One Color at a Time: Mastering Creative Focus

Create Art Podcast Commentary Honey, I shrunk the focus. Part of the Make Fun a Habit series. Hello, friend. This is Timothy Kim O.Bryan, your head instigator for Create Art Podcast, where I bring my over 30 years of experience in the arts and education world to help you tame your inner critic and create more than you consume. So we're continuing on here in 2025 with Make Fun a Habit series. And you're going to ask yourself, hey, Tim, what's this Make Fun of Habit series?If this is your first time here and what that is, it's a workbook. It runs you through a month, gives you things for every day, and its whole goal is to bring fun back into your creative practice.Now, this workbook was created by Mike Brennan, who runs the Creative Chats podcast. And I had pleasure of reviewing that podcast on my other podcast, Find a Podcast About.And I got a chance to review that podcast and meet up with Mike. He's got a great community online and I thought, you know what, I'm going to dedicate an episode per day.So right now we are at with this chapter, we're at chapter 23. And there's 30 chapters in the book. It's a great read. And let me tell you how each chapter is set up.So Mike tells a story about whatever topic he has for you for that day to focus on, and then he'll give you questions that relate to the topic, he'll give you action items to possibly incorporate, and then he'll give you tips. So that's what I'm going to be doing in this episode of Create Art Podcast.If you've missed any of the other episodes that I've done, you can always go back through my library, look for the commentary ones and check out the show notes because it has all the links in there for the book and for my other podcast. And it will let you know, hey, this one is about, you know, this series, so that way you won't get lost.I know it can be confusing, so I'm trying to help you out with that. And this episode is going to be talking about maintaining focus.That can be really difficult for a lot of creatives because we have a lot of different interests. I know I have a ton of different interests.I'm a poet, I'm a theater person, I'm a short story writer, I'd like to paint, I like to do sculpture, I like making music. And obviously podcasting is something I really love doing. So I have a lot of different interests.And maybe you do as well, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just sometimes we need to focus in on one or two of them to make that happen for ourselves.Now, Mike begins with a story, and he's talking about the Bic penny and how they created a four color pen. If you were of a certain age like I am, you'll remember when that came out. And any kid that had that pen was, you know, really, they were coveted.And. But the. The thing of it is that you could only do one color at a time. You could not do all four colors at a time, otherwise the pen would clog up.The same thing happens in our lives. If we're trying to do all of our interests all at one time, we're never going to get anything done.Now, that isn't to say that, you know, we can't do all of the things.We just need to focus on one or two projects maybe at a time, and then see them to completion and then work on the other projects or be really good stewards of our time. Because, you know me, I have a full time job, a full time day job. I'm a husband, I'm a father. You know, I have all these other things pulling on me.So I need to be a very good steward of my time, just like you do.And I'm sure you have other things in your life that are going on that, you know, would make me scratch my head and pull my hair out, which there's not much left. So let's get on to the assignments. The first question that he asks us is what is one thing you are focusing on right now for your creativity?So the main thing that I'm focusing on right now is getting guests into the show.And I think you've seen a uptick in guests on the show and interviews on the show to, you know, kind of tell their stories about how they create what they're doing and the lessons that they've learned. So that is the main thing that I am focusing on. But looking at the good old calendar on the wall here, we have April coming up.I'm recording this in March, but we have April coming up. And for me, that's National Poetry Writing Month. So that in April I will be focusing on that.Still doing the podcast, but focusing on poetry for a month later on this year in November is National Novel Writing Month. I'll be focusing on writing a novel in November. You know, 30 days to do 50,000 words. It is a challenge.I just recently had somebody on Facebook comment that they're going to Try National Poetry Writing Month and National Podcast Post Months. Podcast Post Month is in November. And they said, am I biting off more than I can chew? And I said, no.You just have to have really good time management to be able to do those things. And the same thing with you and your practice.Just make sure that you have really good time management that you're making sure that you put in breaks for yourself. We can't create 24. 