Here are five straightforward elements of a daily plan:
1. Start each day with a simple, eloquent plan like “I am painting today.”
2. Create a daily mantra that you use to keep yourself on track. It might be something like “I stay the course” or “Process” or “Effort, not outcome” or any phrase that resonates for you.
3. Actively plan your day. Get a picture of when you’re creating, how many creative stints you’re penciling in, when you mean to do your art business, and so on. Plan your day to include both creating and the business of art.
4. First thing each day, take a moment to think through where you want to invest meaning and then move effortlessly and without a fuss directly into your morning creativity practice.
5. Be prepared to use small increments of time as they arise. Part of the idea of “daily planning” is the idea of remaining on your toes throughout the day so that you can deal with everyday emergencies and changed circumstances and use time as it arises for additional creative stints and additional business efforts. When some time “appears,” you can sketch or send out an art business email!
Next, here are three tips for long-range planning. Use the following tips for getting a handle on your next twelve months:
1. Pick a distant target date for the completion of a big project—say, Mother’s Day for the completion of your suite of flower paintings. In your mind’s eye, slowly move through the calendar year toward your target date, experiencing the generous and even vast amount of time at your disposal between the present moment and your completion date.
2. Think about getting seven decks of cards and laying them all out on your living room rug. The cards in front of you amount to a year’s worth of days, give or take a few. Let the magnitude of this amount sink in. Experience the wonderful availability of time.
3. You might picture in your mind’s eye the amount of creative work you’d like to accomplish in the coming year, mentally calculate how much time that allows for each project, and then write out your goals for the whole year on a one-year calendar.
Whatever particular tactics and strategies you use for planning, make sure that you are planning!
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