How do you manage the guilt of "you're not working on your comic right now"?

[Darth_Biomech]

I understand the importance of several projects and juggling them to avoid burnout, but every time I'm working on something else, there's always that part of me guilt-tripping "You're not working on your comic. You're not doing your job. You could've building your buffer but instead, you're wasting time by doing this crap right now."

[ar-ninetysix]

Accept that my brain kinda needed a break, even without me making a conscious effort to do so. The last thing I want is the overwhelming guilt of wanting to do something for fun in such a serious manner.. I can't think of any faster way to burn yourself out on working on a project

[TunaPrincess]

Oh boooy, this one has been me for sure lately.

Honestly for me, I just remind myself that I'm making my comic for myself first. That I'm making a comic because it's a story I want to tell and that I'm passionate about. I get these feels a lot because I get really anxious about like "what if I have to go on hiatus". Also just reminding myself that breaks are good, important and necessary to making good art! You need to take a break and do things that are not your comic or project to fill your creative well up again! If the well is empty, it won't matter how hard you try to create, nothing good will come out of it.

[VibrantFox]

Given i'm currently trying to manage my own burnout I just have to accept days where i'm just not able to do things. Like I'm more than aware of things I could be doing but if i lack the energy or motivation for it im not going to let that reflect on whatever i try to force myself to work on because it just kills the quality of stuff

[Tailzkip]

I just took a burn out break to play Pokemon unite for a week. I tried to work on maybe two panel's each day, just to tide myself over. If I sat down and I really didn't want to do it, I just walked away. I knew I would only end up rushing and not being happy with the result anyway. I feel more ready to work on my comic this week, but I'm making small steps back into my normal 5-6 pages a day lol...sometimes I just get into it and 5 hours later I take another break lol.

[joannekwan]

I don't feel guilt. No one's paying me for regular updates of my comic, so I'll take the breaks I need.

Even for paid commissions, I keep the time I work on them within a regular work schedule. When the clock strikes 5, I'm OUT. I gotta take care of myself in the now and enjoy some of my life, since I'm gonna eventually die anyway.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

By doing something else productive "I'm studying/cleaning/cooking/ worshipping satan" right now that my brain can register it as an excusable thing.

Also nobody's paying/contracting me me or commenting "Where's the next update?" with similar messages sent into each of my social media so nobody is looking forward to it I got the chillest most adjustable schedule.

[rajillustration]

Today I have carpal tunnel in my thumb (which is hella weird to be in my...thumb?), so me taking a break today means I can actually work tomorrow. Learned from experience that if you do everything at once, you'll end up having to stop way longer than you would have originally taken a break.

[Legendofgenii]

I like to remind that silly negative voice that I’m making my comic for free and it’s supposed to be enjoyable - not stressful or exhausting.

I think we put too much pressure on ourselves sometimes. It’s ok to take breaks or work on something else if you want to.

[gabriellabalagna]

Well, I take breaks when I need them...

But I also set challenges to push myself, otherwise I know I'll never get my comic done. This month, I started a daily comics group here on Tapas.

It's important to do other things. But if you aren't getting as much accomplished as you'd like, maybe try setting a small, temporary challenge for yourself.

[WeightedThoughts22]

I was recently going through writer's block myself and trying to push myself to write something, wasn't working for me. I continued to delete and rewrite, and I was quickly becoming frustrated with myself. The words just didn't sound right or make sense to me, and words were no longer flowing as easily.
So, I stopped and started another piece, often I would feel bad and question if something was wrong with my previous piece or if something was wrong with me.
But, I know that when I'm ready, I will go back and give it my best,and it will be great, for I could never completely give it up; it was my first creation, my first child.
It's a process and it can't be rushed, you may do more damage than good, so take your time, and rewind.

[amortelito]

I curl into a ball and remember that I'm too poor to afford spending time making my comic and kind of makes me feel lest guilty about it, but more guilty about not having more paid work.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

there's always that part of me guilt-tripping "You're not working on your comic. You're not doing your job. You could've building your buffer but instead, you're wasting time by doing this crap right now."

My "solution" is to have so many projects going simultaneously that these kinds of thoughts are always present, and thus dissolve into the white noise of my brain. =p

When the 'you should be working on x' alarm is going off every second of every day, eventually you learn to just ignore it and go play some video games. ^^

[wispysing]

Well...I sleep it off. While I'm still in the process of making a buffer before publishing my comic, I'm also working on a full 9-5 day job and only has time to work on my thing in the evening to midnight-ish. So on reaaally bad art days or burnout days, I just force myself to settle the pen down and sleep, though the guilt probably keeps me awake for another hour or two haha

[TAMAnnoying]

I do not understand. How dose one not work on comic? Is this that “relaxing” thing I keep hearing about?

[Caro]

Keep in mind that everything you do is part of the creative process whether its active or not. Some of the best ideas come after turning your brain off of your main project for a while and watch tv, movies, read books unrelated to your comic, shitpost, talk to friends, etc.

Everything you do is important.

But generally my solution is to start another comic lol.

[noenoh]

1.- Your physical and mental health are more important than anything. If you need to rest and have fun, do it. If I want to keep drawing I need to take care of myself first.
2.- Nobody's paying to me to draw, I do it because I want it.
3.- The money Im receiving from my precious patrons are as they told me: to me to continue enjoying drawing not torturing myself with it (beautiful souls, Im still drawing something for them rn)

Edit:

Summary

I have a heart condition and it made me be in bed most of the time the past 3 days. I didnt touched my comic at all and will not doi it until tomorrow maybe since I regained dtrenght today in the afternoon. Take care of yourself

[wispysing]

Perfectionism, it seems. Art can be a relaxing thing if you are not really thinking about the results. But with comics, all we think about are the results, it's a passion project. We are the Pygmalions of our work.

[DarkChibiShadow]

Assign time in your week for drawing comics, and know if it's outside of that assigned time, that it's okay to do other things! If you're filling your quota for the month, who cares what the rest is filled with. ^u^ Good luck!

[marbl]

When summer break started for me, I was excited for the guilt-free few months that I had.

Boy, was I wrong!

I have a few time-consuming hobbies that I tried to get off of the ground, but in hindsight, completely putting all my effort into one would have been way better. Between procrastinating and being unproductive, I didn't get the most work done. I don't have a good way of dealing with the guilt, but reminding myself that they're just hobbies (but might not work if making comics/writing is more than a hobby) and procrastinating by focusing on other projects work (albeit not too well).