If you’re a busy person balancing your daily responsibilities with your creative practice, then time management is your best friend. Of course, it can be mentally taxing to focus on the thing you love the most, and sometimes you just need a break. Here’s how you can block out time in your week to dedicate to making your art, and then spend that time doing a deep-clean of your home instead!
Have an idea of what you’ll be working on ahead of time.
What gets scheduled, gets done! As your art session approaches, have a clear idea of what you’ll be working on, and in which rooms, and what cleaning supplies you’d use to clean those rooms. Save the really gnarly, time-consuming tasks you always put off doing – like scrubbing the toilet, or cleaning out your closet – for when you’ve given yourself a tight deadline to complete a creative project. You’ll magically get it all done in one go!
You can start out with your ‘creative focus’ playlist, but keep your cleaning playlist within reach.
Sure, you like listening to soothing piano instrumentals as you get deep into your creative process, but that’s hardly the best soundtrack for when you inevitably look over at your bed, start stripping down the sheets, vacuuming the whole apartment, and matching up all your socks into little sock-knots for your sock-basket. So save yourself the trouble, and load up an upbeat playlist with recent pop hits. Now, you can jam to Lizzo and Glass Animals while you create a spotless home!
Draw boundaries with the people in your life.
Sometimes, your partner, family, or friends all start wanting to borrow your attention during your precious art-making time. It’s okay to be selfish! You’ll just have to put your foot down, and let them know that this is sacred time that you’ve dedicated to make significant progress on the seriously overdue household chores you’ve put off for months. Put up a sign on your door so no one knocks while you dust off your shelves, and tell people to give you their dirty clothes in advance so you can do the laundry without being disturbed.
Remember: Mastering your time is the key to mastering your art. If you can carve out just an hour here and an hour there in your busy schedule, you can make surprising progress in your spring cleaning and color-coding your kitchen pantry. Go forth and create (a squeaky-clean living space)!
