Stress. Its always with us to some extent. Not only do we live in a fast paced, pressure filled society, if you’re full or even partly self-employed, you have the added stress of being fully responsible for you financial well-being and the overall success of your business and/or effort to become known in your area of art or expertise. And we’re usually so busy that we don’t make quite enough time for those hour long daily meditations that are recommended, regular exercise, or rejuvenating vacations.

But when it comes down to it, you really have to make time. It’s  not simply a matter of wanting or even feeling a need to take time out, but it’s a must, not only for your health but for your work. Creativity springs primarily from experience–the interactions we have with others, the information we gather from exploring,  and the sensory input we get as we move through the world. If your life is so wrapped up in your business, the industry and market you work in/for, and where you work, your experiences are reduced to such a small range as to be stifling and maybe even debilitating.

In my life, taking time to de-stress is non-negotiable. If I didn’t force myself away from my work, the home that I work from, and the city I work in, I would burn out very quickly. To this end, I make sure I have a multi-day trip planned (a non-working trip) every 2-3 months and at least one full day off a month that is just for goofing, exploring, and enjoying the people and sights in nearby areas, something to look forward to that allows me to get detached from the every day. Once a week would be better and sometimes I manage it twice a month. But a planned day at least once a month is better than no plan at all.

Besides getting away from my work, I also have a timer on my computer that makes me get up every 45  minutes. It shuts down my mp3 player (I listen to audio books while working in the art studio) and my computer screen, so I can’t work on that either, with a danceable, singable song so I actually want to get up and do something energetic. Although I try to work out for 30 minutes every morning, it doesn’t always happen. However, I do dance and sing 20-30 minutes a day because of these timers. Physical exercise and expression (both of which can be accomplished by dancing) are excellent de-stressers and easy to work into your day with the right tools.

If you are interested in some of the programs that can help get you regular breaks, check out the timer downloads on www.cnet.com. Or look at these two free programs that I use if you want to get your dance on between creative challenges: Cool Timer and User Protector (company seems to have disappeared but it’s simple software and seems to be still downloadable).

You may have some of your own methods for keeping stress in check–it doesn’t really matter what it is. The important thing, I’ve found, is to have a plan and a method that won’t get lost or disentegrate in the mayhem that ensues as deadlines approach or life gets out of hand. You want to be able to keep going and keep enjoying what you do. And that is the real bottom line I think we’re all looking for.

Since the subject came up a few times yesterday, I thought I’d speak about the usefulness and beauty of the oft maligned ‘mess’ that is so common in creative spaces. My awareness of this issue started with the skimming of a blog that upheld that organization helps creativity. Something about an uncluttered space means an uncluttered mind which will allow your wee brain more room to come up with ideas and create. I shook my head through much of it. Since when are limitations (lack of space in your head or on your work table or in the materials or tools you have) roadblocks to creativity? To me, limitations are inspiring challenges and clutter is simply creativity in action.

Later yesterday I meet an artist and blogger on Twitter, Rosie_Rowe, who spoke specifically to her love of ‘messiness’. I have to say, it shows in her work—in the most pleasing and beautiful way. To add more ‘orderliness’ to her art would be to ruin it. She admittedly works in utter chaos, but I see what comes out of it, and all I can do is applaud.

I can be both messy and organized. I actually love to build organizational systems in my studio and office—it’s like solving a puzzle to me—but I do prefer to keep bits and pieces of what I am working on scattered about, as it would be in an active, busy studio, office, desk, or other creative workspace. The scattered remnants of a craft project on the kitchen table or the pile of resource books and color cards on a designer’s desk is a display of the creative process in motion, of the history of the creator’s progress. A mess means something is happening, possibilities are being transformed into realities, and  and, for me at least, such a sight is exciting and energizing.

Not everyone feels this way, I know. My significant other is partial to neatness and things being in their place more often than not. Although a musician and entertainer of a rather outlandish sort (see Reverend Guy Marvel), he just feels better when things are orderly, when there is some modicum of control in the house. This is just how some people are, just as others prefer to just keep going rather than worry about the debris that results from their creative process. The usefulness of messiness or orderliness is, when it comes down to it, best measured by an individual’s preference.

But like anything, it should all be in moderation. I mean, if you are too orderly while working, you probably aren’t letting yourself go, allowing your mind to slip into the zone where keeping things neat is usually last on the list and where over-thinking your work is usually quenched. But being overly messy often results in delays as you search for tools or files, or mishaps when buried paint jars tip over or client’s notes get tossed with the first sketches.

