Full Time (non-art) jobs AND comics? How do you handle it?

[Houndstooth]

I start a new, full time position on monday. Which I'm really excited about! BUT. I haven't had full, constant days of doing stuff since I was in school years ago. And this is 40hrs, so 5 days a week. Til now I've had all the time in the world to work on my webcomic (Laid in Lavender), commissions and personal art because I've been able to take things at my own pace - especially with mental illness and chronic pain, it worked for me.

I'm really, really worried my output is going to grind to a halt once I start work! I have a buffer that'll last a couple months, but I'm afraid I'll be too tired to draw anything after work/ on my days off.

EDIT: I should mention the new job is constantly on your feet, heavy lifting, warehouse work. Not as calm as an office job!

So anyone who balances a webcomic, personal art, and a full time job - please teach me your secrets!

[69Michi]

To be honest the only way I can see you work around this is to reduce the amount of page per update! You have to, because comic is not your full time job and you are doing it more or less as a hobby. I myself am a fulltime college student with a part time job (working 20 hours a week), I used to update weekly, but since school started up I moved my update back to a biweekly and it's been going well so far for me. Your audience will surely understand that you have a life beside your comic too! Don't stress over it too much.

[J.Lovelace]

Sometimes I can't handle it. But in the times I do, I decided not to overload myself too much, so on the weekdays(after work) I either rest, draw some personal art or prepare sketches for my next upload, and then do the serious drawing on weekend. Sometimes I skip a weekend of drawing just to rest and relax. Because my body just needs rest whether I want or not. It's ok to take your time with the new pages, remember that your physical well being comes first.
Nothing good comes out when you're tired and force yourself to draw.

[SynergyEclipse]

I'm working part-time now, but may have to go back to full-time pretty soon. I've worked full-time before while working on my comic, but the way I handled working on it wasn't ideal. Because of how long each page takes to make, I've had the habit of getting up 2 hours before I have to leave for work, and dedicated that time to working on my comic to ensure that some progress will be made every day. That often left me not getting much sleep during the week, and catching up on some of the sleep I missed on the weekend. On the weekdays after work, I tried to get some more drawing for my comic done if I weren't too tired.

The way I paced it while working full-time is that I sketched pages on the weekend to allow myself more time to plan them out, and did the digital line art, coloring, text and backgrounds during the weekdays.

[LCT_m_a_d]

I work full-time as a programmer and work on my webcomic independently. From my personal experience, bumps and bruises aside it is very doable. However, you will need to make some lifestyle changes that will cater to that day to day activity or you will end up making yourself miserable. Fortunately, it means doing adult things that we take for granted, but still should.

Some of the things I've been focused on were
-eating healthier and making daily time for regular exercise. Your brain and body will need extra energy to keep up with the extra efforts both emotional and mental throughout the day. You don't need to go overboard, just start planning and making small adjustments that work for you. Mostly this involves eating breakfast and wholefoods for me, while doing taichi after the 8-5.

-trading videogame, social media, and television time with coffee dates, movie nights with friends, and books at the local places. This one bothers just about everyone I suggest this to because of "introverted" mindsets but your relationships with friends and family are one of those things that secretly motivate you. Plus when you disconnect from videogames and TV you start to realize that art isn't just a job, or hobby. It's really a fun thing to do. Plus you take control of your mental environment which is huge. If you absolutely must do these soul sucking activities, at least do them with friends and family lol either way you have a limited time for these things each day now.

Doing some pregame stuff before you draw. When I'm working on my comic I forget that I have another job or that my favorite show comes on. My only occupation for however long I have is drawing. I usually like to turn off all digital stuff and meditate in complete silence or read some bible/motivation quotes until my palette is cleared. 30 minutes of quality art time beats out 2 hours of not being in the zone.

Other than that it's just sticking to it. I can't say that's a bulletproof checklist, but for me it's made things a lot less chaotic. Also I have fallen off this stuff several times without realizing until my art started getting bad and days seemed endless. I'd just realize I fell off regroup and start back over.

good luck

popular tips that I tried that didn't work out for me personally but do for others
-Making a todo-list (I keep a loose journal instead that serves a similar purpose)
-pomodoro app (I prefer to have a meditation app)
-waking up at 5:30 a.m. (This just really isn't feasible with my schedule at the moment. Will try again in the future though)

[dragonfly_kites]

I'm in that boat myself it's tough. I work full time and I go to school online include friends and family obligations I don't really get to work on my comic that much. Somehow I still manage to update at least one page per week (its not much but it's something). I think the other suggestions of biweekly or limited page updates would probably work the best. my only recommendation would be to plan out during the week when you would like to have something done in your comic. like Monday: Sketch done
Tuesday: lineart
Wednesday: base color
Thursday: shading (and so on and so forth)
I do this. Once I have the thing I planned out done I don't do anymore because I don't want to deal with burn out.

