The comic tag will show you all the comics I did. Ok, not all but most of them. And the best thing is, that they will help you with your creative work! Well, not all bit most of them.
I have updated all of my Creative Work Problems Comics Posts on this blog!
I uploaded them for a while to Instagram and my blog as solo posts. When I did them, I mostly just posted the comic itself, and rarely some more information about it. Well, now I’ve updated them all and added additional help and knowledge for almost every topic. I’ve also updated the name of the post so that it’s no longer named after the comic. Each topic is now more easily identifiable by the title of the post. You can now search the hell out of this site if you are looking for a topic you need help with.
I have listed below every post I have made with these comics in it. So if you’re interested in more information about a topic you see at the bottom of the list, don’t hesitate to go there.
This blog post brings you four of my latest Creative Work Problems comics and a tip for each topic.
The first one is about ideas and how they can take a little longer than we want them to. The second is about to-do lists and how overwhelming they can become. The third one is about motivation and how it comes and goes quickly. The last one is about how we like things we do, and after a while, we realize what a stupid thing we did (which is good).
Good Ideas Take Time
Often we have more bad ideas than good ones. This can sometimes make us feel like we don’t have any good ideas. So we often give up too soon. What helps is not to lose hope and to work on the ideas again for a while. Make variations, brainstorm again, or maybe try a completely new approach. If we keep at it, then the good idea will be there at some point, which we can then improve little by little. An idea doesn’t come to us in a perfect form, but it has the potential to become great. We just have to keep working on it.
Too many planned tasks can be disastrous. 🥵 I hear these little empty boxes screaming at me when I can’t tick them off. Let’s stop this so we can sleep better. We always want to do more than we can do. But in the end, our day only lasts 24 hours. And we have to divide the hours cleverly without overwhelming ourselves.
Here are some tips that you can use to better deal with to-do lists.
Plan enough (buffer) time. Most of the time, your tasks last longer than you think.
Never write more on your to-do list than you can do in one day. If you have to do so many things, then something is going wrong with your general planning.
Do the most important task first.
Have flexible things planned that don’t necessarily have to be done today. You’ll feel better if you still can’t finish them.
Some people only put three tasks on their daily to-do list. Much less overwhelming than an endless list.
Put your To-Do List where you can see it. I have a notebook just for my lists. It always stays open on my desk while I’m working.
If you have problems doing anything at all, it is often helpful to have a To-Do list with just one task. It can be anything. For example, watering flowers. Gradually you can create more tasks when you feel like it.
If you follow some of these tips, it will be easier “to do” your to-do list! And your list won’t annihilate you with empty little boxes. 🔥
When Motivation Arrives
Motivation comes and goes. Sometimes it fades faster than you would like. Or in this case, faster out the window. 👉 💥
I can give you the following advice: Don’t wait until you are motivated to work on your creative project. Don’t wait for the muse that may never come. Start with the thing you don’t have the motivation for yet. It is tricky, but sometimes it helps to spend ten minutes working on the task you’re not motivated to do. The magic is that you can get inspired by sitting down and working. And the inspiration will also quickly give you the motivation you are lacking. Ten minutes can then quickly turn into an hour or more. Try this when you’re waiting for your motivation to appear (or when you see it jumping out of the window).
Funnily enough, I had no motivation to finish this little comic. But I kept sitting down and working on it for a few minutes. And lo and behold, something came out in the end.
Some Good Work At Last …?
We sometimes have the feeling that we can’t produce anything good. But then the moment comes when we create something we like so much that we think it can’t get any better.
Yet things change after a while.
We look back on it years later and realize what we created back then is just crap. That’s a good sign. It means we have grown in our passion and made progress in our creative life. Those are the moments we need to remember! When we think we’re not moving forward. A thing in the past that we can grab onto when we are in creative despair.
But even if you don’t have those moments where you think you’ve made something great, you can still see how you’ve gotten better.
