if i wont draw i wont improve i'll eventually go insane if i wont improve, because i live for pushing myself and improving if i keep drawing, i'll eventually wont have the energy to do anything else really i'll eventually go insane if i won't do all other things i enjoy, because i have quite the stressfull life all roads lead to same destination, and i just keep postponing it more and more by not sitting down and drawing , nor stopping the practice.
Here's the irony of your situation (which by the way is entirely a symptom of highly creative people). Regardless of the struggle it can be to be productive artistically - try NOT being creatively expressive for 1 week. You'll realize that it's quite impossible. That's one of the main reasons why I diversify my creative passions into things like set design, photography, videography, audio etc... It keeps my mind fresh and expanding instead of trying to grind the same stone trying to create something fresh with it - give your mind a creative break by exploring OTHER creative venues - it WILL tie directly back to what you're doing right now, with an expanded sense of focus.
Go easy on yourself. Just focus on creating a tinier thing right now. You'll feel good after doing this tiny piece. Don't worry, a sketch won't spontaneously combust if you put it aside for a week. Rest is important to do a new fresh start on a project. ...and now I have to apply this to myself x)
@@TheAftaaa you see, here comes my problem with finishing what i began, because after moderate amount of work put into something i simply dont end what i began... If purgatory exists, then i am in something very similar to it
@@AdamDuffArt definitely feel hard to "quit" art. Felt like it at times. The overwhelming urge to make something returns. It's a real drag to eg draw for x hours a day but there's a dozen other art things that can be done as well.
I talk to myself in a mom voice. Video games, shows, fun, that all happens later. Once you draw, once you make something that you can be happy with, then you can have fun. The distractions have to be a reward.
I often hit the like button on a video I'm only starting to watch because I'm just happy that that creator uploaded in the first place. It's kind of a way of saying "thanks"
The thing with me is that I just know that I messed up so much at this point that I feel kinda guilty of starting again, you know? I procrastinated so much and now I just feel worse than ever.
Yeah I feel that hard sometimes. It's a futility fallacy, whatever part of your mind or whatever insecurity your mind uses to keep you from drawing in the first place pertains to a similar mechanism. I think you just have to say "It's never too late" and though your mind will probably try drag you down immediately by saying it's futile, it is too late etc. You just gotta say "It's never too late" again. Your brain loves to exhibit the same patterns so it will be difficult but if you simply disregard any futility fallacy it throws at you and proceed to simply sit down with a sketchbook/tablet and start by drawing a single line you'll already have it beat by behaving in contrast to what it's telling you. You can literally reprogram your brain through altering your behaviour and by how you interpret and react to your thoughts. Never give up :)
This is really difficult because when I sit down to draw I get completely lost and often spend over 6 hours a day stuck to the paper, I literally get tunnel vision and cant stop, it can’t be healthy but for some reason it feels like it’s worth it. I should add I don’t even want to be professional I just like to draw with no obligation.
@@crisptomato9495 I wonder if its better to embrace the days when this is possible and grind it out as much as you can, (maybe have a little burnout at the end of the period) or to pace yourself and restrict the amount of drawing you do each day on the days that you wan to draw for 4-8 hours?
Thats my story, I dont even plan to go professional, but have developed aweird facination for trying to be good like my favorite surreal artist. But with my work habits have become the equivalent to game addiction. If im not doing art I have to see and collect art, artbooks, art on twitter, pixiv or deviant art profiles clicking and saving through EVERY LAST PIECE. Most of which I haven't gone through yet, watching tutorial videos, practicing for six hours a day (so I try) and if I cant do that or the Internet goes down I fall into depression.
I haven’t gone to sleep at the same time for two consecutive days in years. To be honest, I’d given up on being a human being. Perhaps I will try once more to have a sleep schedule. Cross your fingers for me.
@@MaidDucko I've been sleeping and waking up at the same time every day since that post. I'm still very tired throughout the day, but I've read that it may take a couple of weeks to adapt.
Try to instead get up at the same time. I find after several weeks of getting up between 8 and 9 (even on weekends), you start waking automatically in that period. And that forces you to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.
