Finding snippets of creative time

​Following on from a previous post, I am wondering if you have made some time to nourish your soul?
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I get antsy if I don't get some creative time, do you? Being mindful of finding time, lead me to this post

So, how do we deal with the necessities of life and fit in art time?
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wait,

let's just sit with that for a minute...

Of course there are things in life that we must do first, priorities of everyday and family life, but how high on your to do list is scheduling in creative time?

I'm realising that sometimes the reason why I don't find time for my creativity is because I don't treat it as a necessity. In all honesty, the very idea of creativity not being a part of my life, quite literally makes me shudder. I can't imagine my life without it and my mood suffers when I don't keep up my creative practice. So, after all is said and done, creativity is a must for my well-being and therefore, for me, a necessity of life!

So, the question is if creative time is a priority for you and how can we make it part of our day? Further, why is it so hard to make time for it?

Now these are my thoughts that apply to me, but maybe I'm not alone. I have played with how to make this work for me for a long long time. from scheduling it in my diary, to having reminders pop up on my phone, to habit trackers, you name it I've tried it. I tried blocking out a minimum of time I'd like to spend arting in my calendar, but that ended up making me feel worse if I got to the end of the day with no big chunk of creative time in sight. I soon realised too that I am terrible at estimating how much time certain tasks will take and these would eat into my art time if they took longer than expected. So now I am more realistic with blocking out time for tasks so that I don't feel so rushed or pressured.

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Another thing I realised was that my personal boundaries were virtually non existent or sketchy at best when it came to spending time for myself. I wasn't respecting my own time and the value of it but little by little I have re-established my boundaries one step at a time.

For me it started with something as simple as dialogue. If someone asked me to do something for them, instead of jumping in and saying yes to help out, with no regard for my personal calendar, I now ask if I can get back to them with an answer. This has allowed me time to take a breath before committing. ​

Arting at my work desk

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Another way is to look at my creative time differently, realise that even 15 minutes can be just as valuable as an hour in some respects. And so I began taking a small art kit to work to play in my art journal during lunch. This was my inspiration to begin my Lunchtime Art Time, which you can read more about here

I'm not saying this is easy, I still struggle at times to make art time part of my day but these small changes have made a huge difference to my mental well-being, my mood and creative practice.  I still list it in my calendar but it is not so defined. I grab whatever time I can to art, in any shape, size or form of art I can get. 

This feeds my soul. What do you do to feed your creative habit? I'd love to know how you fit art into your day and other strategies for setting gentle but firm boundaries around your personal time.