Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.
—Thomas Merton
The question of how to balance an art business and a full-time job comes up frequently, which is no surprise. That’s because it’s a complex problem that vexes creative people, especially those stuck in jobs they don’t like. Balance is attainable with the proper perspective and plans to maintain it.
A Quora user once requested me to answer this question:
How do I balance a full-time job and building art portfolios? I finished studying for an illustration diploma and worked as a storekeeper for about 8 hours daily.
I answered with the following more in-depth thoughts to benefit my blog readers. I trust you will find them helpful. Please scroll to the bottom and add your comments or questions.
Passion is what makes creativity possible. It’s about balancing time spent on your day job with time for working on projects you are passionate about. Here’s what you need to know about maintaining balance:
- Time Management: You don’t need eight hours a day to create art, but you do need consistent, dedicated time blocks where you can focus without interruption
- Financial Stability: A steady income from your day job can enhance your creativity by removing the pressure to create solely for sales. This economic security can provide relief, allowing you to focus on your art without worrying about making ends meet.
- Energy Management: Focus on maintaining enough physical and mental energy to be creative during your designated art time
Creativity takes time and practice. In addition to dedicated time, you need the right amount of energy, focus, and motivation to create art to make your available time productive.
With a stable outside art income, you’ll feel less pressure to produce artworks designed to sell to pay bills. And if you don’t feel pressured, you’ll be more likely to relax and enjoy your creativity. With ongoing bills to pay and replenishing supplies, your full-time work is critical in funding your creative career. Achieving goals that help you get what you want is a big part of balance and requires self-awareness and focus.
The Problem with Making a Career Out of Your Hobby
For most people I know, including artists, jobs, and careers, it is not about getting rich but about making enough money to live a life one loves to live. Being wealthy has its perks, and few would turn them down, but they won’t trade their comfortable lifestyle for what it takes to attain such wealth. Nothing’s free, including getting rich.
Being naturally gifted is a blessing and an advantage, but living up to your talent still requires hard work to sustain making a living from your gifts. Getting desirable results always takes time and effort. And it gets harder to keep balance when you have equal skills in different areas. Jack of all trades and master at none became an old saying for a reason. It happens to a lot of us.
The word hobby is not a pejorative term. It simply means one chooses to spend time on an activity as a pastime instead of a profession. It’s a lifestyle choice that many make and feeds into one of my guiding bits of wisdom for artists, which is this:
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
— Barney Davey
I’ve known countless artists, musicians, writers, and poets who are content to create their art without worrying about getting it to market. Fortunately, they are not in it for the money. Many dislike turning a hobby into a business because they know it would ruin why they love to do the work. But, for them, it’s about expressing themselves creatively without the burden of turning it into a career. This freedom from commercial pressures can be a source of joy and inspiration in your artistic journey.
Why It’s okay to Keep Your Full-Time Job
For every artist making a full-time living from the fruits of their artistic labor, I bet there are ten thousand who are not—some struggle with crossover to full-time, which may be why you are reading this post. However, a more significant percentage of artists are working at a level that suits their lifestyle, and business is in the mix, but as needed versus all-in. And more are content with things that way than those who aren’t. It’s okay to be okay with your job and your art. That’s good for many and enviable for others. Remember, it’s okay to find a balance that works for you, and it’s okay to be at peace with your choices.
Let me tell you, there are no bad choices. So do what is right for you, and don’t worry about other people’s thoughts. Unless they support you as a patron, they have no stake in your life and career, so feel free to ignore their opinions.
If your job supports your lifestyle and leaves you adequate time and energy to pursue your art creation endeavors, you may have the best of both worlds. A career with steady pay and benefits and a side hustle art business that makes you happy and occasionally brings in extra income is an excellent choice for some.
Go Full-Time If That Is Your Dream
Suppose you are determined to become a professional artist who earns a living from selling your art. Good for you. You’ll join the ranks of thousands of artists actively creating art and selling it profitably at a pace that pays the bills and then some. It’s not easy, but anything worth doing never is.
Becoming a full-time artist requires taking risks and embracing mistakes and failures as stepping stones to experience and success. Thriving pro artists take constructive criticism well while ignoring misguided and mean comments. Ambitious artists are curious. They are eager to learn how to make their art better and equally desirous of discovering new and better ways to improve their art business.
