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Being successful with your art
9 years ago
All the talent in the world will not help you be successful with art (or any skill for that matter) unless you have time management skills. I do not want to write an entire treatise on time management, suffice it to say that there are plenty of good books out there about it. These two are the best IMHO.
Recommended Reading:
1. The Four Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss
2. Getting Things Done, by David Allen
Eliminate distractions in your workplace.
I cannot possibly describe how important this is, other than THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER.
1. Shut the door or shut the world out with headphones.
2. Turn off the phone.
3. If you share your living space with other people, have a way to inform them that you are “AT WORK” either verbally or by hanging a sign on your door, etc. so it is clear to them that you are not to be disturbed. Enforce this vigilantly. Many people assume, even though you have told them time and time again, that just because you are sitting at a computer somehow means that you are idle and your time is at their disposal. Do not let this happen or you will never get anything done.
If you do not have a door that can be shut, then housemates need to know that when your headphones are on, that is the exact same thing as shutting a door. Your “AT WORK” mode should be easily visible somehow. Doing this is good not just for keeping them away, but it also has a subconscious effect on you— when that door closes or those headphones go on, you shift to AT WORK mode.
4. Keep only things you need to do your actual work on your desk. Keyboard, mouse, tablet, pencil cup, etc. The more toys and doodads sitting around, the less you will accomplish. When you are in your office you are AT WORK.
5. Comfort is paramount. If you are too hot, cold, or uncomfortable, you will not be productive. Money spent on a fan, air conditioner, or heater and its use will pay for itself.
6. DO NOT PLAY GAMES ON YOUR WORK COMPUTER. Playing games on your work computer has several negatives: not only is it a distraction from you getting things done, it also wears you out from wanting to spend time in your workstation. People are also more likely to tweak their game machines for maximum speed, stability being secondary, and this is not good for a machine which you rely on to make your living. Your work computer should be the stable rock on which you build your empire.
There is only so much time you can sanely spend hunched over a computer. Make it count. Have a separate computer or console for your gaming, and keep it out of your workspace. That leads us to…
Your real life:
Ideally, we spend a third of our lives sleeping, a third working, and a third entertaining ourselves.
1. Keep your work life and your entertainment life separate. In separate rooms. When you are out of the office, you need to be OUT OF THE OFFICE. Do not answer work related calls or emails on your free time, otherwise it is not free time.
2. Gaming on your work computer will make you want to spend less time in your office and less time working. It’s just a fact. Don’t do it.
3. Seeing as how you spend a third of your life in it, invest in a good bed. Restful sleep is important for all things healthy, and if you do not have energy to get things done, you won’t. Beds are expensive but they are fortunately not something you need to buy every year. Think of it as an investment in yourself, your wellbeing, and your future. Because it is.
4. Sleep environment: Some people sleep much better in cold places than warm places, etc. Locate your bed somewhere with the best conditions for you. For example, I sleep best when it is cold in the room, completely dark, and I cannot sleep well without earplugs or white noise. Learn what is best for you because good sleep is the foundation of your energy level, and you need energy to get things done. Spending a few extra dollars on air conditioning to help you sleep better will pay for itself if you are well-rested and can get your work done.
5. Entertainment environment: What is the point of work if there is no reward? You need to shut down and unwind. Do it anywhere but in your office. Mental conditioning will have you in work mode when you are in your office and play mode when you are not. It is dangerous to overlay the two or keep wandering back and forth between them. Section them off physically and mentally, so that both will serve their purpose.
Efficiently upgrade your workspace:
Some things to think about: Your workspace is limited. Maximize it to get as much use out of limited space that you can. Not just your actual desk space but your monitor space as well.
It is better to make your existing stuff more efficient than it is to buy all new stuff. Your existing workspace (computer, desk, etc) are known quantities. You know when they crash, you know when they work well, you know how to use them. Shiny new computers take time to get tuned just how you like them, they all behave differently, and it will take time to get into the groove with them. Reorganizing your office on a massive scale will guarantee that you cannot find anything you need. Unless your computer is blowing smoke or your desk is falling apart, it is best to concentrate on what you have now, and make better use of it.
