Managing Life and a Comic

[Yulek]

yea. that's definitely true.

I mean, having a backlog is important.. but I think I might actually prefer having a big chunk down. like in webtoons the first season.
then take some time off to work on the next one without the weekly updates breathing down your neck

would still need time management tho to actually get a whole season done

[Eiranyx]

I am currently self-employed so I have a pretty flexible schedule ^^ --- so I don't know how it works for others but for me I do things like this:

• The key for me is to work efficiently --- I sort my workloads according to the time when it was needed and how fast can it be done and then work on it according to which is prioritized.
  for example, in Workload A, the deadline is three days. Suddenly, there's a project given by a client, this is Workload B but the deadline is a week from now. However, knowing my current skills, I estimated that both workloads can be done by me within a day-- so i finish it both within the day. Therefore as a result, I got extra free time before deadline from both works, which means that I can work on my comic without worrying about missing a workload and deadlines ^^
• Another trick for me is to trick myself by writing in my to do list that certain works with later deadlines are due to shorter time. for example:
  workload A is due in three weeks, the workload can be done within a week therefore I won't write it as due in three weeks, instead I will write it's due next week --- as a result, I will focus on it to finish it within the week, so in the end, I got more time.for me~
• then finally, I set a day to take a break--- there's no work during weekends (more like I make sure no all workloads for the week are done within the workdays) Saturdays and Sundays are off -- I spend it like this: Saturday, I spend it by doing things in advance regarding my comic and I spend the Sundays doing things that I want like my hobbies XD

[tomcruznation]

For me, it all comes down to the right attitude of work and time management. Currently I do two different weekly comics, do animation, and also a chef. But also have time for family and games.

In practice, I wake up early around 5 am and focus on what I can do for today and not drift my thoughts too far thinking over the future, and also not being worried too much about the past. Having a focused mindset really clears the barriers of resistance in my mind.

Taking a walk in the morning and in the afternoon can clear the mind of stress specially right after a long sit-down session of drawing and animation. Of course there will be times that I'll get the feeling to procrastinate for the day, so in practice I just do the most I can before that feeling hits. And then not think about it too much to allow my brain to refresh and while it happens I focus on another task for the day.

I spend my creative cooldown mode during my culinary practices, and while I take a break from cooking, I continue doing comics/animation. The trick is just to alternate tasks in between and with the addition of games during personal time.

Just enjoy the present experience and not be too hard on yourself. Thinking too much of doing one thing might just give anxiety. And being free of the mistakes of yesterday will also clear the mind from depression.

In addition, spending time with family is worth while.

Hope this helps you in your future endeavors.

[Caro]

Before I started doing it full time I decided I had to be okay with not really having a social life for a few years and it sucked. Friends I had for years thought I quietly moved away or something. But it is a weird job that requires so much of yourself and its highly competitive and not exactly a necessity (nobody’s ever said “the world needs more cartoonists”). So it was something I compromised on because I knew it would pay off later.

Now I work full time in comics (with occasional side work in animation and illustration tho most of my income comes from books). And now I have a pretty solid work schedule where I can wind down during the evenings with friends and my husband and I give myself weekends off (unless I goofed on a deadline). I’ve talked to a lot of friends about the early years before we went into it full time and it seems pretty much the same across the board. a few years of pure work before we got to relax a little.

[WizardWatson]

Sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I was listening to a podcast once, where someone recounted a speech given to them by their high school soccer coach.

"You can only be good at two things at once. Three, tops," said the coach. "You're all students, so school has to be one of them. And if you want to be on this team, this team has to be the other one."

I think he's right. There's only so many hours in the day, and you only have so much mental energy to get through it. If you're in school, school has to come first. THEN comics, with whatever energy you have left.

I work 40 hours a week. My "two things" are my job and my art. I also have no family and no social life, and that's how I like it. If I had a wife and children, chances are that I'd either have to be a worse engineer, a worse artist, or a worse husband and father.

That said, it's a good idea to have a fixed time every week dedicated to comics. When I was first getting serious about my art, I made a point of sitting down and drawing at least three times a week, and I would mark it on a calendar above my desk with a big red X as a visual reminder. I feel your pain when you say it's not "enough." Unless you're successful enough to do this full time, I doubt it will ever be "enough."

[Legendofgenii]

I just fit it in between life, work and procrastination.

[ninedux]

I like working in the morning, I wake up at 5am, sit on my bed with coffee and draw for 2 hours then go to work. In the evenings I draw while watching shows or movies to relax haha.

