Is there a novel, song, podcast or film that's gnawing at your brain to get done, and yet, there never seems to be any time to get it done? 

It’s not about finding the time for your creative project but making the time. You just need the space to reflect on it and plan for it.

That’s what this two-day workshop provides but with the support of an expert and creative peers that know the struggle. Spread over two weekends, author and strategic planner Carissa Halton will lead you to uncover what’s holding you back and build a plan for finishing your creative project.

Like many artists, Carissa — author of the novel Revolution Songs — straddles two worlds and understands what it means to carve out time for our creations. Her gracious and insightful guiding questions will support you to uncover your goals and the barriers to achieving them. She’ll get you to reflect on the following:

• What are your needs for optimal creative work? 

• When creative work doesn’t get done, why are you held back? 

• How do you use your time in a typical week? Are your expectations for creative outputs feasible? 

• What are your long, medium and short-term goals for your creative work? 

• What are two changes you could make in your schedule, pace, process, or environment that could support you to reach your goals?

• What do you aim to do in the next 90 days to move your creative project forward? 

This is no corporate time management bullsh*t. As Carissa says, “We’re creatives making art, not machines making widgets.” But in this age of so many distractions, making time for art takes reflection and planning.

“This is a thoughtful, profound and extremely useful workshop that will change the way you view your work, your time and your life. I highly recommend it for all writers, artists and creatives.” – Jana Pruden, Writer and Podcaster at The Globe and Mail

With personal reflection, group discussion and presentation, Carissa will provide you with tools to become more aware of how we use time and to use it better — including time to celebrate our accomplishments. Some of the things she’ll introduce to your toolkit include:

• a time audit

• goal-setting worksheet

• digital noise reduction strategies

• 90-day evaluation guide

After Day 1, participants will take a couple hours out of their week to plan and reflect before putting those tools to work on Day 2. And by the end of both days, you’ll leave with renewed awareness of your creative needs and goals — plus a slew of tips and strategies for putting them to work on your big project.

Know you’re going to need a kick in the pants even after the workshop? Upgrade your enrollment to Stream B and get hands-on help from Carissa after the course. See details below. (Only 10 upgrades available.)

“Carissa Halton is an engaging and savvy instructor. Her willingness to customize our sessions to better suit the participants was much appreciated, and the exercises and hands-on class work were great. Carissa always gives ample time for participant examples and questions to be incorporated into the training." – Patricia White, Director of Education and Training, IATSE International

The class has two streams. 

In Stream A, you’ll attend and participate in both workshop sessions, working alongside Carissa and your fellow creatives to understand what’s getting in the way of your creative work, learn practical time-management and planning strategies, and build a realistic plan to move your project forward.

In Stream B, you’ll get everything in Stream A, plus a 90-minute one-on-one coaching session with Carissa after the workshop, where she'll review your action plan and help you further build it out to ensure realistic goals, timelines and manageable actions. If you’d like continued support and accountability, additional coaching sessions can be booked separately. (Only 10 upgrades are available.)

“This session has helped me see my relationship to time more clearly — I’m less guilty and more effective!” – Amber Bracken, Photographer and 2026 Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellow at Harvard