1. It is more effective to spend your money on a comfortable chair and desk than it is to upgrade your computer. All the processing speed in the world cannot help you if you can only sit in your workspace for a couple of hours at a time. I highly recommend Herman Miller Aeron or Mirra chairs. They are expensive but have a lifetime guarantee with free replacement parts (and I have tested this successfully, internationally even) so they will literally last you a lifetime. And for the comfort you cannot beat them.
Make sure your desk can accommodate all of your peripherals within easy reach— your keyboard, mouse, tablet, etc should all fit nicely where your hands can always reach them, and also have space to move them aside for other things if necessary. If you can’t do this, then you need to rethink your desk. Swing arms for mounting monitors aren’t good just for moving monitors around— they are surprisingly good for freeing up desk space. If you cannot afford swing arms to free up desk space, find a cheap way to remove desktop clutter with boxes or shelves.
2. Consider a second monitor and a swing arm to mount it on, to give you more computer desktop to work with. It doesn’t have to be super expensive to be effective. Hand-me-downs are great as secondary monitors. If you can afford to buy a secondary monitor the same size and resolution as your primary, do it.
3. Great minds have messy desks? Maybe true, but their workspaces must remain free of clutter. Let the junk pile up around you but the actual area you work in should be completely free of junk. clutter and other distractions that might get in your way. Better yet have a designated junk area where you let things pile up, and go through it periodically to clean and organize.
4. Make sure your computer is safe from any potential coffee or drink spills!!! I speak from experience.
5. Money spent on backups is money well-spent. Always keep backups. Of everything. Have a designated external drive.
Keeping on task:
1. Learn and use some form of GTD (Getting Things Done). Most of the book involves David Allen giving himself a long-winded pat on his own back, but the actual meat and potatoes of the Getting Things Done method works well. I myself use just a single-paper method with my to-do list, and when it gets full I recompile it into a new sheet. This paper is ALWAYS on my desk, and never covered up. That way it is always there reminding me what I need to be thinking about.
Put dates on the things you do when you do them, so that you know how long they have been unfinished or sitting idle.
2. If you find that you are restless and need frequent breaks, that is fine. Some lifehack studies suggest that we are most efficient if we work for 20 minute periods with short breaks to stand up and stretch. Setting timers for yourself is not weird or creepy. Lots of people do it.
If you take commissions, keep an organized list of what needs to be done. It should contain both the contact email and paypal/payment email of the commissioner, details on down payments, remaining balances, and a short description of the specific piece. See the file attachments for an example. Keep this somewhere visible, uncovered, on your desk. It will be satisfying to check them off as finished.
3. Do not bite off more than you can chew. Take commissions in small batches so as not to become overwhelmed. This is a good idea not just for organization but psychologically. A queue of 10 commissions you can handle. A queue of 100 is an impassable mountain looming overhead. Do not be seduced by the prospect of the money; I have made that mistake and do not care to repeat it.
Dealing with success:
(And general good guidelines for making actual wealth out of not-a-whole-lot:)
If you follow these rules as closely as you can, you will start to climb your way out of debt rapidly and accumulate what we actually call wealth. If you have no debts, then you can still work flipping burgers for minimum wage and pay the bills until you figure out something better.
1. When in doubt, invest in yourself. Take a class, read a book, learn a skill. You can never go wrong here.
2. Do not be tempted to buy all the new gadgets and geegaws. Concentrate on making your existing stuff more efficient first, or upgrading your workspace.
3. Pay down debt first before spending money on anything else.
4. Live within or below your means, especially if you have debts to pay off.
5. Never take on new debt unless absolutely necessary.
6. Save aggressively.
7. Adopt a cash-only policy: If you can’t afford to buy it in cash, you can’t afford to buy it at all. This means things as large as housing, cars, and appliances. This will allow you instant access to deals you previously thought impossible. People will take cash offers before they take bankcheck offers, and often at a surprising discount to save time (and fudge the tax reports). It also guarantees that you own what you buy, outright, no strings attached.
