how to stay productive &motivated (Patreon)

i woke up at 6am today to pick up my dog and it's too early for me to be productive but what i can do at this time, is get caught up in thoughts and try to think of ways to improve myself and my work!

spoiler: i didn't come up with anything ground-breaking but i did evaluate my recent workflow and thought i could share it with you.

working from home always seemed like a dream to me, but now that that's become my reality, it's actually quite a challenge, because there's nobody to yell at me when i spend all day in my PJs or sweatpants and look like a complete hobo for the most part of the week and nobody is looking over my shoulder, telling me if i'm working hard enough or if i'm becoming lazy.

luckily, i'm blessed with a healthy amount of existential fears, so i'm always making sure i get enough work done (sometimes maybe too much, but here's to hoping i'll find a balance one day).

what i found is important to keep productivity levels up, is getting up, getting dressed, having a workspace. i always make sure to look and feel like i'm getting ready to head to the office, even though my office is literally 2 metres away from my bed. but it helps get into a professional mindset and it works out nicely. set up a routine, force yourself to stick to it, it'll become second nature after a while. also my workspace must be clean. it can be chaotic (it always is), pens and books and references lying around everywhere but i can't have any dirty dishes, breadcrumbs etc near me, it drives me mad and kills my will to work.

HOWEVER

as much as i think certain rituals and routines are important, i also think it's important to allow yourself to change things every now and then. after all, working from home is an opportunity to do whatever you want, too and i think it's fine to indulge yourself sometimes. every couple of weeks i'll run out of energy and cannot physically bring myself to spend 9+hrs a day at my desk, no matter how big my workload and how close my deadlines are. after a while of panicking about this ("apparently my motivation is gone, choosing this as my job was a mistake, guess i'll die"), i decided it's time for change, and set up base on my bed LOL it's a small change but it's comfortable and warm and allows me to view things from a different perspective (if that makes sense?). i did this again today, i'll stay here for a week and just be a slob and never get up but i know i'll still be drawing and working hard, just from a more comfortable position and i'll spend more time taking breaks until my HP are full again and i can move back to  the desk.

i can imagine many people would disagree with this method, from what i've heard and seen in other artist's videos and podcasts, they do things very differently from me but i guess i'm not that kind of professional, for now i'd rather do what works for me. and after working in places where i felt HIGHLY uncomfortable for many years, i believe it's important to make yourself als comfy as possible to keep your motivation alive.

i also think procrastinating can be super helpful at times. stuck at a drawing? you'd rather spend 3 hours browsing pinterest or watching stuff on youtube? do it. if you're only gonna spend an eternity staring at your art, not getting anything done or hating everything anyway, just drop that drawing utensil and do something else. taking a step back can help so much, set yourself a time to actively procrastinate and don't feel bad about it. looking at things can spark new ideas, can help you think of a different way to approach your problem. 

doing that in moderation is a good thing, i had to learn that the hard way and i still have to constantly remind myself it's okay to not finish every task on my schedule at all times, i'm not a machine, i can have slow days, too. i believe especially for creative activities, you can't expect yourself to constantly be on top of things, this isn't something you do automatically from muscle memory. brains just go "bleh" sometimes, i guess, they don't care if this is your job or if you have deadlines or not. this is difficult to work with when the whole self-employment situation is still new and it took me a couple of months to figure out how much i should put on my plate and what are realistic goals for the day/week/month but thanks to various work timer tools, planners, and 300 different ways to write to-do-lists, i'm starting to build up a routine that might work in the long run. but that's a whole 'nother topic LOL

for now i'll wrap myself in a blanket, get more coffee, start up clip studio paint and see what i can cross off of my to-do-list at the end of the day, and if there's still a thing or two left, then that'll be all right, too! tomorrow is another day.

and next week, i'm sure i can't wait to move my equipment back to my desk and get back to acting like a functioning human being instead of a hermit crab preparing to hibernate.

this is me, basically talking out of my a** and i have no idea if this is interesting to ANYONE and also i can never cut myself short when i feel i have to say something, so i apologise for the wall of text ;;;;; also i didn't start writing this with a specific topic in mind, so it's a bit all over the place. i'd like to do this more often though, it's a bit like a stream of consciousness, if there are any topics you'd want me to ramble about, feel free to yell at me, unless y'all are like "PLEASE NO STOP THIS NONSENSE IMMEDIAtELY", then i'll refrain from cluttering your dash with these essays xD