Thread 7772043

How do you balance your real job and your personal projects? Due to my job I only have time to draw for real on weekends. At most, I can get some minor things prepared throughout the week. Right now I'm trying to decide if I can slack a little and play some vidya for a few hours or if I should go draw.

>>7772043 (OP)
personal projects are for neets.

unless you are a third worlder working 12h or have a commute of 2h, you can probably find time on weekdays. Either wake an hour sooner, or get some done after you get home from work. If your commute is public transport and long, you can also bring a sketch book or ipad type shit and draw then.

>>7772043 (OP)
I paid someone to write my book for me.

>>7772043 (OP)
10 minutes is 1% of your waking hours in a day (assuming you sleep 8).

Many people in current times have jobs that do not require them to be constantly focusing. The "service economy" means that there are often slow hours. This is why so many fucks are constantly yapping on discord and twitter and youtube comments and so on. They spend any bit of time they have scrolling and replying.

If you DON'T have such a job you are likely making more money than most of these people, save those with higher ranking positions that often entail more skill or responsibility - basically waiting for problems only they can solve to occur, or working in huge bursts then having long stretches of time to recover.

This is to say, that even though most people are being paid for "8 hours of work" they are really only working for a portion of this. And those who are actually working the whole time are likely getting paid enough to throw that money at other people to reclaim their time outside of work. While those who are above these two tiers have more time AND money to do what they want.

Additionally, a lot of artists are on some form of social assistance because they're literally mentally fucked and all they can do that contributes to society is make art to entertain others.

>>7772043 (OP)
10 hours saturday 10 hours sunday 20 hours + 1 hour on the workday using company time each day = 25 hours and you still have time for vidya I’m sure. No excuses.

>>7772121
>>7772411
You guys never had a full-time job have you?

>>7772415
I have one right now that demands forced overtime (WFH). But I’ve worked in an office setting for 3 and a 1/2 painful years and other numerous jobs sprinkled in. All of them except for the crappy sales jobs and slave jobs that make you hang up calls and pick them up in 1 second with no break in sight had some form of downtime.

>>7772043 (OP)
For me personally as a wagie I ,make sure to get 3 days off instead of just the 2. I live in Cali where the average pay is like 20 bucks an hour now so most places who hire would actually prefer you work less days now. While I do get paid the exact same amount when the pay was less then 15 some years back I do technically get to do less work so I've had more time to myself and my projects(also living in a house where someone else also pays half the rent helps).

>>7772418
I'm a factory worker. i go in at 7am, get out 5:18pm.

>>7772043 (OP)
Stop playing vidya
Vidya is drug
You get nothing practical out of vidya

>>7772425
I have a lot of fun actually. Fun is important.

>>7772426
Fun without meaning is not. Vidya is distilled fun, pure alcohol, the lowest of culture. You do not make lasting memories, you do not improve, your appreciation of the world does not expand. It's worthless feelies on par with masturbation.

>>7772423
Yeah well nobody told you to go do factory work. You wanna draw or no?

>>7772429
NTA that's a totally unnuanced take. Some people use vidya like a cope, but people use ANYTHING like a cope. That's where all these unscientific "addictions" come in.

>Wah I'm addicted to ice cweam
>Wah I'm addicted to TV
>Wah I'm addicted to videogames
>Wah I'm addicted to driving my car fast

This is all just shit people do as a cope because they are avoiding taking care of the issues they have. It's gross that it has become a "normal thing" to avoid fixing your problems. It's even more gross that retards like you think it's caused BY the copes rather than them being a symptom of a mental habit of avoidance.

Like at its most base level you see people do this shit instead of taking out the trash. It helps them ignore that their house fucking reeks, instead of the olfactory discomfort motivating them to actually take that shit out.

Hell, people fucking do this with physical pain by slamming NSAIDs every time they have an ache instead of stopping and going "HM MAYBE IF I MOVE IN THIS WAY IT WILL CAUSE DAMAGE. I SHOULD STOP." Happens with wrist pain with artists too, when instead of drawing without wrist motion or fixing their posture they just pop a pill. And then a few years later: oops your fucking hand doesn't work right anymore!

>>7772429
Wtf? Nigga the whole point of having fun is to just relax and wind down. The moment you try to turn something fun into something that must be productive it stops being fun.