7. We can't. We can try. We can try to jam things in there, and it's going to look like we tried to jam things in there.Our audience is smart. We have to respect them. So make sure that you are setting time aside for yourself.The second question is, what are the multiple pursuits or passions you have? Well, podcasting is one of them. Music. I love adding music to my writing, which is another passion that I have. I do love to paint.I know that when I give paintings to my wife and my kids, they really enjoy them. And you know, my wife, she does a lot of cross stitch and diamond paintings, and she loves doing that and giving those as gifts.So that's her passion. So those are my multiple pursuits that I have to. I can't do them all at the same time.You know, I can't record a podcast and do music and write a poem and paint a picture all at the same time. So I have to divvy it up. So some days I do one, some days I do the other. And maybe that is a way for you to do it.If you have multiple passions, multiple projects, you pick, you know, maybe a Monday to work on podcasting, Tuesday to work on painting, Wednesday to work on music, Thursday to work on writing, Friday to work on your body, and Saturday and Sunday you give as rest days. Whatever it is for you, set it up in a similar fashion. It should work out a okay for you. One thing that I do is I do.I record these kinds of episodes on Sunday morning when everybody's still asleep, and I'll also do editing for the other episodes on Sunday morning.So, you know, whenever you hear a interview, you know, I may have interviewed that person on like a Monday or a Thursday, but I'm not going to touch it until Sunday morning when I know I'll have some quiet and I'll have some time to go ahead and give my full attention to it. And the third question is, do you find it easy or hard to narrow your focus? Well, I always constantly have ideas going through my head.So the idea phase, I find it hard to focus. But once I Get started on a project. I find it easy to focus just on that project.See, right now, everyone is asleep in my house, so it's easy to focus just on recording this episode.If everyone was awake and running around, then there'd be a lot of noise and I'd want to get involved, especially if, you know, the kids are having a meltdown, you know, and help out my family. But yeah, when I'm in a project, I'm laser focused on that project. So for me, that part is easy. It's the ideation that I have that I struggle with.Okay, and we're going to move on to action items. He has two action items here for us. The first one is an activity. Choose one creative pursuit that you're interested in and set a goal for yourself.So with podcasting, what is my goal? Well, I set a goal for myself this year to start up my own podcast consulting business. And I did it. You know, I set that goal last year.I said I want, by 2025, I want to have that business up and running. And here it is now for, you know, 2026. What do I want to have done by the end of the year? That's a good question.I do want to do more local outreach in my area here in Fredericksburg, and I do want to participate in a couple of festivals that are happening, mainly the Independent festival, and that's happening in October of this year. I want to make sure that I, you know, knock out the National Poetry Writing Month and the National Novel Writing Month. Those are my two big goals.And I have those goals for each and every year. Do I reach them every year? No, I've had some years where I've fallen flat on my face. But those are two big goals that I do, you know, put myself to.And sometimes you've got to take away goals. One of the things that I took away was National Podcast Post Month. I just could not do it because again, I have a family that I need to take care of.I have a full time job. And, you know, I was really stressing out over that, so I took that off of my plate.But I left the National Novel Writing Month on there because I really enjoy writing. The next action item is actually an action, and that's set aside time each day to work on your creative pursuit.And I spend a lot of time planning in my head.And maybe I need to do more planning on paper or digitally, but, you know, I do set time every Sunday to, you know, record episodes or to edit episodes. And, you know, I used to When I was not commuting to work, I used to do a thing where I would draw every day.And I bought a couple of books that gave me, you know, different shapes and different ideas on what to draw every day. And I would really like to get back into that because it's very relaxing, very restful. So, again, I am a work in progress, just like you are.That is something that I'll need to get back into. All right, moving on to his tips for us here. He has six tips. The first one is think about what you are most passionate about.And what I'm most passionate about is creating art in all of its forms. So that's not a good focus with that. So maybe it's okay. I'm good in these areas. I want to get better in these