There's always a slow period in an artist's schedule.
This is where Time Management and a To-Do list is very important.
There are several things on my schedule that even when I'm not working on a client project, I still have stuff to do. My personal projects list is huge. HUGE!
Ideas come thru my brain everyday and I don't have time to explore those ideas. People, they are always sharing something exciting that I can do with my talent. I write it all down. I can't keep all those things in my head! I will forget.
Evernote. My main go to app. In Evernote I keep several notebooks with different titles and aspects of my business. I have a DTM Curriculum notebook with a long list of notes each on the different classes I teach. I have an AIK Podcast notebook with a note on each podcast produced for Art Is King, info on the podcast, guest, links, publishing dates and social media promo text copy.
And theres a few Evernote notebooks on my personal art projects. Children Books, Art Life the comic book and Art Life the mobile game (its coming along), DaCreativegenius.com website notebook, DeltaTangoMike.com website notebook, Sam Flax art classes notebook, General Assembly classes notebook, and on and on, a notebook for everything you see me do in real life and online.
I have several notebooks to keep track of my client work, personal work, community work and mentorship.
When I look at my schedule for the week and I see that my client list is getting short and I haven't added anything new to work on, then I add my personal projects to the schedule. This is my time to make moves on my personal agenda.
This is also the time to update my website, add new works to my portfolio, follow up a client with an email, visit a possible art show venue, set up meetings and run errands. This is also the time to check out a class or two, a meetup where info is shared, a group that meets on visual design, or a workshop to learn/teach Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Get Shit Done.
BTW, I use Google Calendar to keep track. It syncs with my iPhone, iPad, Galaxy Note, Mac, Windows PC and it send me reminders. I used to have a bad habit of being late for everything in my life.
Time management is not just about being on time to an appointment. Its also about keeping track of your moves, currently today and what you will be working on tomorrow and next week.
Every evening before bed I prepare to undertake the next day's to do list. Thats how serious the Art Life is to me.
See you next week at Sam Flax, General Assembly or somewhere in ATL where the Art Life is Strong!
DTM
[email protected]
404.695.5769
PS. Evernote is Free. Google Calendar is Free. Google Mail is Free. Use it!