My Simple Structure for Focused Creative Work

If you’re an artist, writer, or work-from-homer, how do you structure your hours?
I’m always curious to hear from folks about this. There’s often a lot of romance in the idea of flexibility and building our own schedules. More often though, the lack of assigned structure can feel like a battle between productivity and constant distraction. After many years of trial and error, I’ve found that my best work gets done to a pretty simple structure.

Timed 1 Hour Sessions

Working in hour-long blocks of time to a timer is what (for me) works best for sinking into focused creative art, thinking, and writing.

A few key things I do to prep for focused hours:

1. I turn off all inputs like phone, texts, email, news and social media.

2. I prep my space, get water, light a candle (which is grounding, and an open flame keeps me in the room.)

3. I turn on music or sound ambience for writing or brainstorming. For art-making I listen to podcasts, audiobooks, or watch shows (terrible reality shows or good stuff that I’ve seen already keep me entertained but not distracted).

4. Set a timer to 60 minutes.

5. After the timer goes off, I move away from my desk for a 5-15 minute break. (I use some nifty little cards for my breaks.)

I’d love to hear what structure you’ve found works best for you. (And, if you have a beloved timer, please share!)

Cheers!
~Eliza

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