I have a problem of thinking of myself as a loser when not doing art. Being compassionate, more forgiving to myself is a thought that never crossed my mind. Thank you, Adam, love your videos and the art style you work in
i made it into a habit... it's difficult to not draw every day, i remember how lazy i was... it's a good practice to start a social account just to post every day, post something, a lil thing every day. your brain does everything in it power to save energy and watch youtube... but if you give yourself small goals every day you will become more productive
For me as an artist and also a writer- I am working on postapocalyptic book right now and your video helps me a lot! Thank you again for your wise tips!
Due to the situation, I'm in right now, being 15 years old and realizing that my parents got bored of me, being ignored, while they fight all day, calling me useless because I'm not able to do the stuff they never cared to teach me. I became so helpless, that I just, don't do anything, I stay in front of my monitor, watching people succeeding, watching people being happy and making art, stories of people who went through the worst and rose... And I just think, Will I be able to do this? I have a reason to not end it all, my boyfriend. He keeps me afloat, and I do the same for him, just three more years, and I can fully go to live with him. But meanwhile, I'm just, here, lost, going to school, trying my best to not break down when the teacher complains about my homework, trying to keep myself from breaking, trying to think "Just, three more years, just, three more years, and you will be loved and accepted". The fact that I'm gay makes it even harder, I never felt, in my entire life, that I was accepted, or loved until my boyfriend came into my life, he helped me, taught me, made me know that, no, there is nothing wrong with me. Just, three more years.
Bro, don't wait 3 years. Don't be the person who points the finger unto others. Believe in yourself. You've seen people rise from their challenges. They've already shown you what's possible. So the only one holding yourself back is not your parents, teachers, or other people. It's you. It's hard. The greatest battle is within. If you wait 3 years and nothing changed, what then did you waste 3 years for? Don't worry about those who do not believe in you. There are people who will. What's left for you to do is..... Believe in yourself.
Don't depend on the future to make you "happy", focus on the only moment that we have, the NOW, the PRESENT MOMENT, the past carry frustration, the future, anxiety (or sometimes, the thought that everything will be ok works like a relief, but it's temporary), to the point where I learn to focus more on the present, without compulsive thinking, my life changed drastically, of a life full of anger and anxiety, to a life with sometimes full peace and so much less anxiety and anger, I highly reccomend you to read the book The Power of Now, of Eckhart Tolle (it's possible to read for free in the internet in pdf), after read this book,I realized that I AM the only one who creates the suffering, and not the other person or situation, for example, a person embarrassed you in front of several people, thoughts during and after this occurence will pop up in your mind, always remembering you of that moment, and sometimes creating new history upon that, and making you more anxiety. I recommend you to also search about the Ego and Compulsive thinking. That knowledge will make you a better artist and a better person. Sorry of I wrote something wrong, I'm actually studying English so...Yea haha
Hey kid, hope you're still hanging in there, wherever you are and your home life has improved in the last year. I know it's way easier said than done but, try not to let outside negativity impact your internal views. Try to view everything as a critique. Extract the bits that will help you grow and dismiss the useless negativity. Good luck and I hope you're doing well. 🙏
Another thing that helps when you feel there is a mountain of tasks ahead is to minimize it in your brain. Stop for a second, take a deep breath and think in your mind: "Now I'm grabbing my pencil". "Now I'm dragging the mouse to the photoshop icon". It's when you sit down and think about the task, the details and time consuming work you have to push through that it becomes impossible. Stop thinking about the hard task and start with the ridicolously simple actions you're able to do. Do simple action after simple action and suddenly you've finished something!
