As of January 1, 2010, I transitioned to a new role within my company. Though still retaining a manager title, I would no longer have people reporting directly to me. No more performance evaluations. No more having to motivate and inspire team members to do their best. No more having to tow the corporate line on company policies I didn't necessarily agree with. Ahhhhhh....I imagined life was going to be a whole lot easier in a role where the only work I would be responsible for was my own. I could not have been more wrong.
My days are now so chock full of back-to-back conference calls that practically the only time available to actually do the work I'm assigned to do is outside of the business day. I'm not afraid of hard work, I can assure you. I've built a career and a reputation for doing what it takes to get the job done. I've always been the "above and beyond" girl. But I'm beginning to realize that what it takes to get the job done in my new role is going to require a significant, on-going sacrifice to my personal time, my relationships and, last and least in this line-up, my art.
I won't deny that being more productive helps (and if you're struggling in this area, I highly recommend David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
). But productivity alone isn't the answer. Often the more effort we put into streamlining work tasks and being more efficient only serves to make room for (you guessed it) more work. When you consider that we are all limited to 24 hours in a day (half of which is needed for sleeping, eating and the maintenance of other bodily functions), what we do with the rest of our time comes down to personal choice and priorities, and that includes the amount of time we allot to the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Perhaps my new job won't always be this way. Perhaps my department is just experiencing its "busy season." I hope this is the case because I truly do enjoy my work and the large majority of the people I work with. But when I look beside me to my peers, they are doing the same. When I look above me to my management, well...it's even worse for them. For artists with day jobs, making time for our art requires more than hopes and dreams (as you can clearly see by the three month gap since my last posting)...it requires creating a plan and building a fence around the real work we were put on this earth to do.
If you can relate, how do you cope? Let's get the conversation started...
Your fellow A w/a DJ,
Rebecca
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3 comments:
Hi Rebecca! I feel your pain, but I find myself in a good place. No excuses now. Everything is lining up for my day job to be the wing man to my art. Sometimes the balance is just not feasible, and eventually, something's gotta give. Personally, I never had the passion for my day job that you seem to have, although I feel it's been worthwhile, fulfilling to a degree, and I've been successful along those lines. It was always, for me, do what I need to survive, provide a decent life for my family, and save room for the stuff in life that mattered most at the time. Now I'm saving room for my art. Every choice I make relating to my day job will have to fit around my goal to make this painting thing happen. And still it takes discipline, serious goal setting, and self-motivation to just do it. Let's keep in touch. I'm looking for mentors, people to be accountable to and to mutually inspire. I won't write my whole life story here, but we can email if you like!
Stacy- Thanks for the comment and the words of wisdom. I'll get in touch directly, but I REALLY hope you continue to be a part of this blog and the larger "A w/a DJ" movement I'm trying to launch. You are exactly the kind of person this site was created for (and needs).
PS... I think what you've been able to produce, with all of your business travel and commitments, is quite amazing! I hope you can find your balance :) I am currently reading (but not completely "doing") The Artist's Way. Tons of great inspiration in there.
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