That’s why I advise you to look at your old work to see how much progress you have made. And use this as a weapon of creativity if you need it.
Those four comics are one of the last ones of my “Creative Work Problems” comic. You will find the new ones I do on Instagram if I start them again. If you have ideas for comic topics you can reach me here.
In these Creative Work Problems comics, I give you tips on three topics. The first is about reflection and how it helps us get the creative juice out of ourselves. The second is about flow, and how we can use it to work better and even lose track of time. The last comic in this series is about endurance and how we need to train it to become better and stronger artists and designers.
Reflect
Even if you can work: Reflecting on the things you are doing in your creative process from time to time is always a good idea! You will see problems that you did not even anticipate.
How you can do it:
Schedule weekly time for reflection
Set aside time in your schedule for weekly reflection. This will establish a routine and ensure that you regularly evaluate your creative process and learn from your experiences. I do this every Monday morning for an hour.
Identify challenges
Focus on distinguishing between challenges you anticipated and those that caught you off guard. Understanding unexpected issues is important to develop strategies for addressing them in future projects.
Set goals for improvement
Based on your reflections, set clear, actionable goals for improvement. These goals should be specific to areas where you have identified challenges or opportunities for improvement.
Get In The Flow
Flow is my addiction and the reason why I do all this stuff. It’s so nice when you’re in the flow and I’m always very relaxed in the evening after my creative work when I’ve been in the flow all day. Ask the questions in panel three to get better at flow!
To do it you need to answer these questions if you have problems getting in the flow:
Do I know how to succeed in this task? Do I know the goal?
Do I know how to get immediate feedback?
Do I have the right amount of challenge?
If you want to know more about flow I recommend you to read this book.
Endure
You have to endure something now and then to make it easier later. That’s why it’s often helpful to get out of your comfort zone and do things you need to overcome.
So how do you overcome it? Just do it! Yes, I know. You heard it somewhere already. But this is the key to endurance. There is a time when your emotions are overwhelming you. Don’t stop! Keep going! You will learn to endure it. It is like exercising: It hurts at the moment, but over time you will get better.
Those three comics are the last of the first series of my “Creative Work Problems” comic. You will find the new ones I do on Instagram. The second series is already three comics in! I will post them soon here too. Stay tuned!
If you want to look at all my “Creative Work Problems” comics I did so far or want to catch up with the new ones: I made it easier to scroll through them. I did a new page where you can see the latest of my comics at the top. You will be able to scroll through them in chronological order, and at the bottom, you see thumbnails from all I have made so far. You can find the page in my menu at the top.
I try to make a comic every week. Do you have an idea for this topic of creative work problems? You can send me an email to give me your lovely ideas or just some thoughts of yours!
The new page is still a work in progress. I’m not 100% satisfied yet, but maybe I should not be such a perfectionist. 😉 I’m thinking if I still should do a post for each comic every week. But it is always a lot of work for not that much benefit. I will let you know about it soon.
I wish you a nice day!
Your reaction a few weeks ago trying to find the newest Creative Work Problems comic.
Are you afraid of change? Afraid to change your artwork, afraid you might ruin it? There’s a liberating approach to overcoming this fear – creating variations.
Extract lessons from variations Every variation is a lesson waiting to be learned. Analyze what works and what doesn’t. Through this process, you gain insights that contribute to your artistic evolution.
Explore incremental adjustments Start by making small, incremental changes. Whether it’s adjusting colors, experimenting with textures, or adding subtle details, these small adjustments can gradually build your comfort with the idea of change.
Think of change as an exploration Think of change as exploration rather than modification. This shift in thinking allows you to approach your artwork with curiosity, encouraging you to discover new possibilities and unlock hidden potential.
Embrace the unpredictable Art thrives on spontaneity. Instead of fearing the unknown, welcome the unpredictability of variation. Unexpected adjustments can lead to unexpected beauty and creative breakthroughs.
