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.

Well, start by making small changes. I would suggest starting with ridding yourself of as much processed food as possible, maybe just one craving category at a time—whatever you can handle. Those miraculous products that can stay edible for decades contain chemicals (preservatives, food coloring, flavor enhancers, etc.) that disrupt the balance of your physiology, empty calories that actually deplete nutrients in your system, and those horrid trans-fats, salts, and refined sugars—all elements that can greatly increase your chances for a myriad of diseases. And all these are unnecessary.

It’s actually quite easy to find better options to the junk food. Fruit and vegetables are an obvious alternative for general snackiness. Nuts, preferably raw and in small quantities (they have a high calorie content), or lightly salted, stove-top popcorn (yes, it actually doesn’t have to come out of a microwave bag), can alleviate chip cravings. Try a bowl of naturally sweetened cereal when you crave cookies or if its pseudo-baked goods dancing round in your mind, slap together some whole grain toast spread with lowfat cream cheese and all fruit jam (its like a hearty cheese Danish—very filling and very tasty). Switch to iced tea (brewed, not instant), soda water and juice, or just delicious filtered water for a beverage.

Then when you’re ready, look into changing your meals from food out of the package to something out of a pan. Crock pot meals are easy and soooo good. Make casseroles, soups, stews and other main dishes in large quantities and freeze some or plan several of your week’s meals around it. I usually take one afternoon and make salads, baked goods, and a casserole or pot of soup, enough to cover meals for several days that week, and then keep stocked up on quick cook items like fish, turkey burgers, and whole grain pastas.

Now I know you’ve heard this all before. This information is not new and if you want to delve into the many options for eating healthier, there’s plenty of information on the web and at your bookstore. But, I know from personal experience and from other creatives that we don’t always make our health and well-being a priority. Working for yourself or having a day job then coming home to your ‘real’ work keeps us exceptionally busy. But the bottom line is that we do need to take better care of ourselves so we can do more and even do what we do better.

So I encourage you to challenge yourself to make a small change today, this week. Just one thing. If you like what it does for you and it wasn’t too hard, try to do something else to make yourself healthier next week, and then the next week and the next. Take care of your most important artistic tools (yes, I’m going to be cheesy and say it)—yourself.

But at some point, we can—and in our culture, usually do—reach a point where the toxins we take in are too great for our bodies to handle. Kind of like, a beer or two here and there is not going to detrimental to your health but a six pack or two every night is going to kill you because your liver and heart just can’t handle the constant barrage of what is essentially a toxic element.

Many artists materials are listed as safe under what is called normal or common use. The problem is, we aren’t usually exposed to these chemical from just one source and so what is considered a safe level in one product becomes toxic when multiplied by the number of products we use that include it.

Take phthalates, for instance. I only discovered the potential risk of this ubiquitous chemical when I started having cognitive issues and started investigating the polymer clay I was working with which used phthalates as a binder. If I was only being exposed to it through the clay, I might not have had any dramatic symptoms. But as it turns out, 80% of every beauty product, household cleaner, and vinyl type material in my house probably had this chemical in it as well. I was not only absorbing it through the clay I worked with daily but was also slathering it on my face, embedding it in my clothes, spraying it into the air I breathed, and wrapping myself in it and eventually, this excessive burden disabled me. I became insulin resistant, couldn’t stay awake, couldn’t speak coherent sentences, and developed a kind of dyslexia.

Not all people deal with toxins the same way, so for some, the same level of exposure may not have affected them in any noticeable way, or at least not as soon. But over time, just as with heavy drinking, the constant battle to clear the body of the toxins will negatively affect the physical system of almost anyone resulting in cancer, diabetes, immune deficiencies, dementia, etc. That’s where thinking in terms of body burden can save your health and even your life.

You cannot keep yourself from being exposed to toxins completely, but you can reduce your exposure enough to let your body do its job and keep you healthy. I highly recommend looking up the MSDS sheets associated with all the chemicals and materials you work with and become familiar with the safety precautions recommended. Investigate safer alternatives if available (most poly clays are being made without phthalates now—if you work with the polymers and want a safe list, write me) and don’t get lazy with the safety gear—keep plenty of gloves and masks on hand and use an exhaust system of some kind, even if its just a window fan, to keep the air you work in circulating out while bringing clean air in.

