Creating Comic Success: Time Management | Beating Procrastination

Being successful does not mange your time well.  Managing your time well is what makes you successful. – Randy Pausch

Time: It is our most precious commodity. It is the only thing that we absolutely, positively cannot get back.  Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Procrastination:  It is the thief of time.  And yet, so many of us are guilty of sitting idly by as the scourge of our dreams walks blithely into the room and makes off with such a valuable commodity.

As creators, most all of us are practitioners of procrastination, whether we want to admit it or not. When it comes to achieving comic success, we tend to take a long time getting there – or sadly, not at all– due to our tendencies to give into this productivity pirate.  Putting off important tasks like drawing a new page, or writing a page of story, sending out a press release, or updating the website in lieu of something more pleasurable or convenient seems to be the order of the day.  Is this you?  If so, don’t worry you’re not alone…

Many people procrastinate to some degree or another.  However, some are so chronically affected by procrastination that it stops them from achieving the things they are capable of.  Their ability to procrastinate disrupts or even displaces their creativity making it near impossible to achieve the level of success they dream of one day having.

In a nutshell, procrastination is when you put off things that you should be focusing on right here and now in favor of doing something that is either more enjoyable or more comfortable (i.e. convenient.). Quite often we will find ourselves justifying our procrastination by saying something like, “If I could only find the time.” Here’s a hint:  We do not “find” the time; we “make” the time.

Did you know that the average person watches 28 hours of television per week?  That’s nearly ¾’s of a full-time job.  Yikes!  What effect would eliminating 2-3 shows per week have on your productivity?  2-3 shows at an hour apiece x 4 weeks = 8–12 hours of productivity per month.  If it takes an average of 8-12 hours to draw a comic book page…

See what I mean?  There is no need to “find” the time.  It was there all along.  Remember, you have the same amount of hours in the day as Walt Disney, Don Bluth, Jack Kirby, or even Stan “The Man” Lee.

So what causes us to procrastinate?  One common cause is a feeling of being overwhelmed by the task at hand. You may not know where to begin causing you to delay moving forward. Or you may doubt that you have the skills or resources you think you need to move forward, otherwise known as “perfectionism” (I’ve been guilty of this one).   You tell yourself, “I don’t have the right skills or resources to do this perfectly now, so I won’t do it at all.”  This is so silly and a complete waste of time.  You will never have everything perfect so quite trying and understand that it’s not even necessary. It took me a long time to realize that no one cares how well the underside of the banister is polished.

Other causes of procrastination include:

* Waiting for the “right” mood, the “right” time, or to feel “inspired.”
* A fear of failure or success
* Underdeveloped decision making skills
* Poor organizational skills

Whatever the reason behind your procrastination, it must be recognized, dealt with and controlled before you miss out on an opportunity you and your creativity can take advantage of.  Timing is everything in art.  You can wait too long and miss a terrific opportunity, or vacancy, in the marketplace that your idea can fit perfectly within.

In 2006, when I first began to really promote and market my comic book series The Miscellaneous Adventures of STYKMAN™, the marketplace was saturated with story lines about Civil Wars, Crises, and other Major Event crossovers.  Although terrific comics in their own right, the stories themselves were pretty intense.  People were looking for something that could give them a bit of a respite from the maelstrom.  A little lighthearted humor.  Enter STYKMAN™.  As Broken Frontier put it: “…A breath of fresh, silly air in a time dominated by Crises, decimations and Civil Wars.” Had I allowed myself to be paralyzed by procrastination I would have missed out on a window of opportunity that had been left open by the comic book industry.  Is there a window open for you right now?  Are you ready to climb through it?

So how do we overcome procrastination?

Step 1: Recognize that you’re Procrastinating.  Be honest with yourself.  Recognize it for what it is and take action.

Step 2: Work out WHY you’re Procrastinating.  Why you procrastinate can depend on both you and the task. But it’s important to understand what the reasons for procrastination are for each situation, so that you can select the best approach for overcoming your reluctance to get going.  Are you guilty of waiting for the right time, mood, or to feel inspired?  Don’t.  The right time will never come.  Creators are innately moody people to begin with making finding the right mood as easy to grasp as Jello.  And as for inspiration, more often than not the inspiration comes while you are knee deep in the creative process not while you’re waiting for it to arrive.

The key to controlling and ultimately combating this destructive habit is to recognize when you start procrastinating, understand why it happens and take active steps to better manage your time. Since time is indeed your most precious commodity, and “managing your time well is what makes you successful,” it’s important to know where it is being spent.  One way you can do this is by creating a type of  “Time Journal.”  To help you out with this process, I have put together a “Time Management: Activity Logbook” for you to download.  You can do so by CLICKING HERE.

Starting tomorrow, keep track of your daily activities.  Give an Importance Level ranking of High, Medium, or Low as it pertains to creating your comic. By keeping track of your activities, the time spent doing said activities, and the level of importance those activities have towards you achieving your goals of comic success, you will be able to eliminate the time parasites and allocate more effort towards achieving your dreams

Part two of this series will cover prioritization and how it will inevitably lead to better Time Management.

To your success.

If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have read here, please submit a comment below.  By working together we can make this BLOG into an invaluable resource for every creator out there.