When it Comes to Habit, Timing Matters
Think about when you paint. Morning? Afternoon? Night?
Now how does that time feel? Energizing? Exhausting?
Not all painting time feels the same. The energy of afternoon painting feels different than night time, which feels different than morning. Some times of day may work better for you than others for painting.
Ep.14 guest Lisa Daria Kennedy she found early morning worked best for her. She wakes up and she paints. First thing.
Part of it is because you never know what the day will bring. Kennedy knew she might wake up ready to paint but then see some bad news through Facebook and it kills her motivation.
Another part of the schedule is prioritization.
When Kennedy was freelancing, showing up first thing helped her avoid starting client work at 6am, which she occasionally would find herself doing.
Put it to Practice:
If painting feels like an uphill climb, it may have less to do with what you’re working on and more about WHEN you’re doing that work.
Some of our time constraints have to do with our non painting life. Day jobs need doing. Kids require dinner.
But if you can, it might be worth auditioning different times of the day to see if they affect how painting feels.
That way you know. So even if you can’t change your schedule, you can be more aware of how that time affects you.
For example, afternoons after work is where the bulk of my painting time lives. It’s also when I’m the most tired. I leave it there for life reasons, and it’s good for me to remember that yeah, sometimes I’ll have a little more frustration in my studio practice purely because I’m more tired in the afternoons.
That knowledge has helped me learn to be nicer to myself AND it’s helped me learn to jump at the possibility of morning painting on weekends when the schedule is more flexible.