Creative Success Starts Here: Time Management and Essential Skills
- Leia Emeera
- Jul 12, 2024
- 11 min read
Updated: Jul 16
What is time management exactly? It is technically the process of strategically planning and controlling how you allocate your hours, ensuring that each moment is utilised to its fullest potential.
Time management for creative people and artists could be one of the challenging tasks for some. Moreover, this phrase sounds corporate in the creative world, where freedom and creativity are essential in the process. Even though there are a lot of books dedicated to time management, guides tailored specifically to creative time management and time management for creative people are not that easy to find.
This also includes creative projects. Creative project managers understand the unpredictable nature of creatives, so managing time for the team can be a struggle.
However, good strategies for creative time management can have a better impact on the overall project management, in finishing projects on time and having peace of mind. So, how can you work on time management as an artist?
Table of Contents:
Why is Time Management Important for Successful Project Management?
Time management impacts the quality and cost of a project. Broadly, it helps to ensure timely completion and reduce wastage. More specifically, creative time management can also save you from a lot of headaches. When you have a secure timeline and you follow it with discipline, you’re a lot more likely to be less stressed and anxious, which could positively impact the quality of the produced art.
So, for leaders out there that manage creative teams, implement time management not just for projects, but individually for your teams. Not an easy task, but essential to ensure the productivity and progress of a project. Hence, ‘mastering time’ is a skill a creative leader is encouraged to pick up.
5 Common Time Management Challenges for Creatives and Artists
The challenges that creatives face are not something like struggling to perceive time or other internal struggles that could affect their performance. There are external factors that could cause them to have difficulties with time management.
Creative Blocks
An internal struggle that is hard to control. Creative blocks can come at random, and it is hard to predict when they happen. What creatives can do is try to find inspiration from different sources of creative work to break that block.
Perfectionism
A struggle of a majority of artists, where they end up being stuck on an art project more than necessary to perfect their craft. Hence, it affects their schedule. While perfectionism is hard to break, being strict with yourself to work in a specific time block could stop you from working on a specific project for too long.
Overcommitting
This is when creatives or artists take on more projects than they think they can handle, overestimating the work they need to complete them. Taking a step back to estimate how long your projects would take you is one of the steps to handling them better.
Unclear Project Breakdowns
An external factor that could affect the time spent working on a task or a project. If a task is not broken into minor details, the time estimated to conduct it might be overestimated. Taking the time to list down the to-dos in a singular task can help better evaluate the time needed to execute it.
Last-Minute Feedback from Clients
An unfortunate circumstance that could happen to both creatives working on a corporate project and artists who are hired by clients to do a certain art project. While it is not something you can control, being firm about when you should expect feedback is a good start.
Top 5 Skills Needed for Creative Time Management
Skill #1: Organisation: The First Step
Staying organised could include physical factors, like a clean desk, or could involve digital factors, like having one place where all your work and tasks are noted down and stored. Having a clear overview of your creative assignments is important for effective time management and overall project management.
It’s undoubtedly more difficult to accurately predict how long a piece of art will take to complete, in comparison to something more straightforward like sending emails. Moreover, it’s even more cumbersome if your thoughts and notes are a mess.
Here are a couple of practices we can start doing today to organise better:
1. Clean up your working desk. Decluttering and reordering your art supplies and tools will reduce distractions and open up space for your work to invite more creative energy and help you focus.
2. Consider your digital spaces as well. Use a project management tool to help you with organising. For example, TESSR is a tool designed for artists and animators where you can upload all your projects in a specific hierarchy designed for animation studios. For optimal organisation, TESSR project management software will help you arrange your creative tasks through the built-in order. If need be, you have the option to make “Playlists” to create custom playlists or recommended ones for your scenes.
Skill #2 Prioritisation Techniques for a Successful Project
Once you’ve organised your workplace and your tasks, it’s time to move to prioritisation. There are many ways to do so, and it should be done based on your preference. One of the ways is using TESSR project management tools, in which you can use the colour-coded labels to sort your priorities.
