Time Is A Tool

I never understood why many artists utilize time the way they do. Some of us speed through our work, hardly letting it sit and going straight for finishing as soon as possible, regardless of detail or skill level utilized. Others will spend as much time as possible on one piece, stuck on the belief that it will never be complete.

Many artists time themselves. Some give themselves fifteen minutes, and claim it’s done as soon as the buzzer rings. Others will give themselves fifteen hours, and deny being done until they’ve spent at least that on the piece, regardless of whether or not it’s actually done.

Artists learn to listen to the clock rather than to their work. Only an artist’s work can say whether it’s done or not. Setting a clock and keeping to it forces you to listen to a time rather than to what you’re working on.

When a piece is done, it’s done.

When it’s not, it’s not.

Everything depends on the piece, and your trust in yourself.

The only type of time-spending you should be worried about is when you’re trying to make a deadline. The only difference is that, with a deadline, you need to squeeze as much work as possible into whatever window you have. You don’t have the time to take your time because you’re busy trying to meet whatever date was set. This the one place where utilizing time to finish is important. That way, you don’t miss that deadline. However, how much you spend on one piece says nothing about its quality or how much it’s worth. Therefore, that’s the only place where time actually counts. Any other time, time is a measurement. Not even while you’re trying to make a deadline is it a measurement on quality. It’s a measurement on how long moments used were to make a piece. 

There is no defining factor that makes work that takes fifteen minutes to complete worth more than a piece that takes fifteen hours. Time does not measure how much work or skill went into a piece. It does not measure technique. That’s where a lot of artists become confused and begin to believe that the more time is spent on a project, the more work they put into it. This does not actually measure how much work did, but how much time it took to complete a piece. Time and skill utilized are two completely different things.

Time is a tool. Learning how to utilize it cannot turn it into a technique. Only what your piece needs can dictate what it needs. Learning to listen to what it needs allows you to utilize learned skill and use time as a tool. More or less of this tool is needed based on what you are creating. Your work will grow on its own if you let it, teaching you to use more or less of time if you need it, and only if you need it. 

My biggest advice when it comes to this? Don’t time yourself. Ask your work questions. Take a step back every once in a while. Allow your work to breathe. Walk away from it for an hour or two, or maybe even a day. Throw out the clock. No amount of time can ever finish your work. Only you can do that.

Allow yourself to speed through it. Allow yourself to take your time. Find your own rhythm. What takes one person an hour will take another person fifteen minutes. Some people naturally take more or less time than others. Sometimes, it’s that certain people have higher productivity levels, but that isn’t always the case. Other times, it’s based on how much technique one person has over another, and how long they’ve been utilizing that technique. 

Time is a mere measurement of how long it takes a human to complete a certain task, but that means something different to everybody. Allow yourself to take your time, but also don’t force yourself to take more or less time if your work doesn’t need it.

Instead of allotting your work a certain number of hours or minutes, take a step back every once in a while when you work. Allow yourself to take in what you are creating with your eyes, and use your mind to ask yourself what it needs next. Learn to know when your work is done once it no longer needs anything. Don’t judge your work based on how long it took you. That’s a terrible way of measuring how much work was put into it. 

Again, everyone is different.

Judge your work based on whether or not it’s done.