Time to Shine

There are times when creating that the best thing to do is give open-ended time to play and explore. Then there are times when you just need to get the job done.

We are approximately 70 days away from ArtPrize® (the international art competition I am participating in). I know this because on the home page of their website they have a countdown set to tell the exact days, hours, minutes and seconds that remain. #gulp

Here are the pieces that I will be entering and the approximate time it took to create:

For those eagle-eyed viewers, you may have noticed I do have a little more to finish with the sea turtle. I still want to add more color and I’m going to add a little more to the shell, but I’m not going to fill it all in. It’s not about making an exact replica, but rather playing with the dots and showing what new visual is created when they come together.

For those of you who are especially observant you may note that the bird hasn’t been started and I have half the amount of time to create it. #yikes

Fortunately for me, the back-against-the-wall scenario does tend to be where I shine. When I have endless amounts of time, I can lose steam or get distracted. But when I’m clear on what needs to happen, even when I’m tight on time, I figure out how to get it done.

However, I don’t think I’m that unusual (at least as it pertains to getting stuff done). So I’ll share a few of my strategies in the hope that it will help you as well.

The first thing I do is estimate the amount of time needed to complete a task, even if I am wildly wrong. I add that last part because sometimes we have no idea how long something will take but we take no action because we are stuck on that question.

If I give myself permission to make an inaccurate guess it helps me to get started. As the saying goes “You can’t steer a parked car.” Give yourself the freedom to be wrong in your guess and make adjustments as needed.

Often the hardest part is just getting started.

Looking at the previous pieces I created I know that 24-weeks and 16-weeks are not entirely accurate because days or weeks would go by where I hadn’t worked on it. #life

I’m guessing it will take 80 hours, which means I need to clock 10 hours a week, which is approximately 1.5 hours a day. #math

So now that I have an estimate of how much time I need to give it, the next thing is to set-up my space in a way that removes as much friction as possible to getting the work done.

Initially, I only did this work in my studio space in the basement. However, there were times when I didn’t want to go downstairs and miss out on hanging with my family. #fomo

So instead, I gathered up all the supplies in a way that made it easy to bring it upstairs so I can work on it in the living room while we are watching movies or hanging out, but I can still easily pick it up and go back downstairs when it’s best for me to be by myself, cuz sometimes mama needs her alone time.

Another tool that is quite effective is having some type of accountability about getting something done. For this particular project I have the looming deadline of it needing to be framed and in Grand Rapids, Michigan by mid-September.

Social media is another way to create some public accountability. Sharing what you are doing and your intention can help keep you on track.

When I created and posted new artwork every day for 2-years, the accountability of daily posting was enough to help me through the days where I just wasn’t feeling it.

Finally, here are a couple other tools I use that aren’t relevant to my Hole-Punch artwork, but you may find useful in your current situation.

If I am feeling scared about taking a step toward a goal, I remind myself of previous things I have done that at the time felt scary. It’s a great way to keep perspective and in the process get reacquainted with what a badass you really are.

Finally, if you are feeling stuck when moving toward your goal, think of one thing you can do that would get you closer to it.

Doing some research? Signing up for a class? 10-minutes of playtime or exploring?

If I give myself one thing to try, it helps to clarify or at least removes some of the stuck feeling, which can work wonders for getting some momentum going.

I’d love to hear if any of these tools work for you or you can share this with anyone you know who is working toward a goal and maybe could use some encouragement.

Otherwise, I’ll see you next week where I can share how far my first 10-hours got me. #accountability