Tie Up Loose Ends & Refresh

The promise of a new year!
You can see it on your calendar now. You're working on gathering all of your project lists.
How about spending some time this week cleaning up your incompletes?

My office – pre-yellow walls – under the chandelier that was my grandmother's.

Studio

What’s broken?
What materials aren’t being used that you could store or donate to a lucky art teacher?
What emits negative energy and stifles your creative juices?
What one thing could you add to make you enjoy your space more? Maybe it's a new curtain, a brightly-colored door, or a crystal chandelier that your grandmother owned.

Filing

Get those papers off your desk and off the floor and put them into some kind of system that makes sense.
If you store lots of items by date as I do, set up files for the New Year in your paper filing system and also on your computer.
Recycle anything you don’t use or could find online.

Contact List

Take all of those names and business cards you’ve been hoarding and add them to your mailing list database. This doesn't mean you're going to automatically add people to a bulk email list. It is just a storage system.
Your contact list so important that I offer an entire class on building and taking care of your contact list: No-Excuse Art Biz Bootcamp.

Artwork

Complete a piece you’ve been neglecting or procrastinating.
Alternatively, give up on it and move on. Reuse the parts for a new work that you're excited about.

Correspondence

Write your Thank You notes from holiday gifts and send New Year’s greetings to those you missed before Christmas.
Or, if you’re like me, send New Year’s greetings just because it’s different from everyone else who sends Christmas cards.

Computer

Back up your electronic data and delete old documents you no longer need.
Get a new photo for your desktop that makes you smile when you see it.
Empty your inbox!

Blog

Delete old items from your sidebar and add new, fresh content.
Recommit to your blog because you know it's a powerful way to connect with your fans.

Social Media

Unfollow Twitter users that aren’t serving you and unfriend Facebook friends that aren’t friendly.

Marketing Material

Consider ordering a new postcard or business card.
Maybe you'd benefit from creating a one sheet.
There are many other people who will tell you to relax and enjoy this week. Not me! I see it as a terrific time to buckle down and get ready for what's ahead in the New Year.
Tie up those loose ends and get a fresh outlook for what's ahead.

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9 thoughts on “Tie Up Loose Ends & Refresh”

  1. Great ideas, though there are so many loose ends all I can see are loose ends… hehe, but I’ll try to clear some stuff away before the new year starts! 🙂

  2. Sometimes it seems as if my whole life is only loose ends and since I keep beginning more threads, there are just that many more loose ends. I have not approached an equilibrium condition since I was a 4 year old! Nonetheless, I don’t give up. I am this week attempting to deal with some ignored stray threads that relate to several of Alyson’s superb suggestions. I have some jewelry works that are taking up space that no longer represent where I am or am going that I have no reason to hang on to. So I am discounting these deeply and letting them go. I don’t have them all listed yet, but I have a system in mind for getting them there.
    The papers strewn (any flat surface available) really hit home and I am planning on working through those over the next few days. Lot’s to do. It’s actually exciting because when it’s all done, there will be space to make real progress on several projects I have put off that I really want to finish or get into.
    Thanks Alyson!

  3. Alyson – what a great to-do list. Thanks.
    And, everything is absolutely doable.
    I’m responding to this post in January (I am late reading and cleaning up Linked In emails), but have been plugging away at 2011 goals and projects, sending out New Year’s cards and clearing other items over the past several weeks!

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Your Artist Mailing List: Rethinking + Assessing

Get a transcript of episode 182 of The Art Biz (Rethinking Mailing Lists for Artists) followed by a 3-page worksheet to evaluate the overall health and usage of the 3 types of artist lists.

Where can we send it? 

To ensure delivery, please triple check your email address.

You’ll also receive my regular news for your art business.

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