7 Ways to Simplify Your Life (and Make More Time for Art)

Many people want to make art, but few do. Why is this the case? An excuse I often hear is that there isn’t enough time. When I say ‘excuse,’ I don’t mean this isn’t valid. Modern life is extremely demanding, so I get it.

However, I do think there are things we can do to be more efficient and save time. I’ve implemented several practices in my own life to make more time for art. Today, I want to share some of these with you in hopes that you’re inspired to create more this year.

Shop Online

Whether you’re buying groceries or clothes, we don’t really have to go to stores anymore. For me, they are a major time suck. And a great way to get sick these days. Also, I usually leave stores with things I don’t need, so it’s not great for my wallet either.

I buy our groceries online. The delivery fee is basically the cost of a latte, so it’s worth it for me. And for clothes, I order anything I’m considering online. Then, I have all returns picked up from my house. You can schedule UPS, Fedex, and USPS pickups for free online.

For dinners, we love to do meal kit delivery services like Green Chef or Home Chef. This minimizes the amount of thought that goes into grocery shopping. And there’s no meal planning for me. I’ve also been a long time fan of Daily Harvest for my morning breakfast smoothies. These aren’t paid promotions. I just like the services.

Stay off Social Media (or Limit Time Spent)

I know some of you hate hearing this one, because we’ve all heard it before. We know, social media is the devil. Blah blah blah. The best way to assess if this is a problem for you is to look at your average screen time on your phone. That’s how much time you could spend making art per day. My screen time averages around an hour and forty-five minutes per day. And most of that is spent watching live video of my dog at daycare :) I’m always trying to reduce that number. While I think social media has its perks (like finding inspiration and building community) the time spent for me isn’t worth it. I mainly just use Pinterest to find inspiration, because it’s one sided. I don’t have to respond to comments or reply to messages.

The problem is we think we can do it all, and we can’t. Like it tor not, we have to make choices. Would you rather spend your days engrossed in someone else’s life, or in your own? Not only does staying away from social media create physical space in our lives, it creates mental space as well. We all know that feeling of having just come off a social media binge. Our brains are in overdrive, pondering all the ways to improve our lives - whether that be buying a new outfit, jumping on the latest trend, or attracting more followers.

If the thought of going cold turkey makes you nervous, you don’t need to give up social media all together. Just work to limit your usage, so you can create more space in your life. And try to follow accounts that energize you versus drain you.

I guess the million dollar question is - what has the time you’ve spent on social over the past year done to enhance your life? If you had spent all that time making art, what would be different?

Become More Selective in… Everything

This applies to all areas of life. Time is our most valuable asset. The time spent on anything must be worth it. If you’re going to watch TV, make sure you absolutely LOVE what you’re watching. Don’t waste time on subpar shows. If you’re going to read a novel, make sure it has you on the edge of your seat the whole time. And if you’re going out with friends, make sure they are people you love spending time with. They should energize you and make you feel good about yourself.

As they say, '“if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no.”

Being selective will add time back to your calendar. And this tip creates mental space too. Imagine no longer agonizing about whether you should say yes to something you don’t want to do. Once you adopt this mindset, your whole life becomes richer.

Ask for Help

As humans, we don’t do this enough. Let’s start with services. There’s no shame in hiring landscapers or cleaning ladies. In my experience, these services are cheaper than people think. And no one even needs to know you’re using them, if you feel weird about it. When someone says they can’t afford these things, they’re really saying that they don’t see the value these services bring. My advice would be to trial a service before making any decisions. Assess the impact it would have on your life long term.

Asking for help can also come in the form of a healthcare professional. Maybe your depression is debilitating, but you haven’t done anything about it. Schedule that appointment with a therapist. Or maybe you have a physical ailment that’s been stressing you out so much, you can’t even think about art. In my experience, it’s better to ask for help now rather than sometime in the future. Often when we make that phone call, the mental chatter instantly goes away.

Asking for help could also come in the form of family support. Maybe you need to ask your spouse or parents to watch your children once a week so you can have quiet time to make art.

Asking for help could even be as simple as having Door Dash deliver one of your meals versus picking it up so you can spend that time painting.

Tackle Your To-Do’s

Easier said than done right? Much of the stress in our lives is due to a lack of organization. Have you ever spent an entire day playing catchup? And then there’s still more left to do? We all know that feeling. It’s not great.

Once you get ahead of your to-do list, you’ll free up tons of mental and physical space to make art. Accomplishing your to-dos may mean you need to spend a day, or even a week crossing things off. Asking for help might come in handy here too.

Many of us become comfortable with having a huge roster of things to do, but that’s no way to live. I realized at some point that I need to raise the bar on how many pending to-dos I have in my life. The only way to do this is to make a conscious effort to catch up (by throwing a whole lot of energy at that list), and then implement systems that allow you to permanently stay on top of things Determining what actually needs to get done is part of the process too. I’ve learned to be pretty selective as to what makes it on my list.

My favorite way to stay on top of tasks (which I’ve talked about many times) is to make a daily 3x3 task list. On the list, I include three personal and three professional things to do every day. That way, I’m usually pretty on top of things. If I don’t get to something, I roll it over to the next day.

Another way I like to stay on top of things is to designate certain days of the week for household chores. For instance, I water my plants on Tuesday and Friday. That way, I don’t need to think about this throughout the week. I’m on autopilot. And I clean our sheets, organize my studio, and pick up around the house every Friday. That way, I’m going into the weekend feeling accomplished.

Put it in Writing

For me, organization starts with making lists. Lists of things to do, lists of things to paint, and lists of things to write about on my blog. That way, when I sit down to actually create, I don’t waste any time brainstorming.

In addition to lists, we’ve all heard how helpful it is to schedule things on our calendars. But do we actually do it? I’ve learned to keep a “days of the week” pad of paper on my desk, so I can write my to-do’s under each day. I also have a digital calendar, with important dates scheduled to repeat annually. I also log appointments on my digital calendar, with reminders, so I don’t forget. That way, I’m not wasting time trying to remember things on my own. I can put all that energy into making things.

Another way to create mental space through writing is journaling. You can write about what’s on your mind, so you don’t have to think about it so often. I also log my day before bed in a journal I keep on my nightstand. I’ve been doing this for years. I love how I don’t need to remember things I did on certain days. If I need to know, I just reference my journal.

Look for Small Pockets of Time

This one doesn’t just apply to art. We all have little pockets of time throughout our day that are wasted. These pockets usually fall between appointments in our schedule, or gaps in our routines. We think we don’t have enough time to do anything significant, so we just go on our phones or turn on the TV. Often the idea that we need a large chunk of time to sit down and make art is what keeps us from even trying. Who said we can’t take 10-15 minutes out of our day to make something quick? I try to aim for a brushstroke a day, and that’s it. This idea of quantity over quality has worked pretty well for me thus far. This tip applies well to all things worth doing in life - whether it be exercise, time with loved ones, or cleaning. These little pockets of time really add up, and can get you far.

Another trick I’ve talked about is setting timers. If you know you have 20 minutes before your kids get home from school, set a timer for 20 minutes to make art. And make sure that time is uninterrupted.

One thing that will help you utilize these small pockets of time is to create a designated space for making art. A space where you can leave all your materials out. Maybe it’s just a small desk in the corner of your living room. That way, when you have a little time to make something, you won’t waste time getting your materials set up.

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At the core of this conversation is one main question - what value do you place on making art? Why do you want to make more art? What in your life is more important than making art? Probably not many things. Your answers to these questions will hopefully give you the motivation it takes to more art than you ever have this year.