It comes down to a choice. Which one would you rather have, a body of work that may continue to entertain and inspire others long after you're gone -- or clean laundry?

Option A: Find a partner who is willing to cook, do laundry, and otherwise take care of you.
Option B: Be the partner who cooks, does laundry, and takes care of the wage earner.

Personally, I chose Option B even though I have a university degree and my husband does not.
My dad also chose Option B. Option B people generally have more time for creative work.

I just couldn't do a comic while working full time and living with my partner rather than my parents. After getting home from work, I'd have to cook, clean up, try to get washing done etc... I was just exhausted.
I've literally only become able to make a comic with regular updates since going part time. My partner earns a good income in her job as a designer, so so long as I'm paying my half of the rent (expensive due to being in London) and chipping in towards bills and food, that's enough. I also tend to do a slightly larger amount of the housework than my partner, it's only fair really, she's at work more.

Some people can manage a full-time job AND a comic, but I'm not ashamed to admit I'm not one of them. Being autistic, work is more mentally and emotionally tiring for me and I'm bad at switching between tasks. I've learned to not try to be like other people to prove something and instead to work around my unique strengths and weaknesses in a way that helps me be as productive as I can be.

I work as security where I just sit in an office and write my stories all day.
Only interrupted when needed.

Win-win

I definitely experienced something similar. I graduated and was so excited to draw more...and ended up drawing maybe 1 thing in 8 months. I think it's natural to have an adjustment period to working full time, and it's important to try not to beat yourself too much over a lack of art productivity. You're trying your best and a full time job is, well, a full time job! It's natural to feel tired.

What I've tried doing is schedule in some time for art. I know I'm always exhausted after work, so I work in some time in the mornings and weekends to draw. I try not to be hard on myself if I don't get much done. Some changes will need to be made -- it's just a matter of finding the right balance for you and your projects.

I just don't sleep much anymore.. full-time work on top of at least 3 to 4 hours a day. My project just means too much to let anything stop me from saying I did it.

So anyone out here doing this while working deserves mad respect

It's a challenge. I work FT plus a lot of my day work sometimes slides into me doing OT...I try not to do too much through during the weekdays, but sometimes it cant be helped. I try to do my page/panel layouts, and rough pencils throughout the week if I'm really busy; I will do most of my inks when I get home from work or if I finish my work & have a lull at the end of the day. I reserve coloring and lettering for the weekend- when I have a lot of time to sit and do those tasks...I also juggle stuff like doing laundry, cleaning, trying to get proper rest, and watching TV.

I dont really set a schedule for myself because sometimes the work from my FT gig leaves me exhausted and I need to get rest whenever I can. If I dont take the mental & physical rest breaks, my work suffers or I teeter on the edge of fatigue- which makes me take MORE time away to get the rest that I need; also there's the dreaded "I sit and draw all the time to the point where my arms and back become sore"...if you start to experience that- take a break. You don't want to wreck your body to meet deadlines...

Drive. Having a will to do what you want regardless of circumstances.

I work full time. I'm married for 10 years. I work on two separate comic projects.

I have about 3-4 days a week where I do my comic stuff. I set that time aside, because I love doing it. During the day at work I have times where I can write and get my drawing practice done.

I make time. Try to find any little space you can, it will add up eventually. Even if it's only a couple minutes, do something. It really comes down to drive and passion to succeed. If you want it hard enough, you'll find a way to put in the time.

It can get tough and frustrating at times, but things that are worth doing, aren't easy.

When I came out of uni, the only job I could get for a good 3-4 years was retail - and I hated it - soooo much. It sucked me dry and it was really hard to be motivated when I was in that position in my life. But because it was part time, I DID manage to get myself out of a hole of self pity, I did manage to work on some personal projects, get a showreel together, and get a job as a motion designer (not quite what I wanted - I still want to be a full time character animator - but its good enough for now).

A lot of it is setting those stepping stones. If you're in a full time job that has no creative outlet, maybe try side stepping to one that does, that gets you closer to your goals. If that isn't an option, commuting, lunch breaks and weekends are times I spend drawing in sketchbooks and practicing my character work for future ambitions.