[rajillustration]

So something I noticed for myself is that I paradoxically was working LESS on my comic and my novel during quarantine although I had more time--and, other than the obvious stress factor, it was because when I had less time, I was actively scheduling more. 2020 put me in a brain fog. I was just...forgetting things. So, when I decided that it was time to make schedules again, although I've been just at home in quarantine, it's really improved my workflow and improved my productivity. And this process works for me, but may not be for everyone, some people really hate being under a schedule. But here's how it goes:

-First of all, I didn't make a comic in college. I spent 10 hours a day in the illustration lab painting and being in class. It could be that like...this is a bad time to make a comic. (of course I had a friend who was an English major and she had the opposite situation where she had more time to make her comic in college and basically stopped updating once she graduated. It's sort of up to you)
-at the beginning of the week, so like on Sunday, I take an hour and I write down what I'll focus on each day (like only 2 or 3 things a day). This helps me be less overwhelmed, because then I only need to think about one thing at a time. It's when I have to juggle all these dates and things at once that I feel like I'm losing my mind a little.
-at the beginning of the day, as I eat my breakfast, I write down what I'll be doing each hour of that day that I'm awake. Each hour has it's own focus--it's not ALL I do in that hour, I do take breaks and walk around and stuff, but I need to have a schedule or I'll fart around on like pinterest looking for reference for 2 hours and whoops there goes my drawing time. This has also helped me figure out what time I tend to work best (which is the afternoon).
-I log my time with a timer using toggl (which is a free browser program) whenever I am working so I can know, realistically, how long it takes me to draw an update. I think most artists (me included) think we're faster than we actually are. But, when I know my reality, then I can plan ahead or make adjustments to my project so that my drawing time will be faster.
-I'm a great believer in slow and steady wins the race, so my update schedule is 2x the amount of time it takes to make an update because...anything can happen.
-My comics are about 15 panels vs the webtoon standard of 30-60 panels an update.
-I have a 6 month buffer. Was hoping to make a year of buffer but eh last year was a mess so I'll accept 6 months.
-I limit my social media like a lot since it gives me unnecessary stress (this forum is like the last place I go)
-I will take a hiatus or slow down my update schedule if there's a problem. This has never been a problem with my readers, they get it. It's fine.

[arxianfall]

Maybe someday if I get a little bit of fame I'll tell my story.

It's a job. I treat as a job and I invest job hours in it because I need it to be.

But to keep it short. I lost everything professionally.

---

On topic:
It's pretty much easy when you realize a few things:

• If you're healthy your body can handle it, It's your mind that needs rest.
• Good amount of sleep helps you work faster. So does taking breaks to, exercise, socialize, have a drink grab a bite or just shut your brain off for 10 to 30 minutes.
• Setting real limits for yourself. Meaning that you dedicate a set amount of time to an activity and nothing more even if you didn't complete as much as you wished. There's always next time. And not many activities are utter emergencies or with a deadline.
• Be realistic with yourself. Personally, I wanted to draw a comic about about action sports for my friends, do my main story, rewrite a book, draw memes, film tiktoks for mountainboarding and youtube and keep up my physical health and learn new tricks. All in one week. It's possible, but would I ever finish any?
• No one really cares. Only you. It's your standards that you're trying to appease. No one else but yourself is forcing you.

I saw you doing 3d, doing your comic, working on a portfolio and now I hear you have another project. Oh, and I know those reviews you do around this forum take at least 30 minutes of your time, each. I mean, choose what you love and dedicate yourself to that first.

[Kaydreamer]

I'll admit straight-up that I'm in a pretty lucky position, but I'll dig into it a little anyway, since there may be some things I do which you'll find helpful.

I teach two days a week, which pays the bills and allows me to work on my comic during the other thee working days. (Teaching pays decent where I live.) I treat my comic as a job; it doesn't earn me money yet, but one day, one way or the other, the comic (or webcomic) industry will, and this is how I intend to reach that point. So, job.

Since it's a job, I have a routine. I stick as close to it as I'm able, and it kinda helps keep my brain more on-task during comic days. (ADHD, whoo.) I tend to work on it a little on weekends as well.

I'd definitely recommend a buffer. I'd very strongly recommend a much larger buffer than mine.

And I've set a conservative update schedule. I'm glad of my choice to move bi-weekly. I could see myself moving monthly if the pacing of the story began demanding longer episodes.

[Yulek]

If you're healthy your body can handle it, It's your mind that needs rest.

*laughs in cronically Ill *

anywho. you raise some great points.

I saw you doing 3d, doing your comic, working on a portfolio and now I hear you have another project. Oh, and I know those reviews you do around this forum take at least 30 minutes of your time, each. I mean, choose what you love and dedicate yourself to that first.

Most of that is because of school actually.
I study design with the focus on CGI/3D, Ux/Ui, and illustration.
I need the portfolio works to get an internship, which is mandatory.

my biggest comic project is one I want to get physically published, as a source of income, for my resume, and for personal aspirations and fulfillment.

so i'm mainly spread thin by School related stuff.
my only free time projects are Comics really

(yeee I spend a while on those feedbacks... but they are really fun and help you staying sharp yourself? and after school, Possible jobs, that I'd be qualified for through previously studying education, would be teaching art classes at college etc., so that's something I want to keep as an open door, and that needs some practice too............... tho yea, I am kinda all over the place. would probably be easier if I had a clearer idea what my career path is gonna look like. but my school is determined to make us jacks of all traits, so you just.. gotta juggle)

[Yulek]

I could totally see this working out for me too tbh.