Something simple that I find helps me to get started every day is to just open the program and look at whatever it is I'm working on. I think most if not all artists have the tendency to make tiny adjustments to their work, or at least see some flaws that bother them.. Often when I'm not in the mood, I start tweaking the painting here and there, just a small stroke here, a color adjustment there and a slight scale adjustment there. And before I know it, I'm sucked into the painting and my mind is fully committed again. Works like magic to me.
i always loved high school art class because it was like the one hour every other day i had to sit and do art nothing else it was so peaceful there . i really appreciate my public school district/ art teacher buying all the supplies they did even when i got to college art you had to buy everything you made art with it kind of sucked
For a long time, I had trouble sitting down to draw. I didn't know what my reason for drawing was anymore, I didn't really enjoy doing it either.. it was sth. I had to do and had to get better at.. and I didn't. I've been trying to get back into it and finally, I think I'm at a point where I can safely say that my relationship to drawing is changing for the better. There's a video by Unconfortable (DrawABox) where he talks about drawing things you aren't ready for. Taking a sketchbook and just filling each page to the brim with ink sketches. And it's just so relaxing to let go and draw what I want, even if I don't feel confident in my ability to do so yet. Especially then. It's no longer: "I can't draw that." Nowadays I'm thinking: "That idea sounds fun. I wonder what it will look like." And I'm really noticing the difference between pencil and ink. With ink, I'm drawing so much more bolder because I know I can't go back on it and erase it. And it's black no matter how much pressure I exert. And I realized how important it is to just draw for yourself and your own enjoyment. I'm finally experiencing this feeling of relaxation again. :)
For me it's the "I will never be as good as the Artists I see around me." and I just give up. My love IS art but it's so demeaning when my art is so trash in comparison. I have began to realize I will never enough with art. But now I know I will pursue art. Now that the pandemic made me realize my life can be snapped out of existence. As I had lost my job, my money and have to start from the ground up. It was scary as can be. I'm sitting down everyday as often as I can to draw. I even bought a REALLY cheap used iPad Pro gen 1 so I can draw when I go for a drive and pull over. I LOVE art and it stopped my anxieties during the lockdowns.
I have been struggling so badly with the transition to digital art and it gets compounded with the guilt of setting aside a rental place to have time, but still not being able to get out the door from family & household stresses. It's insane. I feel "blank-canvas" anxiety A LOT. This video was a great help for today. Thank you.
omg howwwww i literally haven't drawn anything for 3 days I've got so many projects pending and I haven't had any motivation to finish anything or do homework for courses and stuff and here Adam just drops the exact video i want when i am again suffering from not being able to draw and finish this one stupid piece i am working on.... ADAM YOU ARE A MIND READER i so appreciate you and your content you're such an inspiration to me and many others i sure and i hope and wish u nothing be safety and happiness!!! i love your work and these art talks so much wish me luck cuz imma go check out an animation college soon i hope i can finally decide something i have been so stressed out about it but anyway have a good day also if you are someone who is reading this and made it to the end of this comment, i wish you good luck too!! for your endeavors and stresses just know that it will pay off in the end and you can do this!!!!!!!!!
This really resonated with me. I used to work three different jobs, and even though they took up most of my day and I was exhausted, I did not waste any little free time I had and drew so much. Now I only have one job and a lot more free time than I'm used to having, and suddenly my motivation is gone and I barely want to do anything. Now it finally makes sense why I feel that way! I will definitely try the tips in this video, thank you so much!!
Every single time I watch one of Adam’s videos I feel like I not only improve a little bit as an artist, but also as a person. This guy is incredible and should be one of the Wonders of the World
It's very hard to be productive whilst working a job with different shifts. Like you said it's destroying me slowly. You're always tired and when you're not you want to relax and maybe check a movie or play a game. The rest of the time just slowly fades and you feel your 'skill' dripping away. Really hard to keep yourself 'motivated' on a shitty job to keep it because you need money to survive...
Driven to distraction is my biggest challenge these days… ADHD symptoms sucks so I have to figure out how to follow my capacity, energy without following the neurotypical way because I tried following the good old be consistent and produced nada or I’ll be in shame island. I’m glad I’m finding ways to be productive without feeling guilty that my mind and body is wired differently. Now, I’m doing my best to turn my alarm on so I can paint and produce something. I’m torn between doing abstract vs landscapes. Thank you Adam for this reminder.
It's starting to be a bit clear now. Been feeling really unmotivated to draw lately especially with school and homework getting in the way and me just not having a good schedule.
