One of the things people ask all the time is how do I find time to art journal?
If you ever feel like you can’t even find a moment to breathe or are so exhausted each day you don’t have any creativity left in you…I want you to know this perfectly okay and normal.
Let’s face it: Life is crazy sometimes {more like every second of the day here!} Between work and kids and family and friends and who knows what else is going to happen – there are so many things that come up that finding time to art journal just doesn’t always happen very easily.
If this sounds familiar, today I am going to share some tips on how I balance my time to art journal.
My art journals aren’t always lovely or perfect by any means – but that time I take every day – whether it’s 5 minutes or 25 – make a HUGE difference in how I feel. It’s worth it.
Here’s How to Find Time to Art Journal:
Tip #1: Step away from the internet.
This was a huge time killer for me. I love my FB groups, I love my online friends, I love researching and reading and writing online…but it was taking away the important time I needed for myself to be creative “in real life”.
Tip #2: Use Techniques to Speed Things Up
- A heat gun for drying your pages will change your art journal practice forever.
- Glue sticks dry faster than gel medium.
- Never use ModPodge in an art journal – it will be tacky {aka sticky} forever and ever and ever unless you seal with something.
- Use watercolors – they dry faster than acrylic paints
- Use tools that don’t need much clean up – Micron pens & some colored pencils are perfect for this
- Print out coloring sheets or use pages from adult coloring book mandalas in your pages.
- Make a stash of collage materials to glue in
- Organize your art supplies {yeah, that’s going to be another post someday – if I ever figure out a secret for that, lol…my desk is a HUGE MESS right now…}
- Be minimal – no shame in no paint and nothing more than a ball point pen 🙂
Tip #3: Make Backgrounds in Bulk
You can paint several loose sheets of paper to be attached into the journal to use as a background at a later time – no worries about trying to complete an entire page in one go. This way, when you go to your journal, you already have a base to start creating on!
You can also use materials like a Gel Press reusable printing plate or Gelli Plate to make some stunning print paper designs to use for page backgrounds and collage materials!
So break out the paint or the gelli plate when you have some extra time and get prepared for an entire week or month of art journaling!
Tip #4: Use Prompts if Needed
If you don’t know what to create, and find yourself full of uncertainty and feeling unproductive, use prompts. I have a zillion {well, maybe only 800, but still…} – See my page of Art Journal Prompts for inspiration. Randomly select one and go with it – you can always use a different one another day 🙂
Tip #5: Get Family/Friends involved
My daughters force me to art journal at least 2-3 times a week with them whether I have the energy to be creative or not. {I guess a love for journals may be hereditary?}
It’s a great way to get me away from the daily stuff and get to my journaling practice…I’m always glad I did and it’s a great way to spend time with the kids rather than them staring at TV or computers all day long.
You can also look to see if you have any local creative groups near you – check Facebook for your city and town, or look on sites like Meetup.com for different art groups you can join.
Tip #6: Think in Stages
No one ever said an art journal page needs to be completed all at one time.
You can set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes each day and just work on that one page a little at a time every day until you’re satisfied with it – by the end of the week you’ll have a full page!
This is one of the reasons I love the Block by Block method for creating journal pages. Working in sections at a time makes it possible to be creative even when you only have a few minutes or are on-the-go.
Tip #7: Identify if there’s an underlying reason you aren’t creating
There are moments when the truth is I don’t feel like getting out of bed, let alone cleaning up paint and drawing and writing.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone if you might be overwhelmed or feeling a lot of anxiety/stress/depression. Your emotional and mental health is important and shouldn’t be ignored!
Have any Time Saving Art Journal Tips to Share?
I hope these tips will help you find more time to express your creativity – and you know I would LOVE to hear any ideas or tips you have for making more time for art journaling or if there’s a specific part you struggle with – maybe we can figure out some ideas 🙂
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