Know Your Limits

One of the things I realized in the midst of this pandemic is that I can only do so much in one day. I’m used to geeking out about productivity and trying to squeeze in something into every hour and pushing myself. At first I thought that more time stuck at home would mean exponential productivity for me, but I wasn’t prepared for the mental challenges that “sheltering in place” would entail living in NYC.

The anxiety and overwhelm I’ve experienced, especially in the last week, has limited me to doing only about 3 main tasks per day (instead of 5 or 6). This underlying anxiety is like a program running in the background of a computer that takes up more RAM and slows the computer down. It now takes a lot more mental effort for me to “figure out” what steps I need to do to start a new project like a custom comic or logo. I can still do it, but it takes more time, and I’m learning to accept that. I’m also taking more breaks and making more time for talking to family and friends.

It’s easier for me to continue work on projects I’ve been doing for awhile (like AER HEAD! Almost done inking!), which is good. I’m thankful to even HAVE some client projects and know that many artists are struggling more than I am for the time being.

New York on Pause is slowing New Yorkers down, and I’m starting to be OK with doing less. Last Friday, for example, mid-afternoon I decided to just take the rest of the day off (which I NEVER do!) and start reading The Artist’s Way, a very inspirational book for all people, not just artists. I’ve been writing my “morning pages” daily since then, although it’s in the afternoon but who cares! Morning pages are like a daily journal/writing exercise. I chose the smallest journal size I had so I could more easily fill 3 pages.

This past Monday in the late afternoon I became overwhelmed, and decided to move other projects to later in the week and just ink AER HEAD earlier in the day instead of my usual time. I usually ink a page or half a page after dinner, but it’s OK to break the schedule.

I’ve also switched my news intake to every other day instead of daily, and only at dinner. A few weeks ago (or was it a month ago?) when everything was shutting down in various stages, it was super important to keep on top of things. But now that we know to just stay home as much as possible (I’m only going out once a week for groceries), it doesn’t matter if I “miss” anything because my actions will be the same for the foreseeable future. Setting my limits on news has definitely helped my anxiety. And if I’m having an anxious day and it’s a day I’m supposed to watch the news, I’m OK with skipping that day and I watch Avatar: The Last Airbender instead. It has been one of my favorite animations and one day I hope AER HEAD can be something like that.

Setting limits on work, news, and other things is important because our mental health affects our work. Freelancers are impacted in particular by this because we usually get paid per project, not by a salary. For example, my roomie gets paid the same amount regardless, but if I need to take more breaks, that’s money that I’m not making. This is one of the trade-offs of having the flexibility of freelancing though.

Take care & be well!

MoCCA Fest Postponed & How to Work From Home

I feel like this is kind of old news by now, as the corona virus changes life for us daily. I aim to blog about once a week, not daily, but a week feels like an eternity now! Just to clear some things up, MoCCA Arts Festival is POSTPONED, not cancelled completely. Lots of events are being outright cancelled, but being postponed just means that the event will happen at a later date. Life will eventually return to “normal” for us, but none of us knows when.

Meanwhile, I was just talking with my room mate (who is now working from home) that sometimes my life as a freelancer seems chaotic compared to a stable job. Now, I’m feeling more stable compared to people with “normal” 9-to-5s that aren’t used to working from home. But I figured I’d share some tips on how to best work from home!

Business Tips: Working From Home

• Structure your day in some way. If you’re not quarantined, get out and jog or take a walk first thing in the morning instead of your commute. If you are quarantined, get yourself moving inside (also helps minimize depression).

• Take regular breaks & eat at regular times so life doesn’t seem like one long continuous day and you either snack on crap all day or forget to eat.

• Minimize distractions. Bosses are not hovering over your shoulder, maybe your pets or kids are around, and of course the internet is ever present. Working from home has its benefits but also challenges to focus. You WILL get distracted, but the key is to recognize when it’s happening and go back to your work. Example from today - my room mate got a text from her sister about the name of a character her son likes, so my room mate asked me about it. I realized the character was from Voltron, so I showed my roomie a clip of the show’s intro instead of explaining the whole thing in words. When the clip was over, I admit it was DIFFICULT to NOT delve into other Voltron clips! But I recognized this as a productivity trap and made the conscious choice to close the Voltron tab on my browser and get back to work. Now here’s a challenge for you: are you going to click on the Voltron link and binge watch the show, or are you going to get back to work?