Artists’ diagrams 

Introducing oneself in a complex and playful way; reflecting on time management; organising activities by using visual creativity and tools.

Participants will be taught about effective time management techniques and methods to analyze their daily tasks. This will help them become more efficient in organizing their work, and reduce stress while finding more enjoyment in their work. The participants will also be prepared for co-creation by learning about each other and sharing their own everyday experiences and challenges.

Trainers can try out the activity beforehand and show their diagrams to the participants.

This activity is versatile and can be used to break the ice, build a sense of community, or facilitate co-creative activities. Participants can dive deeper into the activity by exploring their diagrams and co-designing a diagram that represents their ideal day. Additionally, this activity can be used to introduce a creative workshop where participants brainstorm ways to repurpose their diagrams, such as using them as decoration or transferring them to other objects or paintings.

• Step 1: Introduction and presentations. Guide the participants to introduce themselves and encourage them to reflect on their time management and how creativity can help them.
• Step 2: Participants draw their diagrams according to the option they selected. There are three options:
  – Option A: The energy line diagram shows the changes in one’s energy throughout the day. It can take the shape of a wave, where the wave goes up to represent high energy levels and down to represent low energy levels. The horizontal line represents the hours of the day. The participants observe the shape of their diagram and draw patterns, symbols, or points on the wave to show the activities they are doing at specific moments of the day.
  – Option B: Circle of the day. Participants draw a circle and slice it to place their different activities in it. More space can be left for things that take more time and importance, and less space for things that are less important. Each activity can be represented by colors, ornaments, or small drawings.
  – Option C: The diagram of everyday activities represents calmness and excitement. Participants draw symbols of their everyday activities alongside the horizontal line. Then, they put two points above them to represent the level of excitement and calmness they feel when doing the activity.
• Step 3: Each participant describes their day using their diagram.
• Step 4: Evaluation and discussion. Ask participants for their feedback on the exercise. Is it a thinking tool or a creative tool? Can they use these diagrams elsewhere in their creations? What did they learn about each other? Did they discover similarities between their own and the other participants’ diagrams?

Examples for artists’ diagrams and their uses to create objects/artworks: https://cotaassociation.wixsite.com/learing/digramming-art-for-time-management