As I speak to more and more people from all age groups, there is a mounting desire to be self-employed and a growing frustration in corporate drudgery. In great numbers people are cultivating creativity and trying to go it alone. The problem is that we have been taught from very young ages which jobs matter and which ones don’t; which jobs make money and which will lead to a life of suffering.

At the top of the suffering jobs list is art. Parents worry about their kids when they want to grow up and be artists because it is a notably unstable profession. No one wants their kids to struggle. But what about the, dare I say, equal importance of struggling and succeeding? All the better if that struggle is in pursuing something you love instead of struggling against a job you hate.

Either way you were raised or what you were taught to believe, there is a growing trend toward creativity in the workplace and jobs in art. That desire often comes with conflict, as though responsibility and art are directly opposed to each other. If there is a cultural shift toward creativity, there needs to be an economic shift in that direction as well; our actions must perpetuate the creation.

We need to learn to value art like we value other commodities. If you ask the average person, they would likely say that buying a car is an easier investment than buying art. Naturally so – buying art is frivolous and buying a car is responsible. But is that really true? Let’s dissect what it means to invest in art, for yourself and for others.

There have been massive renaissances throughout history that favor beauty, desire, and art. These periods of time are ones that we look on with fondness, a more idyllic time that allowed us to partake in art as an everyday cultural experience rather than an elitist activity. Perhaps we’re moving into one of those art renaissance periods.

Investing in art brings about social, cultural, and economic changes. Socially, we learn to stop putting artists down for having ‘self-indulgent’ jobs. If we invest in art, we make art a natural part of our lives, one that brings a greater attention to beauty and darkness, to introspection and deep thinking. Culturally it brings attention back to those things that weave the fabric of our societies together. It highlights trends in popular and low-brow thinking, waves of inspiration centered around the time we currently live in, and informs us of how we evolved out of trends of the past.

Investing in art economically allows artists to thrive, and in doing so gives weight to those who are driven, creative, and forward thinking. In this great technological boom, a time that could be defined by mass tech and assembly lines, we see more artists than ever before stepping out with that technology and creating wild, mind-bending works. Those creations aren’t purely aesthetic or frivolous, though; they give us a lens to see our culture, our shortcomings and successes, and our place in the world. They teach us how to engage in business and relationships more freely and creatively. And most importantly, they teach our youngest generation how to incorporate creativity into every part of what they do.

Trends show that the more creative an individual is in all aspects of life – business, relationships, personal and beyond – the more successful they become. The rules of the economy are changing. I graduated college at the start of the recession in the United States and fell into my normal – a world where jobs aren’t secure, where a steady career isn’t guaranteed with a college degree, and where I have been continually rewarded the weirder and more creative I get.

I take that as personal proof of change for myself and others in my generation. The more we invest in art, the more we show the next generation that art is a worthy thing to pursue; that your vision and your unique voice is valued and heard. If you have something to say, you can not only say it, but succeed in saying it. In a world where art is valued, individuals are valued. Free thinking and creativity are pulled into the limelight. And in a world where those values are praised, artists can rise into beautiful inclusion in the topic of worthwhile careers.

If we want individuals to believe their voice matters, we need to begin investing in art. Through the commitment to personal expression, we create a world where anyone can change the future.

I decided that I wanted to be able to take a few months off of my regularly scheduled work program, but I wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. How does one simply stop working but still make the train keep chugging?

BATCH WORKING! I didn’t know that was a thing until I started doing it naturally. And that’s my point here – I think it is natural to do this. Batch working allows a state of creative flow and maximizes our potential to put out cohesive content.

Batch working is pretty simple. It’s when you group together like content and produce that content all together, rather than spread apart over long periods of time.

I’ve recently used the batch working process to write 25 blog posts in one day, and record 24 videos in one day!

It sounds impossible, right? And yes, some people will be more or less prolific in their ability to batch work. I’m particularly well suited to batch working because I focus easily and I love a juicy and hard-to-achieve goal. But you don’t have to be some content-producing mastermind to dive in.

1. Find your purpose first. If you understand your long-term mission, you’ll find it easier to focus on the work that will take you there rather than feeling scattered. Take copious notes here. Draw up vision boards.

2. How can you be a resource to your community? If you understand the ways in which you can give most successfully, you can spend your time doing those things without guilt. Make lists and hone in on what aligns with you!!!

3. Spend a lot of time planning your specific content before you make your content. This is perhaps the most important point. Take the time to write spreadsheets or detailed lists about the exact content you want to make, the long-term plan for it, and how it will impact your community.

4. Clear your schedule entirely by doing the work ahead of time. Emails? Get to “Inbox 0” before batch working. Meetings, social media, etc….do it all in advance so that you can spend the time you need to batch.

5. Write notes for yourself. If you’re creating a lot at once, know exactly what your plan is. Before I was able to record 24 videos in 5 hours, I spent many more hours writing notes for each video, prepping files, and going over my talking points.

6. Motivate yourself to get through the work by reminding yourself of how much content you’re producing. I like to think in terms of weekly releases. For example, by making 24 videos, I produced 6 months of weekly content.

7. Action > Perfection. Keep reminding yourself of that as you batch. You an always scrap something you made later, but you can’t release something you never created in the first place.

8. Creative flow: figure out how you are creatively effected in terms of where you work, noise you like playing (or silence), snacks/drinks, and anything else that soothes you, like candles/scents.

9. Batch! Remember when producing your content to match like-content together. Choose one day for photographing (try 3 images at one location instead of just one!), one day for writing (try creating 10 social media posts in one day!), etc.

10. Long term planning. Create a production calendar with deadlines that are realistic yet challenging. Write your do to list every evening for the next day so that you don’t feel overwhelmed with just the big goals and deadlines.

Find a sweet spot that works for you. It might not be 25 blog posts in one day, but make it 5. We all work at different speeds. Don’t be ashamed of whatever speed you work at.

The important thing to remember when batch working is that it’s all about creative flow and productivity. Set yourself up for success. If you wake up and feel off, don’t push it. Get yourself into the flow and let it happen organically when possible. But always be proactive in your attempts to get yourself into that headspace.

As for me, I’ve got to edit the videos I recorded, write another 50 blog posts, create newsletter templates, upload to YouTube, and produce 10 photo shoots with behind-the-scenes content. Needless to say, I’ve got another 1-2 months of work ahead of me before this “time-off” experiment kicks into full swing

I hope this helps – let me know in a comment!

Lots of Creativity,
Brooke