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The Daily Check-In

Check-In Illustration

The Daily Check-In is a good morning routine I started a few years ago. It gets me in the mood for my creative work and sets me up for the day. The check-in is pretty much a checklist for getting started. It began as a simple checklist, but a few months ago I made a whole Notion page with several things I wanted to have every morning when I started working. Here’s what it looks like.

The Simple Check-In

This was the original check-in I used for a couple of years. It’s pretty much a routine or ritual you do before you start work in simple action steps.

  1. Sit down at the workstation.
  2. Flip the hourglass (this was my old ritual before work).
  3. Time block / Plan the day. What do I want to accomplish today?
  4. Summon my alter ego.
  5. What do I do first?
  6. Prepare your workspace for it.
  7. Take three deep breaths and focus on the moment.
  8. Do the task or warm-up.

Benefits of a Daily Ritual

  1. Increased focus and clarity on what you need to do.
  2. Increased motivation right from the start.
  3. Gives you consistency and momentum every day.
  4. Sets the stage for the flow state.

The Advanced Check-In

My advanced check-in evolved from the simple check-in because I encountered a couple of problems in my work life. Firstly, I forgot things I shouldn’t forget, such as my goals or what I wanted to achieve throughout the working week. Sometimes I test new work systems and need to remember them. I usually put things on my desk to remind me, but I always forget to look at them after a few days. So I made this change to an advanced check-in.

I created a visual page in Notion that I open every day before I start my creative work. It is divided into “Daily” and “Weekly” stuff, meaning things I need to look at daily and things I look at once a week. What I need or want to remember because they help me achieve my goals and dreams.

I update it every week with what I need for the following week and revise it quarterly in case I need to add other things or just goal updates.

Check-In
Here’s the start of my advanced check-in in German

The Daily Part

System Focus
The work system I want to focus on this week. Sometimes I change it up or try things out, and see how they help me in my creative life. Each week I focus on one or two parts of this system. This is where I remember them.

Weekly Goals
Top 3 goals of this week and a goal each day. Every Monday morning I update this.

Quarterly Goals
Every three months I figure out where I want to improve in my life and work. I use these as quarterly goals, updating them every three months. I often forget them because they’re on a different Notion page that I don’t check regularly. So I added a link to my goals page and now I see them every day, can remember them, and, more importantly, do them.

Why Am I Doing This?
When I’m not in the mood, this reminds me why I’m doing all this stuff. A daily motivation list to get the job done.

Check-In Checklist
The checklist I do before I start working. This is the simple check-in from above.

Check-Out Checklist
Yes, I have a check-out too. It is a checklist for reflection and to remember to do a bit of networking on social media, but unfortunately, I have been too lazy to do the social media part lately. hehe.

The Weekly Part

Daily Priorities
To remind me of what I need to do every day. I read it every week in case something changes, but I don’t look at it daily because that should already be on my list of daily goals.

Freelance Projects/Commissions
Current freelance work I’m working on, so it doesn’t get lost when I’m waiting for feedback for example.

Weekly Schedule
How I want to work every day of the week. I seldom stick to it at the moment, but in an ideal week, I do exactly that. Lately, I just go with the flow or what I need to do at different times of the day.

Projects
My creative projects and the links to the Notion pages. It is a fast way to get to my project management but also helps me to remember them because sometimes some get lost in time. I have several projects at the moment, so I’m focusing on different ones, therefore some projects get a bit lost sometimes.

General Business Goals
General Goals from my business plan. What I need to do daily, weekly, and monthly to reach my business goals and where I see myself in the next few years.

Additional Benefits of an Advanced Daily Ritual

  1. You won’t forget important things throughout the week.
  2. Keep your goals in sight.
  3. Clarity about what to work on each day.
  4. A central place to put things you need to remember.
  5. Helps to stay on track with your creative business.

Conclusion

A daily check-in as a morning routine can jump-start your creative work day. It will get you faster in the zone and align you with your short and long-term goals every day. It makes it easier to stay on track and keeps you motivated through the tougher mornings of the week.

