In a previous article, we went over 4 easy ways to uncover your Art if you’re not sure what it may be.

For those of you who are aware of your Art, you may not be engaging and producing to your full potential. Each of us has an Art and a responsibility to uncover, develop, and share it with the world.

Here are 6 tips to accelerate your Art:

Let’s get accelerating!

Schedule and Prioritize

Are you spending quality blocks of time on your Art regularly? If not every day, are you at least slotting out time each week? If days and weeks are slipping without any progress, you’re not putting in the effort to schedule and prioritize your Art.

Slot a couple hours on a certain morning and protect the time for working on your Art, no matter what. I’ve found it to be more effective to schedule the time earlier in the day. The later it gets in the day, the greater likelihood of distractions and other things coming up to hijack your attention and time.

Focus Your Attention

Not only do you need to schedule the time, it takes focus to maintain the quality of the time you’re spending. With so many things competing for our attention, it’s easy to fall victim to distraction. Depending on what your Art is, you can use different methods to eliminate potential distractions. Try different techniques such as keeping your work area clutter-free, increasing light, drinking cold water, or setting timers.

If your Art source doesn’t require use of electronics, eliminate them completely from your working environment. Mute the notifications, turn them off, or don’t even have them in the same room as you. If your Art involves using electronics, there are apps you can use to block distractions. Whatever you do, ensure there is no unnecessary social media, email, cell phone use, TV, YouTube, podcasts, or Netflix during this time. Take it all away.

Finish Your Projects

You can literally spend your entire life scheduling, prioritizing and focusing on your Art without ever finishing anything. The most important thing is to finish and ship out the final product.

Don’t get stuck in perfectionism or get distracted with dozens of new projects. Many people have a multitude of unfinished projects. It’s better to have one project done at 80% satisfaction instead of one to hundreds of unfinished projects aspiring for 100% satisfaction. There will probably never be a moment when you’re 100% satisfied with something. Hire out or get some help to edit/finish/polish the final output if you need it. Pick one project at a time and push yourself to finish it.

Find a Support System

Find a coach, mentor, friend or a like-minded community to keep you inspired and on track towards finishing your projects. Many people form small groups of 3-5 people called masterminds or accountability circles, meeting regularly to share ideas and progress. It’s beneficial to create some type of support system in whatever format works best for you. The artist’s journey is often long and lonely.

Your support system is an excellent way to learn about potential opportunities, partnerships, tips, and different ideas. Surrounding yourself with the right people can significantly accelerate your Art if you are consistently applying the first 3 tips mentioned above.

Once you’ve finished a piece of your Art, it does little good if no one ever sees it. Be willing to put yourself out there and showcase what you’ve done. Make your Art available, so those who are interested have a way to find it. Share it with your family, friends, community and network.

Expand your reach with a website showcasing your Art. With so many resources available, it’s easy to make a simple website (i.e. Weebly, Squarespace, WordPress, Tumblr are just a few examples). Share it on social media and be willing to talk about it to others. The more you talk about it and the longer timeframe you are around, the more confidence and credibility you’ll develop.

Learn and Revitalize

We are constantly evolving human beings. As such, your Art will evolve over time as well. To keep things fresh and interesting, continue learning new things – either related or not to your Art. The best ideas often come from combining two seemingly unconnected things.

Try a different medium, topic, or style for your next Art project. Add a new component or layer. Perhaps you’ll expand into a different offering or product as a result. Or maybe you’ll learn a new skill set, which may come in handy in the future. Either way, continuing to learn and grow in your Art will accelerate your long-term success.

What are other ideas for accelerating your Art? What has worked for you?