Efficient vs Effective

Efficient vs Effective

Originally published January 15, 2018

The thought of efficient vs effective as it applies to my life as an artist didn't really occur to me until a couple of years ago. I don't recall where I read the idea (possibly Benjamin Hardy), but a lightbulb went off when I first read it.

Efficient - Doing things right

A lot of artists, myself included, tend to be perfectionists to one degree or another. I don't mean every aspect is detail oriented. You can be a wonderfully loose impressionistic painter and still be totally focused on every detail of the business side of your life.

We are deeply emotionally invested in our work. There are no guarantees, and so we sweat the details. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is often required to survive if you actually make your living as a full time artist.

One way I try to be efficient is by streamlining the business side of my art practice. Standardizing frame sizes, for example, means I don't reinvent the wheel every time a painting is finished. I know what sizes I paint in, I know what frames fit them, and I order in batches instead of scrambling one at a time.

I also keep a weekly schedule that blocks out studio time and business time separately. Painting days are painting days. Admin days are admin days. Mixing the two is where efficiency dies.

Effective - Doing the right things

Early in my career I did whatever paid. Teaching workshops, plein air events, tent shows on the weekends. It kept the lights on, but it wasn't building toward anything bigger. It was efficient hustle without effective direction.

Over time I cut back on the teaching, the plein air events, the tent shows. Not because they weren't profitable, but because they weren't moving my work forward. I started valuing artistic growth over money in the moment, trusting that the growth would pay off later. It has.

Food for thought:

Efficient = Doing things right - the Urgent

The email that needs answering. The frame that needs ordering. The deadline in front of you.

Effective = Doing the right things - the Important

The painting that will still matter in twenty years. The direction of the whole body of work.

While you're busy being efficient, don't forget big picture effectiveness.

Don't let the urgent blind you to the important.

Cody DeLong