This video literally changed my life and helped with my depression. Keeping a healthy schedule seems like such an obvious thing but it really is life changing. I've spent so much of my life working against myself instead of with myself that I've been in a constant state of burnout. Having an actual structure to my day has made me feel less like my life is out of control, less like I'm just drifting along, and more like I have power over myself and what I do. Thanks for this video. My therapist loves you :^)
"ride the wave" those words washed over me and soaked into my core. Hormone, illness, inspiration, emotion, sun, moon, clouds, water waves. All of the waves, ride WITH them. Thank you for those words in this context. I needed them.
I was going to say something similar. I haven't managed to be able to build habits and routines the way neurotypical people seem to be able to. I've tried sticking to things for 30 days to create a habit, and no habit seems to form even after 30 days.
It's rough, to be sure. I have ADHD as well, and the only thing that has vaguely worked for me has been A) definitive external structure, and B) little, gradual rewards to look forward to.
I genuinely cried a little hearing this because I never realized how much tired and burn out I feel about being productive and better every single day... It feels really good listen someone ( at least an stranger) saying the thing that I needed; and I cried because i realize how rude and cruel I was with myself (even in my mind and my thoughts). Now I understand that I feel anxious all the time about my work because the hight and unrealistic expectations that I created...
I have been trying to take my art more seriously because I want to make it a job, but I have always had problems with productivity and it's been really hard to just sit down and do it. This video has illuminating! I don't think I've had anybody explain things more clearly and made me feel more incentivized to work on my schedule! Thank you!
18:49 I dont know why but this made me cry. I always tought i was not cut out for drawing coz i either "roude the wave" or had no clue what to draw, i hated myself for it. I hated how all over the place i am. But this way of saying "Its gonna be ok"..... It got me. Thank you man, thank you
Oh I feel you. I have been going through this during the pandemic. I started drawing a lil more during march and february. I still dont feel like i spend enough time on drawing. I dont really draw everyday. Im tryimg to chantge that now. I dont need to draw multiple hours im thinking about 1-2 hours everyday after work.
Productivity has always been very easy to me. My father raised me to not waste time. Nowadays is different though My children don’t let me get anything done.
No person ever, except you, was able to influence the negative side of my mindset, to such an extent and making my eyes more open, to things that I should be grateful for and that make me happy.
I’m trying to figure out how to paint without outlines because I feel like they limit my work and I like the look of digital “painting” rather than just digital 2D picture of a character that looks more cartoonish than what I’m wanting. It’s very VERY difficult and frustrating to not have money for schooling but also be swarmed with artists who seem to have found a way to tap into whatever it is that enables them to paint in such a way...I know I have talent and sometimes I do work that I’m very proud of, but creating digitally what I see in my mind is so hard at times that it makes me want to break down in tears...so thank you for being so compassionate in this video. This alone has helped me tremendously. And your work is lovely.
I feel the exact same. Painting without worrying about all the lines is so freeing. At the same time I still need to practice perspective and just laying down the right proportions and understanding the form. I just really hate doing outlines. I am better with bold ink than pencil. Get so caught up in the details. Frustrating but I hope we both find a way!
Every day for the past year I draw/paint for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, (sometimes more sometimes less) and I have experienced so much growth in what feels like such a short time from staying consistent. I started to feel guilty because my work hours are so much less compared to the long 8 - 12, or even 14 hour days my friends and family have to do. Recently, I took an online course taught by Rachel Bradley and Ergo Josh, and they helped me understand that I can't compare art to a different profession because art requires so much focus, precision, and emotion. It's why 2 hours of focused work on art can be so draining to me. All you need is at least a couple hours a day to grow! Don't hurt yourself by forcing your body to draw for 8+ hours every day. I started sticking to this schedule when I heard about it in an old art talk you did so thank you, Art Dad, for helping me improve and for providing these great videos
Oh i want to say quick that I started playing darksouls 3 (my first souls series game) this year after being curious about it and always hearing good things from you and I love it so much. I am playing bloodborne now but taking a brake for a few days because spider rom is annoying me.
