7 Productivity Strategies for Artists
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- December 4, 2020
- Brett Kelley
7 Productivity Strategies for Artists
Here at Thalo we have an abundance of ideas, tips, tricks and more to help artists in their day-to-day operations as they become more established in their skills.Here we have a series of strategies and tactics that can help bolster an artist's productivity!
1.) Schedule it out
Get a calendar, a day planner, or even a notebook and block out your typical work week. Working out when you have free time is the first step in making sure you are giving an appropriate amount of time to dedicate to your craft. And you can start the process off small: Plan out your day, then your week, then the month, and onto a full year!
Follow-up Tip: Once you have a schedule blocked out, you will develop habits. Once habits become present, you will begin seeing a fantastic amount of work being produced!
2.) Divide and Conquer
Once you have your calendar slated, breaking down your artwork to fit into that throughput will be another major victory in your productivity journey! This can be as simple as pairing your expected throughput with your time available or breaking down the legs of a big project into days to avoid burnout.
Follow-up Tip: If you have a project that takes 24 hours, you can break it down into any number of ways to help avoid snags and snares!
3.) Product, not Project
Another fantastic approach to productivity is to help envision and work towards a final product instead of spinning wheels on a project. If you have a plan for the drawing you are working on (a print, a sticker, etc.) you will have a goal and a way to move your art into the "completed" bin!
Follow-up Tip: Keep an eye out for trends and ways to take your finished illustrations and art that may be more fiscally manageable (zines, prints, stickers) than some of the more in-depth products (art books, fine art prints, canvas prints, etc. Or, even better, find a website that can convert your high-resolution images for products!
4.) Refine your process
As discussed in our previous "5 Art Tips for Artists", refining your process will help hone your style and cultivate efficiency in your production in a major way. Once you know how to make your work and streamline your production methods, your process will be key in increasing your quality, quantity, and consistency.
Follow-up Tip: Focusing on the work that you already have "dialed in" first will help in your strategies for putting out better work. That said, there's nothing wrong with finding time to experiment!
5.) Develop a routine
This is heavily rooted in tips one and two, but it is also worthy of its attention! Getting started in new habits is incredibly difficult, but once you get to the point where you are on autopilot, you will see a massive uptick in your productivity and output of work. The trick is to keep doing it until you memorize and internalize your schedule and schedule. It takes some time, but it will be time well spent!
6.) Make Accountability Fun
This is crucial! One of the biggest struggles for artists is finding the magic, especially when you breakdown a hobby or activity that removes a lot of the spontaneity and low-pressure. However, when you can find the joy in either sharing your work once it's completed or going live on social media to show people you are working on your art, that can help alleviate a lot of stress and give some nice endorphins that you can use to feel accomplished.
7.) Finished, not Perfect
This may sound counter-intuitive, but this helps shave off a LOT of time for an artist. Many creatives will pine and pour over details before considering a piece of work "completed", which is an understandable endeavor. It may also become a huge consumption of time as well. The best way to address this issue is to embrace the idea of a piece of work "being done" instead of "being perfect", as this will allow you to let a piece of work go (and move onto the next).
We hope this is helpful for you, and stay tuned to thalo for more tips, tricks, hacks, and ideas to help you get the most out of your creative endeavors. Do you have any words of wisdom or tips that we didn't discuss? Let us know in the comments!
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