3 Steps To Make Time For Your Art

1. Welcome!: You want to make art, but there's just never enough time between work, family, and endless to dos. Creativity often feels like the first thing to go. I hear you. But what if I told you it's not about finding time. It's about making it. It just takes the right strategies. Hi, I'm Mel. I'm an artist, educator, plus business owner, freelancer, and busy m. And I know how challenging it can be to juggle creativity with a packed schedule. That's why I designed this class to help you make the most of the time you have. In this mini course, I'll show you how to reclaim your creative time with three simple steps. You will start by defining your goal so you can focus on what really matters. You'll then make the time by uncovering hidden opportunities in your day. And finally, we'll optimize your time with strategies to make every minute count. This course is short, straightforward, and designed to fit into even the busiest schedule. And by the end, you'll have the tools you need to make consistent progress on your art, no matter how little time you feel you have. So let's dive straight in. 2. Step 1: Define Your Goal: One of the most important steps in making time for your art is being clear on why you're creating it in the first place. Knowing your purpose gives your art making direction and ensures that you're spending your time on what really matters to you. Are you trying to improve a specific skill or explore a new medium? Do you want to design a picture book, or perhaps you're creating just for the joy and mindfulness it brings. Make your goal specific and actionable. The clearer you are on your purpose, the easier it will be to stay on track and avoid wasting time on things that don't move you closer to your goal. For example, if your goal is, I want to find my style, that's too broad to work with effectively. So try breaking it down. You might say, I want to get clearer on my approach to using line in my art to better understand that aspect of my style. This is specific and actionable, much easier to focus on. Your goal should be something that you can realistically achieve in the short to medium term. After which you'll then adjust your goal to tackle something else or the next stage of a larger goal. Taking the previous example of, I want to get clearer on my approach to using line in my art to better understand that aspect of my style, you may then decide to explore your approach to color, for example. So take a moment to think about your purpose. What do you want to achieve with your art? Write it down in a clear, actionable way so that you know exactly what you're working towards. Once you've defined your goal, it's time to break it down into small manageable steps. This is key to avoiding overwhelm and making sure that when you do find time to create, you know exactly what to do. Start by brainstorming all the different steps involved in reaching your goal. There's a page of the class resource PDF to help you do this. You might find that some steps can be broken down even further into smaller tasks. The more you can break it down, the easier it will be to take action. Once you've brainstormed all the tasks you need to do, you can list them on your time for my art plan. There's a couple of ways to organize your tasks. If some tasks need to be done in a certain sequence, list them in that order. For example, if your goal is to learn how to paint botanicals with watercolor, you'll first need to gather your materials, then find references to work from before practicing brush and water control, then color mixing, et cetera. If the tasks can be done in any order, group them by their complexity and time requirements. You could create categories such as quick tasks, for example, brainstorming ideas or gathering references, medium tasks like practicing a new technique for 15 minutes and longer more complex tasks, for example, completing a full artwork or deepening your understanding of a specific technique. You may find it helpful, even if your tasks need to be done in a specific order to consider the time and complexity of each task and add some color coding to your list so that you can easily see at a quick glance which are your quick, medium and longer tasks. This will help you match tasks to the amount of time and energy you have. Maybe you have 5 minutes on a busy day. So tackle a quick task. If you have an hour, maybe you'll dive into something more complex. Take a few minutes to break down your goal into manageable steps and see if you can group them in a way that makes sense. Use the class resource PDF to help you. 3. Step 2: Make The Time: That you have a clear goal and know what steps you need to take, it's time to make sure you have the time to actually do the work. Let's start by reflecting on how you're currently spending your time. This is where you need to be really honest with yourself. Take a moment to look at your day and your week and think about where you could carve out even just 10 minutes or more to work on your creative goals. Consider these common time opportunities. Do you have a commute to work or school that you could use? Maybe your lunch break at work, waiting in the car to pick up your child from an activity, perhaps whilst you're standing in line at the grocery store, during TV commercials or while listening to podcasts or before bed or early in the morning. These small pockets of time can really add up and you may find that there are more opportunities than you think. Take a moment to reflect and write down where you could find time in your schedule over the week, no matter how small, there's a worksheet in the class resource PDF to help you. Next, let's think about how you can bring in some help. We all have