what art represents, meaning, inspiration

I turned the shower handle and tested the warmth of the water with my hand. Perfect.

Carefully stepping into the flow of the shower, I allowed the stream of the water to enliven and refresh me. I knew it was going to be great day.  As I reached for the towel to pat myself dry, I glanced at the clock, I was surprised at how much time had passed. I have to learn to better manage my time, I thought to myself.

As an artist I have thought a lot about how much time it takes to study and create art. I realize that living in a retirement community I don’t have to work, but I want to manage my time effectively.  Being a busy senior (as in elder, not graduating senior) makes life feel full and alive. I am not one of those people that can spend a portion of the day watching TV for hours. 

Although I have ran a business, raised a family, I still feel like time is getting the better of me, and like they say, no one is guaranteed tomorrow.

To direct my focus about this busy-ness I feel, I decided to blog and remind us of the principles of managing our time.

Setting goals is an important step in the process. For how can we go anyplace unless we have some type of roadmap to get there. You don’t need to be an artist to apply this principle to your life.  For you, a goal might be exercising daily.

Prioritizing wisely is something that is important. Life provides us with so many great things to do.  We need to ask ourselves what we really want to do with our time.

Taking daily breaks is important also. I recently read that the people who get ahead in what they do take a break each day.  My mind feels that is counterproductive to getting ahead. I decided to take the authors advice and most days I stop everything and rest. It works.

Organizing myself and my possessions is something that I work on every day.  How can I get the most out of the day in front of me?  What is really important to organize or put first this day?

I also want to remember to remove non-essential tasks that I think I have to do, but I really don’t need to do. 

As an artist my focus is to create art and read about art every day. 

It is also my focus to be involved in art groups and societies.  Those types of involvements can swallow you alive.  I know what my goals are, however, they are not written down. I will start there, and then I will prioritize. I know my time will become more manageable.  How about you?  How are you doing managing your time?