Dealing with Overwhelm in your Art Practice/Business

The feeling of overwhelm can either be liberating or debilitating ... How you deal with it can come down to choices, timing, and even personality.

I think the most important thing to assist ones brain in the organisational process is to have goal/s, this helps you focus your choices.

Do:

- do have a variety of goal lengths, eg next project, next exhibition, next 3 months, next year ... and longer term etc.

- do be specific in your goal setting, eg instead of saying "I want to earn heaps of money this year" say "I want to earn $10,000 this year from my art."

- do allow your goals to change.

Having lists is a great way to either take you out of overwhelm or to put you in it 😲.. again this may come down to personality.

Don't:

- don't put absolutely everything on your list, this is a sure fire way to overwhelm.

Do:

- do categorise your lists into smaller lists, so it seems more manageable.

✔️❗✔️ One of the most helpful things I have found, is to not only have lists, but to have a schedule.

Do:

- do set your week into a schedule.

- do divide it down to as smaller blocks as you need. normally divided by all the meals and snacks etc is a good way to give yourself breather spaces through out the day.

- do slot in R & R etc

- do only focus on what is on your days schedule.

Don't:

- don't worry or fret about what is not in the days schedule eg if you are doing a . b and c that day.... do not concern yourself over f . k . p or z .... you know they are coming up on other days and you know you have given them an allotted slot, so you do not need to think about them when it's not their turn.

- don't panic or be upset if you can't adhere to your schedule ... life happens

It's good to work out what you don't want to do .. sometimes by doing it first though 😲 A few years back, I was trying to work out what direction I wanted my art practice to go in .. So in 1 year I did 40 activities .. I actually drove myself a little mad I think 😲🙃 I made art for shows, exhibitions, commissions, galleries and my website ... !! too much !! ... By working out what I didn't like in that year really helped me consolidate what I do want to do.

Saying no is a good way to deal with overwhelm ..

Do:

- do know your limits, it is OK to say no. You won't be missing out when you say no ... you will be working with your choices towards your goals.

If you find yourself floundering and being bogged down regularly with overwhelm ..

Do:

- do return to your goals, are they attainable ? do you need to re look at them ? have you fallen off your goal track ?

- do regularly look at your schedule and amend as needed (see Part 1 with more on schedules).

- do ask for feedback and ideas and guidance from people you trust or from someone who is a mentor to your art practice.

- do feel OK about hiring a studio assistant to help with those tasks that anyone can do, preparing and priming canvas's, painting sides, varnishing, labeling, etc etc .. the space this frees up for you will be multi faceted 😊

Don't:

- don't be frightened to ask for input from people whose work or art practice you admire .... someone may see the overall forest picture easier than yourself, particularly if your nose is pressed up against the trees.

- don't feel you have to do it all yourself .. see above Do's 😊😊