organization

The Best Laid Plants (Plan To Make Plans)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Remember a week ago when I said we were done with the preliminary series of Life Hacks AKA Skills To Invest In?

Well while that was true, I wasn’t telling you that we were done altogether, only that we were done with the basic concepts.  This is because we did touch on each concept in one way or another dear readers, but we didn’t spend dedicated time on 2 topics in particular, and I want to get to them this month.

Which is why today we’re going to focus the first topic – Planning To Make Plans. Before we dig into it, let’s take a peek at the skill summary:

Plan regularly! Build routines to start your day AND end your day. You are going to have to organize throughout the day too, so make an outline to insure you aren’t starting from scratch over and over. Please also set deadlines for major projects by planning ahead. You’ll benefit from organizing your desk/workspace, minutes save hours, believe me.

We will definitely hit all four of those highlighted points dear readers, but if you’re patient with me, you just might foresee the great plan being laid out.

1. I don’t care who you are or what stage of life you are at, it’s important to have a daily routine and to schedule your days in a way so that they always start & end the same. How do you accomplish this you ask? Try theming your days

Monday – production and creating
Tuesday – management, company identity, and running your business
Wednesday – production and creating
Thursday – marketing, communications, and partnerships
Friday – production and creating
Saturday – FUN, aka relaxation
Sunday – reflection, feedback, strategy for the upcoming week

2. Organizing throughout the day can be daunting, especially with all the various forms of distraction we have so handy in our lives. But if focus on what exactly you want to accomplish that day, or to put it another way, what positive influence do you need to make on the world and that follows your passions for life, you can then set up an outline that will cover your needs. Especially with so many internal or external distractions, model your days (on Sunday) so that you hit four or five points throughout the day each day of the week

WORK – 2-3 tasks you need accomplished that day
PLAY – dedicated time for fun and recharging activities
FOOD – both prep and eating should be identified
HEALTH – to slot in exercise and self-care
MIND – for reading, learning, and simple reflections

3. Deadlines always seem scary, but guess what? You’ve already started to lay the groundwork to fit them into your routine. By coming up with a weekly and daily schedule, you can very easily develop a monthly schedule too. This is where deadlines can be helpful – You should never set deadlines for the non-creative work, as a creative professional, but you should set deadlines for projects, within reason. Where the reason comes in is somewhat subjective, but essentially you don’t want the deadline to be so far out that it loses meaning, or so close that it overwhelms, you need to find that 2-4 week sweet spot.

4. Organizing your desk and/or work space: Or how to keep your creative space inspirational. No matter what kind of creative person you are, you must know that your environment effects your creativity. But the question remains, how do you make your space both visually interesting & comfortable to work in?

– Have beautiful objects around you and music that motivates
– Organize based on your personal aesthetic and make it functional, -with stocked supplies
– You need to control the light – have access to daylight, but be able to to dim for abstract thought
– Comfort is crucial – your seat, your clothes, your shoes, the temperature… all important
– Remove distractions (phone, social media, TV, children) and troublesome clutter

This might seem like news to you, common sense or somewhere in between, but no matter what stage of planning your life is in, we all benefit from these types of theories because our current technologies are incredibly efficient at depriving us from focus – Dangerously so. But that’s just a theory after all.

I’m out of theories for now, but be sure to check back tomorrow when I examine something timely and lay out the monthly schedule.

Tim!

Ante Up! (timotheories 2016)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Well, another year over, and a new one just begun. (Or to put it another way – I think 2015 was great, but for 2016 I just can’t wait!)

Have you ever listened to that original Christmas song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono? It’s called Happy Xmas (War Is Over), which might be obvious to you if you like(d) The Beatles, were alive in the 70’s and/or are British.

This is one of those songs which everyone has heard in some capacity, but I suspect that not all of us realize the connection with John Lennon. I mention this because it has been covered A LOT in the past couple of decades by a number of different recording artists.

The one that I am most familiar with and enjoy the most is done by an emo indie band called Sense Field. They were popular in the early 2000s and similar in sound to Jimmy Eat World if that helps you get a sense of what to expect from them. Check the song out here, you might enjoy it.

Anyways, it’s time to start connecting the dots.

I hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Festivus breaks, dear readers, because it’s time to make this year on timotheories the most memorable one yet!

It’s incredibly convenient that memories serve as little reminders of a mission completed, a task checked off, of a lesson learned. Don’t you think?

And that is what today is all about. You see, I took a week off of timotheories if you haven’t visited us in a while.

I did this because it was Christmas time for me, my family, and girlfriend’s family. I always plan my life this way around the Christmas and New Year’s season, because I know that a lot of things go down at this time of year, and it can be difficult to fit it all in if I don’t make room in my schedule for it.

