The Artist’s Schedule: Free, Disciplined, and Happy

When most people think about their lives, what they do is this:

They set aside time for the stuff they need to get done. Then they have “free time” to do what they please later.

This often leads to procrastination and less fulfilled free time. You’re indenturing yourself, and when you finally have some time off you’re worried about going back to work.

Think about the typical work week for most people. Going to work 5 days to have 2 days off. Ask anyone in any other field and they will tell you that 5 for 2 is not a very good trade.

On top of that, the time we do have off we need to use to recharge and run errands. By the time we have some time to do what we enjoy we’re so drained and uncreative. How much of our life is actually spent living and creating?

We can get confused on how to break free from this. It can feel like we’re in a perpetual hamster wheel. Our circumstances are preventing us from living our dreams.

What if we could find a way, where every second of every day was fun and productive? If you knew exactly what to work on? If it’s all building towards a better future AND you’re enjoying every minute of it? What if you had chosen the exact action you’re doing at all times?

The way to do this is by making a schedule you enjoy.

Now, before you go: “I’m an artist, I like having an open-ended schedule where I can do what I want. That’s when my creativity flows best - I need to be free”, hear me out for a second.

Discipline and freedom are not opposites. You can plan to do things you enjoy.

You can plan open ended free flow sessions. Also, you don’t have to be a slave to your schedule. If inspiration strikes and you get an amazing idea, go for it.

This is to combat those times where you’re not sure of what to work on and the times you’re not enjoying yourself. This is the default, the baseline.

Besides, the best way to be more creative is to expand your horizons. If you’re used to create only when inspiration strikes, try this as an exercise.

The way I see it, our job as artists is to expand our awareness and communicate our discoveries to our audience.

The strategy to do this is three-pronged and looks like this

• Win your day: Reserve your best hours for your dreams and make a schedule you want to follow

• Staying focused: Knowing how to combat procrastination and staying focused

• Mindset shift: You’re choosing your life

Win your day. Don’t waste your best hours and energy on your job. Spend it on your craft.

Your life consists of time. If you waste it, you’re wasting your life.

We can bring clarity and happiness to our lives by making a schedule we enjoy - we have chosen it ourselves.

It would be insanity to choose something we don’t want.

When we end up in life situations we don’t like, it’s usually because we didn’t sit down and choose what to do with our time.

If you don’t like what you spend your time doing, change it!

Sure there are thing you have to do - that’s called being adult.

But by making a schedule, we are being intentional about them. The things we’re doing are building towards our dreams. We will talk more about this later in the letter.

The first thing you must do is reserve your most productive hours to build something for yourself.

(If you’re not sure what to work on, read last week’s email here: LINK).

For most people that time is in the morning. Get up an hour earlier and write some music, work on your novel or build your brand online. Whatever it is that’s going to get you to where you want to go.

By reserving your most creative hours for yourself, the indentured time is not as crushing. It’s part of our dream life for the next week, and a stepping stone to hitting our goals.

If you have a 9-to-5 job, by the time you get to work, you’re already done. You have won the day. All the stress from the job or things you don’t want to deal with, matter less.

How do we set up this schedule, our perfect week?

The first step we must take is to realize our most productive hours as well as the lever moving tasks that get us closer to our goals.

(If you need help with this, read this letter: LINK)

The second step is to jot down your weekly goals and the things you have to do (Work, family dinners, exercise, etc.)

The third step is to ask the following question:

“Given my current circumstances, what is the best way I can live my life for the next week?”

Now we start filling out our calendar. I do this in Notion in a simple table (empty example below). This makes it easier to edit and I can move things around as my week progresses. You can use a normal calendar app if you prefer.

Start with your wake up time and put your most important tasks here. This could be writing music, creating content, or writing your novel. It all depends on your goals.

It’s important that you set up clear goals that connect to your vision before you make this schedule. Otherwise how do you know what to work on?