Prioritising tasks is an important step in time management, as it helps you properly plan a timeline and have a clearer overview of your work. If you look at all tasks with equal importance, you’ll overwhelm yourself and feel burnout—thus delaying the whole process.
There are different methods of prioritisation that you can research then choose what is best based on your personal preference, such as ABCDE or Eat the Frog. However, the foundation of this prioritisation exercise tends to come down to two (2) things.
Importance: Weigh the importance of certain tasks. Smaller, less critical tasks can be put aside. Save your time and energy on what matters most in the present moment.
Deadline or Target Time: Set up deadlines for all tasks on your plate to have successful project management. Project management tools could help you lay this out in an organised manner. TESSR, project management software for artists, for example, allows the designation of due dates to find out what needs the most of your attention.
Skill #3 Goal setting
To aim for the overall project success, set milestones for yourself to track your progress and performance. It mitigates the risk of large mistakes or at least helps you catch them in time. Make sure your goals are specific and relevant to your project.
Within the context of time management for creative people, goal setting can help you establish both short-term and long-term goals—clarity can help you gain a better sense of purpose and minimize distractions. These two are key factors of creative time management and p.s., this helps with staying motivated too.
How do I start goal setting?
Take time to reconsider what your creative goals are, as an artist. Reconnect with your inner artistic intentions and break them down into smaller, achievable, and actionable goals.
A project management software like TESSR can aid in this area, especially when it can visualise your progress and how close you are to your goals. For example, TESSR app’s feature, “Woohoo”, allows the progress of a project to be tracked through a doughnut chart. Therefore, you’re able to set measurable goals with this data.
Bonus: You can also consider implementing SMART goals for your creative projects!
Skill #4: Focus & Flow
To further improve your time management skills, utilise the natural flow of your creative work. We are all familiar with the term ‘getting in the zone’ or ‘locked in.’ When you can achieve this focus, you improve your creative performance, leading to better time management.
How does one achieve a natural focus and flow?
1. When you’re about to start your work, minimise the chances of you getting distracted. It is tempting to just peek at your phone and check your social media for just a minute, but doing this will break your flow. Instead of looking at your phone during your break, consider embracing the boredom and letting your mind wander.
2. If you need something a bit more structured or to assist you in staying focused, schedule deep work with time blocking or utilise the Pomodoro technique. By having a set time block for deep work, you would be less likely to let yourself get distracted. This applies to the Pomodoro technique as well, except it would be more suited for individuals preferring frequent breaks.
Skill #5: Adaptability
Typically, time management can be hard to set with the unpredictable nature of creative projects, but with a bit of adaptability in your belt of skills, any uncertainty can be dealt with.
So, how do you become more adaptable?
1. Setbacks and changes of tasks can be hard to deal with. More so, if it was a creative work you’re halfway through, only for it to change direction. To cope with it better, reframe rejection as an opportunity to learn and improve rather than a failure.
2. When changes happen to a project that require you to pivot your schedule, develop your ability to bounce from these setbacks. Be open to feedback and maintain a positive attitude.
Creative Time Management Strategies for Creative People
Prioritise ‘important but not urgent’ type of work
In the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey classifies work tasks based on their importance and urgency. Most people spend too much time on tasks that fall under the category of urgent and important, often rushing to solve emergencies or responding to ad-hoc tasks that arise at short notice. However, this can lead to endless overtime to meet deadlines.
Covey's solution is to prioritise work that falls under the category of important but not urgent. This can be challenging at times, but by doing so, you are making progress toward your own goals rather than simply reacting to urgent tasks as they arise.
Start your day by working on your own projects first, even if only for an hour or two, before tackling important and urgent tasks. This creative time management strategy allows you to make steady progress on your goals while still addressing pressing matters when needed. As a result, you'll feel more satisfied with your accomplishments and overall progress.
Use time blocking to help you focus on your projects
Your time is limited, and so are your energy and focus. Therefore, you need to manage all three rather than working only on time management. In maintaining laser focus and getting the work done while staying creative, you can try to identify your most creative time of the day. Being aware of your golden hours can help you to let your creative juice flow. For example, you can start your day earlier, list down your priorities for the day, and start doing tasks that you can complete before external interruptions come.
