One of the biggest issues holding many of us back as artists is simple: we refuse to work unless it feels right.

If it’s not the right time, we’re not inspired, or we’re not in the perfect headspace, we just don’t get started,

We put aside the most critical tasks – writing, developing, and actually making our films – falsely believing our work will suffer if it’s done when conditions are suboptimal.

But the only thing that really suffers is our creative livelihood.

And ironically, we’re more willing to sacrifice that than almost anything else in our lives, including things we don’t even care about all that much.

Let’s say you have a 9–5 job you don’t love nearly as much as filmmaking.

If your boss calls you with an assignment, it gets done. Even if the deadline is aggressive. Even if you’re tired, distracted, or uninspired. You don’t wait for the right mood, you just do the work.

If a coworker asks you to rearrange your schedule for a last-minute Zoom meeting, you make it happen too. Even when it’s inconvenient or your presence isn’t essential.

To a degree, we prioritize things this way out of necessity. Day jobs and side hustles pay the bills, and everyone needs to eat.

Seen through that prism, it’s totally rational to set aside artistic work. Without an immediate guarantee of income or success, it can feel trivial.

From my experience though, that justification never tells the full story.

Think about a period of time when you weren’t bogged down with work or life in general. Maybe it was well before you started working full time. Or even during the holiday break when you had plenty of downtime.

Did you suddenly make massive progress on your films?

For most of us, the answer is no.

So the issue isn’t simply “I don’t have time.”

What we’re really thinking, even if only on a subconscious level, is this:

“I am not willing to take action for myself in the same way I am for someone else.”

If you had a studio executive breathing down your neck for a first draft, I’ll bet it would get done. If a producer was bugging you for a cast list, or a distributor asking to see the next cut, you would find the time.

It wouldn’t matter if you felt like it or not. You’d work late or sacrifice a weekend to push through to the finish line.

But without someone forcing it, we tend to fall into our natural patterns as artists – waiting for perfect timing and optimal conditions to do our most important work. Conditions that almost never come.

If you can find a way to mentally split yourself into two people – boss and employee – you will almost certainly break out of this trap, and unlock new levels of creative fulfillment. 

Try to imagine you are one half CEO and one half artist. The CEO sets concrete objectives, deadlines, and strategies. The artist carries them out without excuses, fully accountable to the boss.

And if you really want to supercharge your results, try bringing on collaborators early.

When you’re developing something for an actor, producer, or even a friend, it naturally creates a deeper sense of responsibility to finish.

So many filmmakers already have all the talent they’ll ever need to create meaningful work.

They just lack the accountability to get started and see it through. Thankfully though, that can be cultivated, and once you get going, it often becomes harder to stop.

For exclusive filmmaking articles every Sunday, sign up for my newsletter here!