Colorado Art Studio

I often joke that I have adult onset ADD - and I mean no harm or insult to anyone who has actually been diagnosed with ADD.  But, I have a couple of problems that make me think that it’s no joke or is something else entirely.  I am habitually late for almost everything, I have a hard time organizing myself and don’t make good use of time.  It could be that since leaving my full time job several years ago, I’ve assumed the task of running the house, making all the appointments, being the main care giver to my daughter, and am trying to run a small business - make that micro business all at the same time.  If I only had to be responsible for myself, I think I’d be fine because I could work when I’m most productive even if that’s 3:00am or dinner time.  Therein lies part of the problem - I have to work my schedule around my family’s schedule, both of whom keep normal hours.   At this point, I think realizing that there’s a problem is the first step in making everything more manageable and enjoyable for everyone.  While I won’t bore you with my day to day family/mom lists, I’ll share some techniques I’ve recently decided to implement in the studio.

Studio Log - I chose the lowly black and white composition notebook because it makes me feel a little nostalgic in a good way.

The other day, I listened to a NPR podcast while walking my dogs in the morning and the topic happened to be ADD and how to help children with ADD navigate through school more enjoyably and successfully.  My ears perked up and I decided that I could benefit from some of the strategies mentioned.

• Clean work area to minimize noise and distractions. Check - I’ve cleaned my studio and have also started cleaning my computer files and home, which is going to take considerably longer than a day.  Less clutter and dirt helps me find stuff quickly and is better Qi.
• Making Lists of what needs to be accomplished daily, weekly, monthly and yearly and keeping the list visible to help manage time efficiently. I used to be a list maker and have fallen out of the habit, so I decided to start fresh.  I’m keeping a list for day to day stuff as well as a studio log of things I need to do and how much time I work in the studio during the week.  It’s still fresh, so we’ll see whether this works or not.
• Prioritize tasks. It sounds sort of anal retentive, but in all honesty, seeing the list helps me to prioritize my tasks and obligations.  I enjoy the research of starting a new project and am a day dreamer by nature, but those have to be put on hold until I fulfill the tasks on my to do list.
• Take good notes and make observations. This became very apparent to me yesterday when I glazed a few test tiles with a cone 6 pink glaze recipe left over from July.  It took me a several minutes to orient myself and to make some educated guesses as to what I was thinking during that process.  I’m sure it made total sense at the time, but now that a few months has elapsed between dates, it’s a little foggy.  All my notes are a jumble of loose papers and aren’t dated.  I mixed up 3 batches of the same base glaze, but didn’t label the containers and had printed 4 recipes that I had placed on top of the containers - but didn’t indicate which of the 4 recipes I actually used.  I was able to deduct from my tick marks which one it was in the end - but how much time did I waste in the process?
• Date and mark the time spent in the studio. Seeing the cold hard data is very revealing.  I’ve already acknowledged that I work in the studio part time based on the hours available to me right now, so adding dates and hours worked will help with book keeping and also hold me accountable to work at least 20 hours a week in the studio.
• Consult list regularly.

My studio log is separate from my glaze notes and kiln log and I hope it will become valuable as I attempt to be more productive. Here are my most recent entries:

Studio log entries

I also realize that I need to be flexible, adjust the list as necessary and be nice to myself.  Yesterday, I had a full day planned in the studio but my daughter and I were both feeling under the weather.  I felt better by the afternoon and did get one task checked off my list, but everything else was added to today’s schedule.

On a related note, fiber artist, Lisa Call, began writing an ongoing series on “Scrum Training” and how it relates to making art in August.  I have been following her posts with anticipation and am very intrigued by the concept, which is really a framework for managing software development.  This seemed like the perfect post to add her insight about scrum and how it relates to the art world.  If only I had half as much discipline as Lisa does…she is a single mom of two, works full time as a software engineer, and manages to make a prolific amount of art work in her free time.  How does she do it?  I think she’s a good time manager or needs significantly less sleep than me.

Meanwhile, creative people are often thought to be more “right brain” oriented while technically minded people tend to rely on their “left brain” functions.  I think it takes a balance of both to be a successful artist like Lisa (although the term success is itself subjective).  Wikipedia has a good explanation of how the different lobes of the brain function.  My daughter gave me a few right brain vs. left brain quizzes last week - and it’s not really surprising that I scored more right brained points than left.  It’s no wonder why I need to make lists to stay on top of life!  Want to try a few simple tests to see if you’re more right or left brained? Quiz 1, Quiz 2, Quiz 3.  Feel free to share your results.

So whether or not I have ADD or my left brain skills are deficient, I hope to be more productive, punctual and conscientious which requires me to unplug a little more frequently.  With that said, I’m signing off for the day.

~Cynthia