The Artist CEO Series
Whether you’re a student balancing school and your passion, or a professional artist working towards your dream career, chances are you have a ton to juggle. Especially if you’re just starting to turn your profession into a business, your to-do list may seem never-ending. With each new opportunity you embrace as an artist and entrepreneur, you’ll find additional tasks and responsibilities that you simply may not know how to handle.
Keeping track of everything you need to accomplish, manage, and achieve is tricky and it can be so easy to feel overwhelmed. Each situation and artist is unique, so finding the solution to your own special balancing act is different for everyone. It takes patience and practice, but we’ve listed some great tips below to get you started!
1. Determine your current commitments.
Before taking on more projects, take a good inventory of what you already have going on in your life. This can include school, another job, friends and family, or other organizations. Managing your responsibilities starts with being realistic about what you have adequate time for.
2. Use time-management skills.
Managing your time is essential for staying organized. You might consider keeping a calendar (digital or paper) of deadlines, dedicating specific hours for each project during your day, and making a prioritized list of your tasks. This way you’ll know exactly what is most important and needs to be done immediately. Looking for more time management ideas? Check out this article from Indeed here!
3. Celebrate the wins.
When you have lots of responsibilities, each task you check off is a reason to celebrate. Give yourself a moment to feel proud and satisfied with what you accomplished. There’s intrinsic value in the work you do, and feeling good about what you achieve builds self-confidence!
4. Own the mistakes.
Your commitments to work and daily life will ebb and flow, and may even pull you further than you expected! Sometimes, it’s possible that you might make a mistake, miss a deadline, or under deliver on a promise. When that happens, own it! Don’t make excuses and don’t brush it off. Apologize, be sincere, and use the experience as a learning opportunity for improvement.
If you still have too much to do or feel overwhelmed, go back to your list and reprioritize (step 2). Be sure to consider your time, what experiences and growth you might gain from each project, and if it would be financially or emotionally beneficial to you to do another task instead.
Great leaders grow from owning their responsibilities. Managing all that you have going on can be exhausting, but remember that these stretching moments are all worth it. With more practice, you’ll develop time management and delegation skills, and learn how to be more resilient through struggles. With trial and error, we hope that these tips and tricks will help you find a system that sets you up for success!