1. Watch less TV (or listen to the radio instead. It’s far easier to draw, paint or make something if you’re listening rather than watching).
Get up an hour earlier (I was interested to read this is something the inspirational Leo Babauta of Zen Habits talks about doing in the eBook of his that I’ve been reading [and rereading!] recently. Similarly, the wonderful Danny Gregory wrote a whole book about what he did with the extra hour he gave himself by getting up an hour earlier).
Go to bed an hour later (not for everyone, but for some the quiet time at the end of the day in a sleeping house can be very creative).
Carry a notebook/sketchbook with you at all times and get it out during a quiet times in your day (something inspired by this excellent post about micro-productivity over on Fabian Kruse’s site, The Friendly Anarchist).
Plan a creative act in your day (I’ve mentioned before that I like to write a daily three-things-todo-list of the three most important things that I want to get done. I try to make sure at least one of them is something creative)
Make/draw/write something as soon as you wake up (you could combine this with number 2).
Give up one commitment and replace it with time at your desk, in your studio or in your favourite cafe with a notebook.
Arrange a weekly meeting with a friend to draw/write, etc. It’s far harder to make excuses not to do something if you’ve arranged it with someone in advance (an alternative for people who like/need to work on project alone, would be to arrange a check-in with a friend whereby you both agree to do something creative and then check-up on each other that you actually have!).
Set a timer for twenty minutes and see how much of a creative project you can work on in that time (one of my favourites).
Book a weekend retreat away from your normal life to really break the back of a creative project (radical, but it really does work. I did it myself at the end of last year).
A big thank-you!
I want to send out big thank-you to everyone who responded to my Beany review/Macmillan fundraising idea on Friday. I was overwhelmed by the response. The review copies were posted this morning and £100 was raised for Macmillan. Thank you.