Systems can save your butt, but only if you work them as they were intended.
What needs to get done that isn’t? For example:
- You’re not updating your contacts database often enough. Every time you go to send a mailing, you have to spend a couple of days adding names.
→You need an efficient system for collecting names in a timely manner.
- You’re missing important deadlines.
→You need a system for recording, reviewing, and meeting deadlines.
- You’ve neglected your blog.
→You need a system for capturing ideas, writing drafts, and editing posts.
System Components
Most systems need:
- Defined results: What do you want to happen?
- Software or paper & pen to record data.
- Identification of other people involved and their tasks.
- Clear articulation of the steps and how they build on one another.
- Commitment to a regular check-in (e.g. Thursdays at 10 a.m.).
It’s that last item on the list that is often the kink in the process.
Systems Check
Systems don’t work by themselves. You have to work the systems.
You must be committed to the system you put in place, which is why my system might not work for you. It has to be a good fit. You must turn any system into your system.
If you discover that your system is flawed, change it! Find out which component isn’t working for you and give it a tweak.
If you catch yourself saying, “I’m not good at X or Y” or “I’ll never be able to Z,” do a little digging. Is it because you don’t have a trusted system?
–> Check out the Art Career Success System – a system for your entire art career.
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