How do you fit drawing with a busy lifestyle? and a tightly packed schedule? 😵💫
Whether you are a student, or a parent or someone who is running for president,
You CAN find the time to draw! (ok maybe not the last person)
Here are 5 Simple and Practical Tips that has helped me draw from the time I had a day job to running my own business. 💪
1. Aim to Draw for 1-2 Hours a Week
Instead of trying to draw daily (which I do recommend) or drawing a couple of days a week. I highly recommend a ‘2 days per week’schedule where you draw for 30 mins to an hour. (or it can be just once a week)
Make sure you schedule it in your calendar, set an alarm for it and stick with it every single week. ⏰
Scheduling a sustainable routine is the first step to finding the time to draw.
2. Do it Early in the Day (especially on Saturdays)
If you wanna reduce your chances of not drawing in a given day, do it first thing in the morning before emails, angry bosses and grumpy kids pestering you for your valuable time. ☀️
Most people would like to have quieter mornings. That means, they don’t want to talk to others and that is an advantage you can use.
Wake up early, brush your teeth, get a poop in (or out 💩) and get straight to your drawing desk.
Early bird gets to draw the worm. 🐓
3. Have a list of ideas
Most people don’t find the time to draw because they have no motivation to draw. 😫
And most of the time they have no motivation to draw because they have no clarity on what to draw.
So,
Clarity = Motivation = Finding time to draw. ⌛
That means , know what you are going to draw (approximately)when you are sitting down to draw.
📝 Have a list of ideas to draw (here’s a list of 100 ideas to draw)
🗓️ Have a Theme each month to draw about (example: a month of drawing Cartoons, a month of doodling and so on)
✏️ Have a project to work on (like a comic, a children’s book or an illustration series)
4. Say 'NO'
You can’t say ‘Yes’ to drawing without saying ‘No’ to something else.
If you are sitting to draw on a Saturday morning, your kids are probably not gonna eat breakfast. (tough luck, grab some cereal kid. The milk is in the refrigerator)
Life is full of sacrifices. You don’t get to not make one. You just get to pick one. 🎯
In this case, poor henry is gonna learn cooking every Saturday morning.
5. Have a Follow Along Video Program.
When I was trying to loose weight. I got this program called P90x3 which is series of videos of fit people doing exercises for 30 minutes.
All I had to do was show up everyday, press play and grudgingly follow along. 🏋️
It made it easy for me to exercise. Because I had someone exercising along with me.
Just like that, get a Draw Along Art lesson, Press Play and Draw Along.
And in case you are wondering where to find one 🤔
I know a guy whose name rhymes with Mesh. Who’s got a Program called ‘Drawing Camp’ 😮
Apparently it works just like the fitness program I was mentioning where you just have to Press Play, Follow Along and you will become the next Picasso in 100 Days with 20 mins/day.
So check it out here. 👇
Also, here’s a video on ‘Finding Time to Draw’ that I made a while back that a bunch of random strangers on the internet watched. Feel free to join them.
Talk soon.
Your Best Friend,
Mesh.