I would usually spend the last part of studio hours cleaning up, which I would be perfectly happy without doing, only if I could find a way to keep the work area clean without actually cleaning it. Often I think it's a good thing that I have other people working in the studio because it forces me to maintain the space. It is important for me that they are happy working in the space. Also, although of course this is not the reason why I do the event, the monthly Salon surely makes me at least once a month move the clay boxes and vacuum and mop those small corners and wipe the counters, the stools and the doors. Tasks that can be so mundane if they were for my self can suddenly become painless if they were for others.

Now I have a new approach: at the end of the day it is a time to prepare for the next day, not to close the day. Some people seem to work out this concept naturally but unfortunately I was not the one of them and took me months to come up with this simple solution. The key is to change the way to look at it. In stead of cleaning up the mess I made I'm preparing for tomorrow. This now changes eventually the same type of tasks from a chore to a motivating job. At the end of the day my body is tired and my brain exhausts its decision making muscles, so it is a perfect time to do non creative but necessary work. This allows me start working as soon as I get in in the morning, without spending an hour and my fresh energy in preparatory work.

It is in a way I become an assistant for tomorrow's me. Making sure when tomorrow's me comes in in the morning all the tools are ready, work bench set up, clay prepared, schedules made. Tomorrow's me would come in, change to the studio clothes, get a bucket of water and start working. So far so good. I hope this will continue to work. This is pretty much the same thing as what they were trying to teach me when I was at kindergarten: get your stuff ready the night before. I should have listened.