I just realized that it easily has been over 3 years that someone said I love you out loud to me. So I wanted to thank you for breaking the dry spell. :) Have a wonderful day whenever you read this.
Landed into my latest art rut recently and this man like immediately posted a vid. I practiced for literally another whole year in art and today it’s like I haven’t gotten any better and I’m back at square one. It makes it so easy to slip into distractions.
Adam what's different with you is all your subscribers are your constant viewers. Which is a compliment. I always enjoy listening to you when I'm working. Please keep posting videos like this. You've become a mentor and a friend even if thought we may not personally known each other.
I have never heard any artist apply the science of the body into the production of art. This is by far the best tip and explanatory help that has ever graced my ears. Thank you.
i was literally talking to my mom last night about how hard it is for me to sit down and draw and get motivated, and now this is on my recommended. you are a psychic
A friend sent me this video, and wow it’s really nice to not feel yelled at for not constantly producing art work. To instead create a healthy achievable schedule. Thank you ❤️
Brother you must be a serious empath. Just seeing this title really resonated with me. So many UA-cam videos have these titles designed to “grab” the viewer. Clickbait. Yours are so different. They always get my attention. They always resonate. They always soothe, and reassure. Your voice and pacing is therapeutic. I think I’m not alone when I say that accepting myself has always been the biggest hurdle for me. I doubt everything about myself 90% of the time. Getting past that is something I know I’ll always struggle with. Thank you for helping so many of us with your thoughts and philosophies. Bless you brother. Love and respect. 🙏
When I was working on a portrait everything was going great I was in the zone. Then I got a phone call from a friend who said she was lost and needed to find a location. I told her I was busy for her to find someone else to help her. Well she got mad and said she did try someone else but they were not home, so just help me. I did help her but in doing so lost the moment and the zone. Everything was now a struggle. I realized then to not have my phone on while I'm working or even in the same room while I'm working on art or crafting. I never got that amazing feeling of being in the zone again. So having a time set aside is so important and not let anything distract you at that time is going to be a challenge but it will make you stronger and people will have to learn to leave you alone.
I'm not tearing up reading a bunch of comments about people who seem to just echo my head and my life existing in a consistent limbo with no glimmer of hope of making it out, you are.
tahnks for this, I had a massive block for almost a year. I am an engineer, but still made doodles and painted since a child. I finally understand my job is not everything and now I am free to create
Adam, so much of what you said reminded me of what George Leonard has to say in his book "Mastery". Not sure if you've read that, but highly recommend anyone going through. Learning to appreciate the plateau, the process. Love the texture, rhythm, and the feel of the work we do, rather than just chasing the contingencies (results). A good quote from the first section: "Goals and contingencies, as I’ve said, are important. But they exist in the future and the past, beyond the pale of the sensory realm. Practice, the path of mastery, exists only in the present. You can see it, hear it, smell it, feel it. To love the plateau is to love the eternal now, to enjoy the inevitable spurts of progress and the fruits of accomplishment, then serenely to accept the new plateau that waits just beyond them. To love the plateau is to love what is most essential and enduring in your life." Leonard, George. Mastery (pp. 48-49).
Adam: ''don't call yourself a loser, don't think that you lack de motivation your DNA is weak '' me: who told u that mate? are u spying me ? where is the mic ?
This was really insightful. I usually tend to stick a fixed schedule, but sometimes I tend to slack off due to health issues or maybe because I'm not in a good mood. I get why it's so important to adhere to a schedule & yet not force yourself to be productive all the time
As I sit here at literally half past midnight. Having missed my first wave as you so eloquently described it. I realised the truth in how you phrased it. And accepted that simply lying there and frustrating myself over my non sleepiness was in reality an act of self cruelty to my mind for a miscommunication with my body. I decided to sit up. And take some genuine time for once, to turn every light off in the room. (Which I normally never do) truly disconnect. Put on some reflective piano music. And just... have a word with myself. To take the moment to have some compassion for myself as you seem to reiterate in these videos. And I have to say. A half hour, and several years later. I feel genuinely calm for the first time in several years. Like I finally opened the storm of concerns in my brain and instead of trying to wrestle them down with logical solutions or bind them with promises of betterment. I just let them blow through me for a moment. Let the air pressure settle. And allow things to just calm. So that I could have a genuine dialogue with my own internal thoughts. Adam I have only just discovered your videos this week but they have been a huge help to me at the stage of almost post burnout and uncertainty I am at with my own art. Your wisdom is impressive and the way you express it speaks to me and I’m hoping a lot of people in such a wonderful way. I hope you understand just what a beautiful thing you are producing here. And I thank you deeply that you do.
