having a new job for the past few weeks has forced me to learn that i don't do so well with many people coming at me simultaneously with requests marked "urgent." i have had to learn survival. and for those of us creative types used to trying so hard to tune into the flow of life and all that business, it is hard to be in an environment where that is not the best plan of attack.
still: about three weeks in, i am coming up with some strategies. what follows is my "survival tips list for those who need to have day jobs."
1. have a long term plan. a dream, a reason that you are giving up 40 or so hours of your week. try to have a job that serves you in accomplishing this goal
2. take lunch. make sure you have a lunch break to walk away from the job. even if it is only half an hour, as one of my jobs once gave me, it helps to take a breather before returning. I like taking mine so my day is broken into even 4 hour chunks on either side.
3. have things to look forward to during your work week. my brother comes in for lunch on wednesdays and i look forward to having a fun outing with him to break up that day. it's also fun having outside friends and people come and see where i work.
4. get enough sleep. i am sometimes guilty of shirking this one as i work saturdays, and so i sometimes stay out late friday and then drag through saturday. but as long as i get about 8 hours, i am in much better shape.
5. take as good care of yourself as the people you work for. when anticipating other people's needs all day, if that is part of your job, make sure not to forget your own. the night before i start my week, i stay in, watch a movie and take a bath, having everything taken care of for the next day so i can get out of the tub and into bed. for bath people, i cannot recommend this enough.
6. don't think about work when you're not at work. i find myself sometimes waking up in fits of anxiety on my days off because of what i have to do when i am next there. i am much better able to do these things when i think as little as possible about work outside of it. bang your head against the wall if needed to stop the thoughts.
7. don't give up on fun. i try really hard to keep open to fun outings and things on my days and evenings off, instead of staying in bed as i often want to do. if your job forces you to give up adventure, it will end up a huge source of resentment.
8. don't underestimate the power of a new pair of shoes. or two . or three. i got one this past weekend, and it was a nice perk to my day to have new shoes to wear. they weren't too fancy. not the $650 martin margiela beauties i am saving up for- my shoes to turn thirty in!
9. self-care, self-care! I have been trying to go to yoga every sunday on my first day off of my weird sunday monday weekend and when i make it, it is a beautiful thing. having a treat to take care of yourself when your budget allows is necessary and can really make life a lot better. my yoga teacher reminded us at the end of class that in that moment it was important to remember that everything was ok. i would add that as much as i can remember that everything can always be ok helps. of course, it is also ok that i fail to remember this nearly every five minutes.
10. and finally- keep creating. don't let the job drain all of you so you aren't working anymore. i have snuck my little lomo camera and have been taking incognito shots of weird bits of rodeo drive in order to explore doing a project and the rush i get from still connecting to my creativity is a huge antidote to overwhelm.
remember, as an artist, you are not your day job. your day job is a support structure to help free you up to make art! perhaps we can remind each other of this together. i am going to try to post a drawing a week so that i follow the urge i am having to draw lately.
hold me to it! send me your creative goals and day job survival tips and we can all share and benefit.
11 Don't forget to use the new coversheets for the TPS reports.
Posted by: dada | 02 March 2007 at 17:00