5 Time Management Strategies and Tools for Artists
- Adilla
- Feb 3
- 6 min read
Managing time is more than just setting a timer and allocating time for a given task. It takes a bit of analysis of your current working style and trial and error to find the right strategies that allow better efficiency and productivity, especially for an artist. In this article, we share the strategies that work and the right tools to help implement them.
Table of Contents
TL;DR
Finding the right time management strategies to utilise your daily routine takes trial, error and adjusting to suit your style
When you have found the right method for you, it’s important to embed it into your habits.
5 Recommended Time Management Strategies
A study found a correlation between increased awareness of time management skills and improved productivity performance. It focused on Fine Arts students and their understanding of time management strategies in relation to their artistic assignments. Overall, the study concluded that most students agreed that implementing effective time management skills and strategies enhances the quality of their work.
So, knowing the right strategies and time management tips could improve productivity and enhance performance. Here are our recommended strategies to better manage your time:
Know How You Spend Your Time by Evaluating It
Before stepping into improving your time management, it’s important to know how you currently spend your time. A time log of what tasks take long and evaluating where you allocate your time and attention can help steer where you should place your focus.
3 ways to track your time:
Logging your time can be as simple as writing it down with pen and paper. Fill in your time-in and time-out entries by inputting the start and end times to keep track of your tasks in a dedicated timesheet.
If you’re familiar with spreadsheets, you can utilise that skill to make your own digital time logs. There’s more flexibility when using spreadsheets with their endless columns and rows, so you can be more detailed in tracking your time.
You can also take advantage of time-tracking apps. They’re not just timers. It can help log your activities as long as you click ‘start’ and ‘end’ for the tasks that you’re working on. Making it hassle-free to track your time.
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.
Steps to prioritising your task:
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 the team stay focused and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
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 artist's time management tip 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 Project Management Tools to Stay Organised
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.
Steps to choosing tools:
When choosing project management software for creative people, it should have some form of time-tracking feature or a visible view of the deadline of each task. There are apps like Toggl Track to see how much time you spend on certain tasks. Knowing how much you spend on a specific task will help you delegate tasks and deadlines better.
In addition to time tracking, an organised collaboration space enhances team productivity, leading to more efficient use of time.
TESSR project management software could help you manage your progress better by helping you collaborate and communicate transparently with your team members. In our Review feature, you can mark up and assign tasks to the right members, thus minimising back-and-forth communication.
Additionally, for creative leaders, you can use TESSR Woohoo to have a quick overview of how far you and your team are from the goal or target on each project. So, you can manage your time accordingly by setting deadlines that fit your team.
Maintain Well-Being and Prevent Burnout
Although creative burnout can happen gradually with different contributing factors, poor time management can be one of them. It is not to say that creatives cannot manage their time better; some may not even realise that time management could help prevent burnout.
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.
Steps to preserve your creative health:
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.
Creatives and artists alike 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.
Reflect, Review and Adjust
This is where you evaluate your methods of time management. Time logs, prioritisation, utilising tools, and even setting a boundary for proper resting are good strategies to manage your time, but to know if you’re being efficient, you have to look at the data that you’ve logged and the method you’ve set.
It’s natural not to find the perfect method on the get-go, so by documenting your process, you’ll know what to eliminate or add on.
Steps to evaluate and adjust:
Ask yourself the right questions, like:
Which tasks took more than the allocated time?
Does your focus level vary in a day?
What patterns helped you reach good productivity?
Were your estimations correct? If not, what needs to be changed?
After getting the insights of your method and data you’ve collected, decide whether low-prioritised tasks can be assigned to someone else or be removed entirely. Or, adjust your tasks in ways that will improve your workflow.
Tools and Systems to Manage Your Time Better as Creatives
There’s nothing wrong with needing a bit of help in managing your time. Utilising apps like productivity tools or time management tools only proves that you care about how you manage your time and are willing to improve.
So, here are the ways you can implement them:
Try Out Different Time Management Methods
There are a handful of methods you can implement in your time management strategies. Other than the Eisenhower matrix, here are other methods you can use:
Pomodoro technique
Break work sessions by working in 25-minute intervals with 5-minute rests in between.
This is an 80/20 Rule where you should focus on 20% of your tasks that are the most vital, while the 80% should be given lesser effort.
Eat the frog
Identify the frog (your hardest, most important task) and eat it (do it) first thing in the morning to prevent yourself from delaying it.
Breaks down large tasks or projects into more actionable steps to focus on execution.
Not all methods fit everyone, so trying different ways that can help you be more efficient and productive is the goal. Plus, you can mix the techniques and find a unique way to manage the time that works for you.
Utilise Digital Calendars
Digital calendars are useful not just for their accessibility features but also for the flexibility of setting tasks and times that help you visualise your day. Seeing an overview of your tasks in a given day or week helps set an expectation for you on how you should allocate your time and energy. This prevents the feeling of being overwhelmed or missing a task that you’ve overlooked. Hence, in a way, it stops a domino effect from happening.
Here are tips on building time management habits:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which app is best for a daily routine?
You can simply use Google Calendar, which is available on all devices and more intuitive to use than adopting a new app. However, if you do want to do something customizable, apps like Notion and Evernote, they work well too. Or if minimalism is more your preference, Todoist is suitable.
Should I schedule my break time and social activities?
It’s recommended to do so, as it helps set a boundary between work and play. Setting a schedule for them can help you protect your personal time.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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