You are an artist, a student, and a person. That’s a lot to manage – but you can do it! These resources serve as a primer on how to nurture yourself and your artistry beginning your first day on campus. While not all-encompassing, this is designed to give you some things to think about as you make your way through your first year at BU.
Woven throughout is candid, pragmatic advice from current CFA students who’ve been where you are and can tell you how they handled some of the experiences you might have during your first year. Also interspersed are example real-life situations with links to BU resources that you might find helpful if you find yourself working through something similar.
Here, you’ll find:
- Thoughts on self-care for artists
- Time management as an art student
- BU resources index
- Resources beyond BU
Self-Care for Artists
Learning to take care of yourself – which can take many different forms – is crucial to your artistic and personal success and wellbeing.
Here are some things to ask yourself and consider:
- Who Am I?
- What are my values?
- What are my passions?
- What are my dreams?
- How do I define my artistry?
- Keep in mind:
- I am allowed to (and should!) have boundaries
- Art is a process
- If I am struggling, I am not the only one
- I do not need to suffer for my art
- How do I regenerate:
- My self?
- My energy?
- My confidence?
- My creativity?
Revisit these questions periodically; your answers may change over time as you grow and develop as an artist.
Self-Care Self-Assessment
The below assessment presents specific actions organized around different types of self-care (physical, emotional, etc.) and asks you to think about how much you engage in them. Taking some time to intentionally consider what you do, or what has never crossed your mind to do, to care for yourself may be eye-opening and ultimately to your benefit.
Self-Care Assessment
How often do you do the following? Rate using the scale below:
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Frequently | Sometimes | Rarely | Never | It never even occurred to me |
Physical Self-Care
____ Eat regularly (e.g. breakfast, lunch, & dinner)
____ Eat healthfully
____ Exercise, go to the gym, or do a physical activity that is fun for you
____ Get enough sleep
Psychological Self-Care
____ Make time for self-reflection
____ Read literature unrelated to school
____ Take a step to decrease stress in your life
____ Notice your inner experience – your dreams, thoughts, imagery, feelings
____ Say no to extra responsibilities sometimes
____ Spend time outdoors
Emotional Self-Care
____ Stay in contact with important people in your life
____ Treat yourself kindly (supportive inner dialogue or self-talk)
____ Feel proud of yourself
____ Identify and seek out comforting activities, objects, people, relationships, places
____ Allow yourself to cry
Spiritual Self-Care
____ Make time for prayer, meditation, or reflection
____ Participate in a spiritual gathering, community, or group
____ Be aware of nontangible (nonmaterial) aspects of life
____ Identify what is meaningful to you and notice its place in your life
____ Express gratitude
____ Contribute to or participate in causes you believe in
Workplace/Professional Self-Care
____ Take time to chat with co-workers
____ Make time to complete tasks
____ Identify projects or tasks that are exciting, growth-promoting, and rewarding for you
____ Balance your work so no one day is “too much!”
____ Get regular supervision
____ Have a peer support group
Self-assessment courtesy of CAS FY 101 Instructor & Peer Mentor Resources.
Observe how you rated yourself in the categories above. Based on that information, what practical steps can you take to improve your self-care? For instance, if under “emotional self-care” you answered “never” for “feel proud of yourself,” maybe you can take a few minutes at the end of rehearsals, practice sessions, or studio time to reflect on some aspect of your performance or other artistic contribution that you feel good about.
In short, take time to consider your holistic self. Tending to your wellbeing needs, including emotional, social, physical, environmental, intellectual, financial, and spiritual, will help remove barriers to accessing your greatest creativity.
“I”m feeling overwhelmed, scattered, or just generally out of balance with myself – what do I do?”
Student Wellbeing is a great place to start. “Self-care” might be a buzzword, but it is genuinely important. This website helps you search through a number of options, on and off campus, to tend to your wellness!
BU Behavioral Medicine is another option. Focusing on students’ mental health, this office offers groups and workshops centered on different topics, as well as referrals to individual therapists in the Boston area.
Hear from your Peers: Self-Care
When asked what advice they would give first-year CFA students, here is what some current students had to say about self-care:
“I remember that I am a human first.”
“Allow yourself to say you can’t do things.”
“Know your limits and voice them.”
“Put yourself first. Your goal in life is not to get a good grade. Think long-term.”
“Know what your body needs.”
“Valuing other things does not make your dedication to your art any less.”
“You will not produce your best every day. If you did, it wouldn’t be your best.”
Time Management for Artists
Adapted from “An Art Student’s Guide to Time Management” by Prof. Megan Levacy:
Creativity is a process, not a talent that you either have or do not have. The process can be broken down into four essential stages:
- Preparation: You research or learn material that relates to your idea or assignment.
- Incubation: You allow your mind to wander and do other things while your idea mingles with others.
- Illumination: The “light bulb” moment. Connections collide and surface in your conscious mind so that you can grasp them and work through them.
- Verification: You apply your creative thinking skills to communicate your idea effectively, in a way that is clear and relatable.
