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My new system for time management :3
14 years ago
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Don't wait for the queue to shrink—the commission docket is rarely empty.Okay, so. Yeah, I quit that awful job, but day one back on art only has made me so grateful. :D I was worried about managing my time well, but I think I've found a simple system that works.
I downloaded "Pomodairo" (http://code.google.com/p/pomodairo/), a lightweight program designed to help you use the Pomodoro system for time management. I use it loosely -- I altered the time of a Pomodoro unit from 25 minutes to 30. Instead of the "task, task, break, task, task, larger break, etc." system, I use a system that goes:
* 30 minutes of work
* 30 minutes of break time
until I've reached at least 7.5 or 8 hours of work that day.
Sometimes (often, really) I'll reach the end of a work unit and feel like going on, so I'll just skip the break any time I feel like it, knowing I can just take the rest of the day off once I've hit 8 hours. So I could do all 8 in a row if I wanted, but with this system I can keep track of how long I've worked without a lot of complications.
My minimum is 7.5 hours a day, which is 15 Pomodoros. I just make a tally on a piece of paper when I've finished one, and if I hit 15, I'm done for the day. If I feel like doing more, it gets shuffled to tomorrow's tally, giving me a head start. So long as I do five days a week, 7.5 hours a day, I'm working full time. If, for some reason, there are no commissions or raffle sketches that can be worked on, I work on the comic. Barring that, I work on self-improvement -- following tutorials or doing personal art.
I do allow for 2 hours of the aforementioned "self-improvement" art a day, but they aren't mandatory.
I keep track on a dry-erase calendar, by the week. I circle the days I feel like working and if for some reason I get sick or can't, I pick one of the other two leftover days. At a glance I can see how I'm doing.
So far it's worked insanely well! I got everyone's sketches that remained on my portrait list today, and I would have gone farther, except I didn't get started until the day was half over and I had 2 hours of lee-way from the 2 hours I worked before I quit the crappy job. (LOL.)
I already have a 30 minute headstart on tomorrow and I may get another one in before I go to bed, unless my back keeps hurting. I gotta find a less painful way to sit over my tablet... My chair/desk combination doesn't really make for an effective tablet working situation. If I had a regular tablet instead of an on-screen-drawing one I don't think I'd be in pain like this, but I could never figure out how to finagle any kind of system to make it easier. Oh well. Til then, I'm good. :D
I like the system. I hear a lot of freelancers use the 30/30 setup, because 30 minutes flies by faster than an hour. Before all this, I would work 1 or 2 hours at a time, but I would find myself getting burnt out easily or getting distracted with the internet or what-have-you. So far, this system has prevented me from doing ANYTHING else while I'm working, which is great.
Let me know if you try it and if it works for you.
-HD
I downloaded "Pomodairo" (http://code.google.com/p/pomodairo/), a lightweight program designed to help you use the Pomodoro system for time management. I use it loosely -- I altered the time of a Pomodoro unit from 25 minutes to 30. Instead of the "task, task, break, task, task, larger break, etc." system, I use a system that goes:
* 30 minutes of work
* 30 minutes of break time
until I've reached at least 7.5 or 8 hours of work that day.
Sometimes (often, really) I'll reach the end of a work unit and feel like going on, so I'll just skip the break any time I feel like it, knowing I can just take the rest of the day off once I've hit 8 hours. So I could do all 8 in a row if I wanted, but with this system I can keep track of how long I've worked without a lot of complications.
My minimum is 7.5 hours a day, which is 15 Pomodoros. I just make a tally on a piece of paper when I've finished one, and if I hit 15, I'm done for the day. If I feel like doing more, it gets shuffled to tomorrow's tally, giving me a head start. So long as I do five days a week, 7.5 hours a day, I'm working full time. If, for some reason, there are no commissions or raffle sketches that can be worked on, I work on the comic. Barring that, I work on self-improvement -- following tutorials or doing personal art.
I do allow for 2 hours of the aforementioned "self-improvement" art a day, but they aren't mandatory.
I keep track on a dry-erase calendar, by the week. I circle the days I feel like working and if for some reason I get sick or can't, I pick one of the other two leftover days. At a glance I can see how I'm doing.
So far it's worked insanely well! I got everyone's sketches that remained on my portrait list today, and I would have gone farther, except I didn't get started until the day was half over and I had 2 hours of lee-way from the 2 hours I worked before I quit the crappy job. (LOL.)
I already have a 30 minute headstart on tomorrow and I may get another one in before I go to bed, unless my back keeps hurting. I gotta find a less painful way to sit over my tablet... My chair/desk combination doesn't really make for an effective tablet working situation. If I had a regular tablet instead of an on-screen-drawing one I don't think I'd be in pain like this, but I could never figure out how to finagle any kind of system to make it easier. Oh well. Til then, I'm good. :D
I like the system. I hear a lot of freelancers use the 30/30 setup, because 30 minutes flies by faster than an hour. Before all this, I would work 1 or 2 hours at a time, but I would find myself getting burnt out easily or getting distracted with the internet or what-have-you. So far, this system has prevented me from doing ANYTHING else while I'm working, which is great.
Let me know if you try it and if it works for you.
-HD
Its been loads of help. amazing really. i used to have HORRIBLE finger and wrist cramps but the often breaks helps lessen the tension so i can work more time in a day without realing in pain the next morning
25 minute task, 5 minute break x 4
30 minute break
full set x 2
hour break
Seems to work great, really :3
Personally, if i had more commissioners, i wouldn't have to work... what one colored commission brings in is roughly 25% of my half-monthly payment.
But beggers can't be choosers, so i'll keep on doing what i'm doing and stash away the dollars for when things get tough.
I found a hand-clicker (you know, you press a button and it increases the counter by one) for my tallies, which is even better.