We all find our ways, but I would say the best thing you can do is be flexible. Sometimes plans need to change and be altered, but that doesn't mean you're giving up. Also this is just MY experience, there are plenty of ways to tackle this sort of thing, and none are wrong as long as you're not ignoring your physical, mental, and finacial well being.

It's totally doable but this has to be the way you want to spend your free personal time. I work full time, make sure to exercise 3 times a week, have a 45 minute commute to and from work and have a baby on the way and I'm managing my main webcomic and I've been doing the Webtoon Short Story contest too. And I'm not including just general house chores like cleaning shopping and cooking. Basically right now I don't have any time for video games or other leisure activities. Art is my leisure activity. It's how I spend nearly every second of my time that I'm not doing something that takes more of a priority. Honestly, I can't wait to finish this webtoon contest (almost done!) because that will allow me to put that time to other non-comic-related stuff and not feel like I'm pursuing a deadline as much. I love doing this though. and I don't mind getting home and going straight to work at improving my artwork and making a comic. But that's what you have to want if you want to do it. And if you don't then no pressure and put a comic out as you feel like. You're doing it for free, you don't owe anyone anything. The point is though that the time exists in the day. But you have to want it badly enough to find it.

I usually devote the weekends and certain weeknights to drawing. I don't force myself to because sometimes I'm really tired and can't stand sitting in front of a computer beyond my full time job. Of course, if I do draw I usually don't have time for other activities that are also important to me. It's a weird balance I'm still trying to work out.

Unfortunately, I found that I had a lot more time and motivation to draw when I was in between full time jobs.

I work full time and manage to do most of my chores and update once a week. Managing your time is key if you have a non related full time job. Ironically the pandemic has been great for this as my social obligations disappeared and I was able to spend all my non working time on creating.

For me personally, I found that scheduling tasks in advance helped a lot. It gave me a structure and I could sit down and focus on what needed to be done because I'd decided on it beforehand.

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hmm. I worked from 7-3:30 at my last job before I entered university and I occasionally did overtime on Saturday from 7-12. I lived with my parents at the time so housework did not take up much of my free time, really I just drew and write during that off time to relive stress until 11:00 in the night. It may be different once I find a job after graduation, but who knows really

There's that unpacking right there. Sweet.

Nevertheless you could not bite if you had no teeth. We are all born with advantages and disadvantages and we never quite deserve the advantages until we make something of them.

Sure.
Life is brutal and unfair. That's the reality of things. I know some people are in places that they can't even use those advantages. Some people even have everything taken away from them.

That's why I see it as vital to use my strengths while I have them.

Got no guarantees that I'll have them forever either, one cruel twist from life will be all it takes to lose them. I have to do something with them.

I started to make comic in october i guess and published it on new years eve - I am making one update per month mostly.and earlier months had some buffer.

I work fulltime from 10 to 19, 5 days a week, I get up at 9:30 ( I mooved closer to the office) . On business days days I start drawing around 20 up to 23 and than I go to play multiplayer games with my friends until 3 am, or if my friend don't come - I draw until 3 am.( I sleep about 6 hours a day).

I can't cook anything except pasta with cheese which takes about 15 mins to finish dinner. so on business days a eat at work and on weekends I order food delivery mostly. On weekends I draw for about 10-12 hours or spend all time playing games. I start with lineart and leave coloring for the last part each day cause my hand gets tired.

I don't have kids or pest so noone is distracting me.

A lot of it is time management and the willingness to do it. I do art every day all day long. I'm an artist professionally, then I come home and do more art, which can seriously burn me out. There are definitely days where I'm too tired, or not into it, and that's ok. Sometimes I'd rather play a game or just watch tv or something, so I do it. What's the point if you're not having fun with it? My art is on my time, lol.

TLDR; Work all day, work on personal art late at night. Chores on weekends

Before Quarantine -
* 9am-7pm - Work full time during the day
* I get fed breakfast and lunch at work, so I don't need to prep food
* draw on the train on to and from work
* 8pm - come home and feed humans and animals, watch a a show or play a game while I eat
* 9pm-2am - do art work until very late at night
* most of the chores were done during the weekend, since I would get home too late to start machines, since I live in an apartment. I also have a husband that also does chores.

