Embracing my laziness for better motivation

jitterbugjive:

Wait what? How does that make sense?

Well let me tell you how I recently discovered how to handle a more steady and less stressful workflow by tricking my mind in to thinking it’s being incredibly lazy when it’s actually being productive. I’m sharing because I think it might be helpful for other folks out there struggling with motivation.

One of my main issues that often keeps me from actually starting up work like commissions is my brain going “But it’s so hard! I don’t want to waste all this time working on it!” In the mornings and daytime this is especially a huge problem because I feel anxious to do other things. Meanwhile at night I generally feel more lazy and tired so I’m not going to want to put a lot of effort in to anything.

The result is, by the time it’s time to go to bed, I feel like I’ve barely done anything and I feel shitty about myself for procrastinating AGAIN.

So here’s what I do now.

At night, I sketch up multiple commissions and images, because I’m not in a mood to complete anything or work on details. I can get 3-5 sketches done in an hour, and this makes me feel like I got a lot of work done.

And what this does is it leaves the next day easier, because instead of me thinking “I don’t want to start something big”, there’s stuff already there for me to work with, and I get a fresh perspective of them so I can make proper changes I might not have noticed if I’d worked on it straight through all the way. I don’t make myself finish things any more, my schedule used to say “finish blah blah number of commissions” but now it’s little goals like “sketch 3 commissions, ink one, color one”.

Speaking of schedule, instead of it being a solid schedule it’s a ‘to do’ list where I have a list of things to do ‘today and tomorrow’ with no pressure on what it is of those tasks I complete, because whatever I don’t finish carries in to the next day. Whenever I finish a task I either update it, remove it, or if it’s a repeated thing I plop it in to the “REMEMBER” category.

The ‘REMEMBER” category is where I put everything I need to get done or want to get done at some point but don’t have time in that particular day to do it. I often get ideas while I’m working and I get anxiety that I’ll forget if I don’t draw them out right away. But now, I can make a quick note in the category so I don’t have to worry about forgetting it and I can reward myself with drawing something I’m eager to draw once I’m done working.

Speaking of rewards, I also give myself rewards for a job well done each month by figuring out whatever extra I can spare to get myself a little something nice. Treating myself has really helped keep me motivated. Now, some people might have issues getting things for themselves, another motivator is getting gifts for other people if giving to people makes you feel better than getting for yourself. You’re still rewarding yourself by making yourself feel good.

I also give myself an hour break every 3 hours or so to eat, watch stuff, or whatever I want to do in that time.

All of this stuff combined has REALLY helped me and I think it can help other people too.

It doesn’t just apply to drawing but any art form really, like with writing if you do an outline the night before so you have a base to work with the next day when you write. Just giving yourself steps instead of whole tasks will make a world of difference. You don’t have to punish yourself for a lack of work, reward yourself for being a lazy butt and getting things done at your own pace. You’ll feel a whole lot better in the long run.