I have been wanting to write a meaty blog post only to have the dreaded blank screen in my head, let alone having one on my computer. Actually I have had only one phrase buzzing through my mind today: “Sleep is the enemy.”
I like the succinctness of it… Of course the phrase itself is ridiculous. But it carries a sentiment that I have have harboured for a long while. Sleep just feels like unproductive time. I often feel, what is the point of it? I could be designing or illustrating or writing some more.
Today is a great example of why the phrase feels true. It’s been a good productive day, and the main reason is the fact that I had an agenda that I mostly stuck to. when I sleep, that vein of productivity stops for the day.
I’m no productivity maven, but I do have a few things I try to keep in mind when I’m really trying to have a good productive day…
- Open Photoshop.
- Close the internet unless it’s for research
- Ignore the sound of email coming in until later
- Try to stay positive
- Work in bursts of either 15, 30 or 60 minutes.
Step 5 is vital to the day working for me. I am blessed with the ability to really hammer through design work in bursts. Even if I have to go back and correct or edit the artwork, it’s a lot easier to edit something than to edit nothing.
Each of these can be done in a short burst of around one hour…
- Break the concept and build stages of an illustration.
- Create an initial page layout with general styling.
- Put into words the article that was floating around in my head.
Sometimes, I think it’s better to realise that the single phrase in the head isn’t such a bad thing. I think the key is turning that into a single-minded focus rather than a negative. Such was today.
Single-minded focus + positivity + music + Working in bursts… Equals a productive and happy Aaron.
I hope you enjoy the image.