/ Weekly Focus! One of my favorite techniques that I've picked up from the planner that I've been using the past few years is to choose a focus for each month, week, and day. Basically, you ask yourself: "If I could only get one thing done today and feel like it was a productive day, what would it be?" The planner has specific spots to write these focuses down. It's a great way to make sure I get the most important things done, and then anything else I do is just the icing on the cake.

+ First things first! I've heard this advice so many places, and it's one of my favorites. It goes something like "achieve one small step toward your goal every day before 10 am." It pushes you to prioritize your goals first thing in the morning. At the very least, work on the hardest or most important goal before you start the rest of your tasks.

+ Emails! Check emails and social media after lunch. I so badly need to implement this. I get sucked into emails and social media in the morning and then my priorities get all jumbled around based on what I see or read. It can wait until later.

+ Say no! Your time is VALUABLE, never forget that. There are going to be many things that aren't worth your time, have the confidence to say no. (Make sure it's not just fear making you say no first.) Opportunities that may have been amazing and useful last year (or last month) aren't necessarily valuable to you now. Don't be so panicked for money or attention now that you overload yourself with every project or market you possibly can, to the point that you can't fully work on the things that really matter.

P R O C R A S T I N A T I O N

 + Plan for it! Aim to finish your projects before they're due, rather than on the day or hour they're due. (This is coming from someone who used to turn in her homework a week late or not at all.) I usually quote my clients and customers the final a week later than I plan to have it, if I can. Then if I turn it in a week early they're pleasantly surprised, if I turn it in "a week late" (to me) then it's right on time.

+ Productive procrastination! Is it even possible? Of course! I always keep a list of the many things I could be doing to further my art business, so that I still have something useful to do on the inevitable days that I don't feel like working on my current projects. My examples include updating my website, responding to less urgent messages, painting/sculpting earrings or pins, restocking things, doodling, cleaning my studio space... always more to do.

+ Rest! That said, it's completely natural and healthy to have periods of rest and reflection. Drop that hustle culture and take care of yourself if it's what you need. Rest and play are absolutely essential for a balanced and sustainable creative business. Yuko Miki of Honey Berry Studios has shared that she takes a sabbatical every seventh week to avoid burnout and maintain creativity. Rest and play can look like taking a walk, exercising, playing an instrument, traveling, and spending time with friends. Get your projects done, but maintain space for rest.

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RESOURCES

• Creative Peptalk Ep. 208 - "Find your focus, motivation secrets, & time management."
• Frannerd Youtube - "Healthy time management + how I admin my social media"
• "Quirky Worky" A work playlist I made in college, international and movie music mostly.
• "Video Game Chill" My current work playlist of mostly chill video game music.
• "Animal Crossing & Rainy Windows" lofi/chillhop playlist by Micki Schmidt.
• "Louie Zong" A playlist of songs by Louie Zong, a rad illustrator/animator who makes music for fun.

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That’s all for now, my friends! I hope you found some helpful tips and ideas to return to whenever your time or productivity starts to get a little out of your hands. Remember you’re never going to be perfect, and it’s completely natural to go through cycles of productivity and distraction. What’s important is that you don’t give up.

Do you do you use of these techniques already? Did you find any knew ones that you’d like to try? What’s your most game changing time management technique? Leave a comment and share with the class!

And I wish you a wonderful productive (or productively restful) weekend!

xoxo,

Ragon