How Artists Find Time for Both Creativity and Business
I am going to be totally honest with you… most days I pinch myself and other days I think, “Rebecca, what did you dooooooo?”
Let’s backtrack... Ten years ago, my dream was simple: I wanted to see my art on a product. After investing in myself through education (Immersion was a massive investment, but that's a story for another day), I took my first steps into product creation rather than licensing. I didn't have a portfolio or a huge body of work—just a few drawings that felt authentically "me" and the newfound ability to translate my mental visions onto paper. This is how I started manufacturing washi tape, partly to validate the course investment and partly to test if my art was marketable.
Well, it was and has been—a total dream! What I hadn't anticipated was the sheer amount of time running a product-based business would demand. Now, as I teach other creatives about manufacturing their own products, the most common question I hear is: "How do you find the time?"
Let’s break this down into what I've learned about managing time as a creative business owner with multiple income streams:
1. Strategic Planning
I can’t say it enough. Knowing where you are going and what has worked is so valuable and often overlooked. Every Sunday night, after the kids are in bed, I have a ritual with my weekly planner. This pencil-to-paper approach helps me:
First map out family commitments
Review and migrate unfinished tasks from the previous week
Identify the week's "big movers"
Dedicate space for daily art creation (my priority this year)
2. Be Strategic with Product Releases
Through trial and error, I've developed a sustainable rhythm for products:
Coordinating product releases with two major Faire markets annually
Maintaining a consistent year-to-year calendar
Occasionally adding direct-to-consumer products during holidays
Avoiding the trap of too many releases (I learned three per year was overwhelming)
Stop throwing noodles at the wall—focus on what truly excites you because that is what you will be able to sell!
Stop comparing yourself to other businesses. The most successful businesses know where they are and where they want to be; they don’t waste time keeping up with others.
3. Prioritize Creativity
This year, I had a wake-up call: I was prioritizing all the business tasks before my art. That's not okay—our art is the whole point! Here's what I've learned about making time for creativity:
Start with just 10 minutes a day. It sounds tiny, but here's the secret: once you sit down to create, you’ll often want to continue. The hardest part is starting.
Embrace micro-moments for sketching or ideation.
Set up a creative space away from screens. I now have a space that is always ready for creating.
Have kids? Pull them in! They love being creative and often have the best ideas.
Protect your designated creative time like any other important appointment.
Move your body to spark creativity—take your notebook to the park or try a coffee shop! We need variation in our routines.
4. The Creation-Consumption Trade-Off
I was recently listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast, and he mentioned that the time we spend consuming content is time we could spend creating. That truth really hit home. We often walk away from our screens feeling like we should be doing more, yet we're caught in the cycle of watching others make art instead of doing it ourselves. Here's a practical tip:
Use your phone’s built-in tools to track how much time you spend on different apps. The results might surprise you.
Don’t be afraid to set app limits, have them lock you out, or even delete apps that are consuming too much of your creative energy.
Every minute scrolling could be a minute spent creating and pushing you closer to where you want to be.
5. Finding My Rhythm
After a decade in (gasp!), I now see the value in repetitive actions. The weekly brain dump, the morning pages, the planning (always the planning!)—it all really adds up.
Remember, it's not about finding more time—it’s about analyzing how we currently spend our time and making intentional choices about where it goes. Your art deserves to be a priority—after all, it's the foundation everything else is built on.
The reality of building a creative business is that it's a constant balance of dreaming big and staying grounded in practical time management. Start with one small change, whether it's a Sunday planning session or a daily 10-minute creative block, and build from there.