When you run a creative business (or any business for that matter) AND you’re a creative with your own projects and goals, carving out time your own creative time can be tricky.
As an artist who runs a business teaching online art courses and running mentorships, I’ve seen first hand how the lines can get REAL blurry between work and art. If I’m not intentional, my art will end up taking a backseat all too quick (which, in turn, makes me very, very sad).
Can you relate?
Maybe you run an ecommerce business, but your passion is music and you REALLY want to get more gigs next year. Or maybe your a graphic designer who does tons of client work, but you really want to make traction on that personal project of yours. Or even develop your own body of work.
Even though it can be challenging to get time in with your passion projects, you CAN’T let your personal creative work fall to the wayside (because psst...that’s how souls die).
Here are the three best ways that I’ve found to ensure your creative work (and spirit!) thrives as much as much as your business does.
Do the Most Creative + Personally Rewarding Thing FIRST
Your art is your gold and it should be treated as such. Believe me, I understand how biz and freelancing tasks can feel like the urgent priority. But the problem is when you’re in business for yourself there is ALWAYS, and I mean always, more to do. If we wait until we get to the end of the list to start our own creative work we will never get there.
AND: your own creative work deserves the MOST of your fresh creative juices. If you spend it all on that client project beforehand, you won’t have much left for yourself. You can likely rely on pre-made systems and structures when it comes to your business. It doesn’t need as much of that pure inspiration as your art does.
So, if you’re on a mission to get your own time in it should be the first thing you do. Whether that means the first thing in your day, your week or your month.
2. The Power of Small Commitments
Pencil that creative time RIGHT into your calendar. Commit to it like you would any other task. Set goals. Doable goals that you’ll show up for.
You can set out to have something completed by a certain date, or simply set a goal for the amount of time you’d like to show up for it.
I personally like to commit to a certain number of studio days each week. Once it’s in my calendar, nothing can touch that blocked out time.
If my schedule is too full for that I pencil in 30 minutes of sketching first thing in the morning. Or even 10 minutes if I feel like that’s all I can manage.
The tiniest bit is infinitely better than nothing.
3. Compartmentalize with Rituals
Remember those blurry lines I was talking about? It’s important that you have a way to set apart your own creative work from your business.
The truth is you want to bring a different kind of energy to your art than you would to your biz. Instead of deadlines and to-do’s you want to be heart-centered and inspired.
The best way to fully switch gears is with a ritual-- a change in your routine or scenery to let your brain know that you’re entering your own sacred creative container.
You could physically change locations, make yourself a cup of tea, go for a walk first, change your clothes or clean up your space. Whatever it is it should be something you do every time.
Not only is this another way you get to make your creative time fun, but it will help you shut off the entrepreneur side of yourself just for that period of time when you want to be totally creatively immersed.
I hope these tips inspire you to close the laptop from time to time and give your creative heart the playtime it deserves. You owe it to yourself and to your art. Now go get MAKING.
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Written by Devon Walz. In addition to being a content creator for Sourced, Devon is mixed media fine artist and art educator. When she isn’t dreaming up new topics for the Sourced blog or chatting away with her co-workers, you can probably find her covered in paint and jamming out in her Santa Ana art studio. Find her on Instagram @devonwalzart and online at www.devonwalz.com.