How do you keep from getting tired?!

[conbon100101]

Call me crazy, but I hate getting tired.
I want to work on my art but I also work a full time job, have a six year old and, you know, life in general.
How do you keep yourself up and able to work on - at least - one painting or page a day.
Typically, I don't get to start drawing until 8:30 or 9 at night, and a page tends to take about 4+ hours. Maybe I'm overzealous to want to be able to finish a piece a night but I feel like lately I've barely been able to stay up past 10!
Are there any cool tricks you folks have to staying up longer than you should (haha, I know it's probably not the healthiest plan, but still!)

[TopJimComics]

No, but if you discover this secret then please share!!!

(also full time job, and have 14 and 12 year old kids)

[AnnaLandin]

1. You don't. You will get tired, especially with that kind of hectic schedule.
2. It is 100% okay to NOT finish a piece every day when your schedule is that full. Slow down a bit!
3. Seriously DON'T DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF SLEEP. It is VERY UNHEALTHY, and is actively bad for you. Especially as sleep deprivation can very easily become a habit, and you really, really don't want that.

Basically, do the work you can, when you can. It's perfectly okay to work on things in bits and pieces. It's okay to take more than an evening to finish a piece. You will work better and more efficiently if you AREN'T depriving yourself of sleep anyway.

[TheRabbit]

Like AnnaLadin said. You heatlh is more important than producing one page a day.

[ryoko]

I don't think anyone likes being tired, but there's really nothing to fix it other than rest. I try to work at least 20mins in the morning on my pages before I have to go to work and then later on after I get home, make dinner/do chores, etc, but there are some days where I'm so tired that I can't see straight enough to draw, so I don't. I know you can feel pressured to do a certain amount of art a day, but it's not always feasible and you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. If you're tired, go to bed and then see how you feel the following day. Usually, if I listen to my body telling me to rest, I can get things drawn the next day.

[elisaaaaamay]

This might not be of much help, not sure, but a nap can actually d serious wonders on you, it clears your head, calms you down and makes you feel good. (I don't know if it's just me). Good luck with your art and take care of yourself! ^ o ^

[Kayke]

I definitely do not produce one page a day and I don't even have kids hahah

I've found that creating a routine helps and scheduling "me time" into my day. It's a lot easier for me to think 'I'll come home from work and then draw until 10pm and after that I can chill out and watch a movie or play a video game' than to think 'I'll just work forever until I have nothing left in me'... of course their art still weeks when I have tight deadlines where I HAVE to work late into the night and give up all my down time and really tire myself out. But I guess what I'm saying is I try to make a point to not let that become the norm for me!

I also give myself one day a week off where I don't draw or write at all and instead go out with friends to unwind and catch up on things happening in their lives.

[cleo_san]

Not sleeping got me into hospital a few years ago, so please, don't do that - it's definitely not worth it! >.<

What I sometimes do: I take a kitchen timer and "structure" my time, e.g. I take 30 minutes to do housework stuff, then take a short break (~10 mins), another 30 für university stuff, then some time for drawing...

sometimes I take 2-4 DAYS for one page, so don't worry, it's really okay to leave something to finish the next day, I totally agree with @AnnaLandin on this =)

[DMBrigman]

Health and happiness is more important than quantity of output. I realistically can do one page per week which gives me enough time to take care of household work, have a social life, workout, have some down time, and do my full time job. If I chose to cut out all of that stuff I would have more time for comics but it would negatively affect my mental health.

At first I played with different schedules to find one that worked for me and I have had great success with taking a lunch break at work and spending 30 to 45 minutes working on my comic, then one hour each evening. This usually allows me to finish up my page without having to sacrifice my whole weekend. This means I have to be very regimented, pack a lunch every day, and drop things when it is time to work on the comic.

[conbon100101]

I usually don't deprive myself of sleep, there are just times where I want to draw and just...can't. Typically I don't go to sleep until 12:30 or 1 then I'm up at 6 so I still get 5-5:30 hours of sleep a night. I just wondered if there's things people do to get the yawns to go away while you focus haha.
I try to slow down, I just think I have a serious problem with being able to do so >.<

[conbon100101]

Drawing/creating is my fun time haha. And, I don't really have friends There are days where I take time off to game and what not, but I typically don't end up gaming for that long because I find myself wanting to draw again. I really like drawing, I just sometimes find myself losing focus because i'm zoney. Maybe a big part of it is this seriously gloomy weather. I use to be able to do this with no sweat haha.
@cleo_san That is really not good. I've always been one to not sleep that much. I have my "sleep in days" and I think that helps. Maybe part of my issue is that I didn't get a sleep in day this weekend haha.
@DMBrigman I have two comics and I try to put one page out for both per week. So I guess I'm more ahead of myself than I need to be as I also have about 6 pages ahead of where I am completed of both comic. But I like drawing so it irritates me when I'm not able to for one reason or another.

[DMBrigman]

Having a buffer is great, I lost mine after the holidays, so I can't slack at all. I like drawing too, it really is what I would love to do with all of my time. But.... I do have to also take care of myself, home, and loved ones! I have given up video games cries in favor of comics, otherwise I would do that all weekend

[conbon100101]

Yeah I stopped gaming as much as I use to because I just want to art all the time. Though I need to beat Dragon Age Inquisition on Nightmare. I will have platinum if I can just finish this haha.

[Shanny8]

Kids are a job in itself. I did the parent thing and it was until mine hit their mid teens, I started to get more time to myself to do art. You've just gotta get the most done with what little time you have...but dont sacrifice sleep, or time with the kids.

I too, quit playing video games to devote more time to getting back to doing comics. Now that I'm producing at a level that I feel is good for me, I will devote some down time to playing video games again.

I stay tired. When I worked on my comic I would work in increments of 4 pages(pencil/ink/color/letter) every 2-3 weeks. It would A) allow me to build a buffer and B) once I got to a certain point, I could take extra time away to rest. If I got sick, or was too tired- at least I would have XX pages of buffer to cover for me until I recovered. If i'm not tired from working on comics, I'm usually tired from working my day job...I try to use the weekends to get extra hours of sleep, and stay up late getting stuff done.

I try to be better about my [comic] work habits by taking breaks, taking extended breaks when I need to(like last year when I was struggling with possible carpal tunnel in my left elbow and BOTH wrists).

[SpavVy]

I just recently fixed my insomnia problem that was caused by forcing myself to stay up and it was very VERY hard for to get back to a normal sleeping schedule @_@; words cannot describe how freaking tired I was. It had a negative impact on both my mental and physical health.

If you need to sleep then sleep! Your health should always come first especially with a schedule you have. I honestly think you should just take your time on your pages and work on building a buffer.

[niinasalmelin]

I took my time to build crazy-huge-ass buffer so I'd afford to take breaks when I felt like it.

[digitalvalium1]

I work a full time job. My wife has CHF and diabetes, and my son is moderate functioning autistic with delays and a seizure disorder. Time management. Some days it's just not there, but when it is, it's nice to get away.

Make lists.
Stick to your schedule.
Schedule your down time.
Sleeping pills help. A LOT.
Combine tasks.

[Zetsubonii]

I use my comic time as leisure time because I do feel that it is relaxing for me :U I try to set aside at least 2 hours to work on it per day, making a page every 3 days or so :U When I get tired of drawing, I take a nap, play some games and maybe watch YouTube videos for a while, just to keep things chill ^^"

[indagold]

Built a giant buffer. Work on comics when I feel like it. Have time to take vacations.
Seriously that's the only way.

[Onestroke]

Coffee and looots of it but I don't recommend it unless you can keep your hands still