areas.That's, you know, for me, that would be number tip, number one. Tip number two is, what are you good at? I think I'm good at podcasting.I mean, you're sitting here listening to this podcast, so I've captured your attention. So I think I'm good with that. I really enjoy my music that I create, and I've had people enjoy it and comment on it, writing. I.I know I'm good at poetry and performance. Poetry, because every Friday, you know, I stand up on the stage and people applaud that. So I think I'm pretty good at that.Tip number three is, what do you want to achieve with your creative work?And basically what I would like to achieve, and this is going to sound very left brain, but I would like to, when I retire, have my creative work, be the income that supports me and my family. Number four, once you have considered these factors, choose one or two creative pursuits to focus on.Well, I think podcasting is the best one for me because it's reliant on me and my skills. So that's the main one I'm going to choose.And then writing as well is another one that I think I can add things to it, like music and, you know, like painting. But I think podcasting and writing are my two major creative pursuits that I'm going to be focusing on.Tip number five is don't be afraid to experiment or try new things. He must know me pretty well because I like to experiment with things. I like to try new things. I like trying AI, different things with AI.I like trying different things with podcasting.If you've, you know, subscribed to my newsletter, you know, I'm experimenting with things over there, you know, trying out newsletters, trying out New ways to reach out to folks. So for me, number five is, you know, is a duh. And then number six, celebrate your success, no matter how small.And that's really important for all of us.That's why in each episode, I tell you, I tell you to, you know, tame that inner critic and create more than you consume and make some art for somebody you love yourself, no matter how big or small it is, you're creating something, and I applaud that, and I think that's a wonderful thing. So keep on doing that for yourself. I'm doing it for me. I'm not going to stop. No matter what, I'm not going to stop creating things.And I think a lot of times we forget to give. Give ourselves a nice pat on the back for the things that we do. So this is my virtual pat on the back to you for what you do, and it's a virtual.Well, it's a real pat on the back for me for everything that I do, and we should feel good about it. All right, well, that is the episode here for you today. I hope you got something out of it.And I just wanted to remind you that I have started up my own business. It's called TKB Podcast Studio.You can go to tkbpodcaststudio.com and that's where I help my clients lead through the noise with quiet professionalism. I can help you from all levels of podcast production there and get you on your way to doing exactly what I'm doing here today.If you want to do this, I can help you out. Reach out to me over there, if you would. If you got something out of this episode, make sure that you share it with a friend.That's the best, best way for people to find podcasts.You can reach out to me, Timothy art podcast.com if you want to tell me what you're focusing on or if you have questions or if you'd like to appear on the show. I have a lot of guests that just shoot me an email and say, hey, Tim, love what you're doing, want to be on the show. So that could be you.That could be you. And don't think that you have to be a nationally recognized, you know, artist.Whatever you're doing out there, if you want the world to know about it, this is your platform. I want to, you know, give you a voice for it. So reach out to me. Let me know what you're struggling with. If I can help, I will.If I can't, I probably have a you know somebody in my life that can help you out with that. I can, you know, refer you to somebody. So give that a shot for yourself. All right.I have a lot of links in the show notes there for you with Make Fun of Habit Creative chats. Find a podcast about. All my affiliate links are in there as well for things you can check out and for different tools that I'm using.So make sure that you look through those show notes. And I also mentioned I have a newsletter.You can find that over on Substack Timothy Brian that's B r I e n.substack.com you can go over there and find out what I'm doing. A lot of times I'll do deep dives into what I'm talking about in the episodes, either with guests or these episodes.So if nothing else, check out the deep dive. It's a tool that I'm experimenting with. And just like we heard here today, try new things. Experiment new things.Let me know what you think about that. Alright, it's time for me to get on with my day. I know you need to get on with your day, so go out there and tame that inner critic.Create more than you consume. Try just focusing on one or two things until completion. And go out there, make some art for somebody you love. Yourself. I'll talk with you next time.