Master Time for Artists: Tools and Techniques for Artists to Boost Productivity

Who here has twenty-four hours to get work done on any given day?

You do. I do. Everyone on the planet has the same amount of time on any given day.

Do you master your time, or do you let the minutes pass with a vague idea of what you are supposed to do?

If you find yourself questioning if you have your time under control, I have new tools for you.

In the coming weeks, I want to introduce you to several tools you can use to plan out your time and get the most out of any given day.

Why am I starting this series? The quick answer is we artists have a tendency to let the hours stroll on by why we create art. Me included. It is easy to get lost in colors, characters, and composition.

If this series helps you to pick a new way to schedule your time, you will be able to get more art made, spend more quality time with your family, market your business more effectively, and see better results from your efforts.

All of those things sound good to me. How about you?

Let's get started.

For an artist, mom, or anyone really to effectively plan out their week, they are going to need a method to first track their tasks, secondly, they will need a way to plan out the time they have each week, and lastly, they might need a way to prioritize and accomplish these tasks.

Let's address the method of recording your todos.

There are several apps you can use to record your tasks for each week.

The Notes App on your phone is an easy one to get started with and requires no setup time or money to get started.

There is also the good old-fashioned way, a good piece of paper or notebook 😉.

(This is my preferred method. When I'm out and about, I create a note in my phone and transfer it to my to-do list when I get home.) Simple is the best method.

Let's get those tasks written down.

My preferred method is a... data dump. Take your piece of paper and write everything down that you need to get done. Include all the big and all the small things.

This is very important because you are going to have to figure out when you are going to get each of these tasks done during the week. If you don't have a task listed because it seems "small" or so "big" you won't forget it, it won't get on your schedule.

Once everything is written out, you will pick one of the following methods to plan out your week.

We will be covering each of these methods in detail, but here is a quick breakdown of my favorites.

Traditional planner - This would be a bound printed calendar that is either a weekly or daily planner. There are several different styles and layouts available to purchase. Some have spots to record your appointments, a to-do list, and a note section.

Time Blocking - This method can be done digitally or on paper. Picking what time of the day you want your day to start, you block off every minute of your day to accomplish something.

Bullet Planners - This method uses a notebook with a page full of dots. Using the pages to plan your day, you can use simple lines to create boxes or a beautiful flower blooming out of every corner to represent which area of your life that box is for.

Digital Planner - These are planners that have been digitized. They normally have clickable links to take you to the day or week you are going to plan out. The planner can be on your computer or your phone. With special apps allowing you to edit the files, it is a combo of a traditional paper planner and a digital calendar.

Printable Worksheets - Custom worksheets designed for a specific purpose. An added benefit is how they allow you to print off the amount of pages you will need right away without waiting for delivery.

To-Do List Planning - This is a super simple way of getting one's tasks done. All you do is write down tasks you need to accomplish each day. Check off items as you complete them.

You get to pick now what method you want to use to plan out your week.

While you are trying to decide, keep in mind that you may try each of these methods to determine which one works best for you.

Coming up, I will be going over each method. While you wait for those posts to be available, you can start the fun tasks of Time Tracking.

Time Tracking is exactly how it sounds. You are going to complete tasks that you normally do and see how long it takes you to get them done. You may be tempted to rush through the daily things you do to maximize your time, but I caution you away from doing this.

There will be mornings or even days when you are running slow or things come up. If you rush through the time tracking and end up hurrying through the tasks you do daily, you won't have enough time built into your schedule when you have a slow day.

Today's tasks: write out everything you do daily on a piece of paper with some room to record how long it takes you to do each item. This will come in handy when you pick your method of planning out your day.

That is a wrap for today.

To find out when I drop the next post discussing each of the planning methods, please sign up for my newsletter. I won't bug you, and I never share your information. I will send you a quick weekly email letting you know of things happening on the blog, the artwork I am working on, and new items available in my store.

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