The next step would be to start rotating out of regular use chemically laden products and start buying healthier alternatives. I was able to reverse the insulin resistance by eliminating all processed foods from my diet. My skin became the clearest I had ever had and my cognitive abilities started improving after changing out all my personal products for truly natural alternatives (being labeled natural doesn’t mean its good for you, by the way—go by the ingredient list, not the package marketing lingo).

Eliminating all unnecessary toxin exposure can be a tall order, especially if you are on a tight budget. I know, I did it, but then, I had to. But even if you just take it one small step at a time—maybe just work on always wearing gloves when painting or only buying natural cleaning products from this day forward—you are working towards decreasing your body’s burden.  And I can almost guarantee that if you are having any physical ailments, you will start to see some measure of relief or reversal when your chemical exposure becomes dramatically lessened. Because the same systems that work at eliminating chemical toxins also support the health and efficiency of the rest of your systems. It only makes sense that unburdening your system in one respect will allow it to assist better in other areas of your body. And if you are feeling better, you will be able to create and live better as well.

Internships and apprenticeships have been around for as long as specialized skills have been in demand. But today’s economy has changed the structure of these long revered traditions where speedy growth and advancement is the name of the game. Instead, the tendency is to offer one time or irregular gigs and newbies in the field use these to build a portfolio of experience they can’t get because no one will hire them without experience. And there’s nothing wrong with it. As long as it’s win-win.

I have a master’s in writing but I still needed to pay my dues when I headed into freelancing. I did a few articles for nothing but publications credits, wrote a few books for what seemed pennies an hour, and did graphics work pro bono for non-profits and friends. These slave wage gigs are what landed me a three month, full-time contract and several articles with a major national magazine and ever since, I have been able to get great contracts with livable fees writing and producing the kind of work I had set out to do.

Now, there are a lot of slime balls out there who ask for the most unreasonable things and are only concerned about what they can get out of the relationship. But there are plenty of fledgling companies and individuals who just need help with basic services to get their business or project off the ground. These are great time investments for a greenhorn freelancer, especially with new companies since it gets you in on the ground floor and if you do good work for them, they are likely to come back to you when they need more consistent or advanced work. Just let the prospect know what you need to get out of the project and if it’s by-line credits, reprint rights, items for your portfolio, etc. be sure you are guaranteed these things in the contract you have with them.

Alternatively, if you are one of those fledgling businesses who are strapped for cash, don’t feel bad asking for low or no cost services, just be certain you are able to offer something of high value in return. Be prepared to give testimonials and references as needed, don’t ask for the entire production to be off limits for use in their portfolio, and if they are a great resource, return a favor and recommend them to others.

No money doesn’t mean no value. There are many things in this world that just can’t be bought. It just needs to be valuable for both sides.

This month I was forced to restructure my work life, I got sick, and ended up with a bigger workload than expected all while working on a new collection of art. Suddenly I found myself having to choose between keeping up my on-line presence and other really important things, like sleep.

Instead of flailing about trying to make it all work, I was able to shift quickly into a plan B because I had already determined my priorities. I decided long ago that I would not compromise the quality of my work by regularly operating sleep deprived so I made sure I was getting 7-8 hours a night. I had also decided that the completion of the new artwork by the end of this month was a priority over all my other work so I headed into the studio first thing every day to be sure I would get done what I had slated for that day. All my other usual activities were relegated to later in the day the most important ones being done first and if bedtime rolled around with a few things still not done, they were at least the items that I already knew I could manage to do without.

If I had not had a clear idea about what was most important for this month and long ago had resigned myself to not being Superwoman, the many unexpected interruptions could have completely thrown off all my plans. Being prepared enabled me to complete some great art work and as a result I won Judges’ Choice for best body of work at the Mile Hi Art Show I participated in this past weekend.

Life is one long string of interruptions. Things do not usually go as planned so if you expect to make your long term plans work out, you need to have your priorities predetermined and know what you will be willing to give up when necessary. Then, once you get through the unexpected detour, you can get yourself back on track knowing you have had some success, which will keep you motivated and on track for the long haul.

