Scheduling A Healthier Lifestyle
Hello My Moons,
This is a part two, or tie-in with my previous article about my schedule.
Taking Breaks and Having Set Hours
Working set hours has been hugely helpful for me! Having that daily deadline keeps me far more focused. I do not currently take breaks in the middle of my workday very often. My evening break and the accidental breaks that can happen throughout the day work best for me. When it comes to days off, I usually take them at random and I often end up taking half days off rather than whole as it tends to be most feasible right now.
If you have other projects outside of your art that fuel you, you should absolutely be sure to take the time off for those. It is proven that breaks and time off can make you more productive so try to notice what helps you work the best. Think of a break or day off as part of your work routine!
Taking Time Away from Work for Health
I have been working on getting more exercise integrated into my schedule again because exercise SHOULD be imperative. It genuinely makes us think clearer, and for me, it takes away so much of my physical pain! I know it is easy to neglect when you get overwhelmed but it really should be treated the same as your other important work tasks.
How To (Mostly) Not Ruin Your Schedule When You Get Thrown Off
One thing I know really grinds on many of our mental states is having our days get thrown off. Because life is unpredictable, disruptions will occur, so there are things you can use to help prevent yourself from losing you whole day due to one mishap.
Over estimating how long a task will take, and giving yourself assignments that you should be able to finish in under the amount of time you plan for them, can truly help. You might find that with this method, you often end up doing more than what is written in your schedule, and working more efficiently as a result of that over-estimation! If an interruption does occur, at least you can often finish most of what you had planned because you left that bit of room.
Focus on what you Can do
It is so easy to feel like the whole day is lost because you get a late start, or miss your chance to finish a task. When this happens, just focus on what you CAN do, and not what you missed the chance for. Have a few plans to fall back on. If, for instance, you were supposed to work on a particular project as a major part of your day, but that project has to be canceled for some reason, keeping a list of tasks you can fall back on is really helpful. For me, these constant tasks are things like updating my website, doing research for a number of projects I have in mind, finances and taxes, etc. These fallback tasks might be boring but think how good you will feel knowing that instead of dwelling on what you could not accomplish, you made a dent in those more tedious tasks.
I hope this has been helpful to you! Please take care of yourself as always and do not worry if you are still finding your workflow. It is a constant evolution for all of us and I know mine is bound to keep growing. <3
Be well~
~Aria