You must have telepathy. I have this strange situation when someone gives me a prompt/assignment to draw, I immediately know what I want to draw and start immediately with no hassle. But when it's just me sitting down on my table and sketchbook alone, I can't even draw a proper face.
I don't like oversharing on public forums but there's something about your videos that just grabs something in me and makes me want to share in the honesty you give us...... some amazing tips in this one, and at just the right time too, my sleep schedule is so bad I'm nocturnal lol.
I can definitely attest to this because it's what I implemented a long time ago. After having no job or school for over a year I realized that somehow, despite having nothing but free time, I was doing less than ever, I also developed a health issue that required maintaining very solid sleep. I started getting up and going to bed at exactly the same time every single day, drawing and doing anything else productive that needed to be done in the morning, having a snack and coffee at noon, and then doing whatever, and it has worked out fantastically and really improved my life far better than anything any of the doctors I'd seen told me to do.
Adam what is it with you and being clairvoyant?! Space magic I swear! I needed to hear this!! I've recently begun to tackle this within the past few days after months of failing. I was going insane with being frustrated at not feeling satisfied with how I've been spending my time and what things I haven't been getting done. Back when I was growing up my family was too poor for internet, so I would draw and write, and I achieved a lot of amazing stuff because of that. Yes, we had video games but I usually only played them with my father, he closely regulated how much we played. He knew what my career path back was back then and would tell me to go and draw. Fast forward to today in which I have net, and unlimited access to games and socializing, I've found my productivity is a shadow of what it has been in the past and I've never liked that. I decided to establish boundaries and stick to my schedule. I reflected, saw what was distracting me. Still working on it but a few days in and I'm already feeling better. Seeing this video is kind of a sign from the universe so to speak, helping reinforce that I am doing what's best for me. Thank you Adam, your timing is impeccable as always ;w;
This channel is a true blessing and stands out amongst all other art channels! Thank you for posting this content and therefore giving us a place we can come to when we feel isolated in our struggles. It‘s so reassuring to hear that also amazing artists like you have gone/go through the same struggles we all do.
god, at 6:12 when you said minecraft and cyberpunk that just fucking took a huge weight off my chest, its just making me hella guilty playing videogames nowadays when I could be working, doing school work, or getting better at drawing. Its nice to have that time validated
So much truth in this. My circadian rythm has always been shifted about 5 hours forward and I was a distracted mess, now that I'm taking melatonin every night I'm faring much better in the productivity and (tbh) being social processes... I've had a stressful month in January and suddenly not even melatonin knocked me out, and I hated it, I suddenly was back to being in a "fog" every day, the difference is SO big.
you are so right with you say about split shift jobs....... i used to work 1 week 6am - 2pm, 1 week 2pm - 10pm, 1 week 10pm til 6am.....on a constant weekly rotation, and that will mess you up big time becasue by the time your body is used to it, you change and start again.....doing my job was fine, but once i get home my mind and body would just give up and id be like a zombie and it ended up costing me alot.........seriously Adam you have no idea how important your videos are to the entire community. stay safe my friend
So true... you know I feel like spending your time on distractions is also kind of a sign that you are not respecting your own time. I think everyone is doing it, me included. But maybe we should all reflect on ourselves here a little. We could spend more time with friends, if we spent less time on distractions. We could spend our time in a meaningful way, yet we expect others to respect our time before we expect ourselves to respect it, although we then just waste that time on useless things. Again very great advice, Adam, thank you.
How strange. I have been struggling with writer's block for a while now. But a week ago I started writing in the evening just before I go to bed - every day around the same time and I think it's getting better. I really needed to here exactly this. Thank you. And man, that's one gorgeous artwork!
