Tag Archives: time

art, creativity, ecourse, painting, process

Too little time

Yes, there is too little time to attend to all the art e-courses I signed up for this spring. Some of them run weekly for a long time, and others are short-term courses.  How do you manage those classes?

I love them all, but I don’t feel good when I fall behind and let some of the classes slip because other things, like “life” get in the way of my fun.

What makes it so fun is that I can explore other artists’ visions of what they practice and how they see life. It’s a great ongoing exploration.

Some of courses are waaay too long and then I have to figure out which classes to pursue of the offering. As with anything else, we have preferences.

Art is never a BAD practice even if the subject does not thrill you. It is always a learning experience and a new way of looking at things.

If time is short, make a decision to paint X amount of minutes every day and stick with it. That is the answer to “too little time.” It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in as little as 15 minutes a day.

I enjoy that there are e-courses available about all styles of art, and artists.  I don’t even have to leave my house.

DSCN2153
Abstract exploration.

This was inspired by some abstract tutorial I found online.

DSCN2120
Flower mandala.

I had seen flower mandalas online, and also classes on painting mandalas, so I wanted to try my own.  My backyard does not have an abundance of flowers but these came from there. It was fun to make.

DSCN1971
Awful still lives I painted in one course.

I definitely don’t like painting still lives…

DSCN1974
Silly portrait of myself

I had never tried a self-portrait. I don’t care much for the exercise, but it was challenging.  The things in the background are paint tubes.  I think I mostly used colored pencils for this portrait. My hair is short now.

DSCN1976
Upside down cat.

We were supposed to paint something upside down so I used a picture of my cat with his head upside down, and then collaged a couple of hands below with a fish.

My mom used to say that when cats sleep with their heads upside down it’s going to rain… I haven’t seen any evidence of that, but she lived closer to nature.

What new things are you trying? Are you involved in any art e-courses this spring? I think it’s worth the effort.

Have a great, creative weekend!!

xo

Maria

P.S. You can always try my art journaling tutorial for free if you sign up for my newsletter. 🙂  Click image in the top right hand corner of this page.

asskickery, inspirational, interview, motivational, success

Success coach Karen Strunks.

2 Comments

Hello lovely people,

I have the honor to introduce you to British success coach, Karen Strunks. She inspires people all across the world and has been a successful online business entrepreneur for over nine years. I have learned a lot from her and gained some well-needed asskickery in my own business.  Here is the interview about smart time management and focus!

karen strunks (1)

1. How important is time to you?

Time is one of the biggest assets we all have. What we do with our time determines what we achieve and succeed at. I love this quote by Carl Sandburg:
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.”

We have the luxury of time, but it’s not limitless. Squander time and we squander our lives.

2. Do you try to make the best use of your time, if so how do you do that?

I try to make the best out of every minute of the day! I plan ahead and decide how I would like to spend my time.

I love productivity ‘hacks’ and use a lot of them. For example, I don’t operate in ‘reactive mode’, jumping to every ping of my phone (actually it’s on silent) or email notification (I check in a
couple of times a day when I’ve scheduled it). I take charge of my time and my day and I don’t spend my time doing anything I don’t like to do, in my life or my business, and that includes who I spend my time with too!

I use Google docs to keep track of what I’m doing and when it’s got to be done. It acts as a kind of to-­do list. If it needs to be done, it’s goes in my diary. You have to create, or schedule, the time for the things you want to do and not just hope that it’ll get done one day.

3. How many hours a day to do you work and how is that broken down?

Well, I’ve recently made some huge changes in my working hours and I now work 16-­20 hours a week. That’s a huge drop from the 80­-100 hours I thought I had to do to run my business!

I made the change by simply deciding how many hours I was willing to work in my business and how I wanted to fill those hours. I cut the ‘busy work’, focused on the things that bring me the biggest results and I fill my time at work doing only the things I love. Well, except for admin I have to admit!

4 hours blogging/writing/video creating ­ which are most of the things I truly enjoy.

4 hours creating content for my online courses.

4 hours of coaching calls on Skype.

2 hours of admin/emails.

4 hours of marketing.

1 hour of connecting with people (could be new people or people in my network.)

That’s it!

We can ALL do more work in less time and create FREE time if we get a razor-sharp focus on what we love doing and what works for us.

4. What else do you like to do with your time and how do you fit that in?

So, apart from my 20 hours work week, I focus on my self­development. There are always ways to improve and learn. I love films and writing and just getting creative. That could involve  coming up with new things I’d like to  try in my business. It’s all easy to fit in now that I’ve cracked the ‘code’ for running my business and using my time really efficiently!

5. Tell us a bit about you and your business.

I help daring, go-­getting entrepreneurs create a life of freedom. Their work, their life, their way, completely on their terms. We throw away the rule book! It’s totally possible to have a life of freedom. We can have so much more than we realize, if we just take action and go out there and demand more of ourselves.

I made my escape from the rat race and I refuse to march to the tune of someone else’s drum ever again. Now I’ve got 9 years experience in running my own businesses, I’ve helped 1000s of people with their business and life success. I’m a qualified life coach and NLP practitioner.

I work with dynamic and driven people who are ready to go FULL OUT in creating a life and business on THEIR terms!

Are YOU ready to play it BIG? You can read about it in my e-book; 8 Secrets To Playing It Big In Life & Business. Get your copy HERE.

To find out more about Karen’s available online programs, please visit her website at KarenStrunks.com

Thank you so much, Karen! I know I have to be more focused and aware of how I spend my time…

xo

Maria