Actors and Time

Time is so very Mental.

Really.  This Most Valuable Currency is a 'made up' construct so that we humans can communicate.

Show up at the same place together.

Different families, and indeed cultures, treat time with exactitude or indifference.

How does Time Flow for Actors?

It can be helpful to think of the Work Lane first - more on that in a different post.

But the short version is, you are either in

Production (working)

Booked (you know when your next job starts, but it is at least a week away, usually more)

Ready (not currently booked but available to audition/accept offers)

Time will flow differently in each of these "lanes" of work.

None of this means you aren't in control of your time!

No matter how much 'work' you do or don't have, no matter what your family dynamic is, you have the same amount of time as everyone else.

If you see Time as limited, you will have limited time.  Your brain, believing you don't have enough time, will seek evidence for that.

If you can work towards seeing your time as expanding to meet what you desire, your brain will gradually understand there is enough time, and make choices (pre frontal choices) that grant you enough time to do what you want to do.

How Does This Work?

Let's start with what you (probably!) don't want to do.

Use constraint.

Did you feel something clench in your body?

Unclench, and consider...

If you don't use your human 'planning' brain, time will continue to flow, like a mountain stream, on and on without your input.  You may enjoy the ride, the view, the spontaneity.

But will you get where you Want To Go?

Or do you even know where that is?

It's OK if you don't.  When you decide you want to know, thought work is there for you!

So, back to Time. And You.

Constrain.

Determine your work lane (ActorSelfCoach has a tool for this) and see how much time you have available outside of work commitments and human givens (you know, sleep, family members, feeding yourself...) and start to .... plan.

If you still feel the clenching, the resistance, let's revisit constraint.

Have you ever been in a diner, looking at their amazing comprehensive 'foods of the world' menu, and felt a bit frustrated that you had to scan through all those options?  Are you more relaxed if there are fewer choices? Do fewer choices actually give you more confidence that they are good at what they produce? 

Are you more satisfied in the diner offering a  reasonable amount of dining options?

Constraint, my friends.  They constrained their menu to serve themselves and their customer.

Similarly, if you get in a car and drive to a new location without looking at directions (ie, didn't plan) or setting the address in your smart tech of choice, how did that go for you?  It may take 2 minutes to program the location, or 5 minutes to print a map from your computer or download directions from the site, but So Worth It.  

Because you actually Get There!

A little truth here.  How many projects do you think about, dream about, even start, and then not finish? How many ideas wither in the dreaming stage? 

Did you plan how you would get them done? Did you try? Did you know how? 

We often get thwarted in the how part. 

Cause we're human.  With a human brain that wants to use as little energy as possible.

You know.  To save energy to run from the tiger.

This planning.  This constraint.  Means you aren't just randomly driving, hoping you will end up where You Want To Go!

At some point, in school, we pick a focus.  At some point, in life, most of us pick a partner.  

Why are we soooooo averse to planning how we spend our time currency?  We treat it as openly, readily available, and therefore, not worth thinking about.  We see it spooling forward, and scoff at those older and wiser who tell us 'the time flew', 'you grew up so fast', 'I don't know where the time went'.

Is this you?  Will this be you?

You can plan. With compassion for yourself.

You can do thought work to commit to honoring your plan.  

You can do thought work around why planning doesn't make you rigid, inflexible, or less creative.

In fact, You determine how much of your time you want to plan.

But make a decision here.  

If you are reading this, you likely want to.

You've Got This.

 If you want a resource to identify how you could use your time, check out  Actors and Time Intro for a place to start. You can determine your work lane and get a starting place for planning, no matter what your current job.