Productivity is a hot topic of conversation with a lot of my clients. Not because artists and creatives are lazy. Just the opposite in my experience. But we artists and creatives often face the struggle of being productive alone in the studio or at the computer and without external deadlines, a boss or team to report to. It is easy to get distracted, put passion projects off to another day, move strategic endeavours to the back burner or even abandon them altogether. And we can spend a LOT of time beating ourselves up for not being as productive as we’d like to be or need to be or think that we “should” be. Like being productive is something we should just be able to do. Sound familiar? But here’s my perspective on productivity. It isn’t something that comes to us naturally. There’s an art to it!
As creative professionals, whether we have formal training or not, we invest a lot of focused time, energy and thought into learning and developing our art form. And yet our tendency is to just expect ourselves to be productive. When we struggle with productivity we tell ourselves it’s because we don’t have enough time, we have too many other demands on us or we just aren’t good at following through. We don’t often give much intentional thought to learning how to manage our productivity until we hit a wall or get frustrated because we consistently can’t seem to access or maintain a flow or get things done. This is what many artists and creatives reach out to me for help with. They want to feel and be more productive. I coach them to work at developing their capacity to manage their productivity. A current client of mine who was feeling frustrated with her productivity hit the nail on the head when she came to the realization “I am the boss and the employee”. Managing our productivity is really the art of bringing those two things together.
Think about this idea. That as an artist or solopreneur of a creative business you are your own boss and your own employee.
Consider…
What kind of boss are you to yourself?
Are you the kind of boss who sets clear goals and realistic expectations? Are you a hardass boss? Are you an absentee or laissez faire boss? Are you the kind of boss that sets you up for failure or success? Are you a compassionate and kind boss to yourself? Or are you a punishing or rigid boss?
As our own bosses we are responsible for clarifying vision, setting performance expectations for ourselves and ow work policies. We are responsible for meeting the needs of our practice or business as well as supporting and recognizing our personal AKA employee needs, progress and accomplishments. For some creative professionals being a better boss to ourselves could be as simple as setting better policies around working hours or time off. For example, I recently had a client from over a year ago reach out to share, “Since committing to a start time of 9:30AM during the week, I've felt and been more productive. With your help, I've been able to reframe my definition of productivity and I'm much happier with where I am in my creative practice nowadays.” It sounds so simple but I’m sure many artists and creatives can relate to the impacts on our productivity if we leave our start time completely up in the air. On the flip side, I’ve had clients who constantly burn the candle on both ends, working evenings and weekends with no policies or boundaries around the hours they work. And when we work on changing that, they are often surprised to notice that their productivity improves with taking time off to rest and recharge.
How could you approach being a better boss to yourself?
Also consider…
What kind of employee are you to yourself?
Do you consistently show up on time, prepared and organized? Or do you consistently show up late, unprepared and at a loss about what to do? Are you the kind of employee who is committed to and diligent about doing the work? Are you the type of employee that’s a creative problem solver or one that throws up their hands when things don’t go a certain way? Are you an employee who is a positive force or do you bring a negative attitude? Do you ignore the tasks you don't "like" doing?
How could you approach being a better employee to yourself?
Now consider…
How can you bring these things together in service of improving your productivity?
What’s one or two actions you will take as your own boss?
What’s one or two actions you will take as your own employee?
As creative professionals we must ultimately invest in building our capacity to manage our productivity. There is an art it. It’s the art of getting the boss in us and the employee in us to have each other’s backs and build a workplace we can create in and see passion projects and strategic initiatives through to completion. Our success really depends on it!
Image Credit: Michael Evans and Chris Mitchell
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