>>7772429
Nigger cant you go on fucking /v/ and bitch about video games instead of here?

>>7772437
No shit sherlock. I never said other things weren't also empty fun. If OP asks how to balance their life and vidya is deleting A FEW HOURS from their limited free time, that's a problem. Vidya is the problem. That there is even a choice between self-actualizing (working on your project) and oblivion (vidya) is a fucking problem. I'm not going to type out a 12 step life plan to get them to stop being a worthless piece of shit, this is a 4chan post my guy.

>>7772441
People don't learn things for fun? No one goes to the gym for fun? Drawing isn't fun? The fuck are you on about?

>>7772043 (OP)
Neet bucks. I suffered serious mental trauma and am now dealing with a physical issue.

>>7772451
Fun = dopamine. How many productive things do you do that gives you dopamine? Because I can count in one hand how many things does it for me and none of them even comes close to feeling as good and playing video games.

>>7772451
>People don't learn things for fun? No one goes to the gym for fun? Drawing isn't fun?
Well nigger you certainly dont make it sound like its fun, sheesh

>>7772043 (OP)
I don't have a real job

>>7772451
Vidya is not the problem because if you cut the vidya out of such a person's life they will do something else instead to fill the same niche. And it will almost certainly not be something like drawing, it will be something that lets them not-think for a while or get a direct mental boost. Like eating ice cream or gooning.

Or arguing with people on 4chan.

>>7772340
problem is that at many jobs you are under constant surveillance (think of huge open offices).

You can do a lot of "recovery", but actually drawing would be too much of a stretch. If you have kind colleagues they won't complain if you deliver for the team and do some browsing, but you cannot rub it under everyone's nose.

>>7772503
People draw on their phones using their finger or a dedicated stylus. You don't have to make a masterpiece while at work, but practice is practice.

>>7772503
Nah, if youre top performer you are treated like God and can get away with the rules. The rules only apply to people who are new and aren’t delivering.

>>7772510
For me, I had a no paper and pen on the floor rule but because of my autism I wrote down every little thing into a binder whenever the client came because the lazy sob managers didn’t know shit and so they gave me a pass. I could bring in my ipad and everything and HR would walk on by and not say anything.

>>7772460
You have five fingers on one hand (probably), that's a lot of things to do for fun.

I get dopamine when I learn something and discover new connections between my preexisting knowledge.

I get dopamine when I'm reading and I start to pick up on all the author's allusions and metaphor and the picture of what they're trying to tell me is building up.

I get dopamine when my shitty little code project finally works, and I've gained a whole new set of tools to work on the next one.

I get dopamine when I put something under a microscope and find some cool new microstructures or some little things squiggling around.

I get dopamine when I draw something, and it turns out just how I imagined it, or some way I could have never imagined.

I get dopamine from practicing music, exploring, taking photos, talking to friends, talking to strangers, and every once in awhile vidya.

It's not that there is nothing to vidya. There is a bit there. But it's 15 minutes of real memorable experience stretched to 15 hours. If time is an issue, it is just about the worst way you could use your time. Watching TV is a better use of time. Not to say you should really over-optimize your time, but at a certain point it's just a waste of humanity. Just because heroin gives you a rush of dopamine doesn't mean heroin is at all good for you.

>>7772502
Posting on 4chan is unironically a better use of time than vidya.

>>7772043 (OP)
I keep a list of my goals and projects, and for each one its own list of things that need to be done. Whenever I have the time and energy, I work on them. Since you have a job, making a profit from your hobby shouldn’t be a concern. I also try to sketch in a little notebook whenever I can

>>7772518
>it's 15 minutes of real memorable experience stretched to 15 hours
That also applies to everything else you said.

>>7772043 (OP)
proper sleep (or caffeine), and time management, also i formed a somewhat healthy habit, of feeling like i wasted my life if i don't draw anything, and it makes me feel really upset/depressed the following day, and it really sucks when that dread follows me to work. maybe try that.

even though i don't really work on my passion project as much as i want to. sketching out ideas and doing studies helps with "the big picture", the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
https://youtu.be/5fVKImHpvHk?si=OCwHJeXb3uTad1_I

>>7772518
I tell people similar shit as you have written and they look at me like I have 5 heads. Like, I generally agree that all of this is good but you have to understand that for a lot of fuckos the anxiety or rage they get at doing a lot of that shit overrides the good feels and they have to train themselves for it to work properly.

