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Quite a thread! Seems people have been wanting to talk about this for a long time!
My "time management" tips, if you can call them that, are as follows:
First, get a couple of commissions with hard and fast deadlines. There's nothing like an unveiling that HAS to happen on a certain date to make you paint your little behind off, seven days a week, until the piece is done.
Second, "just say no" to almost everything else. About three years ago I decided I could only do two things if I was going to do a decent job of either one: family stuff and artwork. If anything comes up that's outside those two things, I pretty much don't do it. (That includes just saying no to housecleaning too. I hire a cleaning lady whenever I can.)
I try to keep my internet time to the hours before 7 am and after 7pm. I also need frequent breaks during my painting day (typically 9 am to 5 pm) so I pop online for a few short minutes here and there. Otherwise I make a few phone calls or do other paperwork stuff when I take my breaks out of the studio. Before 9 am and after 5 pm I'm Mom again.
I do keep time sheets, of two different types. I track how much time I work each week, and how much of that time is spent on painting, doing marketing, admin stuff or teaching. I average about 40 working hours a week. I also track, separately, how much time I've spent on each painting.
I've never been a night owl but I keep thinking how much more I'd be able to accomplish if I could work til 2 am. Of course, my family would disown me because I'd be a raving lunatic (more so than I am already).
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