4 Reasons Why Creatives Should Focus on ONE Thing for a Season

As an artist or creative, why focus on ONE thing for a season?

My coach Scotty Russell (@coachscottyrussell) talks about this idea a lot with his students.

I tried it with my recent project, Trail Glazers, and I’m here to share 4 reasons (that all conveniently begin with the letter E) of why choosing a lane (for a season - not forever!) can be beneficial to your creative practice:

Reason 1: Establishes a niche

When you pick a focus for your work, and stick with it over a period of time, you’re establishing a niche.

Your niche can be centered around an interest, subject, artistic style or the kind of clients you want to be hired by in the future.

When you have a focus and create consistently within that focus, it:

1. Puts (and keeps) you in your followers’ minds for that particular subject, style or type of work

2. Provides clarity on who you are and what you do, especially for those who are unfamiliar with your work

3. Communicates intent and project-readiness to your future clients (aka you take your work seriously)

I have found this one-focus method extremely helpful for gaining connections and potential clients within my dream industry of food, beverage and travel.

BUT I think it can still be beneficial to those who aren’t trying to monetize their creative work.

Having a niche helps you to keep showing up and creating, which builds trust and loyalty within your community.

There’s something to be said for being a consistent presence in these times of uncertainty.

Reason 2: Eliminates guesswork

When you have a specific set of parameters for your project, you’re able to reduce the number of decisions you have to make before getting started.

Less decision-making leads to more action and creation.

And actually creating beats thinking about creating. Every single day.

Here are a few examples of how you can reduce the number of decisions you have to make when it’s time to start a project:

• Pick a strict color palette of only 2-4 colors

• Set a quantity of pieces within the project

• Set a time limit to how long you’ll work on each piece

• Focus on one topic, ie Golden State Warriors, instead of just “basketball”

My fellow Side Hustler’s Coaching Program student Meghana (@butteryellowcreative) and I both chose different ways to eliminate the guesswork during our fall coaching program.

While I eliminated guesswork around topic, with:

• doughnut shops in North Carolina (topic)

• Limit of 6-7 shops (quantity),

Meghana eliminated guesswork with:

• quantity of pieces in her project

• Strict color palette

• Topic

• Time constraint (she killed #inktober this past year for 31 days straight!)

Both of us successfully produced more work by taking steps to eliminate guesswork.

Your “one” focus for a season can be multi-dimensional with a few different constraints as needed, but the point is you’re getting out of your head and into the act of creating.

Reason 3: Elevates your skillset

When you create one type of thing for a stretch of time, you will get better at creating that thing!

This is the age-old saying, “practice makes perfect”.

Since starting #TrailGlazers back in September, my storefront illustrations have improved!

They now:

1. Have more detail

2. Capture a full environment instead of just the storefront/building

My work has been re-shared and re-posted by local Instagram accounts and the shops themselves, which has in turn grown my audience on Instagram!

Now, we all know creativity is not about the followers or the engagement, but this sort of thing is super helpful if you’re trying to gain clients for the type of work you do.

Even if you know it’s only for a season, zeroing in on one area of your creativity can have massive benefits, whether for your craft or for your creative network.

Remember, those skills you gain will apply in other areas once you shift away from your seasonal focus!

Since you have very little to lose by sharpening your skillset, why not give it a shot and see how you grow from it?

Reason 4: Experiment with the expected

Here’s the secret about having a narrow focus: it allows you to experiment in ways you wouldn’t normally if you had an entirely blank canvas to work from.

When your topic or style or subject matter is zeroed in, you start to get creative.

Similarly to Reason 3 “Elevates your skillset”, you’re going to get better and better at doing whatever it is you’re establishing a niche in.

• The better you get, the more confidence you’ll have.

• And the more confidence you have, the more you’ll be willing to push the envelope.

What about a doughnut with monster trucks nestled in the icing instead of plain old sprinkles?

Doing something expected in an unexpected way is bound to slow people’s scrolls. They will notice.

And if you can capture people’s attention with your unique creations that you enjoy working on, then you’re truly onto something!

Conclusion

I hope you got some value out of this blog post / series on Instagram.

I really wanted to find a way, as I close out #TrailGlazers , to talk about the benefits of going all in on something specific like doughnuts.

I can’t promise outcomes like followers or clients, but I can promise that you will grow as a creative and find yourself in new places at the end of a focused season, just like I did.