8. Rent before you buy, until you can afford to buy outright. (Have you ever seen a truth-in-lending statement? Over the course of a typical mortgage, people pay 2-3 times the actual value of the house. And that’s at a low interest rate.) This not only allows you to save but also leaves you options to move if you find a better deal somewhere else.
If you do buy, try to make your money when you sign the contract. This means that any profits you think you will make, you make when you buy it. A fixer-upper, for example, that you plan to live in while you renovate it, is one such example. A bank foreclosure is another. Looking for the worst place in the best neighborhood is often a great way to find a great deal— few people want to spend the effort fixing up a shabby house, but if you are handy, that time spent adds up and pays off later.
9. NEVER EVER take out a loan for school. Ever. Dumbest idea ever. You will be beholden to someone else for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for an education that will likely be obsolete by the time you have your certificate. There are plenty of cheaper schools online and abroad that offer similar if not better educations, you just have to seek them out. You don’t want to work at a place that only hires people based on what school they attended, anyways. You want to work somewhere that hires people who are good. Better yet, you want to work for yourself! There is nothing wrong with going to school. There is everything wrong with going into debt for it.
Recommended Reading:
1. The Four Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss
2. Getting Things Done, by David Allen
Eliminate distractions in your workplace.
I cannot possibly describe how important this is, other than THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER.
1. Shut the door or shut the world out with headphones.
2. Turn off the phone.
3. If you share your living space with other people, have a way to inform them that you are “AT WORK” either verbally or by hanging a sign on your door, etc. so it is clear to them that you are not to be disturbed. Enforce this vigilantly. Many people assume, even though you have told them time and time again, that just because you are sitting at a computer somehow means that you are idle and your time is at their disposal. Do not let this happen or you will never get anything done.
If you do not have a door that can be shut, then housemates need to know that when your headphones are on, that is the exact same thing as shutting a door. Your “AT WORK” mode should be easily visible somehow. Doing this is good not just for keeping them away, but it also has a subconscious effect on you— when that door closes or those headphones go on, you shift to AT WORK mode.
4. Keep only things you need to do your actual work on your desk. Keyboard, mouse, tablet, pencil cup, etc. The more toys and doodads sitting around, the less you will accomplish. When you are in your office you are AT WORK.
5. Comfort is paramount. If you are too hot, cold, or uncomfortable, you will not be productive. Money spent on a fan, air conditioner, or heater and its use will pay for itself.
6. DO NOT PLAY GAMES ON YOUR WORK COMPUTER. Playing games on your work computer has several negatives: not only is it a distraction from you getting things done, it also wears you out from wanting to spend time in your workstation. People are also more likely to tweak their game machines for maximum speed, stability being secondary, and this is not good for a machine which you rely on to make your living. Your work computer should be the stable rock on which you build your empire.
There is only so much time you can sanely spend hunched over a computer. Make it count. Have a separate computer or console for your gaming, and keep it out of your workspace. That leads us to…
Your real life:
Ideally, we spend a third of our lives sleeping, a third working, and a third entertaining ourselves.
1. Keep your work life and your entertainment life separate. In separate rooms. When you are out of the office, you need to be OUT OF THE OFFICE. Do not answer work related calls or emails on your free time, otherwise it is not free time.
2. Gaming on your work computer will make you want to spend less time in your office and less time working. It’s just a fact. Don’t do it.
3. Seeing as how you spend a third of your life in it, invest in a good bed. Restful sleep is important for all things healthy, and if you do not have energy to get things done, you won’t. Beds are expensive but they are fortunately not something you need to buy every year. Think of it as an investment in yourself, your wellbeing, and your future. Because it is.
4. Sleep environment: Some people sleep much better in cold places than warm places, etc. Locate your bed somewhere with the best conditions for you. For example, I sleep best when it is cold in the room, completely dark, and I cannot sleep well without earplugs or white noise. Learn what is best for you because good sleep is the foundation of your energy level, and you need energy to get things done. Spending a few extra dollars on air conditioning to help you sleep better will pay for itself if you are well-rested and can get your work done.
