Discover More Time To Paint!

A regular plea from artists is for more time to paint. Even worse though is the large number of frustrated artists who cannot find the time to even begin painting. Many write to me and say that they wished there was more time to paint. The line is usually: "I would love paint but I just don't have the time". Sometimes I get a reason thrown in like ... because I get home from work and I am too busy/tired etc"

I get this because I have used these cliches many times. To be fair I have on occasion really been under the whip and painting time was impossible. Most times though I was full of it! Yes procrastination is part of our lives. Distraction is included and GOOD GRIEF are we distracted or what? This issue became such a problem for me that I took a few drastic measures. First I took my cell phone off contract and now I am back to good old pay-as-you-go with airtime only. No data! This means no beep for every email received. No time wasted checking on spam.

Next after much family debate we cancelled our TV cable service. Yup! No more hour or two wasted watching movie reruns everyday. The added plus is that with these two moves we all get less distracted, have more time for productive stuff and we save about R1000.00 per month! How awesome is that? 

The thing is that these moves are very easy to get used to. The next issue is telling yourself self-defeating things like "I am so tired!" No we are seldom that tired after work. If there was a fun event waiting for us after work I know that we find the energy to go do it. The energy is always there unless we turn it off. This is when we have to decide on what we want from life. There is no other option. Time is finite for us mere mortals and it is running out.

There are troves of books devoted to time management. Has anyone ever found the time to finish one? Doubtful. If you find yourself wishing you could start painting, or any other worthwhile activity, please give yourself a break. Do it! Start and do not put it off. Do not blame others for stopping you. This is your call.

Oh and watch out for the other nasty trap. This involves rushing to the art store and spending a few grand on materials then never using them. Or enrolling for an art course and not starting or giving up. These moves will hurt your self-esteem. Recognise them and punch them out!

I know it can be tough breaking bad habits, but you can do it. It will be worth. 

PS: Want to take an art course to help you get started? Sign up here and I will send you a big coupon for my course Learn To Paint With Impact.