Time Management for Creative Souls

Why time management isn't your biggest concern when it comes to making space to create (and what is).

Do you ever wish you had more time?

I think everyone wishes this on occasion. And yet, we all have the same 24 hours in the day. So how is it that some people seem to be able to carve out time where others struggle to find time for their creative endeavors?

What if better time management isn’t the magic tool that makes more time?

Here’s a few commonly held misconceptions about time:

If we manage our time better, we will have more time to fit things in.
More time spent on an endeavor equals success in that endeavor.
If we simply put in the time (pay our dues), we will be different or better (achieve desired outcome).

The idea that by simply rearranging and compressing our schedules to do more things or “make time” is valid only up to a point. Rising earlier to fit in an early morning endeavor or wisely using the 15 minutes of wait time between appointments can indeed convert a block of time that was previously not utilized for any particular purpose into one that produces a specific outcome. The problem is that we as humans have limitations on how divided our attentions can become. At some point, we must say ‘no’ to something we are spending time on in order to say ‘yes’ to something we want to spend time on. Rearranging time through better time management only goes so far. At some point, curating our activities is the only sustainable alternative.

Throwing more time at an endeavor does not equal success. This touches on an interesting subject; the nuance of time management versus energy management. Case in point: does an hour spent on a project at 9 am in the morning after a good night’s sleep yield the same results as an hour spent on the same project at 1 am after a long, busy day? Energy management is actually more valuable than time management because it yields the same results (or better) in far less time.

Putting in time is not the same thing as being intentional with the time we put in. We do not often achieve the results we desire by simply going through the motions. Rather, we can often achieve our desired results when we are mindful of what we are doing or learning and choose to be fully engaged in our endeavor with the time we do have. Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect! Trust me when I say 10 minutes of perfect practice is far better than hours of incorrect, repetitious ‘practice’.

The good news for us as creatives is that time management is likely not the issue we have built it up to be. A little bit of consistent, quality time spent in your creative endeavors can yield far better results far faster than large blocks of unstructured time.

How will you be intentional with your creativity this week?

Categories: : time management, rising lights creative, creatives, organization, create