Suffering From Information Overload?

What is information overload?

My take on it is…

Being impressed with too much

It’s being BURDENED with a real GORILLA of a problem, which is…

Presented with TOO many choices.

“Drowning in data”

(gulp)

Psst… they told me that things would get EASIER with the arrival of the Internet.

Most of us have never felt so OVERWHELMED.

Tsk

Tsk

Tsk

If you are an artist baffled as to where you should start because you have been exposed to SO MANY options to REALLY get the ball rolling, I have a few tips for you.

So let’s get on top of this problem with some…

Information Overload Management

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1.    What is important?

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When you have finished reading this email, get UP and walk outside and decide what MATTERS the most to you.

I discovered some time ago that the best way to get on TOP OF information overload is to decide WHAT you want, and then begin to work your tail off.

And don’t look back.

Don’t consider the options anymore.

You’ll feel so much more POWER, ENERGY and PASSION for being an artist.

(Yep, you will)

2nd Thing you have to do is…

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2.    Map The Day

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Before you let yourself get SOAKED and washed away with every TOM, DICK and Harry trying to get your attention, and waste a lot of your most precious resource which is…

TIME

Then decide HOW you are going to spend your time rather than let someone else decide that for you.

Not sure how too?

Have a look at the things you wrote down from principal one.

I refer to the “what is important?” list.

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3.    BLOCK distractions.

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When you are on the computer working, turn off Facebook instant messenger.

Turn off the MSN messenger

Turn off skype.

Stay out of the forums

And get some work done.

It really is as simple as that.

I DARE you to only read a 3 emails a day.

I DARE you to only ANSWER 3 emails a day.

Pssst… you don’t gotta read them. You don’t gotta answer them.

They CAN wait.

Honest.

Remember:  Feel the POWER of control

(wink)

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4.    Tell The Crew

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Do not be afraid to set boundaries.

You have to tell your family (friends) this is how it is…

“I gotta work, I work between these times, and I would GREATLY appreciate that we come to some arrangement so that I can make it happen, because I just have to make it happen”

I set those rules LONG ago

I wasn’t rude about it.

My crew appreciate it

They have seen the results I have made because of it.

They know I have to do what I do.

When you are just starting out, your family and friends may not be able to completely appreciate this request because in their mind you aint as famous as Mick Jagger.

So they be tempted to ask…

Okay, then why do you need all this “special time” then Miss Madonna?

Because you CANNOT progress unless you ESTABLISH boundaries to USE your TIME to contribute MASSIVE ENERGY into your creative calling.

And when you are not working, give your family and friends ALL the time you can.

Fair deal?

Yep, I think so.

The thing is, mastering information overload can be made really easy if you follow those steps.

The one thing that is going to see you produce results better than anything else is being able to MASTER your time.

Master Your PRIORITY = MASTER your TIME.

If you are looking to focus on just one avenue of selling your art, then keep your eye out because I am right in the middle of having my first art-marketing book published.

Wow

Exciting

I agree with you.

My book, “Get Your Art Out There” is due for release in the coming weeks.

So if you would like to know more, I will have an update real soon.

Till next time,

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Waiting For Inspiration

I haven’t studied a lot of art history, so I don’t know much about it. But I like to think that is because I am often too busy contributing to it.

In other words I don’t rely on the history of art to push me forward with inspiration. I don’t spend 2 hours flicking through artist memoirs or wandering around the local museum. Call me an ignoramus, but that’s just how it is with me.

It kind of bugs me a bit when some artists suggest to other artists the long way around seeking inspiration in order to get some work done.

I may sound like a bit of a spoilsport, but only people pretending to be an artist sit around, search and spent hours wandering through their local library or gallery trying to seek inspiration.

The active artist, the disciplined artist does not worry about it. They don’t get up and say, “Gosh, where will I get my inspiration from today.” He or she knows that they just have to rock up. They just have to clock in.

They just have to get their tail into the studio at 9am sharp or 8pm sharp – whatever the schedule is.

Waiting for inspiration is like sitting around waiting for the perfect partner to knock on the door. It’s just not going to happen unless you leave the house and interact with people.

In other words, do whatever it is that you need to do in order to get the result you ultimately want. In the case of the artist, they just have to start working at 9am (or 8pm) whether it be scribbling, writing and planning – they just have to be in attendance and in front of the canvas,  so to speak.

This often requires you to work with a headache, with a toothache, without inspiration, after a bad exhibit, after a dispute with the phone company or hearing some bad news.

Yeah it’s hard, really hard some days. But it’s the only way to actively produce some solid results as an artist.

Are you still waiting for inspiration? Don’t wait, be proactive. Just try doing some work, you’ll often find it right there.