[bjornar]

I have always had a full-time job and done comics in my spare time. What works for me is if I put aside 1-2 hours every evening for drawing, so that I have time for other things as well. If you try to keep up with people who do comics full-time, you will probably wear out sooner or later.
So, do it at your own pace and set aside time for other things as well, it's not a race to the finish line.

[Shanny8]

Having been a parent gave me tremendous insight to how I handle working a FT job and doing a comic. There are days where I can do both of them effectively; those days I usually try to get as far ahead as I can- coz then there are days where I have to concentrate on my FT job and I dont get enough done on my comic. There are also days where I have it pretty easy on my FT job, which allows me time to do more stuff on my comic.

There are times where I do push myself a lot, but then there are days where I kick back and try to relax from doing so much comic stuff. It's a whole thing of juggling tasks and maximizing the opportunity.

[Chopythes]

I work 40h/w as a janitor, which includes heavy lifting and lots of running between floors to change lightbulbs et cetera.

I have two, long running, comics going on as well as creating short comics in the mean time.
However, I only dedicate 3-5 days a week on making comics, allowing myself having 5-6h/day (and getting 6h sleep) on those days.
(Monday, Wednesday, Friday/Sunday are my webcomic art days, the rest are personal art or short comics! Personal art can also be a warm up as well!)

Start slow. Allow yourself to take time making dinner and such if you're living alone (like me) with no pets and make sure you sleep and eat well.

Some weeks I work on my comics all week, allowing myself to take a week off.

Experiment and see what fits you and your needs. Take a day off making dinner, like lots of them. You'll save money and time by taking that to work and eat at home as well! I mean, 3 minutes to microwave your food vs 45 minutes making it daily?

One thing that's worth mentioning is that: Sit down and draw, start with warming up drawings, whether it be headshots or something else. Do this for an hour or so, depending on how much time you've got and then (either eat or) start drawing on your comic.
But try to draw a little every day, it doesn't matter how much it is, as long as it's a little something. If you're having a bad art day, walk away and do something else.

I struggle ALOT with my performance anxiety, and some days I just can't art at all. I feel terrible about when I'm not at the drawing table. However, it's very much needed. "Me"-time should always be considered.

[peekahcosmos]

I cried TwT

It's hard im working outside 10am - 10pm sob
only spent 2 - hours on art after working hours

[punkarsenic]

im a crew member at a student theatre this year - hard work, building and running and long hours during shows - so i get what youre going through. personally, my work just grinds to a halt when its like that. i do have very low stamina though.

find your practice time, your doodling, on paper during your commute. write during your commute too, if you can. mainly the commute to - the commute back is designated resting time, unless youre really feeling up to it.
at home, you have to be both kind and stern with yourself. some days you wont be able to work on your comic, youll be shattered, and accept that. other daysll be fine, but you might lack the motivation - take 30mins to an hour rest (i like to watch telly and eat at the same time) then make yourself crack on. play a podcast or album and decide that you have to keep working as long as that things playing. finish at 9pm, 10 latest, then sleep.

your output seems to be about a page every ten days right now? which id say is doable given you have weekends. you might just have to work a lil more on your comic during the weekends. you might be too tired the first few weekends, but your body acclimatises.

[DMBrigman]

Discipline is how I do it. I have a 40 hour a week job, housework, social obligations, and a a dog!

I try to work on my comic at lunch every day, then set aside one hour in the evening. I also try to set goals, layout and pencils done on Monday, inks by Wednesday, flats and colors started Thursday, colors complete on Friday, weekend for extra stuff. I also have someone else do letters which helps.

I have also moved over to doing rougher pencil sketches and do most of the cleanup and detail during inking, I also have a cel-shaded coloring style and make use of gradients. Using Clip Studio Paint also has a lot of tools like vector drawing and perspective tools that help. Reusing poses and backgrounds helps, as well as making sure I use reference so I am not designing things completely from scratch which takes longer.

[azureXtwilight]

I am both an ER doctor and works in a neuroscience lab, but I also run webcomics. To save time, usually I made my backgrounds first in google sketchup, and reuse it in multiple pages, of course I had to draw over them again for the desired effect, but it saved time. Also less sleep?

