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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An Artists Prayer

1. Love what you do

2. Be patient

3. Do not tolerate disorder. Inspiration finds it difficult to present itself when there is chaos.

4. Don’t question your talent, just use it. Focus on how, and forget about why.

5. Always remember the best way around fear is going straight through it

6. Never make excuses. Nobody is responsible for your life but you.

7. Never wait for the perfect opportunity.

The path you walk will always be uneven. Learn how to step over the cracks, deal will the setbacks and learn to asses how to make the most of your time and energy in order to keep moving forward.

8. Know that as an artist, you are prone to self-sabotage. Don’t deny it, because if you do you can never be prepared to confront it.

Know that there is no greater force that will try to “remove you” from your craft than that little inner voice of defiance. Know that it is there, accept some of the crap it will try to get you to believe, but carry on doing your work regardless. Time, persistence and accepting that each day is a going to be different is what will keep you winning the fight against self sabotage and that little inner voice of defiance.

9. Don’t work for applause. Be of service to your craft.

10. Know that you are not your art.

Avoid identifying yourself through the paintbrush. Society, history, family and love have given you the privilege to be an artist. If you believe you are your art, you’ll dilly dally around in your own mind instead of mastering your technique. Master your technique, use the privilege you have been given, so when inspiration hits, you will always be ready to create that masterpiece(wink).

11. Don’t be too proud to seek help. Know that you cannot do it all on your own. Ask for assistance. We all need a lawyer, accountant and a coach.

12. Accept that the art industry is a breeding ground for criticism. Critics know that it hurts you when they are critical. Criticism is the weak man’s way of tyring to get you to be obedient. He knows full well that criticism doesn’t just hurt you psychologically; it hurts you on a cellular level also. Remove the emotion and look at your art objectively. Do that and you’ll be able to watch the critics tear your work to pieces while you sit back and have a laugh.

13. Know that your career as an artist and many days five, ten, fifteen years from now will throw challenges at you. Be aware of this and it will save you from being overcome by humiliation and defeat. Be aware of it so your inner voice of defiance (self-sabotage) does not wallow in it like a pig in a sty when challenges do arise. Keep your mind on what is good. Be grateful you get to use your craft and be the performer, regardless if you have to dodge a few tomatoes from the audience from time to time.

14. Acknowledge and appreciate other artists, creators and people serving your industry.

Power to you and your art!

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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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How To Stay Motivated

Determination + Desire = Motivated!

Back when I first started working with oils, I didn’t produce anything that was really impressive.

Some folk may have thought so, but I knew deep down that my work wasn’t that good.

In other words, I didn’t feel like I was showing much talent with my oil paintings – and knowing this could well have been enough to lose complete motivation as an artist.

But I had a real determination to one day produce work that I could look at and appreciate. I also had a desire to make art that could one day be sold.

I achieved both.

If you have a true hunger to be good at what you do, then you’ll discover that you’ll never really suffer from a lack of motivation.

If you have a real desire… a real fire in your stomach, then you’ll always be ready to move ahead.

The idea is to try and remove some of the unnecessary crap we tend to think about too much and simplify what we actually want.

Here are a few simple concepts I plant in my head and things I do to stay motivated with each new project:

1. Define the result I want
2. If I am a little apprehensive about how to go about it I have a couple of other pieces of work (physical or photo) on hand to refer to in order to maintain those “Ah-ha” moments I require now and then.
3. Have a working schedule. I have a set time for doing certain tasks. I sometimes almost yawn my head off when it comes to this kind of organising. But I really tend to slack off if I don’t have a system for doing things.
4. The whole time I am working I keep thinking about how good it will look when it is finished. Confident? Arrogant? Perhaps, but it sure as heck helps me to stay motivated (wink).
5. Play loud music that I really love.
6. Keep my studio modestly clean. Some artists are not fussed with messy studios. The problem I have is that if I walk into my studio and it is messy, I have tendency to walk right back out again and no work gets done.

All you really need to do in order to get or stay motivated is to define what it is you want. Then put a basic plan together to achieve it. Create a deadline and then simply go for it. It need not be any more complicated than that.

When I first started out I lacked motivation because I kept comparing what I was doing with other artists who had become quite successful. All this does is make you jaded. So what I recommend is work with your own purpose – it’s a great source of motivation.

Nobody can do what you do the way you do it.

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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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