Which is why it’s time for me to get started with taking my organization to the next level, and I’m going to share some of my plans with you to inspire you and to also give you a better idea of what to expect after the Timely Thursday post I left you with on December 24th. Check it out here for a refresher.

You see I’ve been sick the past couple of days, and whenever I get sick, I get to thinking and I also get to movie watching. It’s always been something I’ve done when I was under the weather. Think about life, make adjustments, and watch movies.

Which may be part of the reason why I invented the Watch List.

And so I’ve come up with a short list of what to expect for sure in 2016, though there will definitely be some surprises in store too. Below is what I’ve thought about during my time away.

  1. I am going to put together an interview with a local artist and release it every month. That means 12 interviews this year. This will go on my timotheories YouTube channel, currently called timotheories Interviews. Exciting right?
  2. For the first time ever, timotheories will start releasing another series of videos on my YouTube channel called timotheories presents CrossTalk – where I and my not yet named co-host will address themes which are hidden in films. It will feel like a conversation, as opposed to a “best of”, “top 10”, “review” series. Think barroom philosophy meets YouTube production. This will likely also be released once a month, but the frequency will depend on how often we can get content together
  3. I host a weekly “game night” at my house which has now come under the fold of timotheories presents Real Time Games. Real Time Games is a recognition of the inherent value of socialization in an ever-inward facing world and a challenge to pick up board games to get much needed interaction with other human beings. We will be releasing video reviews (minimum one a month) that explain the game in a fun and straightforward way. We make board games accessible for all.
  4. I am going to continue to release 5 posts a week under the main timotheories banner.
    • Stimulating Sunday posts will be about theories in the arts and new content to the brand
    • Melodic Monday posts will feature music reviews (either local or international)
    • Theatrical Tuesday posts will zero in on film releases (in cinema or for home) and local theatre
    • Wisdom Wednesday posts will provide you with ideas for your art practice and motivation
    • Timely Thursday posts will be topical, whether it’s what is going on in the world or more personal

And that’s about it for theories right now!

It might seem a little ambitious my friends, but I promise that the further along we go, the more this will benefit you and by the time 2016 is over, we’ll be surprised by all that has been accomplished.

Check back tomorrow for an exciting album review and if you want to hear more about my personal goals for 2016, be sure to tune in on Thursday for another timely post!

Tim!

 

Space Jam (Studio Space PT 2)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

I have good news, dear readers! I have finally organized my studio space into something useful! It took a decent amount of effort and internal motivating on my part, but the whole space finally makes sense to me and looks pretty sweet too.

Does anyone else ever struggle with that challenge? You make plans, and then life comes along and totally changes everything on you? Of course you have. I’m just joshing you. And yet, It is really evident that the past few weeks have been exactly like that for me. I have had so many great experiences recently though that I wouldn’t trade what has come up for what I had originally planned.

For example, I have gone out with friends and seen parts of Edmonton which have been hidden from me in the past. But those things are no longer hidden because I wanted to experience a new way of socializing. As simple as it sounds, going out on a Saturday night and NOT imbibing affords us the opportunity to meet all sorts of interesting people and it is relatively inexpensive too, not to mention that we can remember the night better.

Adding on to that idea, I have also been to familiar venues under new circumstances and meet some interesting people that way too – Simply going out to the Design Studies Portfolio Show (April 28th, Robbins Health Learning Centre City Centre Campus) last week and striking up conversation with strangers allowed me to begin to organize something really exciting which I will be sharing with you soon. I don’t want to give it away just yet, but let’s just say that in my experience collaborating can be way more interesting than riding solo when it comes to producing EPIC level creative work.

Today’s post is not about that though, it is about showcasing some results and discussing some more of my theories about creative spaces! So without further ado, take a look at some progress!

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I may spend a little more time tweaking the space (move the computer desk near the door so that I have a larger wall to work on when making art), but this is definitely the kind of setup that allows me to stretch. And now that I have a conceptual framework, I can work within the bounds of that framework to produce something interesting!

Have you ever noticed the more expressive creative minds are not on the same track as the purely analytical types when it comes to how we use space? We seem to be divided completely down the middle of the road. Either we keep our space in pristine condition or in a state of emergency.

Of course, my space would fall into what is commonly called the organized camp, but I recognize that perception is often reality. What many people see as an organized space, with everything in its place, is not necessarily the ideal. To be more specific and come at this idea from a perspective I know, being classified as an INTJ on the Myers-Briggs type test, I am very analytical and prone to organizing my ideas and my life in ways that work for me, but yet what looks organized to me doesn’t match up to social norms.