5. Entertainment environment: What is the point of work if there is no reward? You need to shut down and unwind. Do it anywhere but in your office. Mental conditioning will have you in work mode when you are in your office and play mode when you are not. It is dangerous to overlay the two or keep wandering back and forth between them. Section them off physically and mentally, so that both will serve their purpose.
Efficiently upgrade your workspace:
Some things to think about: Your workspace is limited. Maximize it to get as much use out of limited space that you can. Not just your actual desk space but your monitor space as well.
It is better to make your existing stuff more efficient than it is to buy all new stuff. Your existing workspace (computer, desk, etc) are known quantities. You know when they crash, you know when they work well, you know how to use them. Shiny new computers take time to get tuned just how you like them, they all behave differently, and it will take time to get into the groove with them. Reorganizing your office on a massive scale will guarantee that you cannot find anything you need. Unless your computer is blowing smoke or your desk is falling apart, it is best to concentrate on what you have now, and make better use of it.
1. It is more effective to spend your money on a comfortable chair and desk than it is to upgrade your computer. All the processing speed in the world cannot help you if you can only sit in your workspace for a couple of hours at a time. I highly recommend Herman Miller Aeron or Mirra chairs. They are expensive but have a lifetime guarantee with free replacement parts (and I have tested this successfully, internationally even) so they will literally last you a lifetime. And for the comfort you cannot beat them.
Make sure your desk can accommodate all of your peripherals within easy reach— your keyboard, mouse, tablet, etc should all fit nicely where your hands can always reach them, and also have space to move them aside for other things if necessary. If you can’t do this, then you need to rethink your desk. Swing arms for mounting monitors aren’t good just for moving monitors around— they are surprisingly good for freeing up desk space. If you cannot afford swing arms to free up desk space, find a cheap way to remove desktop clutter with boxes or shelves.
2. Consider a second monitor and a swing arm to mount it on, to give you more computer desktop to work with. It doesn’t have to be super expensive to be effective. Hand-me-downs are great as secondary monitors. If you can afford to buy a secondary monitor the same size and resolution as your primary, do it.
3. Great minds have messy desks? Maybe true, but their workspaces must remain free of clutter. Let the junk pile up around you but the actual area you work in should be completely free of junk. clutter and other distractions that might get in your way. Better yet have a designated junk area where you let things pile up, and go through it periodically to clean and organize.
4. Make sure your computer is safe from any potential coffee or drink spills!!! I speak from experience.
5. Money spent on backups is money well-spent. Always keep backups. Of everything. Have a designated external drive.
Keeping on task:
1. Learn and use some form of GTD (Getting Things Done). Most of the book involves David Allen giving himself a long-winded pat on his own back, but the actual meat and potatoes of the Getting Things Done method works well. I myself use just a single-paper method with my to-do list, and when it gets full I recompile it into a new sheet. This paper is ALWAYS on my desk, and never covered up. That way it is always there reminding me what I need to be thinking about.
Put dates on the things you do when you do them, so that you know how long they have been unfinished or sitting idle.
2. If you find that you are restless and need frequent breaks, that is fine. Some lifehack studies suggest that we are most efficient if we work for 20 minute periods with short breaks to stand up and stretch. Setting timers for yourself is not weird or creepy. Lots of people do it.
If you take commissions, keep an organized list of what needs to be done. It should contain both the contact email and paypal/payment email of the commissioner, details on down payments, remaining balances, and a short description of the specific piece. See the file attachments for an example. Keep this somewhere visible, uncovered, on your desk. It will be satisfying to check them off as finished.
3. Do not bite off more than you can chew. Take commissions in small batches so as not to become overwhelmed. This is a good idea not just for organization but psychologically. A queue of 10 commissions you can handle. A queue of 100 is an impassable mountain looming overhead. Do not be seduced by the prospect of the money; I have made that mistake and do not care to repeat it.
