Blog

Efficient vs Effective

 

The thought of efficient vs effective as it applies to my life as an artist didn’t really occur to me until a couple of years ago. I don’t recall where I read the idea (possibly Benjamin Hardy), but a lightbulb went off when I first read it. 

 

Efficient - Doing things right

A lot of artists, myself included, tend to be perfectionists to one degree or another. I don’t mean every aspect is detail oriented. You can be a wonderfully loose impressionistic painter and still be totally focused on every detail of the business side of your life. 

 

We are deeply emotionally invested in our work. There are no guarantees, and so we sweat the details. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is often required to survive if you actually make your living as a full time artist. 

 

Over the last 30 + years, I have learned (by making every mistake in the book) to run my business in a very streamlined way, with as little wasted money and effort as possible. There are the obvious things like buying art supplies in bulk, and less obvious ideas like standardizing frame sizes. Example:  If I offer 9”x 12” frames, do I need 8”x10”s? If I offer 12”x 16”s, do I need 11”x 14”s and so on. This makes inventory of my framing, as well as storage, much easier. That said, I do some very custom sizes too, but in general, I have learned to keep it simple and...efficient.

 

Even my working methods are about as efficient as I can reasonably make them. On Mondays and Tuesdays, as I’m doing the business end at home on the computer. I carve out some time to plan some of my painting efforts for the rest of the week. What shows do I have coming up? What sizes and subjects do I need for them? etc. In general, I try to stick to a good working schedule for both my business time and my painting time . . . although if the outdoors is calling, I have been known to sneak out and go plein air painting or mountain biking instead. 

 

I’ll never allow business to crush my lust for life or get in the way of some fun on a regular basis, but you get the idea. I keep a schedule and show up and do the work.

 

Once most of the business side in handled, I’ve set my self up for what will hopefully be a fun and productive rest of the week painting. While I do keep a fairly regular painting schedule, this area is a lot more flexible. I show up, do my best to get my mind ‘in the zone’ and begin my experiments. If I’m lucky, the painting gods will smile on me.

 

Effective - Doing the right things

In the early days,  I was just plowing ahead with my career through sheer force of will. I often tell struggling artists that I’m still here because I’m just too mule headed to quit. That inner drive is by far the number one skill required to make it as an artist. But looking back, I can see areas where I did certain things because I thought I had to, not because it helped me with my bigger goals.

 

Like many struggling artists, I did what I had to do to pay the bills. I entered a lot of plein air events, and I did a lot of teaching. (Teaching is something many of us do long before we’re really qualified, but that’s for another post).

 

I’m now constantly reevaluating and asking ‘why’ I do what I do. Does it really serve my greater goals? For example, I reached a point where I felt the time spent teaching was making me stale and cutting into my own experiments too much. For me, it had become a trap. Several years ago I stopped teaching completely. Today I do a little, because I like helping people unlock their creativity, but I maintain a heavy balance toward my own studies because that serves my greater goals. 

 

Same thing with plein air events, I only do a couple each year now. I also stopped doing tent shows altogether.

 

I made a choice— to value my own artistic growth over making more money. And yet, a funny thing has happened. The faith I placed in myself, and it does require true faith, is paying off. I’m not getting rich, but I can pay my bills.  More importantly, I’m happy in what I’m doing and why.

 

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not suggesting that you should do the same as me. We each have our path as artists. Some don’t need to pay all the bills with their art. Others LOVE teaching and plein air events, etc. I’m just saying stop and think every once in a while about the why.

 

Food for thought:

 

Efficient = Doing things right - the Urgent

The things that need your attention day to day to keep the machine moving forward.

Emails, Newsletters, shows, ordering supplies etc.

 

Effective = Doing the right things - the Important

Your big goals, projects, and what kind of life do you want, who and how do you really want to be?

 

While you’re busy being efficient, don’t forget big picture effectiveness.

Don’t let the urgent blind you to the important.

 

Cody DeLong