My solution is to take a few minutes at the end of my time in my studio or at my desk to put away the things no longer relevant to my present project but leaving, where they fall, those tools or references or materials I will need when I return, so I can fall right back into my work. You can try that if the chaos is taking over but, bottom line, don’t let anyone ever tell you that your work space is too messy—or too neat. There is beauty and inspiration in both.

One of the more difficult aspects of trying to make a living off your creativity is the making a living part. How much time and energy do you spend trying to figure out what the market wants, what will sell, and what’s popular now? Do you find yourself following trends and borrowing from other artists/writers/designers versus creating your own vision?

I think it’s obvious when you are making something for which you have no passion. When you are creating your work straight from your original spirit, it shows and that is part of what makes the work so attractive to others. If some of you is not imbued in what you are creating, what is the point?

I used to make these garden Faerie doors—they were solar powered resin cast doors with one-of-a-kind embellishments whose windows would light up in your garden when the sun went down. People loved them! I sold more of those than anything else at the art shows. And at first they were fun but they were more of a gimmick than a passion. After a while I got rather tired of making them and took no pride in the compliments I would get. They were just things I felt I had to make because it guaranteed that every art show would be monetarily worthwhile.

Then suddenly they stopped selling or at least they wouldn’t go for quite as much as they used to. It seemed rather odd to me until the day I looked at the pictures of the first ones I had made and then at the ones I had done most recently. They weren’t the same. The newer ones were comparatively dull, just churned out with no real design to them. It was obvious that I just wasn’t doing them very well any more.

Now I could have simply bucked up and worked on the designs and improved where I had been lagging but the thing is, I really didn’t want to make the faerie doors anymore. My heart wasn’t in it and I think it was obvious to the buyers. So I stopped making them and reevaluated my whole line. I scraped any design that made me cringe or that I knew I wouldn’t wear or display in my own place, anything I didn’t feel excited about selling. And you know, I am not only a happier artist for doing that but my newer work gets far more attention and compliments and goes for higher prices than my older work. And all I had to do was make what I felt was good art. Not what the market might have led me to believe was wanted.

Even if the work you do is under contract for a client and they have specific ways they want you to do things, they hired you based on something in your personality or your portfolio that made them feel you could create the look or feel they want. So put yourself into your work, be true to who you are as an original creator. Not everyone will love what you do, but do what you love and you will draw those who taste parallel yours.

Most creative work requires a lot of time working alone. Unlike most jobs, you don’t usually have a whole team of other employees to confer with, to pass off tasks to when your work load gets too heavy, to get regular feedback from, or to get that needed push when your enthusiasm starts to lag. This is both a boon and a detriment to your work and your state of mind. Not being pestered constantly is great for your productivity but it makes it much harder to work through design issues, plot problems, and other creative blocks. So, set yourself up with a social and feedback oriented network or two, something you can control but will get the interaction you need to keep going and to keep your work fresh and inspiring.

If you’re reading this, you probably are already involved in some social networking. But how do you use it? Is it just where you vent or chat about your day or read through the latest gossip? Venting and keeping up with the latest chatter is fine and even necessary for you as a social creature but if that’s all you’re doing, you’re wasting a great resource that can help inspire, promote, and grow your work and/or your business.

Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, blogs, or whatever, take time to interact with others. This means not just reading and posting your own thoughts but discussing what others post or respond with, exchange ideas about your craft, comment on other people’s work, ask for comments on your latest creative endeavor, query about how other creatives handle issues with the medium you work with, and share resources you find. Not only will you build a very solid network of people you may even come to call your friends, but you will get the innovative insights, motivation, and new information you need to expand your talent and your market.

Being a creative can get mighty lonesome if we allow ourselves to be cut off from the rest of the world in order to spend time creating. But making social connections can also be addictive. You need to spend some time every day reaching out to your network, just not hours at a time. Be conscious about how much time you spend on your networking, maybe even budget or schedule time for it. Just don’t ever feel guilty about taking time away from your craft to reach out to other creatives. It’ll help you (and those you interact with) create better work and enjoy being a creative even more.