This ritual has become my way of staying clear, motivated, and consistent in my creative life, and maybe it can help you too.

Interested in a check-in template? Let me know!

How Positive Affirmations Unlocked My Creative Potential

Positive Affirmations Visual

I cannot be creative if I am too stressed or not in the right emotional state. In today’s world, many people experience stress but still manage to be creative, and I’m no exception – even when I’m stressed. So what do I do to deal with it? Or rather, what do I try to do?

I call it “poor man’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” because it works pretty much like CBT. At least that is my understanding as a layman who has read a summary of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy once. That means don’t take this as a definitive source or professional advice.

Anyway, here’s how it works: When you’re emotionally upset, tell yourself how you want to feel in the present moment. For example, if you’re stressed and tired and don’t feel like working on your drawing, you’d say: “I am relaxed and awake and in the mood to work on my drawing”. Repeat this several times. Try to avoid negative words like “not” (for example, use “relaxed” instead of “not stressed”).

These are positive affirmations that can help challenge and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts. Repeating them often and believing in them can lead to positive changes. I’ve included below some scientific research showing that this practice can improve your creative problem-solving, even under stress, and increase your overall creativity.

How To Do Positive Affirmations

  1. Identify the problem that is bothering you.
  2. Say the complete opposite of it without using negative words like “not”.
  3. Repeat it as often as possible throughout the day and whenever the problem arises.
  4. That’s it.

It may or may not help you as much as it helped me. But it is worth a try. As a tip, try to believe it. Only if your mind believes it will it come true.

A Few Of My Go-To Self-Affirmations

  1. I’m having fun – In situations where I’m struggling to work on something that isn’t fun.
  2. I can do it – When I doubt myself. I say it every time I meditate (I do autogenic training)
  3. I am calm and relaxed – In stressful situations. Often needed in public places because of my anxiety.
  4. I’m a pro – I got it from “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. Just so I take myself more seriously when I create things.
  5. It’s the fixed mindset – from the book ‘Growth Mindset’ by Carol Dweck. I use it when I try to avoid things, procrastinate or have self-doubt.
  6. I’m fit and awake – When I’m tired and still want to focus on something.
  7. I am a patient person – When I lose my patience.
  8. This effort is pleasant – When I am doing something really hard. Should release some dopamine after a while, according to a podcast by Andrew Huberman.
  9. Mistakes are OK – When I’m drawing crap again.

More To Read

If you enjoyed this topic, you might find these related posts helpful:

  1. How Self-Efficacy Can Help You Succeed! – Explore how believing in your abilities can boost your confidence and drive, leading to greater success in your creative endeavors.
  2. Play the Role of Your Future Self – Learn how envisioning your future self can guide your current decisions and actions, helping you stay motivated and focused on your goals.

Both posts offer valuable insights to enhance your creative journey and personal growth.

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Sources

David R. de Buisonjé, Simone M. Ritter, Suze de Bruin, J. Marie-Louise ter Horst & Arne Meeldijk (2017) Facilitating Creative Idea Selection: The Combined Effects of Self-Affirmation, Promotion Focus and Positive Affect, Creativity Research Journal, 29:2, 174-181, DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2017.1303308

M. Dutcher, Janine (2018). Improving Performance on a Creativity Task via Self-Affirmation. Carnegie Mellon University. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6686096.v1

Creswell JD, Dutcher JM, Klein WMP, Harris PR, Levine JM (2013) Self-Affirmation Improves Problem-Solving under Stress. PLOS ONE 8(5): e62593. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062593

How I Take Advantage of Slow Work Periods

slow work v2 1

This summer was a very slow work period for me. But this slow pace was intentional because I was feeling burned out from my projects. I was constantly worried about what I needed to do and wondering if I was on the right track. The endless “Should I do this?”, “Should I do that?” was exhausting. Like a little annoying monster in my head that was bothering me all the time.

So about two months ago, I decided to slow down and get rid of this monster. I continued to work on manageable client projects that were fun and fulfilling. But when the project wasn’t a 100% fit, I immediately declined. It’s okay to say no when you need time to recharge (if you can afford it, of course).

