How to Survive as an Artist Working a “Real Job”
1 - Be selective about your work (if you can afford to be)
You have to pay your bills, but your time is valuable too. Consider whether or not your job gives you the flexibility to work on your art during your free time.
2 - Does your job drain you?
Only you can answer this. I’ve worked certain jobs that have left me feeling discouraged or empty at the end of the day, and I’ve struggled afterwards to manage to write a paragraph. I had the time, so that wasn’t the issue, but my creative energy was dissipating.
3 - Don’t make excuses
The moment you begin to believe you are too busy to create is the moment you’ve given up. There’s always time. You just have to find it or make it. If you only have half an hour each day to devote to your art use it wisely. Cut out the unnecessary. You don’t need TV, you don’t need video games, you don’t need YouTube videos, or much of anything at all, but if you’re an artist you need to create. Just do it.
4 - Are you moving closer to your dreams or diluting your energy?
Can you realistically see yourself getting ahead? If you aren’t creating in your spare time, you’ll be in a perpetual loop working to make someone else’s dreams come true.
5 - Create finished products
If you’re working in finance, but you want to be a screenwriter, write a script and shop it around in the time you aren’t working. Begin doing the thing you want to do. If you want to be a painter, make paintings. If you want to be a novelist, write a novel. Life is a verb - it’s all about action.
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