How to get shit done (Even when you don't wanna!)

ESPECIALLY when you don't wanna.

Hi there!

You'd think I'd be super amped to get up every single day and write and draw my own stories, and when I started seriously working on Sacrimony, I naively thought the same. The reality is, work is still work. Sometimes I’m tired or I don't feel that great or I’m plagued by The Worries and I just can't seem to get in the mood. I promise you this is all normal.

No matter how much I’ve loved working on my comics, there are days where I just do not want to. At all. And sometimes,I can get by with taking the day off to recover but there are other days when it's crunch time and I have to will myself to push through. Because when you're self employed and you don't work, no one else is going to do the work for you.

As much as I would love to lie about being some sort of unstoppable machine that can push through the bad feels and "Wahhhhhh I don't wanna's" I am, in truth, incredibly stoppable. When I'm not in the mood to draw, I will try to find every single possible distraction and any excuse to not do what needs to be done. And with the kind of tight deadlines I used to set on myself, that's no bueno.

So I'm here to introduce you to my work buddy Break Timer.​

My brain has basically two modes of operation when I draw.

1)I would rather eat ground glass than even spend an hour doing any sort of drawing.

2)I will draw for 6 hours straight without a break (or even blinking, pretty much) and suddenly wonder why everything hurts, my eyes are twitching and why I'm starving.

I originally got Break Timer to deal with issue 2, because my health and well-being were taking a huge hit and it led to burnout really quickly. This is what my settings look like.

When I feel like I'm on the verge of working for 6 hours without blinking, I set the timer for 45 minutes and then force myself to take a 10 minute break. It doesn't matter what I do, but I have to be up and away from the computer for 10 minutes. I can stretch, grab something to drink, pet the cats, scroll through instagram on my phone, read a chapter of whatever book I’m reading, lie face down on the floor, whatever. As long as I'm not doing it at the computer. After the 10 minute break, I return to work for another 45 minutes. Then another 10 minute break. Rinse and repeat.

But then there are times when issue 1 is a problem and drawing for 45 minutes straight seems more like drawing for 45 hours straight. What to do???

I have a different setting for that.

I think about the maximum amount of time that I feel like I can stay focused without wanting to throw my computer out the window.

20 minutes usually does the trick. Sometimes I even set it down to 15. On especially rough "I don't wanna" days, the thought of having to focus for 20 minutes feels like 20 years while I set up the timer. But when I actually get to work, it's not that bad and 20 minutes ends up going by quickly. Then I get a nice little 5 minute break to focus on something else, away from the computer, and then back to work for another 20 minutes. Rinse and repeat.

It somehow tricks my brain to be productive in short bursts. And the thing about only working for 20 minutes at a time is that it usually leaves me in a spot where I want to continue because maybe I didn't finish inking that one panel or shading that thing and I can't leave it halfway done! So after my 5 minute break, I'm eager to get back and finish what I started.

Technically, you don't have to use Break Timer specifically, and maybe some people will opt to use a timer on their phones or something but this is what works best for me. I don't use my phone for very much, so having an app on my computer always works better. Not only that, Break Timer has an annoying pop up during break time that hijacks my screen and makes it difficult for me to ignore it, which is really key.

It's so easy for me to just turn off a phone alarm and keep working. But if my screen has been taken over, I guess I have to get up and leave until I get my screen back!

Did you find this to be helpful? Would you consider using something like Break Timer or do you have any other productivity-boosting tricks that you like to use? Let me know!

In the meanwhile, have a great weekend!

-M

Also, I’ve set up a prelaunch page for Sacrimony #9.

I don’t have a specific launch date yet, but I’m aiming for maybe three months from now, depending on how merciful my school schedule is. If you’d like to sign up to get notified when it does go live, here’s the link!