Present day under quarantine -
* 10am-6pm - Work during the day
* sometimes I'll do chores while waiting on something at work
* lunch break - order food and play a game for a bit
* dishes usually need to be done before I can do dinner, now that we use all dishes in a day it seems
* 6pm - make dinner, feed everyone
* eat dinner - play a game or watch something
* 8pm - 12am - do art until very late at night
* chores are still usually saved for weekends, but if they can't wait or it's something like dishes or laundry, you can just get that stuff going and forget about it.

I personally couldn't keep up with a regularly-updating comic while I was working a full-time corporate job. I had to be on the train for an hour and a half to and from work, at work for 8-9 hours a day, then come home and take care of the dog and cook dinner and do dishes and go to the laundromat... Honestly, I couldn't do it. I was just too tired all the time, and mentally and creatively drained. I even tried using the time spent on the train to draw comics, but I just didn't have the mental energy to be creative and artistic after all that.

I don't think there's any shame in not being able to draw for a while. After a certain point, though, I think priorities need to be evaluated. Is it more important to make more money and be financially stable? Or is it more important for you to have the free time to creatively express yourself? For me, my time was worth more than the money I was earning, so I wound up moving into a much smaller and cheaper apartment and transferring to a different job that was closer and worked fewer hours, so I spent less time on the train and at work. I made a lot less money, and there were a few times where I had to borrow money to get my car fixed or take my dog to the emergency vet, but my mental and creative health was significantly improved.

My job puts me at risk for having repetitive strain injuries and migraines. I'd feel pain in my dominant wrist and in the muscle in my back (the muscle that's connected to my dominant arm).

When I was working full-time, I could either draw 1-2 hours after work or not draw at all because of health problems stated above. Now that I work part-time, I have more time to draw and more time to recover from health problems. Except working part-time means being paid lower than when I was working full-time. But I was depressed when I was working full-time, so I guess working part-time suits me best.

I do a lot of extra work like marketing and organizing and sometimes even writing while on break from my full-time career job (I'm an assistant teacher), but honestly the only way I manage it is by forsaking other hobbies. Whenever I get super into a TV series or a video game it usually comes at the cost of writing time and so I have to budget very wisely... but highly in favor of writing, which at this point is a second full-time job.

When I worked a full-time job outside, I was lucky if I had time to update a comic or make any kind of art even once a week. Right now, I work from home and split the chores with my husband who also works from home so this frees up a bit of time throughout the week to work on many of my side projects.

Monogamists don't understand the struggle.

It's hard, ngl.

During high season, I can work up to 12hrs a day without much time during the day to sit down for water and food, let alone writing (novelist, here). I find that I can draft when I'm dead-dog tired, but editing is impossible, so I optimize and schedule my time to draft on workdays and edit / schedule posts / do general housekeeping on days off.

When I'm working a 8-10 hr day, I can usually expect to draft between 1k and 2k after work (so -- 50-100% of a new chapter). When that day becomes 12+ hrs long, I'll be lucky to zombie out 500 words before my brain collapses in on itself. Still, 500 words / day is 2.5k by the end of my work week, which is usually a complete chapter -- and I can push harder when I know I'm off the next day. It's not as prolific as I'd like to be, but minimal progress is still progress.

Over the weekend, I'll edit multiple chapters and write around 5k.

Everyone has different speeds, different abilities, and different obstacles. I'm not saying 'I can do this, so you can/should, too' -- I'm just giving the novelists out there one possible option out of many. I'm healthy, I work a physical labor job (I swear sitting at the computer working all day makes writing harder for me than being physically tired!) and work doesn't follow me home. I have no children, my partner is ultra-supportive of my writing ... so I'm in a pretty good place.

I do honestly believe that the only way to make it happen is to turn it into a routine activity. I'm not sure how much of a comic can be done piecemeal, but I force myself to write every day, even if I'm only tacking on a few paragraphs to a draft in progress.

Every little bit counts, and keeps your brain focused on your creative work. And to be fair, I think my life is healthier and more balanced for having a consistent creative output ... even if it means more work for me!