Dealing with success:
(And general good guidelines for making actual wealth out of not-a-whole-lot:)
If you follow these rules as closely as you can, you will start to climb your way out of debt rapidly and accumulate what we actually call wealth. If you have no debts, then you can still work flipping burgers for minimum wage and pay the bills until you figure out something better.
1. When in doubt, invest in yourself. Take a class, read a book, learn a skill. You can never go wrong here.
2. Do not be tempted to buy all the new gadgets and geegaws. Concentrate on making your existing stuff more efficient first, or upgrading your workspace.
3. Pay down debt first before spending money on anything else.
4. Live within or below your means, especially if you have debts to pay off.
5. Never take on new debt unless absolutely necessary.
6. Save aggressively.
7. Adopt a cash-only policy: If you can’t afford to buy it in cash, you can’t afford to buy it at all. This means things as large as housing, cars, and appliances. This will allow you instant access to deals you previously thought impossible. People will take cash offers before they take bankcheck offers, and often at a surprising discount to save time (and fudge the tax reports). It also guarantees that you own what you buy, outright, no strings attached.
8. Rent before you buy, until you can afford to buy outright. (Have you ever seen a truth-in-lending statement? Over the course of a typical mortgage, people pay 2-3 times the actual value of the house. And that’s at a low interest rate.) This not only allows you to save but also leaves you options to move if you find a better deal somewhere else.
If you do buy, try to make your money when you sign the contract. This means that any profits you think you will make, you make when you buy it. A fixer-upper, for example, that you plan to live in while you renovate it, is one such example. A bank foreclosure is another. Looking for the worst place in the best neighborhood is often a great way to find a great deal— few people want to spend the effort fixing up a shabby house, but if you are handy, that time spent adds up and pays off later.
9. NEVER EVER take out a loan for school. Ever. Dumbest idea ever. You will be beholden to someone else for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for an education that will likely be obsolete by the time you have your certificate. There are plenty of cheaper schools online and abroad that offer similar if not better educations, you just have to seek them out. You don’t want to work at a place that only hires people based on what school they attended, anyways. You want to work somewhere that hires people who are good. Better yet, you want to work for yourself! There is nothing wrong with going to school. There is everything wrong with going into debt for it.
No, seriously. Works for me.
I think my opinion is also that ... if you aren't willingly wanting to do a healthy load of work hours then you shouldn't put yourself in a position to force yourself to do work you don't want to. When I do a 4-6 hour work stream in the day ... I may also come back and work 8pm to midnight because I'm excited about what needs to be done as well as improving my quality. If I'm forcing myself to struggle with a 2 hour work day then that's the same feelings I had from a previous job I hated that I quit.
My biggest obstacles are when I'm going through a fit of ADD coupled with depression, but I have found a cure: doing more work. Because productivity makes me alive, accomplishment makes me thrive, and not having anything on my to-do takes a thousand pounds of weight off my shoulders. The good news is ... though it's tremendously difficult to start being productive, once you get over the first hump you get a fresh breath of accomplishment, which makes you want to work more. Like an addiction.
Nothing makes me ;[ more than a beginner/intermediate artist who hasn't even set up an account thinking they can quit their job, start an account, and make a full time living when they have bills to pay. It's not uncommon to see artists here freaking out about paying the bills. I love the last 5 points for Dealing with Success.
Sorry for the rant I just really love the subject, there's so very much helpful advice that can be given on the subject. Much passion. :3
Though I have seen people switch to video games mid-stream and then stay that way. That's fine, so long as they don't whine later that they are not getting anywhere with their art.
Good stuff.
I just hope that I can not get discouraged.
Thank you for sharing the wisdom and knowledge you've picked up over time.
I can absolutely confirm that everything on this list is true. I do every last thing on it and it helps my productivity IMMENSELY.
The only other thing I can add is to invest in a Dropbox account and use it to back up all of your .PSD's and High resolution files. It's easy to misplace them and if the worst should happen, you don't have to worry about your computer containing all your precious files...it's all backed up to the cloud!