Blocks of Time and Open Space
I mentioned the website 43 Folders in my last post. I still haven't really looked the site over, but I've listened to all the podcasts it offered. These podcasts had a variety of interesting ideas for enhancing productivity. The major one I took to heart was the idea of devoting blocks of times to specific and exclusive activities. The core of my time management problems really manifested in this ever-present feeling of anxiety no matter what I was doing. This feeling like I should be doing something else. If I was working on something, I felt like I should instead be taking some much-needed downtime. If I was taking some much-needed downtime, I felt like I should be doing something productive. And over everything was this constant and annoying desire to check webstats and e-mail and all the distracting things that do nothing but reduce productivity.
So all of last week I took to heart this notion of blocks of time with undivided attention to one thing. I set my days apart. I gave myself Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to go out and just have fun. One of the major things I've deprived myself of recently is social engagement. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I gave myself a couple of hours after work to simply relax, doing nothing but play video games or watch TV. And then an hour or so to go out and read and drink coffee, a favorite pastime of mine. And after this I gave myself three hours to work on comic related activities. Every day I gave myself a half an hour to check all those little things like e-mail and webstats. The idea is that every other day is a day I get something done, and every other day is a day off. That way, if I'm having fun, I know that the next day I'll be getting something done and I don't need to feel guilty. If I'm working on something, I know the next day I'm going to have fun, and I don't need to feel suffocated with work. It worked incredibly. Just knowing that this hour or two was devoted to one thing stopped me from wanting to check my e-mail or webstats when it wasn't the time designated for that, and it stopped me from worrying about whether I was spending my time correctly. I trusted my plan.
The big test was this weekend. My experiment with the blocks of time was to apply it to the comic creation process. If I gave myself a certain amount of time to collect photo reference, thumbnail what I need to draw, and then pencil one full page, and then a certain block of time to just completely relax, go out and get my mind off of everything, and then come back and devote another block of time to ink and color, would I be more efficient and productive?
I woke up this morning and looked around and just ... didn't want to work. I wanted to put this new plan to the test. But I just didn't feel like doing anything.
Which was kind of confusing. I thought that by not drawing all week, I'd feel excited to finally get down to business when I gave myself the opportunity. But it was something else that was stifling me. My room.
My room was such a mess that I could hardly move around in it. There was literally an extra drafting table in the middle of the room. Clothes and books and huge comic pages I previously had drawn before I went all-digital were everywhere. And all I wanted to do was get out of there.
So I decided to scrap my plan of the blocks of time experiment on comic creation for today, and decided to instead just take the whole day and completely reorganize my room.
Basically, I'm getting rid of everything that isn't necessary. Drawers of clothes, that extra drafting table, boxes of nonsense, and just everything and anything. I also took down all these posters I had put up that were originally intended to inspire me, but had actually served more to distract me and take my mind off of the process I should be engaging in. What I want is to enter my room and immediately think, "time to make comics." I moved my computer so that it's in the center back of my room, right in front of the window, so that I can look out and feel like I'm not cramped in a room. I'm going to put up works in progress on my walls so that it feels like the entire space is just comic working space.
Already I feel so much better about this space, and I'm only halfway done rearranging everything. It's possible that it isn't actually the specifics of what I'm changing but just that I'm changing things up that's inspiring me anew, but I think even more than that is just having a room that is completely open and free of mess.
Now I am excited to try my block of time theory tomorrow when I get to work on my comic. I’m just laying down the foundations right now.
So all of last week I took to heart this notion of blocks of time with undivided attention to one thing. I set my days apart. I gave myself Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to go out and just have fun. One of the major things I've deprived myself of recently is social engagement. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I gave myself a couple of hours after work to simply relax, doing nothing but play video games or watch TV. And then an hour or so to go out and read and drink coffee, a favorite pastime of mine. And after this I gave myself three hours to work on comic related activities. Every day I gave myself a half an hour to check all those little things like e-mail and webstats. The idea is that every other day is a day I get something done, and every other day is a day off. That way, if I'm having fun, I know that the next day I'll be getting something done and I don't need to feel guilty. If I'm working on something, I know the next day I'm going to have fun, and I don't need to feel suffocated with work. It worked incredibly. Just knowing that this hour or two was devoted to one thing stopped me from wanting to check my e-mail or webstats when it wasn't the time designated for that, and it stopped me from worrying about whether I was spending my time correctly. I trusted my plan.
The big test was this weekend. My experiment with the blocks of time was to apply it to the comic creation process. If I gave myself a certain amount of time to collect photo reference, thumbnail what I need to draw, and then pencil one full page, and then a certain block of time to just completely relax, go out and get my mind off of everything, and then come back and devote another block of time to ink and color, would I be more efficient and productive?
I woke up this morning and looked around and just ... didn't want to work. I wanted to put this new plan to the test. But I just didn't feel like doing anything.
Which was kind of confusing. I thought that by not drawing all week, I'd feel excited to finally get down to business when I gave myself the opportunity. But it was something else that was stifling me. My room.
My room was such a mess that I could hardly move around in it. There was literally an extra drafting table in the middle of the room. Clothes and books and huge comic pages I previously had drawn before I went all-digital were everywhere. And all I wanted to do was get out of there.
So I decided to scrap my plan of the blocks of time experiment on comic creation for today, and decided to instead just take the whole day and completely reorganize my room.
Basically, I'm getting rid of everything that isn't necessary. Drawers of clothes, that extra drafting table, boxes of nonsense, and just everything and anything. I also took down all these posters I had put up that were originally intended to inspire me, but had actually served more to distract me and take my mind off of the process I should be engaging in. What I want is to enter my room and immediately think, "time to make comics." I moved my computer so that it's in the center back of my room, right in front of the window, so that I can look out and feel like I'm not cramped in a room. I'm going to put up works in progress on my walls so that it feels like the entire space is just comic working space.
Already I feel so much better about this space, and I'm only halfway done rearranging everything. It's possible that it isn't actually the specifics of what I'm changing but just that I'm changing things up that's inspiring me anew, but I think even more than that is just having a room that is completely open and free of mess.
Now I am excited to try my block of time theory tomorrow when I get to work on my comic. I’m just laying down the foundations right now.
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