Like I already know the responses these types of people give in part because I (in my teenage years) was a bit like them, and because I've personally helped buddies of mine dig themselves out of it. Here's the viewpoints:

>I get upset when I learn something and discover new connections between my preexisting knowledge because I should have known that and now I feel like I'm stupid for not already having known it.

>I get angry when I'm reading and I can see what's coming from how the author is pacing it, it feels like I got duped into reading a story I already knew.

>I get so mad when my shitty little code project that should have taken an hour takes me five. Even when it finally works, I am now dreading the next one and never want to do this again.

>I get depressed when I put something under a microscope and struggle to remember what I'm seeing, then have to consult textbooks or ashamedly ask my colleague/classmate what this wiggly thing is

>I get frustrated when I draw something, and have to redraw it over and over and it never looks how I wanted, then see my friend shit out a sketch that mogs mine

>Practicing music or taking photos is frustrating because I can hear and see how bad I am at it

>I am so anxious exploring, or (god forbid) talking to strangers

>15 minutes of real memorable experience stretched to 15 hours lets me feel like I am a god without having to think too much about how shit I am, and gives me a simple memory I can use as a mental safety blanket

>>7772043 (OP)
Define a few hours. It all depends of how fast you can achieve your weekly or montly goal/output, but you will need to clear time in your schedule to relax and sleep to not stretch yourself thin. Don't go in expecting to find the perfect balance early on, however. That come with experience and hard work. You'll probably have to wait for your project to be already on tracks to be able to clear real free time.

>>7772415
I work 8-4 with 1h commute. I use public transport and always carry a sketchbook to get a bit done on the way, no real time to draw at lunch break though. I'm home by 5-6 depending if I have to run errands, and go to bed at 11. That gives me roughly 5h for any other needs, meal prepping, 1-2h vidya, and drawing. You have time if you aren't a retard or a factory slave like >>7772423
I can't imagine how people with a family can make time though, kids are a time black hole.

>>7772545
it really is a big barrier for many, myself included. Society nowadays is full of instant bursts of dopamine you can obtain with 0 struggle or effort, so the moment any activity poses any sort of resistance, retards get grumpy and disengage.
However, all it takes is pushing through that pain once to realize the dopamine on the other side is far stronger and more pure than anything else. It really makes video games and shit like doomscrolling feel like the inferior product cut with rat poison, and once you experience that, the other shit stops being nearly as stimulating.

>>7773001
>It really makes video games and shit like doomscrolling feel like the inferior product cut with rat poison, and once you experience that, the other shit stops being nearly as stimulating.
Hahahaha yeah no. I keep sliding back into my old escapist habits all the time.

>>7773007
I'm sorry your receptors are too fried

>>7772998
I have around 5 hours of free time too on the days I don't go to the gym, and it's still not enough to actually finish something that isn't a simple anime girl on a white void.

>>7773001
>the dopamine on the other side is far stronger and more pure than anything else
It literally isn't. It just gives me a sense of accomplishment and piece of mind. Video games are still way more fun.

>>7773011
You don't have to be finishing something in a single day for it to have been worth it. I get about 2h a day give or take, and if I'm doing a finished piece and not practice studies, it takes me about 20h to finish it, which when mixed with studies it means I'm finishing maybe one piece a month.

>>7773015
That's pretty much my case too and I'm just not satisfied with it. Almost a month for a piece feels like eternity.

>>7773011
5h is plenty, you don't need to finish a piece in one sitting

>>7772043 (OP)
in my opinion, spending time drawing will leave you more fulfilled and satisfied than hopping on video games, tho i get that video games are better for when you feel tired and just wanna relax. though i will say that if you feel too tired to draw its still worth it. often i feel too comfortable and tired to draw, but when i get around to it im suddenly getting really into it.

something thats helped me a bit is sketching during down time at work. if possible give that a try

>>7776971
After this long drawing I learned to tell when I'm just being lazy and when I truly need a break. I also learned that sometimes it's better to have some fun and do whatever you feel like first, so you can focus 100% on drawing later. Drawing while having that itch of wanting to do something more fun is very distracting.