So on the surface I look calm and ready, but on the inside, I am ready to drop bombs. *Wink*

It is a fascinating topic and point of interest for me, which I will definitely have come back to in the future. I have witnessed a lot of my friends and family tell me that I am a neat freak or a “control freak,” but the hard reality is that I hate cleaning up and spending time making up a space.

So which is it, am I into cleaning up or am I not?

I like to think in terms of efficiencies – I would rather figure out the ideal configuration of a process, set it up, and then work with it, until something better comes along. Detailed work and ritual are not my bag. But that doesn’t mean that I avoid them altogether, when a project requires that role to be filled or I’m researching a new area of interest, I’m always game to find that authentic solution.

I want to make something real, as LCD Soundsystem so eloquently puts it in their amazing song “Losing My Edge.” Check it out if you haven’t heard it before.

When it comes right down to it, when need to set up our lives in ways that work for us, otherwise we limit ourselves to counter-intuitive ways of working and when life does come along and change our plans, we are met with 2 different kinds of challenges.

What have plans have you made recently that you had to alter? How do you organize your creative space? I’d love to read about it! You can even look at this article to see how some other famous creative types have made use of their environment.

I’m out of theories for now, stay tuned for the next installment!

Tim!

Lost In Space (Studio Space PT 1)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starblog Timotheories. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

I love space. I seriously do!

Of course, I am probably talking moreso about the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction, AKA physical space. Yeah, this post is about that. Also how space works in visual art – you know, positive vs negative space? Open vs closed space? Shallow vs deep space? 2D vs 3D space? And here is another mindblower – sometimes space isn’t really there, and that’s called illusion folks. Or how about the use of areas that can be defined by edges, say on a canvas or a piece of paper?

Anyway, you get my point.

So to be infinitely clear, this post is not about space in relation to time, nor the concept of space in relation to astral bodies, also known as outer space. And if you think I could be writing about that 4 inch piece of plastic in the centre of your keyboard, you would also be mistaken. If this were a mathematics blog, we’d be thinking of dimensions as well, but there would be different structures to them, and besides its not a mathematics blog. Coming at it from a philosophical perspective,  there are questions about if space is its own entity, varying thoughts on space in terms of relationships, and my particular favourite – whether there exists a conceptual framework in existence and space fits into it somehow – Let’s put a pin in that last theory and come back to it later.

But it does give a whole new meaning to the expression – “give me some space,” doesn’t it? Next time someone says that to you, ask them what kind of space. For kicks, you know?

On a different, but related note, I moved into a new place about 2 months ago, dear readers. And with said new place, came all of the trappings of reorganizing my life into little boxes, figuring out what to keep, what to get rid of, and then setting it all up again. This new place is awesome, because I get to share it with my 2 brothers and my bro’s girlfriend! We are all creative types, so the house is being used effectively and it looks pretty good too. Right now I am focusing my own efforts on getting the studio space in the basement I have to myself to look a certain way and to start making some fucking art – Which I have been away from for far too long, and hence the strong language.

This is what the studio looked like last week.

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Not bad, but could be better in my opinion.

For any artist, visiting their studio space is a very intimate experience. And like being intimate in relationships, some artists may want to share that opportunity with a lot of people, while others may never allow a soul into their physical representation of thoughts, dreams, and the filtering process that makes its way into whatever vessel they so desire. Additionally, I think that looking into an artists space, you get a glimpse of their soul, to gain a better insight of what motivates them and why they care about the things that they choose to make art about.

Let me break it down a different way. I have just given the entire Internet a glimpse into my soul, people!

Moving along; I have this other belief that an artist’s space should be ever-evolving, and that it should function fluidly for that person. Whenever that is not the case, the artist has problems to contend with.

Thus, the exercise of sharing that photo with you is really sharing a candid moment in my life, and the next time I use that space, it should look different, but still provide me with the tools to articulate my vision. As soon as the studio becomes something that the artist doesn’t need, or to put it in other terms, that it doesn’t produce results that mean something, that space requires a major overhaul. Going back to the topic of philosophy and conceptual frameworks, if a studio space cannot be used to make conceptual distinctions (artworks) and organize ideas (space to store works, conduct research, experiment, et. al.)  then it is effectively a storage unit OR worse, a garbage dump. And that truly makes me sad when I think about it!

Fortunately, I am hoping to have an update soon with my progress on renovating the studio space, so you can see how I’ve shaped it up, and maybe I can even provide some insight on creative projects I have lined up in the very near future!

What do you think of creative spaces? Do you have one? How do you use it as a conceptual framework for your art?

And so, those are my theories for the day.

Tim!