10 Ways to Carve Out Time to Practice Your Craft

I find it very easy to procrastinate and allow everything else use up my time.  I then become frustrated because I’d planned that time for my craft and never got around to it.   I decided to come up with ten ways to help me carve out time for my craft and stop the procrastination.

  1. Turn the TV off—sometimes we just have to shut out the distractions in our life.  The TV is a big distraction and we have to recognize that we just need to shut it off and do the work.
  2. Carve out a space for my craft—this has been a struggle for me at times to find a good place to work.  Often I’ve had to make do with what was available, but wherever works for you and you are most comfortable set up your own space.  creative space
  3. Recognize when I am at my best—we all have a time of day when we are at our best.  That could be first thing in the morning, mid-day or late at night.  If you’re not sure, pay attention to your body and mindset or experiment with various times to find out when you are most creative.
  4. Exercise always helps—I’ve discovered that after exercising that not only do I feel better but I am also more focused and creative.
  5. Make my craft my first priority of the day—often I find that I feel I have accomplished more for the day when I dedicate time first thing in the morning to my craft.
  6. Recognize when I need a break—I discover that once started it’s easy to work through to the point of exhaustion.  Sometimes I just need to take a break for 10-30 minutes.  By stepping away and returning to my craft I am refreshed and have a new take on things.    exercise
  7. Recognize what inspires me—I’ve discovered that there are some things that inspire me.  When I can be around these items or people, I am much more creative.
  8. Collaborate with others—often we just need someone with the same interest to bounce ideas with or offer critiques of our work.   This should be a time of lifting one another up and offering constructive advice.
  9. Get away—there are times when I just need to get away from everything and the day to day distractions.  I then have the ability to dedicate to my craft and make a huge dent in the project or wrap it up.
  10. Just do it—often it’s so easy to put things off and continuously procrastinate.  There are times when I just have to say, “just sit down and do it.” Once I get started I discover that I’m in the rhythm of my craft.

What are some ways that you carve out time to practice your craft?

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