more on our plates than we'd like, but sometimes we can create more time by eliminating, delegating or automating tasks. Are there tasks that you can cut out or say no to? Maybe there's something you're doing that isn't serving your goals or draining your energy. Here are a few examples. Could you say no to that extra meeting or social commitment that isn't essential? Could you cut down on time spent scrolling through social media? Could you say no to projects that aren't aligned to your current goals? Are there tasks you could ask someone else to take on? Delegating can free up a lot of time. For example, could you ask a family member to take over a household chore or an errand? Could you hire a cleaning service to help free up your time for creativity? Could you have a colleague handle a work task that you're overwhelmed with? Are there tasks that could be automated to save you time? Think about repetitive tasks that don't need your constant attention. Could you set up automatic bill payments or subscriptions? Could you use scheduling tools for social media or emails? Could you automate your grocery order or online shopping? Take some time to brainstorm and jot down where you might be able to eliminate, delegate or automate tasks in your week. You may not be able to tackle everything on your list right away, but finding even three small opportunities in your week to free up your time can help you get closer to your goal. Write them down in your time for my art plan so that you can start putting these strategies into action. 4. Step 3: Optimize Your Time: Now that you know the steps to achieve your creative goal and have identified some pockets of time in your schedule, it's time to make the most of those moments. The goal is to ensure you're not just finding time to work, but using it effectively so that you're as productive and focused as possible. First, planning ahead is key. You've already broken down your tasks and identified when you have time to work on your art. So now it's time to match them up. Add your tasks to your calendar or planner so you know exactly what you're doing and when. Preparation is just as important. If you can, do some prep work ahead of time to ensure you can dive straight into your task when the time comes. For example, set up your art table with the supplies you'll need. Choose a reference image or gather inspiration beforehand, pre cut paper or materials or supplies if you need that. This way, when you have your art time, you won't waste a second getting ready to start. You'll be able to hit the ground running. Now let's talk about how to make the most of that precious time. When you're working, it's crucial to stay focused and protect your creative space. Distractions are everywhere, but we need to make our art time sacred. Here are some ways to reduce distractions. Find a quiet space, free from noise and interruptions, turn off notifications on your phone or computer. Let your family know when you need uninterrupted time for your art. Close unnecessary tabs or apps on your computer. Put headphones on, even if you're not listening to music, just to signal that you're in the zone. Make your task as fast and efficient as possible by making sure you aren't doing more than you need to. Some examples of this in action would be if you're working on a research task, identify exactly how many examples you're looking for, and don't continue to research beyond that. If you're working on a drawing, you could reduce the scale or simplify the materials to make it quicker and easier to complete. It's easy to think that multitasking will help you get more done, but in reality, it can slow you down. Our brains need time to switch gears between tasks. Focus on one thing at a time, whether that's sketching, painting or refining details. Once that task is complete, only then move on to the next one. Focusing on one task at a time allows you to give your full attention and energy to what you're doing, which will not only help you get more done, but also help you enjoy the process more. Decide before you start each task how much time you think it should realistically take and set a timer. This isn't a hard limit. If the timer goes off and you haven't completed the task, you can still finish it. But when you know you have a set amount of time to complete something, you would be amazed at how much more efficient this can make us with our time. By planning ahead, preparing your space, eliminating distractions, simplifying your task, focusing on one task at a time, and using a timer to keep you on track, you can optimize the time you've set aside for your art. Reflect on which of these strategies will work for you and pick three to try and put them onto your time for my art plan in the class resource. This will help you stay on track, make more progress, and help keep the creative flow going. Remember, it's not just about finding time. It's about using it wisely. 5. Final Thoughts: Congratulations. You've made it to the end of the course. Let's quickly recap what you've learned. You've identified your purpose for making art and broken it down into small manageable steps to stay focused and motivated. You've reflected on how you spend your time and found pockets where you can work on your art. Plus, you've identified ways to free up more time. You've learned how to plan ahead, prepare your space, eliminate distractions, and stay focused to make the most of the time you have. By following these three steps, you'll be well on your way to making time for your art and progressing towards your creative goals. Now it's time to share your progress. Upload a project to the class gallery showing how you've applied what you've learned. I can't wait to hear how you got on. Bye for now.