Because of my classes and many other things make everyday busy for me,less sleep and less free time so I'm concern that i would stuck here forever but everything you said in this video help me see a solution. Thank you a lot Adam love you too.
It's so true that thing about messing up our schedule, that shit destroys us. I was working in a Restaurant and my boss made me change my shift for one week (Thank god it was only one week) and I couldn't sleep for the entire time, I was sleeping like 3 hours and that drove me insane. I was super agressive to my coworker; the cashier; we were side by side for 8 hours every day. She was like: "Hey can you do me a fav-" WHAT DO YOU NEED NOW? I'm sorry, this is not me. Also I want to add that Jerry Seinfeld talked a lot about taming our brains, and kinda confine our creative beast because aimless creativity it's pointless, building structure, routine, basicly discipline. Love your channel man, this is meditation and therapy at the same time.
I think that having free time or seemingly free time is a curse to a lot of us, many people like me can function only while juggling several tasks and interests, I used to draw, play guitar, study a new language, study programming, work out and play videogames. I hate how much I struggle to focus on a single thing and I need to do all these things which makes me sound like a gigantic pushover because I would really love to just pinpoint one thing I like and focus on it but it's very very hard for me. I really like your take on the subject of burnout and improvement and I strive to have a work ethic like yours, thank you for this talk.
I only just saw this and immediately shared it with my art friends. This is the first videos of yours I've ever seen and I'm really grateful I clicked on it. This was extremely insightful and a great watch. Subbed.
All you need to train, is self control. I started meditating 3 times a day 4 days ago, and I can already feel progress. I meditate on clearing mind, motivation and third eye. I have to say that meditating works the best for my self control.
That part about the swing shifts is true. When I was doing vaccines in Oakland we would switch between day and night shift in the middle of the week. We only had one day off so it was three days night shift and then you switch to the day shift. It's horrible, I absolutely got no sleep. I kept wondering why I always felt extremely tired.
Hey fellow Canadian. Yukon checking in. Real talk though, I think most people mistake hormonal activity as motivation. Not realizing the body needs to be trained to get "consistent motivation".
Just poped up to say. i had a job of my dreams in an architecture office for 8 months, it was a blast and a tiring work. Yet now when im looking for a new one i feel less energetic and more tired without any employment and with full free time. maybe once a week i feel a creative spark... Thanks for the video, certainly i will try out the "forced" organisation schedule idea.
Dang! I don't know how does the youtube algorithm really work but it's really scary in a way that every single time I going to something tough your channel always comes in autoplay mode and it most of the time 100 true, feels like a small voice inside my head or friendly advice of life. Atm I'm working on 4 different projects and time management is key for succes, I'm so blessed this workload arrives for me after almost 10 months of no no emails. I love you all too guys
Back when I used to go to in-person school 2 days a week, I had a schedule (outside of the in-person days) of wake up, eat, get as much school work done as I can handle, me time, do some school work if I can, and then go to sleep. When I realized that we were going back to 4 days of school (wednesdays off) I started having a hissy fit in my head because I loved my schedule and how I was improving mentally and physically with the old schedule that I had. Now, I'm trying to get my body used to a new schedule, and it's been kinda hard so far. This video made me really want to start up a new schedule for myself, and I thank you for this video.
I think this has been the crux of my current issues. I'm a rather impulsive and low energy person, so the minute Im tempted to be unproductive, I fall into that. And since I'm not consistent and I dont schedule myself properly, Im not getting the proper support from my own body to avoid those distractions. So I think this helps me a lot and will definitely be something for me to work on this week
School drags me down and burns me out. It's hard to be productive when I'm always tired of looking at my marks and doing so much work especially all the math pre-calc, algebra, and essays. Worried about what I would do after high school, picking classes that I think would help me in life, this is why I didn't pick visual arts as an elective...It's frustrating to take breaks in life it makes me think I never do much. Yet I have too many things I need to do and it just kills me that I can't progress in my passion for art...But now I know that taking that class that wasn't the key to my passion I figured that I can learn art on my own as I have always had in high school teaching myself and correcting myself, it's a skill I developed through error for error in mathematics and English classes. I hope to one day progress to a point in art where I would finally say life was worth anticipating and patiently waiting for that moment for me to succeed in steps even if it's a slow and agonizing progression.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THANK YOU, FOR YEARS I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH DRAWING CONSISTENTLY! I only could do it at school, for obvious reasons (there was no distractions) and i couldn't help myself get back into the habit and consistency of doing it. Today i get a clearer picture of what i can do to improve. Thank you so much, thank you.
