What is your best artist tip for "working smarter"?

[HC_Charlie]

I never really liked the old adage "...work smarter, not harder" LOL! For some reason, it always rang a bit cheap to me and sounded cliché.

But I recently made a small change in my production process (shared below) that seems to really be helping with production time and improving quality, so I thought I'd share and also ask all of the other Makers in this community if they have a small but mighty tip you'd consider sharing, that you'd consider "working smarter"...

____________________________________________________________

Calling all Artists/Makers in the group....please share some tips or tricks you've developed in your production process that may help others to think about what small changes they could make to work smarter, and increase their productivity or even decrease their costs.

____________________________________________________________

My personal "working smarter" tip:

I work in stained glass and solder, and I have always used the standard soldering iron tip that was included with my basic iron (3/16" wide). It always worked well for me, but I did know that other artists who work on large scale projects will use very large irons and tips to increase working temp, etc. So last week I was needing to replace my solder iron tip and decided to upgrade to a slightly larger tip (1/4"), thinking it might help me to get a smoother bead of solder on my work.

(Note: not my project pic, just for reference.)

 

WELL...not only did I get a smoother bead of solder, but the time spent on each of my items was slightly reduced (more even heat distribution). Not a lot but over the course of a full day of soldering, it seemed like I was so much more productive. I don't think I'd go back to a smaller iron tip unless I change the size of my core products. I'd love to hear from other Square Sellers in this Community if they have more "Working Smarter" artist tips...

[maxpete]

Thanks for this question @HC_Charlie! I'm very excited to read some of the answers here. 

Tagging a few members to get it started 🥁

@lisap1970, @Adair_BandM, @sarahbertochi, and @indiaink 

[WatsonZayd]

set aside specific blocks of time to brainstorm ideas, another block for sketching, and another for finalizing your pieces. This reduces the mental switching between different types of tasks and allows you to stay in a nameswhisper focused flow.

[HC_Charlie]

@WatsonZaydgreat tip! I think the concept of "multitasking" is highly overrated, and I love your idea to schedule and stay focused on one idea/task...I agree this allows a creative mind to spend time ruminating and fully develop their ideas and processes.

[eblakerart]

I work with kiln-formed glass (fusing) which i draw out the design, pick the glass i want, cut out the glass, take to grinder, clean and then fit together.  I then have to prep the kiln accordingly.  

I have struggled to see which is more time efficient:
1)cut, grind, clean, assemble to complete one piece to assure that i have at least a completed item, then repeat...

or  

2) cut multiple pieces for multiple items, grind multiple, clean multiple, assemble multiple...

 It takes a bit longer to do #2 option - but it's the most satisfying for me, as I have more completed projects at the end of the day.

Hope this helps someone 🙂

[HC_Charlie]

@eblakerartI think my own process is closer to your #2...I tend to put together groups of items and complete the steps so I have more than just one completed at the end of the task. It might be more mentally satisfying (especially if you're studio is geared for production) to have multiple finished pieces at one time. It may seem like you spend more time doing it that way, but I think it may be more efficient and as you say satisfying. Thanks for the reply here!