The 20 Hour Challenge

This Post is by Lori Woodward Simons, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews.  Find out how you can be a guest author.

Recently, I made a personal statement on Twitter, saying that I am challenging myself to put in 20 hours each week of pure, focused work.  I invited anyone to join my self challenge and was astounded at the response, both on Twitter and on the American Artist forum. In fact, there's a chance that the 20 hour challenge will become a separate forum category.

My guess is that artists responded wholeheartedly to this idea of a 20 hour work challenge, because some of us know deep inside that we must do something to get back on track with our time in the studio. While some artists responded that 20 hours is not enough - because they already are spending many more hours in the studio - most thought that 20 would indeed be a challenge.


The Artist Life Is Complex

My life is so very complex and fractured. There is no way on earth that I will ever get everything that I have to do and want to do... done. My tasks are like spinning plates - and there are so many right now that I let some fall and shatter. However, if I intend to make a living with my work as an artist and arts writer/teacher (see what I mean about having a fractured life?) I must keep the painting and writing plates spinning at top speed. If they fall and crash, my life as an artist doesn't really make sense.

That's why I decided to give myself a challenge and announce it to the Twittersphere... to keep me somewhat accountable.  Sure I could tell little white lies (which I've probably already done to make myself look good online), but when I do that, the only person I hurt is myself. The fact remains that if I don't start practicing better work habits, my career will go nowhere. I've been in a state of denial about this for some time, but now I'm jumping on the reality train so that I can make my career dreams come true.

Won't you join me in this pursuit?

Some who already work full time jobs outside of art might only be able to pledge 5 hours, others have pledged 10 hours. Those who intend to work full time as an artist are seeing 20 hours as a good number to start with. I'm not the captain of the time clock here! You are. I don't intend to monitor you or be in charge of anyone one else but myself.  I don't have time to manage another's tasks - nope, having enough trouble with my own right now.


We Can Encourage Each Other

But we can indeed help each other with encouragement on a larger scale than if I were to do this alone. It would be a joy to see artists Tweet up blog up what they've accomplished with their art at the end of the week.  No matter how much or how little - every hour spent at the easel (or whatever type of work you do) is time invested in your future. It also doesn't matter if the work is top notch every time - just working, day in - day out... will make you better as an artist. Making art is somewhat like a sport. One has good and bad days, and practice is essential.

You can find me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/loriwords.  I'll (try to) write a blog on Fridays to sum up some of my week's highlights and show examples of my accomplishments, but don't forget to tweet up or blog up your week's accomplishments! on Twitter:  #20hrchallenge

Now, a word of caution: don't spend too much time online talking about this challenge.  Sure, it'll make me feel popular and I love seeing my name on the PC screen, but that would defeat the whole purpose. I'd rather know that you're saving your online time for "after work". I promise online messages will be waiting there for you after you clean up your studio for the day. That's the great thing about email, twitter, and other online conversations -- they don't evaporate when you're working on something else. Ignore the feeling that you're missing something. Select the time you will spend online, and resist letting it take over your precious work time. Now Make it So...

Most sincerely,
Lori