Organizing My Brain: Planning a Work Day That Makes Sense (To Me)

Being self-employed is great, but it certainly has risks. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is planning a day of work. With most jobs we know what our day looks like: arrive at 9 a.m., have coffee, say "hi" to the boss, do our work, have lunch, do our work, go home at 5 p.m. However, being responsible for my own schedule, I risk going through the day doing nothing.

As an artist and writer, I am responsible for my work schedule. Being unique and quirky in my own way, I must find a way to schedule a work day that fits me, makes sense to me. We are different. What works for me may not work for you. The goal is to find a schedule that works for me and then stick to it.

As both a writer and artist, I have two jobs. I must paint, I must write. While both are creative endeavors that have much in common, they are also quite different. Painting and creating visual art is both physically and mentally draining. After a long session at the easel, I am physically tired and mentally drained. Writing, however, tends to make me mentally alert and drained without the physical pain. After writing for a few hours, I often feel the need to do something physically active, like riding my bike or taking a walk. After painting in the studio, all I want to do is rest.

I am faced with scheduling a work day that needs to address my uniqueness, the way that I like to work. For now, I am trying this: I am splitting my day into two parts. I reserve my mornings for writing and reading and research. After lunch I paint, draw, create in the studio.  I am finding that if I keep my two jobs separate, art and writing, I have a better chance of staying on track.

My writing workplace is often this coffee shop.
Today, the scene is pretty hectic, being Friday.

For the longest time I was approaching my work day like a day off. That is, I had no real plan or idea of what I was going to do that day. I would write when I felt like it, then paint. I might go through a day and not paint at all. I might go three days without writing and just paint. While this might be a fun way to work, it can be counterproductive. I have goals to reach and a business to run. I cannot afford to just work when I feel like it. I have two jobs, both very demanding and both requiring discipline. I have to paint and write each day, even if I don't feel like it. I have to remind myself that I have two jobs, not hobbies.

When deadlines call for more attention to a particular project, then I make adjustments. But I still need to pay attention to both jobs and not neglect one, because of the work required for the other. For example, I have an art fair on my calendar in two weeks. The temptation will be to focus on preparing for the fair and neglect my writing. But this is a problem. I might need to cut back on my writing schedule, but I must not neglect it. I still need to write, even if its just for a few minutes.

I have never liked working for someone else. Being self-employed is a choice I made and I know it has risks. Scheduling my work day is a continuous struggle. Switching gears between art and writing is not easy, but necessary. I have two jobs that both require my attention. Organizing my scattered brain is a constant problem, but I'm trying my best to make it work.

Online Print Houses

I have been looking at online print houses to order high quality posters of my digital art, and it's not easy. I first went to Mpix.com and ordered a 24x36 full color poster. I receive it yesterday and was disappointed. Their "low weight paper" is just awful. They offer no other papers. My total cost was $37, which included basic shipping. The low quality paper is just a deal-breaker. I will not use Mpix for my poster prints.

The next site I visited was PosterPrintShop.com. I ordered today a 30x30 customized poster with a high gloss finish. Total cost to me was $43, including shipping. I am hoping the quality of the paper stock is much better. Once I receive it, I'll let you know what I think. I am impressed at the easy user-friendly interface this site has to offer. It was a quick and easy matter to upload my image, crop, and place the order. They test the quality of your image and give you an idea of how large a print is best, given the size and quality of your image. I have found that an image of at least 2400pix is necessary for a 30 inch print.

I also visited FineArtAmerica.com. For quality poster prints, this site is also limited and I was unable to crop my uploaded image on the site. They only offer standard sizes and one kind of paper. So far, this site doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for.

I went to VistaPrint.com and ordered a 24x36 glossy poster. I will be eager to see the quality of this one, too. Total cost was $42, including shipping. They only offer standard sizes, and card stock is only available for an 11x17. They do have a useful cropping/editing interface that is helpful.

These are the images I am using as test cases for posters. I am developing a series of digital prints to sell as posters, if I can just find a good price for a quality print on a paper stock that is better than a roll of toilet tissue.