I have to say, the last few weeks have been incredibly refreshing. The monster has left my head and now I’m enjoying my pseudo-summer vacation, feeling recharged and ready to dive back into my projects with renewed energy.

Balancing Work and Life

Because of this slow work period, my schedule is quite unique. I did my official “summer vacation” with some stuff left to do, but continued to do some work at a slow pace. My partner and I planned some small adventures around Switzerland and intend to have about 2 days off per week, depending on the weather. Together we’ve created a semi-vacation that gives us a nice work-life balance for the rest of the summer. Meaning it is a mix between slow work and enjoying some free time.

The Importance of Slow Work Periods

There are times when intense work is required. Deadlines or the desire to make significant progress on projects may demand more effort. These intense periods are beneficial but must be balanced with breaks or slower periods of work. It’s important to realize that we’re not machines and it’s easy to feel guilty about not doing enough. Society often places a high value on constant productivity, making us feel inefficient if we take time to slow down. Pushing yourself too hard without taking breaks can lead to burnout and a decline in the quality of your work. And then we have the monster in our head that keeps bothering us.

Your ability to control your workload depends on your job, but if you are a freelancer or have a flexible job, you can control how much you work. The same goes for your creative passion projects outside of work. You decide how much you can and will do! Setting realistic goals and knowing when to step back is essential for your productivity and mental well-being. By integrating slow work with periods of intense work, you can maintain a high level of performance without compromising your health or happiness.

Benefits of Slow Work

Here’s a list of the benefits of working at a slower pace I noticed for myself.

  • Better quality of work
    • When you slow down to work on your projects, you automatically produce better work.
  • Mental well-being
    • You will feel better mentally.
  • Reevaluate priorities and goals
    • When you work more slowly, you have more time to think. I have used this time to better align my priorities and goals with my values.
  • Better decision making
    • If you don’t have to stress about a decision, you’re likely to make a better one.
  • Process improvement
  • Increased creativity
    • I always do better creative work, when I’m not stressed and in a good mood. Slow work provides that and is perfect for your most creative work.
  • Ability to do other things
    • Sometimes we don’t experiment and try new things because we don’t have time. So we can use it in slow work periods to try new things.
  • Better work-life balance
    • Well, if you work less, you have a better work-life balance.

How to Embrace Slow Work Periods

Sometimes slow periods happen naturally. You may feel the need to slow down after finishing a project or during less busy times, such as the summer or holidays. For me, burnout from my projects and the loss of my father derailed my work-life balance this year.

You can also schedule slow periods of work when you know there are busy times ahead or you just finished a crazy work period. Your body often signals when it’s time to slow down, so listen to it and don’t push yourself too hard. This approach is even good for your productivity because, after an extended period of slow work, I return to my projects with more enthusiasm and intensity.

Conclusion

Embracing slow periods of work can significantly improve your productivity and overall well-being. By knowing when to slow down and when to speed up, you can create a balanced work routine that prevents burnout and keeps you motivated. So take control of your schedule, listen to your body, and find the rhythm that works best for you. And don’t forget to destroy that little monster inside you that’s bothering you!

An Unusual Guide to Problem-Solving Strategies

After a personal event upset my routine, I struggled to work on my graphic novel. I couldn’t focus, didn’t feel like working, and felt stuck. I needed a new strategy for solving this problem! An idea came up: I could try using deadlines again so that I would meet the dates I had set for my milestones. But not the easy kind of deadlines! The ones that would make me feel some real pressure.

So, with my partner’s help, we came up with a plan. Since I’m not great with social stuff and I hate making phone calls, we decided that if I didn’t finish 36 drawings for my graphic novel in a week, my partner would pick someone from my contacts for me to call immediately. You would not believe how stressed out I was just from the thought! But it worked. I met my goals for three weeks straight and never had to make a dreaded phone call. So logically, I would suggest this solution to you. But there is a little problem.

