Why Structure Matters in a Self-Made Residency

One of the biggest misconceptions about a residency is that unlimited freedom automatically leads to creativity. In my experience, the opposite is often true. Too much freedom can quickly become overwhelming. A little structure creates the conditions for exploration to flourish. 

As someone who is distracted easily by side quests and struggles with overwhelm in the midst of myriad possibilities, I know that pre-planning a structure and some limitations for my self-made residency would be really important to the experience.  

When I did my first residency in 2024, I consulted with a friend of mine who recommended putting together a daily schedule to help structure the time and since she had a lot more experience than me, I took her advice and I’m so glad I did.   In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the reasons why this structure was important and what it looked like.  This is a bit of an expansion from my first vlog I did for this art residency.  You can check it out here if you need a little more context. 

As I planned this residency, I realized that the structure wasn't really about productivity. It was about compensating for some predictable tendencies I know about myself. 

Decision Overwhelm –I regularly struggle with decision paralysis. When the possibilities are endless…I freeze and procrastinate in the decision making process because I’m typically in love with all the options and what they could mean.  Because of this, a pre-planned structure is very important to making this limited time residency a good experience.  I’ll work on praying, thinking, and researching various things I want to explore beforehand so I can simply  start working when I get there as opposed to struggle in making choices.  If you struggle with a similar analysis and decision making paralysis, I highly recommend doing some pre-planning.  If your creativity requires a more “fly by the seat of your pants” spontaneity and this frees you up to create in really fulfilling ways, then do that!  The key here is to “know thyself.” 

Burnout – Another thing that I have a tendency toward is over-doing it and burning out.  I’m the quintessential all or nothing kind of person and therefore, I have to account for that when doing a residency.  I must schedule in breaks and rest because I know it will not happen naturally.   You’ll notice in my sample schedule below that I don’t pack every second with activity.  There’s room from breaks and that was very intentional.  One of the reasons I schedule breaks is that I have a tendency to measure success by output. If I'm not careful, a residency can become just another productivity project. But the purpose of a residency isn't simply to make more work. It's to notice, explore, and learn. Rest helps me stay connected to that purpose. 

People Pleasing – Unlike many traditional residencies, both of my self-made residencies have included significant family interaction.  Some of this is necessity and some of it is chosen.  Since I know that I have a tendency toward throwing my own plans out the window when someone needs something or when there are conflicting schedules, I know that in order to protect this creative time, I need to present my schedule to my family members before I go.  My boys need to know what to expect and so do my relatives.  You’ll notice that I intentionally built in time to spent with them, but I’ve also put limits on that time so that I don’t let my people pleasing MO distract me from my intention.  If you find yourself in a similar situation where you will be needing to balance family responsibilities with your residency, you may also benefit from discussing your schedule beforehand with everyone so that everyone’s expectations are clear.  

Time Blindness –Maybe you haven’t heard of this term before, but there’s this thing called “time blindness.”  It’s very common with folks who have ADHD or ADD.  I didn’t realize how bad my own “time blindness” was until I started noticing it in my youngest.   An hour can go by without me even knowing it.  I also struggle with knowing how much time something is going to take.  Over time, this has improved through experience, but it’s still a thing for me.  I also know that I have a propensity for distraction.  When coupled with time blindness…half a day can be obliterated by a random distraction if I am not paying attention.   A structure and a schedule helps to combat that tendency of mine.   When I know that I need to leave at a certain time in order to start painting rather than just “I’ll get there when I get there,” I will have a better success rate at actually getting where I want to go! 

My 2026 Schedule All of those tendencies influenced the structure I ultimately created. Rather than trying to fight against how I'm wired, I tried to build a schedule that worked with my strengths and accounted for my weaknesses.

Schedule for plein aire painting days (3-4 a week) –This will shift depending on the weather

5:30am - Quiet time and Breakfast

6:30am - leave house

7:30am - 11:30 am painting

12:00 - 1:30pm  Lunch and break

1:30pm - 4:30pm - Studio Time

5:00pm - 9:00pm - Evenings with family

Off Day Schedule (1-2 a week) –This will shift depending on the weather

6:30am –Quiet time and breakfast

7:30am - 11:30am - Studio time

12:00 - 1:30pm –Lunch with grandparents

1:30pm - 4:30pm - Studio Time

5:00pm - 9:00pm - Evening with family

Weekends 

–Get groceries

–Housekeeping

–Cooking

–Visit Family

–Church

–Rest and reading

The goal of a residency schedule isn't to control every moment. It's to create a framework that supports your intention.

For me, that means balancing focused creative work with rest, family, and flexibility. Your schedule may look completely different—and that's okay.

The question isn't whether your residency looks like mine. The question is whether your structure helps you become more attentive to what you're hoping to learn, explore, or discover.