As an actor, you'll need to get used to the quiet time between jobs and auditions. What's important is using the down-time productively to promote your own brand, get your name out there and start making connections. Not only that, creating your own work will make you a better actor. Here's how:

1. Create your own work.
   It'll give you an immense sense of satisfaction and creative control. You'll feel like you're doing something which will make you more confident at auditions and castings. Not to mention, you'll learn loads about the business and about how the ins-and-outs of it work.
    
2. Film a short scene. 
   Even if you're just using an iPhone camera (remember to always film landscape, not portrait), you'll learn a lot about different shot types, how to act on camera, and the effort of post-production. Remember to watch it back, and if you're unsatisfied, film it again! Having a good sense of what does and doesn't look good on camera will do wonders for your acting and your mindset when actually on set. 
    
3. Use your network.
   If you've got friends who are particularly good at acting, filming, video-editing or even just contacting others who might be interested, get them involved! When you're passionate about making something others will be too. It's always another thing to add to their CV as well as yours. 
    
4. Not got a huge network? Then develop one!
   Spotlight offer hundreds of free talks for their members about how the business works. Go and learn, you'll meet like-minded people who are looking to network just as much as you are. 
    
5. Use YouTube and other free platforms.
   Whether it's a script, a pilot episode, a short film, a song or anything else, once it's done upload it to YouTube. Leaning how these channels work and how to best use them is a skill which shines on any acting CV and one which will be noticed time and time again.
    
6. Show your work to friends.
   Get them to give you feedback then write another script or another episode. Learning to accept positive and negative feedback is one of the keys to succeeding in the acting industry and will only make your acting better!
    
7. Creating inspires passion.
   When you are responsible for creating your own work, you have an enormous amount of passion for it. Not only will this make you feel artistically satisfied and give you that all-important confidence boost, it will teach you more about the kind of projects you want to work on in the future.