Power to you and your art!

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Tips On How To Be Awesome (wink)

Attitude is the single biggest attribute you must attain in order to be regarded as awesome.

Your interpretation as to what is going on is FAR more significant than what is actually going on. Think like that you’ll considered to be quite awesome.

Establish your OWN way of doing your thing. This is how you separate yourself from the herd.

Never avoid doing something for fear of what other people will think. Do not be unarmed by presumption. In other words, tell yourself (not them) “I don’t give a s___ what you think, I’m going to do it anyway!”

Never take criticism personally. Lose the emotional attachment to your art. Go pro and look at your work from an objective point of view. That’s business, not emotion. Create with emotion, but ditch it as soon as your work gets to the auction house.

Know you are outstanding, but always share your wisdom and never claim it as your own. The person who claims to know it all is a fool. The person who claims to know it all AND be the innovator of his wisdom is not a just a fool, but should be avoided at all costs.

ALWAYS remember that you cannot be awesome on your own. You need other people around you who are also awesome.

BE REAL and you’ll attain real friends, business associates and collectors.

Be accommodating.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. I can assure you there are people out there who already do. They don’t need any more company (wink).

Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Your aweseome!

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STOP Procrastinating

Psssst… STOP procrastinating.

The problem with procrastinating is that you allow yourself to start believing that it’s okay “to not do stuff”.

Then we make the excuses…

And allow that little voice that is telling you, “I really want to get started…

…but I don’t know where to start…

what if I start at the wrong place and waste all that time because I should have started somewhere else…

…but I don’t know where that somewhere is else is…”

…to completely throw us further off track.

Heard that voice before?

Yeah, we all have.

The thing is, if you don’t know where to start or what action you need to take to get things going then it doesn’t really matter what you do.

All that matters is that you do something.

Just DO something.

Take some action.

If you have been putting off making a call, then pick up the phone and ring the gallery.

The person on the other line is human just like you… and therefore has the same concerns, fears, wants for their family, are in need of a vacation, probably is embarrassed to admit that they watched Everybody loves Raymond too much, have kids that are too loud, a sister-in-law who simply will not stop at 3 glasses of wine at the family barbeque and demands for the the karaoke machine to be turned on…

Get my point?

We all are, in a general sense, the same in many ways.  So to avoid putting off making that call, think of the person on the other end of the line as a person just like you.

Don’t let procrastination get in the way of experiencing life.

Hey I have a secret for you…you are going to make mistakes, you are going to cop some criticism, you are going to wonder at times if it is all worth it.

Well it is all worth it… because this is your life… and apparently, so I have been told, we only get to do it once.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t deprive the world of your gift. Phone people who can help you share that gift.

Stop procrastinating and do it.

No more cookies FOR YOU until to make the call (wink)

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“I Just Don’t Feel Like It!”

Today is one of those days where I lack the real fire to get the work done that I know I need to get done.

The important thing is to try and battle through that “I just don’t feel like it” phase that often overrules our thinking and affects our actual reality.

A few years ago I was renovating a property and often felt struck by this “I just don’t feel like it” ailment too regularly.

(Before and after pics of the front of the house – I even did the roof!)

The problem was; I kept focusing on how much work actually needed to be done to finish the entire renovation instead of just focusing on the work that needed to be done for each given day.

The renovation was not just a simple clean up type of job either. It was a massive project that required the whole house to be gutted inside and out.

In fact, it was so big that when I bought the house some of my friends and family thought I had simply gotten in over my head. They looked a little scared for me when they had a look around the place. They could not see how I was going to fix this house up. As far as they were concerned, the house should have been knocked down and a new house should have been built on the block.

But I had a vision. I was prepared mentally. Almost.

So to cut a long story short… I often experienced days while renovating that property where I would have rather pulled my head under the pillows and gone back to sleep.

Some days were so hard to face. I knew what I had to do but mentally argued with my self about whether I should actually do it.

“I just didn’t feel like it”

But I always forced myself to at least put in two hours. That’s how I rationalised it to myself in order to break down the enormity of the project into achievable chunks.

When I experienced that “I just don’t feel like it” moment in the morning, I would lie and tell myself that all I had to do was put in just 2 hours… that’s all. Then I could go back to bed if I wanted to. But I had to at least show up on site and put in 2 hours.

Most days I ended up doing 10 hours or more.

I adopt this (lie to myself) philosophy in my art as well. I often tell my self, “If I can just go for a no excuses 1 hour of work, then I can throw my brushes down and go play guitar”.

Sometimes I actually do only last an hour. But the real value is in the discipline and commitment rather than the time allocated to do the job.

It’s not always easy. But it is worthwhile if you can get through those “I don’t really feel like it” phases.

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