Even if you don’t believe yourself to be a list maker, you need to try this. It’s very simple, very easy to do, and astoundingly effective:

Every night (or morning, although I personally sleep better if I make the  list the night before so I don’t lay awake worrying about all I have to do) make a list of all you must get done and want to get done the next day.  I dash off my to do items on a wipe off board, then using my pda phone because I have it on me all the time, I make a list from most important to least. Make this list however it suits you, but make it a list organized by priority and have it on something you can carry with you all day, like a piece of paper (oh, how novel!).

Next day, after your morning rituals, you do the first thing on the list. When that’s done, you do the next thing. And after that, the next item, and so on until you are either done with the list or your day is over.

Sounds too simple to be effective? Well, if you try it, actually follow your list, you will find you can get done amazing amounts of things, more than you ever have before. Why is this? Because when we don’t know what we’re going to do next, when we don’t have a focus, we are easily distracted and dally about (often on-line or at the refrigerator door, right?) while we figure out what to do next. Plus there is all that catch up and repair time spent on things you remembered or waited to do at the last minute and now you’re playing catch up or picking up after the bedlam your mad rush caused. Working randomly is simply inefficient.

Just try it for one day. See how exciting and accomplished you will feel when you look at your list at the end of the day and see all those items crossed off and no longer hanging over your head. If it works try it again the next day. By the end of the week you’ll see just how much more you’ve gotten done, and you’ll be hooked.

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.

1. Never true.
2. Representative of a marketing plan that is doomed to fail

Your market is always a very specific set of people. Take the website designer who says his market is anyone who wants a website. As one guy, is a big corporation who wants a 1000 page catalog site done in 2 months even possible for him to take on? Or is the hobbyist who will only spend $100 on a 5 page site, really the kind of client he wants to work with all the time? Is he going to be able to do a site for a hard-core gangsta rapper and still get the contract for that conservative local church?

The point is, you don’t market to a wide variety, or the fringe and oddball possibilities. You market to your specific core of people which may incidentally get you buyers or clients in other market segments but you don’t waste time chasing that. If you aim for too broad a market, you spread your efforts too thin to be effective with any one section of your market.

But who is your market? You probably already know, you’ve just never defined them. Take some time to do so now. Sit down and write out what your ideal, mostly likely to return for more, individual or company client or buyer is like. Characteristics should include:

1. Economic level (income for individuals, profit range for business)
2. Size of family or business (single, married, young family, empty nest; solopreneurs, small business, mid-size, large corporation)
3. Age (age range for individuals; start-up, established, or generational for business)
4. Ethnicity/Culture
5. Social &/or political leanings (conservative/liberal, primary social activity type, amount of social interaction, subcultures)
6. Interests and/or hobbies
7. The individual’s or company’s goals/concerns
8. Geographic location (local, state, national, international)
9. Type of location (urban, suburban, metropolitan, etc.)
10. Where they get general information (newspapers, TV, internet, networking, gossip, etc.)
11. Where they shop or go to find services
12. And whatever else you can think of …

Answering these questions will draw for you a picture of your typical buyer/client that you should keep in mind when making every marketing decision. If you have the talent, drawing an actual picture of your ideal person or business can help tremendously. I had a client who printed pictures off the internet and cut out photos from magazines of the particular type of people he was marketing to. It’s kind of like when you go to buy a birthday gift, you keep the person you are buying for in mind, usually visually. Do the same when planning your marketing (also when developing your product).

When planning your marketing, act like you’re shopping for a gift, and ask yourself what kind of gift they would like most (what products to focus on), what they need right now (how your product can solve their problems or fulfill a desire), how they will respond to different types of gifts (marketing materials), and how to wrap it (method of delivery).

Or you can just do something general like so many businesses do—kind of like spending you Christmas gift budget on sending everyone you have ever known a generic Christmas card. Many may read it but then it gets tossed and forgotten. Wouldn’t it have been better to spend your money on a few stunning gifts for the key people you want to impress so they’ll go around and talk about what you gave them?

Aim for impressing your key market. If your product is that good, they will tell others and expand your market for you.

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.

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.