Because for many people, deadlines don’t work. I learned this when I was doing my master’s thesis in design. People have different problems and need different strategies for solutions. Some of the people I talked to for my thesis hated deadlines and could never work under pressure.

Other People’s Problem-Solving Strategies Can Be Dangerous

You may want to do what I did with deadlines and my accountability partner, and it may or may not work. Or maybe you already tried it and are even more disappointed because you were hoping for a solution to your problems. But that is exactly it. You have to try and experiment with different solutions and systems and find out what strategies work for you.

Never take someone else’s approach to a system or solution for granted. Yes, it worked for them, but that is no guarantee that it will work for you. So always keep that in mind, especially when someone tries to sell you something that is the solution to all your problems: What works for someone else won’t necessarily work for you. Everyone is different, everyone needs different things.

How To Figure Out Your Own Strategies For Your Problems

To avoid just copying others without any guarantee that it will help you, I made a simple guide to help you navigate through this.

  1. Research your problem and look for solutions and strategies.
  2. Try them out and tweak them to your liking.
  3. Remember: What works for someone else may not work for you, and that’s okay.
  4. Something kind of works? Focus on it and make it work for you.
  5. When you have found a strategy that works well enough: Use it!
  6. Don’t worry about making things perfect. There will rarely be a perfect system or solution.
  7. Your work system still needs to adapt! Check-in from time to time to make sure your system is still working for you.
  8. It’s okay to try and implement new things, but don’t tinker too much with what’s already working.

Conclusion

In dealing with problems of productivity, I discovered that copying other people’s strategies may not work for everyone. It’s important to find what works best for you. Stay flexible, know yourself, and stick with what helps you!

To learn more about problem-solving in general, the Wikipedia page on this topic has some good information and strategies!

In case you are wondering, I made this problem-solving animation above using Cavalry.

The Power of Small Progress in Art and Design

small progress illustration

Have you ever looked at someone’s finished art and thought: “This looks awesome! I want to do that too!” You dive in and give it your all, only to find that your attempt is not as good as theirs and that it may take years to reach their level. At this point, you might consider giving up or going back to your comfort zone. But what if I told you that there’s another way? That you could reach their level by improving just a little bit at a time? Small progress of let’s say 1% at a time.

Sure, you might object that it will take years. But consider this: the years will pass anyway! The real question is whether or not you’ll get better every day as the years go by. The trick is to keep trying to get better. How do you do that? By aiming for just 1% improvement at a time.

Small Progress Until You Reach 100%

Start by identifying your weak areas and the things you want to focus on. What do you want to get better at? Here’s a personal example: I wanted to improve my ability to draw backgrounds. What was I doing? Whenever I drew a character, I spent extra time researching and studying what makes a good background. Then I applied that knowledge to my drawings. Was it a perfect background? No, of course not. But it was 1% better than the last one. And the next time I focused on backgrounds, it was 2% better. Then 3%, 4%, 5%, until I was 100% better than before.

Improvement Becomes Inevitable

The key is to keep doing your creative work and keep aiming for that 1% improvement. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to look good. But every time you try, you’ll learn far more than you would by simply repeating what you’ve always done. Improvement becomes inevitable. There is no need for specific goals or rigid habits. Just keep doing what you are doing and ask yourself: “How can I get 1% better?”

I can promise you this: as the years go by, you will reach a moment where you realize, “Wow, I’m actually good at this”. And someone will look at your art and say: “This looks awesome! I want to do that too!” So take this mindset and try it!

Still not convinced? Here’s a small list of the pros of the 1% improvement mindset:

Pros of Getting 1% Better

  1. Continuous improvement adds up over time, leading to significant progress in the long run. James Clear has a nice image that visualizes this!
  2. Focusing on small growth reduces the pressure to achieve perfection right away, making the journey more enjoyable and less stressful.
  3. Celebrating small victories builds confidence and motivates further progress, creating a positive feedback loop.
  4. Embracing mistakes as learning opportunities fosters a growth mindset and accelerates skill development.
  5. Small improvements allow for flexibility and adaptation to changing circumstances or feedback, leading to greater resilience.