Pacing Yourself

About this Episode

Rebecca and Ross talk about how to pace yourself to be efficient and avoid burnout... skills that they haven't actually mastered themselves.

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PODCAST—Pacing yourself

In the big picture and more specifically…
Managing your art life can be overwhelming.
How to avoid burnout?

Burnout=losing motivation, feeling discouraged, exhausted, trapped by demands,
negativity

PACING In the big picture—the need to maintain creative energy—what do you
need to nurture that?

Many of us work constantly—the pitfall of self-employment.
Some of it is what we love ….but a lot of it is tedious stuff.

So many things we have to do and be good at when we are both creating and
marketing our work---a huge job

The issue of cutting back—when does that time come? How does it impact you or
what do you fear about it? Pros and cons ==

Pros: ease of stress and pushing yourself
Possible health benefits as a result
Focus/concentration not as dispersed

Cons/fears: Financial strain
Loss of momentum
Isolation from other artists
“Not doing enough”—work ethic

My mom used to say accusingly, you do SO MUCH
Like it was a bad thing—is it? Or is it what brings satisfaction? We have to ask
ourselves what we really feel about the big picture.

Aspects of being creative people that encourage us to always do more:
take on challenges, push our limits, say yes to opportunities,
want to communicate, get our ideas out there, teach, write, mentor.
Outside validation/success

How can you pace overall?

Set boundaries: answer emails for a set amount of time; schedule studio
hours, take a day off a week from business. Not easy!!
Julia Cameron’s artist dates? Once a week something fun to replenish what
she calls your inner well--play

Exercise—esp. Anything that takes you outside in nature
Maybe taking an extended breaks–a true vacation
Being aware of your own burned out feelings—this can be tricky—they can
be camouflaged as depression, even feeling sick (stress can do this to you)

Recognizing perfectionism, pushing yourself when it isn’t really
necessary…can someone wait for that email, is what they are asking you to do
actually unreasonable?

Adopt the attitude of “I get to…” rather than “I have to…”

Recognize your own role in whatever overload you find yourself in, lern
from it, be grateful for an abundance of opportunity—

Can you schedule things better?
hard to match a calendar with what it actually represents—scheduling things too
close together. Looks doable on the calendar, but how does it actually feel in
reality, never hurts to add an extra day

PACING for specific projects, deadlines etc./dealing with overload anxiety
Use lists, calendars, gather appropriate information so things don’t
blindside you

Evaluate where you’re at day to day—are there days you can take a break?
Do it!

Give yourself time to take a walk, read, watch a movie, see friends, do
something for yourself every day

Prioritize, break things down, try to see your progress every day

Delegate, get help

Ask for more time only if you really need it

To stay emotionally strong during times of overload:
Look at your own history—don’t you always come through in the end?
Then stop worrying that this is the time you will fail to get everything done

Recognize that you can have extra stamina when needed and it won’t kill
you

Remember your end goals