Once you are aware of your golden hours, you also need to nurture the right state of mind. Start by finding a suitable workspace, be it in the office, your home office, or even a spot in your favourite coffee shop, where you can block time and focus on your creative work. If you are in the office, set the "Do Not Disturb" sign on your desk or working app to let others know that you need uninterrupted time.
Manage distractions to protect your time
Social media and notifications are the biggest distractions that artists and creators often face. The only way to eliminate this is to create a distraction-free zone and focus on your creative work. Turn off notifications during work and use noise-cancelling headphones so you can have full concentration.
If you need help, there are many apps you can utilise to block those distractions and protect your work time. Try Freedom and StayFocusd to block sites that can distract your working time.
Use project management tools to help you stay organised and productive
Project management is the implementation of a carefully thought-out project plan that involves the supervision of funds, time, and resources. In the context of a creative project, this includes prioritising the most important tasks and setting goals.
TESSR project management software could help you with time management strategy by helping you collaborate and communicate better with your team members. In our latest Review v2 feature, you can annotate and assign tasks to the right members, thus minimising back-and-forth communication.
Moreover, with TESSR Woohoo, you can look for a quick overview of how far you are from your goal or target on each project or track your team's progress. So, you can manage your time management accordingly by setting deadlines to avoid burnout.
3 Time Management Tips for Creative Project Managers
As creative project managers, time management is a tad different. Since they’re not just finding strategies for their personal tasks but scheduling their own team’s tasks. So, here are some tips to make that process easier:
Planning and Prioritisation
When outlining your project timeline and setting up the deadlines, use methods like the Eisenhower Matrix to identify high-impact tasks that would require more focus. Turn large tasks into ‘bite-sized pieces’ to help your team stay focused and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Utilising Tools
The project management software that you use must have some form of time tracking app or a visible view of the deadline of each task. Or even use apps like Toggl Track to see how much time you spent on certain tasks. Try out different time tracking software to find out what works for you and your team.
Maintaining Well-being
While it is not a time management tip specifically, having enough rest and adequate breaks between tasks can help keep the mind and body refreshed, indirectly boosting your productivity. Plus, prevent your creative teams from taking on more tasks than they should. Being proactive is good, but not at their own expense.
Creative Burnout and Time Management
Although creative burnout can happen gradually with different factors that could contribute to it, poor time management can be one of the main factors of why it happens. It is not to say that creatives lack the ability to better manage their time; some may not even realise that time management could help prevent burnout.
So, here’s how time management can stop that:
1. Breaking projects into smaller, manageable tasks and prioritising them by deadlines and impact can prevent creatives from feeling overwhelmed by their to-do lists. Then, it will encourage them to maintain a good working pace.
2. Creatives naturally would want to take on projects they like, even when they have stacks of “Works in Progress” in their schedule. Learn to take a step back and say no when you are overloaded with current tasks. This will help you maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Resources And Reading Suggestions:
Conclusion
Time management for creative professionals and artists is an essential factor in good planning. Once this practice becomes a part of artists' daily routine, it allows artists to have more room for both time and energy to maintain their creative health.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Preventing creative burnout is one thing, but how do you bounce back from it when it does happen?
Take a long break from screens, whether it is your computer screen or your phone. Or, as some say, go out and ‘touch grass.’ Take the time to do a mental reset to get you back on your feet.
I heard that there’s something called the 5 P’s of time management. What are those?
They are Prioritise, Plan, Prepare, Pace and Persist. The 5 P’s are basically the pillars of time management for managers as a sort of framework.
I want to be able to do deep work that could last for hours. Is there a way to do this?
While it is possible, it is more encouraged to maintain a healthy and sustainable deep work with frequent breaks rather than doing deep work continuously. This is mainly because burnout would happen faster if you let yourself work with no breaks.
Author Bio
From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR, and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games, and her beloved Labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR.
Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera
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