Making a living off your creative endeavors is a very different thing from working just about any other kind of job or owning any other kind of business. You usually work from home, work odd, long hours and often need plenty of solitary time to get into the zone and create. People who aren’t creatives tend to have a hard time understanding this. That’s why establishing a work schedule and communicating with the people that matter to you is so vitally important.

First, you need to have a schedule you know you can work with. Assuming you already have some experience in your craft, consider the conditions under which you work best. What time of day are you most productive and/or when will clients or customers need to get a hold of you? Can these times coincide or will you need separate hours for business versus creative time? What hours work best around other obligations you might have or when your family is most demanding of your time? Determine a schedule from this and then stick to it. Consider getting software you can use to clock in and to both track your time and give you that feeling of being “on the clock”.

Then tell all your friends and family what your work hours are and be firm about not being available during those hours. Posting signs that say “Do not disturb” or “Working” will signal to the household to leave you be. Don’t take phone calls from friends during that time either. Your working hours are for work only, just as it would be if you worked for someone else.

Often the hardest part for our significant others to understand is the necessity for solitary time as wanting time to yourself can feel like a form of rejection to others. Take time to describe to your family and close friends what being in the zone means and how interruptions will just slow down your creative process. To keep those in your home from being tempted to stop and talk to you, work in a separate room or erect a barrier if you must work in an open room. If home is just too disruptive, take your work elsewhere, such as a library or coffeehouse if you can transport your work on a laptop. If you are an artisan, look into co-op studios where you can get time away from the distractions of home and be surrounded by a supportive community of other artists.

The bottom line is, if you are going to try and make a living off your creative work, you need to schedule it like a job and get everyone close to you to understand it has the same kind of restrictions and priorities as their work.

But you can keep the fact that doing what you love doesn’t feel like work, all to yourself.

Working for yourself often means you work a pretty crazy schedule. There is always a list (usually a very long one!) of things you feel you personally must get done to keep your business/career going and growing and it can take up all your time. But never lose track of why you are doing this … to live a life by your own terms, one that you enjoy. Don’t let it become the ‘job’ that takes over your life so your life is your work and there is no living outside of it.

Taking time out is one of the hardest things for me, a consummate workaholic, to do. Which makes it all the more necessary that I have a plan for not working as well as for work.

I have a couple of rules, some which you may find apply to you but most likely you will need to devise your own to fit what you need out of your life. The important thing is to have a plan, schedule it like any other appointment, and keep it. It’s necessary for your sanity, your energy level, your creativity, and your relationships.

My Rule #1 is that I take time out at least three nights a week to spend time with my significant other doing nothing in particular—just being focused on us is what is important.

My Rule #2 is that one day a week, I don’t have any work scheduled. I often end up working a bit here and there—catching up on correspondence over morning coffee or networking but just to chat. The key thing is, I don’t make a work list and I give myself no work obligations. This is commonly Sunday because it’s usually the one day clients won’t write or call. Usually. I try to get together with friends on this day.

My Rule #3 is that at least once every three  months, I get out of town. Strangely enough I am very good at not working while on vacation. I don’t know why but it’s the reason I require that I get out of town—I know I will just relax and forget about all I have waiting for me because there is nothing I can do away from the office and studio. It gives me time to recharge and the experience boosts my creativity.

What are your rules for keeping your life balanced?

If you don’t have any specific rules, make some. They can be guidelines like mine above or work hours that you diligently adhere to. It doesn’t matter. As long as you take time out for you and for the ones closest to you. And that you go experience life.

Do you ever find yourself doing basically the same thing over and over? Or do you have those days when you just can’t see the solution to your design problem. You may be suffering from stagnant creativity, a condition in which your creativity has nothing to draw from.

Creativity is our brains rearranging what we know and what we’ve experienced. If you’ve been working a lot or have just been busy with family and the usual routine, you might find yourself having a hard time coming up with fresh new ideas. If this happens, the solution is simple but you will need to take time out to fix it.

What you need is a new influx of inspiration. Get out and do something you have never done before. It can be as simple as going in and perusing a store you’ve never been in, something completely off the wall like a Korean market of a plumber’s supply warehouse (of course these are only off the wall if you don’t cook Korean or fix your own plumbing). Even going to a movie or shopping can trigger new ideas, especially if you go with the idea that there might be something out there that will resolve your design problem or expose you to new textures or colors for your artwork.

