I’ve had the blessing of meeting and working with artists from all different backgrounds. Some worked in textiles, others in stonework, some were sculptors and others experimented with paint types and styles.
Many of them had businesses on the side where they either taught while creating, and others created to sell only. A common theme among each of these artists was that they had to learn to balance their creativity and experimentation with mediums with their business.
It was hard, but they each learned over time. If this is where you are in your business then here are some of the best tips to help balance your creative time with business management.
Find Where Business Interrupts Your Creativity
As you’ll find, most of what you encounter when trying to balance your creativity and work is a double edged sword. Something is going to have to give and you will have to make many difficult decisions.
One of those is to stop and assess where business is overlapping into your creative moments too much.
How do you do this?
First, stop and try to calculate how much time you spend being creative and how much time you spend working on your business. It can be hard to be honest with yourself so make sure you do this in pencil.
Second, take a look at where business is interrupting your creativity. Write down how many times in a day you look at, answer calls for, or do anything that takes you away from being creative. Write these moments of interruption on sticky notes or paper and lay them out.
How often does business take you away from your brilliance?
Determine What Can Go on a Backburner
There are many pieces to managing a freelance art business. Social media is an extremely important factor, then there’s the management of sales (usually done by a third-party), local pop-ups, raffles, all sorts of things that relate to selling your art and getting it out into the world.
Weigh What is Important
If you are wanting to increase the creativity in your life, then you have to weigh what is going to be most important. If you are using a third-party to host your art and sell prints, then you may not have to worry about that aspect of business.
However, because there are so many facets, you may find yourself focusing on too many other aspects which takes away the time needed to have a balanced creative work life.
Where is Your Personal Creativity?
When you work underneath an artist LLC, there are certain obligations that you have to meet. Part of it is the need of income, reported income, reported expenses and so on and so forth. This part of owning a business isn’t exactly as creative and could be something that is clogging your creative pores.
Timing is Everything
Please hear me on this: the timing of your day as a creative individual is everything. Work during work hours and not outside of them. If you are working from nine in the morning until nine at night, that is not a manageable timetable that allows you to engage in your personal creativity.
Make Time for You
One of the best tips that I have ever seen for any type of freelance work is treat your freelance work like a typical nine to five. Give yourself a lunch break and breaks and stop at the end of the day. Leave your work alone and devote time to yourself, family, your interests, and your creative needs.
Diffuse Your Imposter Syndrome
Sometimes it is hard to balance work and creativity because you no longer enjoy what you do thanks to imposter syndrome. If you haven’t heard of it, this is where you feel as though you aren’t able to compete in your field or that your work isn’t worth attention …
Or that you aren’t worth the attention and respect you deserve for the work that you do.
It’s hard to diffuse this mindset because societally we are taught to either be top dog or nothing. To work on this mindset and free your creativity while also continuing your business, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you selling like you want to?
- Are you creating what you want to?
- Are you creating a community of people?
- Is your work on display?
- Do you still enjoy what you do?
- Are you communicating with other artists?
- Do you know yourself and your art intimately?
Then you are where you need to be.
Conclusion
The honest truth is that balance is a facade. It’s one of the hardest things to achieve and one of the most ephemeral feelings in the world. As humans our attention is drawn all over the place. As a creative, you are more than likely in a million more worlds of wonder than the common person.
Because of that, you have to instead be fluid between working on your business and finding your creativity. Some days will have more work and other days will have more time for you to indulge in personal creativity.
Fortunately, you can help your fluidity by finding where business is interrupting your flow, place what can be done later on the backburner and build up your personal confidence. Who knows what worlds you will create with your art?