Managing Your Inner Artist Writer: Strategies for Success by M. L. Buchman

Author:M. L. Buchman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Buchman Bookworks,
Published: 2016-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

YOUR EXPERIENCE

Try different techniques. For three weeks, a fairly standard test period for forming a new habit, try using a checklist. For the next three, try using the index cards. Then a whiteboard, then…

SECTION II

TAKING IT UP A NOTCH

Chapter 6

Time Management

Part I

One of the most common problems we see in beginning artists and writers is how they work with time. There’s a great old science fiction movie, When Worlds Collide. There’s a prominent sign that says, “Waste anything except TIME. Time is our shortest material.” And it truly is for the creative artist. Learning craft, building skills, exploring new avenues-markets-etc., consumes immense amounts of time. Where do you salvage it from? So many of us take it from exactly the wrong place, from the time we spend on our art. Well, what other options are there?

THE FIRST STEP –WHERE DO YOU SPEND YOUR TIME

Plan on having a completely normal week. Do nothing different than you normally would except write down everything you did and how long you did it. And we mean everything. Sleeping, cooking, doing dishes, driving kids around, watching TV, social media, e-mails, checking out the latest movie trailer (which on IMDB will lead to a dozen others, at 2-3 minutes each suddenly 20 minutes is gone)... Oh yeah, and record any time you spend on your art.

At the end of the week, total it up. Wild, huh?

Did you find yourself cheating? Not drifting onto Facebook for that half-hour you normally would each night, because if you did, you’d have to write it down? Or not checking out each of the dozen YouTube videos that your friends linked to you with a “Must Watch” note? That too is information.

And don’t forget commuting and the day job! Log your commuting time and day job as well.

Hint: Recording your schedule in writing is also a useful tool. Anytime you find yourself not having enough time for your art, track your time for a week or a month. It will change your habits, even having to report it to yourself. That’s why a common weight-loss plan is to write down exactly what you eat. Just having to write it down makes us automatically restrict wasteful eating as much as it does wasteful time management.

THE FIRST STEP SUMMARY –BREAK IT DOWN AND ADD IT UP

Look back at your major goal categories from the previous chapter. Allocate the time you’re spending under the different categories. Sometimes this is hard to do, but try it, you may find it is an educational exercise.

THE TRADE-OFFS

Now that you actually know what you do, you can start to analyze what are you willing to change. This is easiest to show with real examples of what others have done. So, here’s a tiny list of the many, many trade-off negotiations we have seen artists make with themselves. Again, this is a great place to let your creative self loose for a little brainstorming.

Special note: We aren’t recommending any of these one way or the other. Again, try them on for yourself.

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