Of course, you can always check out work by other creatives. But instead of just looking at work that is similar to yours, look at styles completely different. Like if you do slick web design, check out grunge pages or even other graphic work like brochures and logos. If you’re a fantasy art painter, check out landscape and portrait painters and see how they handle composition, light, and color—or whatever particular issue is stumping you. The idea is that you can pull elements of what is being done by these other people to incorporate into your work. Even in work you don’t like, there are techniques and constructs you might want to use.

Or get out of Dodge. (See my blog “Get out of the Race”) Basically just get out somewhere and expose yourself (in the legal, clean manner of acceptable social interaction!) to new people, places, sights, food, etc. Switch gears and refuel and feed your mind and soul. It will do amazing things for your work.

Your creativity needs fresh fodder to bring you fresh ideas. Purposely seek them. Look for inspiration in even the most mundane new experience and banal creations. It’s there. Continuously add to your pool of ideas and you will rarely, if ever, find yourself at a loss for new ideas.

When you work for yourself, you tend to work a lot. Ok, let’s be real … you tend to work ALL the time. Days, nights and weekends can be, and often are, completely taken up by your business tasks–trying to meet a client’s deadlines, getting work ready for a show, or just trying to keep up on orders (and bills!). Having this happen occasionally is just part of the gig. But if it’s happening all the time your life,and work, will suffer.

I had to learn this lesson the hard way, and I’m still working on it. I’m a workaholic. I really do not like to be idle. I have worked myself sick and have, on several occasions, almost ruined my closest relationship because of it. I thought I was going to need a 12 step program! But the solution was a lot simpler than I expected.

Creating under pressure and just creating something for yourself are two different things. So don’t make the mistake of thinking, it’s not like regular job stress because it’s creative. It’s still stress.  You really need to take time out to do things that are purely to feed your soul (or spirit or imagination, or whatever you want to call it). It may be social, artistic, adventurous, vegetative, or zen. It doesn’t matter what it is. The important thing is to get away from work and live life.

In our society we are often made to feel like we’re in a race. But as someone’s mother used to say (my mother didn’t have sayings … she just had ‘looks’) “Haste makes waste”. Extend that idea to working too much and too hurriedly. You will burn out and kill your creativity as well as your motivation. Get out of the race and refuel. You will be more efficient, more successful, and more energetic if you do this regularly. And you will be happier. So will your family.

Consider taking time out EVERY day to do something for yourself, spend guilt-free time with those closest to you, or just to do nothing much. Set one day aside every week where you are not allowed to do ‘work’ and go kick back with friends or have adventures. Get out of town, even for just a day, at least once a month. And have regular vacations–like 3-4 times a year.

You might be thinking to yourself “I don’t have time for vacation!” but consider when you have gotten away from it all, how the new sights and experiences you had got you so jazzed or how calm you were when you returned. You need that, just like you need food and shelter. And for creatives, time out and new adventures is absolutely imperative to keeping your creativity from going stale.

So, go ahead, take time out right now and go plan a vacation or do some creativity work just for yourself. Then notice how you feel when you get back to work. Thinking of it as feeding your creative being and don’t starve yourself.

I have this annoying and unconscious impulse to speak like the people around me in their accent and choice of words. While traveling in Ireland, I acquired a rather strong Irish accent. When I go to the southern states, I get me all kinds of southern drawling going on. My other half was raised in the ‘hood and so I often find my well-honed English coming out in the convoluted sentence structure similar to his casual conversation voice. I can’t help it without conscious effort. I am not alone in this. However, most people afflicted with this kind of style adoption find the mimicking in areas that are not something practiced since the age of two, like creating original writing or art.

Our source for language and visuals is most commonly, and sadly, from advertising and popular entertainment. Unless you want your work to sound like stilted sit-coms, or your visuals to look like billboards and website sales pages, you have to consciously and continuously expose yourself to work that is in the vein of your own aspirations. As a creative, you probably already know this.

But that, at the end of the day, just keeps you from mimicking the junk you are constantly exposed to. How about your own voice? Where does it come from? How can you be sure you are creating with your own original style?

This, of course, assumes you want to be original. But why would you want to recreate someone else’s work? You need to express you. And that is not so very easy these days.

So how do you find and cultivate your own original voice and vision?

Because you will necessarily create based on what you are exposed to, you cannot excise every instance of work that looks remotely like someone else’s work. But what you can do is practice your craft at the one time of day when you have been exposed to nothing but yourself for hours on end—first thing in the morning.