I just talked about how a possible field for me would be to teach art classes.

generally, having a job with solid hours could really help.
as is, I just gotta work on the assignments till they are done, which can mean that I work for 12 hours a day, everyday for several weeks (last semester was intense)

maybe I should try and see how I would work in a parttime job, and then treat comicing as that

and yes. buffers. big big buffers.

[arxianfall]

yeee I spend a while on those feedbacks... but they are really fun and help you staying sharp yourself?

Then let me give you a tip before I take it.

Do it on youtube. Do exactly what you did but in your review thread but talk about it instead of typing it. OBS is free.

There's decades of content and there's the possibility of you making something on the side.

[Yulek]

me: I think youtubing would be cool
them: what's stopping you

me:

I do see creators like Brookes eggleston who offer feedbacks on their patreon and then upload them on youtube (when the person is okay with it)

tho I can't quite see anyone really getting invested in it if I did it as content

[arxianfall]

I used to work as a hostel bartender at one point.
Accents are are interesting, accents are sexy or they are funny. Basically, you're not basic.

Speaking fluently is a trained skill. You already went through the process of learning something from scratch, so it's not your first rodeo.

Besides, it's not you main thing you can just shoot the shit over there. Again, no one knows you, no one cares (Take it as a positive to let loose).

And forums like these, they're not healthy, The community is way small, niche and a bit of a hivemind. It's people that all know how to draw or write and share similar passions. They're addictive. Just like old people and Facebook or the perpetually offended and Twitter.

I'll tell you this, whenever I'm here it's because I'm procrastinating and avoiding doing actual work.

[Rhonder]

I kinda do, I kinda don't? That's my answer

My schedule's not as loaded as it could be (full time job, but otherwise no other outside commitments, even less so in current times) but even so I always feels like I just move as such a sluggish pace that it's frustrating

For my first comic I somehow managed a page-a-week schedule, although it started wavering towards the end when I was less motivated and more wanting to do other activities alongside just drawing.

For my current one... I spent 8 months building up 7 episodes worth of buffer and am tentatively posting on a monthly schedule, but the last few episodes have been taking 2 months to complete so I see a mandatory hiatus in the future xD I have enough to post through to the middle or end of summer, but I'll probably take a break around then to rebuild.

Last summer I started live streaming, 2 days a week working on my comic for 2 hours each. So I get at least 4 hours of work in on my comic every week, but it's not the most focused work (chatting with folks and talking through what I'm doing and all that slows it down a bit). And outside of that... I've been kinda lazy and not feeling like drawing as much tbh

I do a 3rd gaming live stream a week, play D&D one night, have started slowly making some art-related youtube content, and outside of those days, usually I just don't feel too motivated to draw on my other evenings after work. This is why my 20-30 panel episodes have been taking 2 months lmao. It's actually not that bad when I look back and realize how little i actually draw outside of my streams... But I still hope to remedy the speed in the near future or this comic will take forever.

[Darth_Biomech]

Shave away all unnecessary things and tasks, multitask whenever possible.
Why watch a movie when you can draw your comic instead? Or you can watch it while drawing your comic. Why sleep 8 hours when 6 hours is just as enough as long as you have some coffee? Working from home can eliminate the "travel to and from the workplace" routine which alone can eat up to 4 hours of your daily time (Plus without your boss hawking over your shoulder you might find some time to work on your comic during the work hours as well if the nature of your work allows breaks like that).
Nuking your social media also helps, or so I've heard from people who are accustomed to spending every waking hour checking their Twitter feed.

[Puck]

this is so on point

[allenthomas]

I'm not sure if I really "manage" it at all.
But I started waking up earlier, about 5:30, to get something done if it's nothing more than sketching out a panel before I have to get ready for work.
I go to work and when I get off. I pretty much am working on the comic for the remainder of the day.
I may take a videogame break or have other "real life" related issues to deal with, but I spend most of my time drawing with youtube gaming streams of some kind in the background.

My biggest hurdle is finding a way to work without people interrupting me as people love to take advantage of the fact that I am working at home most of the time.

[AmandaJ-art]

I wouldn't say I really manage everything well.
School - takes up most of my time.
RPG game - Very slow progress. Take some days to draw for that each month.
Videos - Work on videos for some weeks. I can't always work on them as they need art.
Comic #1 - Bi-weekly and I barely manage. Have only around 4 pages per update. I do the sketch, lineart and shading on different days. Work on it the whole week.
Comic#2 - The weekly one. Take a day to work on that.
Comic#3 - 0 time and energy for that.
New project - Just when I feel like it.

I can only manage schedules for 2 comics and that's it. The only reason why I can keep up with anything is that I like being busy and working on things. I also reward myself if I finish something. If I finish an update then next week I'll be able to work on something other than that. I do sometimes get very drained and unmotivated, but I can always bounce back as I love what I do.

Building up a buffer can help you a ton, but that can always backfire if you don't work on the comic during the time you post the buffer. I can only keep myself motivated if I keep doing it with a schedule.