I also recommend blocking 2-3 hours once or twice a week for free flow creativity and idea generation. Go on a long walk or sit at your desk with no clear goal for the session. Just see what you come up with.

Next, fill in your obligations from step 2.

After that, take a look at your goals and assess if it’s reasonable you’re going to be able to finish your tasks in that time.

If not, move things around, make time for it. You are planning your life and how to reach your dreams here. Don’t leave it to chance.

The last step is to evaluate and iterate at the end of the week. We’ll talk about that later in the letter.

Staying focused: Techniques to Combat Procrastination and Distraction

Having a plan is crucial to make sure you do the right things, but if you don’t follow it, it doesn’t matter.

The way to do this is to use your most productive times as discussed earlier and have a deep work session.

Here’s how to get the most out of these sessions and get more done in two hours than most people do in a week:

1. Set a clear goal for the session

2. Eliminate distractions and turn off your phone - no multitasking, no breaks. 100% focus for these two hours if you can manage it. You spend more energy switching from task to task than getting one task done, and then moving on to another.

3. Set a timer - by setting a timer and seeing it go down you’re going to be so productive you won’t believe it. You only have so much time to get your work done and time is ticking.

4. Put on a playlist optimized for reading or focus (no lyrics and no ads). This is optional and a personal preference of mine. You can find these on YouTube or Spotify. It works for me, do your own experiments and find what works for you.

That’s it, don’t overcomplicate things.

Mindset shift: I intentionally choose what I spend my time on and everything I do is building towards something greater

Now, there’s still things we have to do that we do not enjoy. That’s part of life. But there are ways we can deal with those without being miserable.

We have already won the day by reserving the most productive hours for our own goals.

If you have a job see this as something “you get to do”, not something “you have to do”.

You have chosen to go do this job. It’s all part of your master plan to have the funds and time to chase your dreams.

It’s just a piece of the puzzle.

It’s a stepping stone to greatness and freedom.

By itself, that means you are free in this moment, because you have CHOSEN to be there. You won the day already by getting up early and working on your dreams, you might as well go make some money.

It’s a great catalyst for creativity if you don’t have to worry about if you can eat tonight.

Reflect and Adjust: Continuous Iteration and Improvement

Your productivity system will evolve with you.

It’s never done. It’s an iterative process and you must refine and reflect on it often.

You won’t get it right the first time. But like with many things in life the best answer is often your best guess.

Make a decision, try it for a week, find what works for you, and iterate from there.

The important thing is that you experiment and find what works for you. We are all unique and what works for someone else, may not work for you. I put a lot of emphasis on finding your own way, because you have your own preferences and life situation.

Don’t do what a book told you. Don’t follow the schedule a YouTuber uses. Don’t use my schedule. Make your own.

As mentioned earlier, only through experimentation will you find it. As you evolve, so will your schedule.

It is crucial that you take time at the end of the week to evaluate your goals, schedule, and execution.

In this session, you should reflect on the following:

• Did I hit my goals this week?

• Did the work go as I planned? What worked? What didn’t?

• Did I have time for everything without feeling stressed or overwhelmed?

• How can I improve for next week?

• What habits and goals am I focusing on next week?

• What experiments can I run next week that could help me?

Based on these answers you may need to:

• Refine, or drop goals. I don’t recommend adding new goals until your quarterly evaluation session.

• Add, change or remove something in your schedule.

• Take a look at habits that are preventing you from hitting your goals.

As a last note I want to make it clear that you should not expect to hit your perfect week 100%.

This is your absolute perfect plan if everything goes well. As we know, it rarely goes exactly according to our heads.

But if you improve a little bit every day, over time you’re going to be unstoppable.

And don’t be afraid to change up your schedule if it’s not working for you anymore.

Things that may have worked before, are not going to be optimal for a new phase in our lives.

That’s it for this week.

Hit reply and let me know what you think of all this.

We got this.

Dan