[colonel_ressentiment]

I'm really impressed by everyone's dedication! My strategy is a little different; in order to keep to a 2-3 page/week update schedule, I've basically blocked off my weekends (Saturday for inking, Sunday for shading) for the length of time my comic is running, plus I update on Sunday nights to give myself room for procrastination (as it were...). But this works for me because as long as I do the digital storyboards/sketches during the weekdays, when I have less energy, the inking and shading doesn't take up the entire weekend. So I still have enough wiggle room to hang out with friends, get a bit of shopping done, and basically relax aside from comic. Just as importantly, I've pre-storyboarded the entire comic in a sketchbook, so I at least know that there's an end in sight in ~3 months. If your comic is longer-running, you may want an approach that focuses less on the weekends.

[Houndstooth]

Wow thank you all for the response!! I apologise for not replying to anything so far - when i get home from work i basically nap, wake up for dinner and meds, and go back to sleep for the night. I took a sick day today because ive caught a nasty cold and im a little feverish - so ill be online properly later to read everything again and respond.

But i will say that im getting used to it! It feels like being in school again, being up and active five days a week. Im hoping that once im over this cold and my muscles have got used to so much strain ill feel more able to put in a couple hours of comic work each night.

[TomorrowShines]

Yeah, illness of any sort kicks the legs out from under a routine when you've got such a packed schedule. Hope you get better soon. Also, it makes it much more difficult to forego sleep, which is how I do it.

[Ara_Personica]

Compartmentalizing, planning ahead, and time management :'D Also understanding that you'll have late nights and it'll be hard at first, but then it gets better once you get into a groove - and getting into a groove can take months, not weeks or days.

I work full time about an hour away from where I live, so I have a long commute in addition to my job. It helps me to dedicate certain days to comics and to plan ahead heavily. I used to do it on weekends but then I was sad because I couldn't have fun with friends, so I work on them during weekdays, since friends almost never wanna hang out on a work night.

Here is how I work:

I have my entire story written out, and I storyboard an entire chapter before even beginning to draw pages. Once the storyboard is done, I just have to draw the pages. It takes me 2 - 6 hours to sketch and ink a page, and 2 -4 hours to color it digitally. I ink traditionally because it's how I want to practice (I want to be able to draw without the benefit of the undo tool and the transform tools; I fix the comics digitally if something is really off).

I ink two pages one week, then I color them another (which evens out to 1 page a week). I've been going to a local comic shop that's open late to ink and sketch pages, because that helps me get in the work mood and reduces distraction. I finish inking/drawing 1 page a night, even if I have to stay up until 1am. The latest I've been up has been 3am, but after practice and dedication, I'm going to bed at 10pm (now that I go directly to the comic shop after work). And I only have to do this 2 nights a week, which is really doable for me. The other nights I can rest! Or do something else, haha.

But this is all just what works for me and my schedule. I have to be very rigid because of how much time my job takes. You may have to experiment to see what works for you, because my method is certainly not for everyone! Time-management, planning, and compartmentalization are all skills that need practice, just like drawing does <3

[ratique]

As everyone has written before, working and comic-ing at the same time basically means that other things will have to give. Your comic is just another job, so now you have two at the same time - yay! ;D

Depending on the kind of person you are, you can choose to sleep less, have no or little free-time on weekends or draw after/before work. The most important thing is to get into a routine and know that you have to work on your comic sometimes even when you really don't feel like it. That's why I'm calling it a job - it's not always fun.

Good luck with your new job!

[Houndstooth]

Cha cha slides into this topic...

So I've had this job for almost a full month now and I think I'm really starting to settle into the routine of things. I take the bus too and from work which isn't a long enough journey to really focus on anything except catching a few more winks of sleep - but I've taken to bringing my sketchbook into work and during my lunch hour I shovel down food, then spend the majority of that time thumbnailing 1-2 pages for the next chapter. I had the foresight the other weekend to write a proper script for this chapter, this time set out into panels, so the process takes less time and energy.

I've accepted that when I'm on a late shift I get home at almost 9pm, and there's no time to draw on those days. So those are my "days off" and if I do draw, it's not commission or comic work. On early shift, I get home at 5pm and I have a good few hours to get some art done before bed.

As for weekends, I don't really go out much anyway - when I do, it's only to a friend's place where I take my laptop/tablet and draw anyway. So I can use this time to do more comic/commission work and still have enough time to get on with some of the chores I keep letting build up.

It's definitely slower going than it was before, but it's doable. I think it's gonna be okay. Thank you all for your input and advice, and I hope your jobs and comics go well too!