It's easy to feel too busy to think, but Monday mornings set the stage for the week ahead and give
you a chance to regroup and consider the big picture. Monday is the day to get
pumped up about acting and your decision to make this your career. Here are things
to do on Monday mornings (and some you can do every morning) to keep your
acting career on track.
1. Wake up early and
exercise. Not a morning person? Sleep/awake cycles are not genetic, they
are set by you. Partying a lot or staying up to watch late night talk shows
have to be weighed in terms of the benefit to your career.
If you’re not awake until noon, you
won’t be prepared.
2. Eat a healthy
breakfast. If you skip breakfast, your growling stomach will soon become a
distraction.
If you eat a
sugary/starchy breakfast, you’ll be nodding off by 10 a.m. You want your brain
to be alert and running on all cylinders, so go high protein and save the carbs
for lunch.
3. Establish a routine
and get started early. Review your calendar for the week and check for
networking opportunities on those days when you’re not working: i.e. film
festivals, union meetings, free acting seminars, etc. I’m very big on free
events and the SAG Foundation sponsors a lot of workshops, casting director
Q&As, and panels that are well worth attending. When you attend, make an effort
to be accessible. Put a smile on your face. Introduce yourself to that
person sitting quietly off to the side. You never know who you might meet.
4. Check your emails/texts
and screen for urgent requests. Every email should get a reply, but you can
miss something important if you don't first scan your inbox for urgency. Star
those messages that are priorities and think quality, not quantity, in your
response. But be sure to add a touch of humanity. Before you hit “Send,” read
them over to ensure that they're friendly and clear. It's easy to appear curt
when you're in a hurry, especially in writing. You might start by saying
"Hi" and "I hope you had a great weekend."
5. Spend no more than 20
minutes on social media. Briefly comment on what others in the industry
have posted, and post acting-related information that others can use.
Author Dale Carnegie said that the art
of being a good conversationalist was in listening to what others had to say.
The same is true of social media. The purpose is to connect with those in the
business by listening/commenting on what THEY are saying.
If you've acquired 10,000 "friends" and everything you post screams "Look at me!" no one will want to take you to lunch.
6. Tackle the easy tasks
first. Organize your computer
desktop. File receipts and compute mileage from the previous week for tax
purposes.
Make sure current
scripts and files are easily accessible. Then if you have tougher and more
time-consuming tasks, you’re ready to tackle them without having to search for
what you need.
7. Allow time for
unexpected intrusions. Expect the unexpected and try to avoid scheduling anything
on Monday until late in the day.
That gives you time to organize your week and if someone in production
found loose ends unraveling over the weekend you have time to deal with it.
8. But if it’s not
urgent, say no. You can wear yourself out trying to please everyone. If
it’s not absolutely urgent, learn to diplomatically say no by offering to
connect later in the day or in the week. Then be sure to follow-up.
9. Update your to-do
list and review your goals. Be sure you are current on the tasks that have
to get done during the week, review your overall goals, and then set goals for
the week. Even if you don’t accomplish them all, you’ll accomplish most of
them.
10. Scan one or more
trade papers (Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Backstage), either online or in
hard copy, to pick up on trends and TV/films in pre-production.
I don’t read a general newspaper and
haven’t for years because I found myself getting worked up over issues that I
could not resolve. Try to stay focused and hope that the political scandals,
global unrest, and environmental “crises” are being handled by those with more
knowledge and influence.
11. Take time to touch
bases with actor friends by text or email. It reinforces a sense of purpose
and community for everyone, including you.
12. Visualize success. You won’t know that you’ve arrived
if you don’t know what it looks like when you get there. And learn to be
patient. As Harrison Ford once said: “I realized early on that success is tied to
not giving up. Most people in this business gave up and moved on to other
things. If you simply didn’t give up, you would outlast the people who came on
the bus with you.”
Amen to that.
