Studio Hours Give You Superpowers: 5 Easy Ways to Schedule Time for Art

Hands Down, the number one thing that pushed my art practice to the next level was setting specific studio hours and sticking to them. For years I tried to just ‘squeeze art in’ whenever I could. This led to a feast or famine lifestyle that was unhealthy. I would go months without painting, feeling too busy or tired to even find the desire to paint. Then I would start a project or get a burst of creative energy and become consumed by art for weeks or months…staying up way too late, neglecting my home and the daily necessities of my life and my health. The burnouts that followed were always ugly and pushed me straight back to famine mode…taking months to recover at times.

It got to the point where I felt afraid of my creativity. Art was like a beautiful fire and I let it burn me again and again.

I was talking with my sister one day and we were discussing my potential as an artist. I told her I was afraid to set big goals because it was genuinely dangerous…I was afraid of getting burned. Then my sister, who is very good at life, said this, “Why don’t you figure out how many hours you can reasonably spend making art each week, and schedule those hours. Then you only take on the amount of projects that can fit into those hours.”

This may sound like the most obvious advice in the world, but for my ‘special’ artist brain, this was a revelation. I went home, sat down with my husband, and in less than 15 minutes we made a plan for about 4 times a week that I would have studio hours. Two afternoons during naptime, and two evenings when my husband got home from work. He would immediately take over and do dinner and bedtime while I painted.

Not only did this plan rid me of the guilt I felt for taking time to paint, even when life was in a state of chaos, it also offered another surprising benefit. It relieved the pressure and guilt I felt about the many hours a day that I was NOT painting. Normally, whenever I was doing something menial like loading the dishwasher, or doing something “lazy” like dropping onto the couch for a much-needed nap, I would have this nagging voice tickling my brain. ‘You could be painting right now. You SHOULD be painting right now. Chores and naps are a waste of time and robbing you of studio hours. You’ll never be a successful artist this way.’ (Harsh, right!?)

Now, with my fancy new schedule, when I was loading the dishwasher or curling up for a nap I could think, ‘It's not studio time. I wouldn’t be painting now anyway…and I’m so excited for tonight when I can walk in there, turn on the music, and disappear into my work.’ Much healthier, wouldn’t you say?

For the first little while I even taped a calendar page to my studio wall and made myself sign in and sign out of my studio sessions. Something about signing out was surprisingly refreshing. A tangible way to allow myself to check out of work mode, and relax into the other aspects of my life.

If you are a busy mom, the problem with just trying to make art whenever you have time, is that YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TIME! There will never be a moment in your day when you are sitting on the couch looking around saying, ‘I have nothing to do…everything is caught up on my to-do list. The laundry is under control, the dishes are in the dishwasher, and nobody seems to need my attention right now. I'm just feeling this swelling of creative energy and now feels like a good time to channel that energy into something beautiful.” NOPE. Never gonna happen. 

It’s time to take charge of your creativity and set your studio hours. It may sound overwhelming, but in reality, this could all be sorted out in just 15 minutes or less. You can do this! 

Here are five ideas for how you might schedule more creativity into your week. I’m not going to include painting during your kids’ naptime on this list. Even though this is a great one, I think it’s already the go-to, and can be overused if anything. Working through too many of our kids’ nap times deprives us of our own rest in the middle of the day when we need to recharge. Here are some other ideas to get your gears turning. 

Taxi Time

If you are a mom there’s a good chance you spend a good portion of your week playing taxi driver in your minivan to various dance classes, soccer practices, and piano lessons. If you find yourself frequently waiting in the car or lobby scrolling on your phone to pass the time, this could be a great opportunity for scheduled art making. Put together a little kit that includes a sketchbook, pens, markers, acrylic paint pens and more. Imagine if you filled just 4 pages each week. In just a few months that little book would be bursting with beautiful reminders of who you are and what you value. This is also a lovely option because the times are already set. You are already committed to this schedule, and you know you can show up consistently. Just show up with a little more color.

Day of Madness

If squeezing in studio time throughout the week feels like too much to juggle, try putting all of your studio hours into one day of the week. One wild day where your one and only goal that day is to make as much art as possible. Kids feed themselves cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Fine. You let the dishes pile sky-high in the sink? Okay. Your toddler watches Cocomelon like a zombie on the couch for so long that you stopped keeping track? Oh well. It’s just one day. One day where you allow yourself to be completely absorbed in your work. One day to lose all semblance of an orderly household or what a ‘good mom’ might do. One day to throw caution (and guilt) to the wind. You have permission to step fully into the role of artist. With laser focus you take every spare second to bring your visions to life. And the madness and chaos left in your wake isn’t scary because it’s just one day. Tomorrow you will feed your kids extra vegetables. Tomorrow you will shower, put on clothes and leave the house like a legitimate adult. Tomorrow you will snuggle that toddler and read him stories and sing the abcs. Sometimes we need permission to compartmentalize. And I could be wrong, but maybe this day of madness will be everyone's favorite day of the week.

Hired Help

This solution is the most ideal if you can swing it. Schedule a helper for the same days and same times every single week to take over childcare 100% while you have uninterrupted studio time. When I say ‘hired’, I don’t necessarily mean it’s paid help. But hired implies a more professional arrangement where there is a start time, end time, and it’s on the calendar. It implies a commitment. You could ‘hire’ your spouse/partner, a grandma, a sister, even a neighbor. Maybe you do a babysitting swap, or teach them art lessons, or bake them cookies in exchange for their time. If money is not an issue for you…why are we even having this conversation!?!? Hire someone already for set times each week and give yourself the beautiful gift of unencumbered art time!

Early Bird

Is your universe one in which you could possibly wake up 30-60 minutes before the kids to make art? If you have a newborn, aren’t sleeping through the night, or have kids who already hover over you at 5am etc…waking up 30 minutes earlier might not be possible in your universe. But if you are lucky enough to be in a more typical sleep situation, those quiet morning hours are there for the taking. They are just sitting there, patiently waiting for you to get up out of bed and grab them. I KNOW it’s hard to get up early. I’m notoriously terrible at waking up early. But, maybe you’ve never woken up early to do THIS! Just maybe, a quiet morning, candle lit, music on, mixing luscious colors…maybe it really is worth waking up early for. 

If you absolutely can’t stand the morning, you could always try planning for a few nights a week after the kids are in bed. But nIghttime is a tricky because kids are notoriously terrible at getting IN bed and staying there. I have kids coming out at midnight sometimes because they got caught up in a great book. MIdnight!! 

You know your household. You know your body. Do what works for you. It might be a little uncomfortable to make a change like this, but once you see the benefits you might find it’s worth the growing pains.

One Mark a Day

Finally, and maybe even favorite-ly, try just making one mark a day. On a large canvas. In a sketchbook. On a digital drawing. Anything. Anywhere. Just commit to one single mark every single day. If hours and schedules just feel like too much for you right now, start here. This goal is so attainable, it eliminates any possible excuses. As you make your mark each day, you will find one mark will turn to two, then three, and your innate desire to create will bloom effortlessly. If you love the feeling of making those marks, and seeing them add up to finished artwork over time, you may find you are ready to commit to scheduled hours afterall.

Hopefully these ideas are inspiring you to figure out the perfect solution for your unique life and creativity. Whatever you do, whether it’s 10 hours a week or one mark a day, commit to it. Devote yourself to it. Keep this promise to yourself the way you keep promises to other important people in your life. As you commit to small actions consistently, you will be amazed at the way they add up over time. I’m rooting for you!

Sending Love,

Denise

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