Full-time artists are at peace knowing they make art for the marketplace. They don’t see having success in business as a concession to their creativity but rather a challenge to use their creativity to create art they love that people love to buy.
Always Start With Your Why
Why are you creating art portfolios, and what do you want to happen to your art after making it? You don’t want to climb the ladder of success only to find it’s leaning on the wrong wall. That can happen if you waffle on your why and let others choose your journey. If your answer is selling your art, go further. Will it become a full-time business, a part-time side hustle, or a passionate hobby? The answer is not locked but simplifies your choices, which is good.
Once you are clear in your heart and mind about your purpose for making art — and remember there are no wrong decisions. It’s your life, and you can choose how to live it. So, tune out noise and distractions that pull you in many directions. Understanding that just because you can doesn’t mean you should is critical. A talented musician doesn’t have to pursue music as a profession even though they could, and the same for you.
Prioritize and Organize to Get Control of Your Creative Time
Now that you have a firm grip on your way, it’s time to prioritize, organize, and figure out what is important to you and how much time you need each day or week to progress your goals. Here’s a practical approach to getting organized:
- Schedule Assessment: Begin by mapping out your current commitments and identifying potential time slots for your art practice
- Communication Strategy: Share your creative schedule with family and colleagues, explaining why this time is essential and how they can support your goals
- Boundary Setting: Create clear boundaries around your creative time and learn to protect these periods from unnecessary interruptions
- Flexibility Planning: Build some buffer time to accommodate unexpected changes while maintaining your creative rhythm. You should prioritize your art unless you are devoted to your full-time career. Don’t let anything distract you from your art. Set aside specific hours to work on your craft. Make sure you block out outside distractions during those hours.
First, look at your schedule and identify available dedicated hours for your art. Second, gather the plans of everyone who demands your time—family members, job, church, etc. Third, find the time you are in the least demand and create an art creation schedule in the available hours. Finally, let all your constituents know your plan by publishing it so they can see it. Then, please explain what you are doing and why, ask them to help you maintain the schedule, and be an encourager and enabler. Offer to return the favor to them.
Manage Your Perfectionism
Perfectionism is often about fear. When we’re afraid of something, we want to avoid it. We try to make sure that we never fail. We want to make sure that our work is perfect. But this means we’ll never begin anything. So, if you’re going to create art, you must be willing to take risks. You need to be willing to fail. Because without risk, there is no reward. And without reward, you won’t continue creating. So, create rituals for yourself before you begin working. This ritual could be anything, but I’d recommend doing something that triggers your hands or fingers to do the work. Wedge some clay, wash some dishes, and so forth.
How to Balance an Art Business and Live Your Life Relentlessly
Know what you want and what you are willing to trade off. Being an artist may be how you describe yourself, but life is more complex than that. Here are key strategies for maintaining balance while pursuing your artistic goals:
- Define Your Priorities: Identify what matters most to you in both your artistic practice and personal life, and make decisions that align with these priorities
- Build Strategic Partnerships: Connect with other artists and professionals who can help share the workload and create mutual opportunities for growth.
- Set Realistic Expectations: Understand that building an art business takes time, and it’s okay to progress at a pace that maintains your well-being.
- Create Support Systems: Develop relationships with mentors, peers, and collaborators who understand your journey and can offer guidance when needed. The more confident you are about knowing what you want, the key to maintaining your art-life dream-work balance. Seeing your marketing improve as you personalize it based on your knowledge of yourself and your buyers and tribe adds balance.
If you are serious about growing your art business, consider exploring the Art Partnership Playbook. It’s a comprehensive guide that teaches you how to build meaningful collaborations and partnerships that can transform your artistic journey. The Playbook helps you discover how to create authentic relationships that spark creativity, develop opportunities for cooperation, and master the art of co-marketing without compromising your artistic integrity. In today’s interconnected world, partnerships are becoming increasingly valuable for artists looking to expand their reach while maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
Remember, as the wisdom of the ancient proverb tells us,
“To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together.”
Whether balancing a full-time job with your art business or working toward becoming a full-time artist, having the right partnerships can make your journey more rewarding and successful. Good luck!
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