You can think about the creative process as some version of:
- 20% Preparation: Research
- 10% Incubation: Thinking
- 20% Illumination: Pulling it all together
- 50% Verification: Crafting your message (20%), doing the work (30%)
This means that taking breaks is not just important – it is, in fact, integral to your artistry.
As a new BU student, you may be feeling a lot of pressure to make the most of your time here – to say yes to every opportunity, to throw yourself entirely into your studies, your craft, and your social life, to always be “on.” But current students say:
“If you say yes to everything you want to do, you’ll overextend yourself and burn out.”
“You don’t have to go to every party. Stay in a couple weekends and sleep!”
Balancing your excitement to get as involved as possible with your human and artistic need to rest is an ongoing process and can evolve over time. Be kind to yourself as you make adjustments (and you can always refer back to that self-care self-assessment!).
My schedule is overwhelming and I feel like there’s just not enough time in the day. What can I do to get a handle on things?
Check out the Educational Resource Center. This office offers workshops and individual appointments to talk through things and give you tools to help with time management, organization, prioritization, and other related topics. Appointments are free and open to all BU students.
You can also always speak with your CFA academic advisor, your Assistant Director of First-Year Success, and the CFA Student Services team! We are here to help you!
Ways of Staying Organized
Here are some popular methods of organization among current CFA students:
- Google Calendar
- Physical planner
- Phone reminders
- Notes app
- To-do lists
- Sticky notes
- Daily checklists
Why students like them:
- Habit carried over from high school (no need to completely reinvent a system that already works for you)
- Having something physical to interact with is satisfying and/or creatively engaging
- Convenience and access (always on hand)
- Peer camaraderie (can share digital calendars with friends)
- Digital tools are easy to edit and customize
- Visualizes organization
- Serves as an external memory
- Mapping out makes responsibilities feel less overwhelming
Students say:
“My brain starts to hurt when I try to keep track in my head.”
“I have a lot going on, and a difficult time remembering all the things I have to do, so having things kept in specific places is helpful for me to reference.”
The only time I see people miserable and working against the clock is when they leave all the work for the last day.”
Be flexible: not every tool or strategy will be a good fit for you. Try things out and see what you like! It’s never too late to adjust. But having your schedule written out ahead of time will help prevent the unpleasant surprise of realizing rehearsal started 10 minutes ago and you just got out of the shower.
Scheduling Considerations
Some elements to include in your schedule are:
- Class dates and deadlines. Read your course syllabus! Map out important dates for the semester (exams, tech or rehearsal week, shows/performances, project due dates) so you can have everything in whatever method of organization you use.
- “Micro” deadlines. You have a big paper due, but consider the work you will need to do to actually have the paper to turn in. For example, you may need to identify sources, create an outline, put together an annotated bibliography, and write multiple drafts. Scheduling “internal” or “micro” deadlines for these components will help keep you on track.
- Other commitments. Do you have a job? Doctors’ appointments? Club meetings? Include these too.
- Breaks. As stated before, it is crucial that you take breaks. Schedule blocks of time where you will relax and decompress, and stick to it as best you can.
- Food. When will you eat each day? Include times for meals in your organization. Bring snacks with you – if you don’t have time to go to the dining hall, don’t forgo food altogether. Planning breaks for food ahead of time, and/or planning to eat with friends or classmates, will make you more likely to actually eat.
- Busier weeks. Some parts of the semester are busier than others. How will your schedule need to change when you’re in tech week, meeting installation deadlines, or preparing for a performance? How will you make sure you are in good health for those culmination points? This may involve things like:
- Get as much “regular” coursework finished before the busy period as you can. Tech/rehearsal weeks can be unpredictable, and you don’t want to get stuck without enough time to get through everything that might come up.
- Outside necessary commitments, schedule yourself as lightly as possible. These busy weeks probably aren’t the time to have all-night movie marathons with your roommate.
- Make a supply kit. Have a bag with you containing things like bobby pins, snacks, a basic first-aid kit, water, pencils and pens… small but useful things so you don’t have to go running back to your dorm constantly.
- To quote Theatrethoughtsblog: “In general, don’t leave anything about the week up to fate – be as prepared as you possibly can be.”
Hear from your Peers: Scheduling
When asked how they structure their time, here is what some current students had to say:
“I think this really comes with falling into a routine and figuring out what works best for you.”
“Because I’m in CFA for up to 14 hours every day without leaving, I need to bring food with me.”
“The best way for me to make free time outside of CFA is to schedule my homework so that I don’t have to worry about having time to do it.”
“For sleep, I don’t care what happens, I don’t care what’s not done, I will be in bed by 11-12. No one in my life except for my family will interrupt that.”
“Sometimes, something has to give, and that’s okay.”
Resources at BU
Here are some helpful resources!
| Office | Why would I use this? |
| BU Dean of Students Office |
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| Newbury Center |
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| Community Service Center |
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| Student Wellbeing |
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| Behavioral Medicine |
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| Disability & Access Services |
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| Educational Resource Center |
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| University Service Center |
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And remember, your CFA academic advisor, your Assistant Director of First-Year Success, and the CFA Student Services team are always available to talk through options and resources!