Masterpieces and mishaps: Time keeping

Hello everyone,

Now I don't know about you guys but one big struggle i've always had is time keeping and I sympathise with you all because creating art work is a very time consuming buisness. I'm doing a Bachelors in Illustration and let me tell you the amount of people who said my degree is easy or that I won't get a job when I graduate or the worst one 'oh that's easy you don't have to do any writing'. But please do not let these negative opinions get to you because you are doing something you really love with your life and if you have the motivation you will get there in the end. Nobody said it would be easy but I guess that proves doing art degree or freelancing takes dedication and is hard work.

So here are some tips help me with my time keeping:

1. Get up early! If you set yourself an alarm and get up in the morning, treat the day like a day at work and finish around 5/6 so you can have your evening to yourself.

2. Have breaks, giving yourself breaks is really important especially if you are hunched over a desk or sat at an computer doing research. Make sure you give yourself an hour for lunch and a 15 min break if you need to get some air to re-focus.

3. DO NOT leave it all to the last minute! Trust me i've been there up at 4am cramming and it's not fun aswell as the fact you'll find yourself very limited with very little time left. Don't be that person turning up for your deadline shaking like a leaf because of the amount of energy drinks you have consumed in the last few hours.

4. PLAN! Mind maps, to do lists, colour coding, post it notes, you name it, whatever suits your way of working do it because it will make you feel so much more organized and capible it to get the work done in time.

5. Learn to say no to plans when you are swamped with work, that party may seem appealing but the deadline will soon come around.

6. Have a good work space whether that be at home or in the studio, a good work space always helps and is great place to layout all your ideas.

I hope some of these tips are helpful and will help you avoid some of those pesky all nighters!