It’s Okay to Have a Full Time Job as a Creative

It’s easy to feel like if you’re not diving headfirst into your creative pursuit, you’re leaving it to rot. We receive a lot of pressure as creatives to ‘move fast and break things’. This may work for some. For others, the prospect of losing out on paying bills can be paralyzing. 

So you’re left with a seemingly impossible decision: 

Do I pursue what fulfills me and risk everything?

Or, do I let my projects stay on pause indefinitely?

This is a false dichotomy

Your day doesn’t have to begin or end with your full time job. It can wrap around it if you make the time for it. Staying consistent will still allow you to make significant progress on your projects.

I've been wrestling with this dilemma for a year

I went to the University of Michigan to pursue illustration and when graduation approached, I realized I wasn't ready to enter the art industry in full force. I picked up a full time job that has been allowing me to grow in other skill sets and provide me with health insurance.

Recently I've taken the time to journal about what having a full time job unrelated to the creative field is doing for my practice. Here's the conclusion I've come to:

It’s easier to take risks if you have stability

While having a full time job, you will likely have access to things like healthcare, a set schedule, and enough money coming in to pay your bills without running out the clock on a savings account. This sense of safety will likely enable you to make more interesting choices with your projects because your livelihood is not yet reliant on a positive public reception or profitability. Especially if you are taking the time to build a portfolio related to your industry, it benefits you to have the option to make bad work on your way to making good work. 

You can afford to build up the needed equipment for your craft

Depending on your projects, equipment and material costs add up quickly. If you’re a painter you have canvases, paint, brushes, etc to think about. Then if you want to sell prints, are you making them at home? You’ll need a printer, ink and paper. Are you getting them printed by a 3rd party? You’ll be paying a higher price per print. Similar considerations exist in many creative industries and many project types. Having a full time job and full time income may allow you to purchase the tools you need to make your projects come to life.

Choose your full time job to meet your goals and needs

Of course, some jobs may be more taxing than others, leaving you drained after the day is done and when you get home, you’re ready to take a breather and rest before heading off to bed. You are allowed to choose a less demanding job to save your energy for what you care about. 

So, if you are committed to being both a creative as well as holding a full time job, it may be time to consider whether the one you have currently is going to give you the brain space to engage in your projects outside of working hours.

Time blocking

The practice of setting time aside for specific tasks. If you have a calendar chunked into different hours, you can consider it like drawing a box around a 1-3 hour chunk of time and writing “Photography” over it. Choosing the same time every day or week to work on your projects will help you build habits and consistency.

In my own practice, I have begun by time blocking an hour before my work day to focus on my projects. There is quiet in my home, and I find myself most alert and ready to create freely early in the day. I know for myself, if I did my making after my full time job, I would feel drained before I even sat down to begin. By starting my mornings out with my own projects, I get to lead the rest of my day knowing that I started with what is important to me. There is a saying that if you win the morning, you win the day. Give yourself that time back if you can.

Life gets in the way sometimes, but the more we live by our time blocks the more progress we will see. You won’t shift your career in one morning. But, if you time block effectively, in a year you may be in a significantly better place than you are today.

How can I be social while pursuing creative work outside of working hours?

If you’re like me and value time with friends and family, it can be daunting to take time away from that to creative work before or after your full time job. 

My solution to this has been co-working. Back in college, it was a norm. We would gather at the library or studio and spend time working on our individual assignments and projects, and have timers set so we could take breaks to be social. If you have friends and family who have their own projects or hobbies that can be done concurrently with yours, I highly recommend setting aside regular times for you to get together.

This is often called body doubling (learn more about body doubling) which is a well known way for folks with ADHD to hold each other accountable for any variety of tasks. But, body doubling can benefit anyone who needs both accountability and a sense of community. Bonus points if the other folks you’re working with have their own creative projects. Creativity begets creativity!

How can I make a cohesive body of work if I’m doing it over a longer period of time?

Consider working in collections. It will take you a longer time to build up a body of work, however batching your work by a similar motif, theme or medium will make your work more cohesive over time. There are a plethora of ways you can approach this concept. Your next 8 pieces could share the same color palette. They could all include the same subject matter. When that work is posted on your website or social media, you will present yourself as a creative with direction and vision. Even if that vision was executed over a longer period of time.

For creative projects, slow and steady can win you the race. Your full time job gives you resources that you can put to work to get where you want to be.