Hi Artists,
If you are like me, this pandemic has added to your stress in a new way.
"I have the time, why aren't I being more productive?"
Sure, you don't know how you'll make rent. Sure you have no place to perform. But all of that extra free time is a boon to hone your craft, learn how to market, write your script, paint, learn a language...
It's funny how the most creative people think that they are supposed to act like machines. Rather than take this as a sign that we should slow down and reflect, we feel that this is a time to prove ourselves and turn crisis into opportunity.
Part of me is wondering if that famous quote about crisis and opportunity being the same word in Chinese is actually bullshit. I don't know. My language skills in Chinese are limited to ordering 2 beers and saying they are too expensive.
Sorry , got off subject.
The point of this is that most actual artists are used to working for 30 minutes to an hour a day. Time stolen from survival jobs, family, and predominantly, sleep. So along comes a pandemic and not only are we expected to ignore this catastrophe while producing work, but to quintuple our output. Instantly.
There is never enough time, there will never be enough time, and you are wasting time worrying about how little time that you have.
I have 2 solutions:
Start Small - do something for your art daily. (If you have read anything else I've written you will know that this includes promoting your art as well as creating it)
Schedule It- Monday you do your blog post, Tuesday you paint, Wednesday you send an email, etc. If you can schedule a specific time all of the better but if you end up doing 20 minutes of work every day at midnight after putting the kids to bed, that is also fine.
You got this. Consistency will get you there.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Schedule at least a day off or you will lose your goddamned mind and then you won't get any work done.
Cheers!
E