"I Have Little to No Time for My Art, HELP!" Time Management Tips

Hey everyone,

A few weeks ago, I was talking about how to keep you fully productive but what if those hours are allocated to responsibilities outside your personal projects? Like family, work, or student classes. Often, these responsibilities take a significant amount of mental and physical energy, leaving us with little motivation to achieve our goals.

This article is for those who are responsible and can't remove those hours entirely. But, if this is not strictly your case and you find yourself stuck with an unnecessary waste of time, I recommend questioning what your actual goals are and if they can be addressed more efficiently. This, perhaps, is a topic for another day as we need to discuss what "unnecessary waste of time" means but in the meantime, let's help those who can't.

Solution

Let's face it, there are things that cannot be removed from our lives. Some last for a little while, some longer, but we need to address them; otherwise, our lives will worsen. But this does not mean we are stuck; it means that things will be a bit harder for a while and that we CAN make progress, just not as fast as we'd like to. It's a matter of time management.

Time management involves being acutely aware of how much time you spend on a specific event and understanding the reasons behind it. Once you have this awareness, you can start to think about 'how' this time can be optimized. Here are some questions that might help:

1. What tasks or events often repeat themselves on a daily basis? 

List them, every single one, including eating/cooking, transportation, even brushing your teeth. You might think it's ridiculous, but it's important for the next step. You can try to list tasks weekly.

2. How much time does each task take? 

After your list of tasks is done, briefly define how much time each takes. This will raise some awareness about your time distribution.

3. What activities can be optimized in terms of execution or even removed from your list? 

I recommend you be critical about what you consider necessary or unnecessary, as people often think resting, eating, or certain social activities are unnecessary, but this is WRONG. High performance depends on balance; the point is to make clear how much time you need for those activities and, even better, what you actually don't need.

What is a good judgement metric for removing activities, if it hurts you or hurts others with no positive impact whatsoever, remove it. Hurt is not bad, sometimes we hurt ourselves and others when we tell the truth or while doing something painful like exercising, but those things are important to address. I'm talking about habits you know does not add absolutely no value to your life and not only take key time of your daily schedule but actually make you feel like shit, sabotaging your chance of becoming a better self.

4. When do you feel most productive during the day, and why? 

For me, it's the first 5 hours of the morning, but it might be different for everyone. Don't get discouraged if those hours that you feel productive are often the ones you need to address responsibilities. Remember, this point is not about removing tasks entirely but to raise awareness in order to improve your schedule.

Also, many of you might think "these hours don't exist", perhaps believing you have literally no hours of the day when you feel like doing anything because you lack energy or motivation. But give yourself the benefit of the doubt. Try to remember when was the last time you felt productive, even if just for a few minutes, and ask yourself why. Was it the food? Because you rested? Maybe you saw that "special person" for a few minutes? Or maybe it's just that you finished that annoying thing. Whatever the reason is, write it down and ask why. This will also allow you to understand what boosts the energy you need to optimize your daily, or even weekly, tasks.

5. Can these productive hours be increased? 

I understand this one is a bit hard, as we might have a limited amount of energy on a daily basis, but it is true that some healthy habits can actually boost your productivity hours. For instance.

I hate the exact moment I need to wake up early in the morning because I'll immediately take a cold shower. My brain is like, "are you insane? just keep sleeping!" But after that, I feel fully awake, which is very important and also cheap. I make a cup of green tea that gives me that little extra and keeps me awake for the next hours. Lastly, during that time, I'm not processing any food, just water, which doesn't put my body to work on anything else. Often, after eating some kind of food, I tend to slow down. This does not mean eating is bad, but it's important to know what kind of food is detrimental not only for your routine but also for your health.

Here is the trick. if you manage to notice what hour or hours you feel productive, understand why, actively try to boost them, and it works, you will:

• Gain a few extra minutes in your day (maybe hours). It might not seem like much, but these achievements, when applied over time, tend to slowly grow. So, perhaps 30 minutes of the day don't feel good enough the first week, but maybe next week it can be 1 hour, and maybe next you already free 2 hours.
• Gain control over how those hours can be used. Either to finish your responsibilities or to work on your personal goals. The confidence, discipline, and awareness this brings to your life might be a key factor in how you approach your challenges. Perhaps after a while, you notice your responsibilities can be addressed in half the time, or even better, you manage to come up with a solution that does not jeopardize the act itself.

6. What are the goals? 

You have your list of tasks, but what are the goals? This is good to address once you have a fair understanding of your daily schedule, so you can actually think about how much time each goal requires in the short and long run. For instance. 

You want to finish your career and also get a job to pay the rent. Maybe finish a personal project while taking care of your family. Or even simpler, just cleaning your room and keeping it that way for days.

Whatever your goal is, make it clear and define a step-by-step process to achieve it because you might be closer than you think, and it only takes a few fundamental questions, like the previously asked ones, to be aware of your schedule and energy, even if it's just a theory. These simple steps matter.

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Conclusion

For some of you, these ideas might feel unreal, especially when one is tired or disappointed, but keep in mind that your thinking and feelings are a consequence of several factors, and many of these factors can be changed based on your decisions! Reshaping the way you approach challenges and bringing new perspectives about life, especially time.

You don't need a radical change, as taking small steps towards your ideal can be efficient as well. Start this 2024 by making one of those small steps and let me know how it went by the end of this year.

Have a nice 2024 and thanks again for your support!