It’s no surprise that a good majority of folks in the creative field have a occupation outside of their creative professions. Full time, part time, anything to help pay the bills while working on your projects. It would be a dream to devote my time to create art full time, but it’s a very small percentage of folks who can and have the means to fullfil such a thing.
That doesn’t mean you have to stop everything to accomplish that goal. There’s also a groundedness that comes to having a job. I think of Franz Kafka or Henri Rousseau from the last century. Mundane jobs, but have the means to create outside of their professions. Yes, they’re reconized by their artistic contributions but how would that come about without having the safety net to explore those options?
This is why the arts are mostly seen as a luxury for those who can afford the time, the energy, the money. Working artists don’t have much of a break compared to those who have the affluence to get their work out there in the public. We try to make the time work because we have the urge to make it happen. Only if time allows. If only we have the time. So how do we manage time?
I work as an educator for the last several years, working with young kiddos to teens ready to burst through graduation. I love my job. Despite having a wide range of kiddos, I enjoy the interactions I have with my students and having a great sense of fullfilment through my work. Even with a good work environment, I was asked how I juggle my creative practice with pedagogy. It’s simple, but the hardest thing to do if you let life lead you by the horns so often: make the time to do what you need to do.
Set a schedule to work on your projects, and forgive yourself when you don’t meet them (if you don’t have a major deadline breathing down your neck generally). I do my art practice a few hours after relaxing a bit, or jump into it if I’m feeling modivated. Takes me at least 20 minutes to get started. Depends on the day, it could take till my bedtime. Or if it’s a particularly struggling day, a tip I learned from my former professor: “if you give yourself five minutes to do one task, and you realize that you can do more, then keep going.” Sometimes moments like that will end up as a flow state, and it’s just lovely when you get into the grove of it.
There’s not a lot I can say about time. It will always be here, keeping the count while we figure minutes to use it. Still, I hope it helps to get you a starting point if you happen to struggle getting on the road. Everyone’s paths will be different but the methods are more alike than people think.