I work for a petroleum lab. Every 2 weeks for the last 4 years I've switched days to nights and back usually hitting 110 hours. In the last 6 months it switched to 4 on 4 off switching days and nights each 4. This is why I need to become an artist. To get out of this place. I forgot how unnatural it is since I've done it for so long. Thank you for reminding me of another reason to work toward my dream.
Summary of this video: dedicate yourself to a consistent, strict schedule that will not burn you out.
Oh man I'm just so deep into all these mistakes. Distractions are too real, my life in my room is so fun and exciting, as weird as it sounds :D
Yeah its kind of weird of how many distractions there are. Keep it up Boro.
You can do it boro!
Part of it can also come from a nerve of anxiety
When I get a house I just want to lay everything out, a play and work room
Oh shits borodante
if i wont draw i wont improve
i'll eventually go insane if i wont improve, because i live for pushing myself and improving
if i keep drawing, i'll eventually wont have the energy to do anything else really
i'll eventually go insane if i won't do all other things i enjoy, because i have quite the stressfull life
all roads lead to same destination, and i just keep postponing it more and more by not sitting down and drawing , nor stopping the practice.
Here's the irony of your situation (which by the way is entirely a symptom of highly creative people). Regardless of the struggle it can be to be productive artistically - try NOT being creatively expressive for 1 week. You'll realize that it's quite impossible. That's one of the main reasons why I diversify my creative passions into things like set design, photography, videography, audio etc... It keeps my mind fresh and expanding instead of trying to grind the same stone trying to create something fresh with it - give your mind a creative break by exploring OTHER creative venues - it WILL tie directly back to what you're doing right now, with an expanded sense of focus.
Go easy on yourself. Just focus on creating a tinier thing right now. You'll feel good after doing this tiny piece. Don't worry, a sketch won't spontaneously combust if you put it aside for a week.
Rest is important to do a new fresh start on a project.
...and now I have to apply this to myself x)
@@TheAftaaa you see, here comes my problem with finishing what i began, because after moderate amount of work put into something i simply dont end what i began...
If purgatory exists, then i am in something very similar to it
@@secretname2670 i feel you on this one, i myself just dont finish my work alot of times and its just there unfinished
@@AdamDuffArt definitely feel hard to "quit" art. Felt like it at times. The overwhelming urge to make something returns. It's a real drag to eg draw for x hours a day but there's a dozen other art things that can be done as well.
I talk to myself in a mom voice. Video games, shows, fun, that all happens later. Once you draw, once you make something that you can be happy with, then you can have fun. The distractions have to be a reward.
the problem is, nobody is in the way of the reward, u can just snag it right away and nothing will stop you
What if you don't draw, then you can just go straight for the reward.
@@jackkrell7313 if you don’t draw then you don’t get to reward yourself honey 😆
Barely having launched the video, I'm already sure I'll be a more mature artist/person in next 22 minutes :>
artists really go mature just so they can come back to being childish, while still having respectable opinion.
Why people are Up/Downvoting a 22min video that's been up for 2 minutes is beyond my understanding
could be a bots, thinking Adam is getting too much love, need to balance that shit out
I often hit the like button on a video I'm only starting to watch because I'm just happy that that creator uploaded in the first place. It's kind of a way of saying "thanks"
@@captainbagels And I imagine the downvotes mean "crap, he uploaded again" lol
@@AdamDuffArt LOL 😂
Maybe they lost all their hope.
The thing with me is that I just know that I messed up so much at this point that I feel kinda guilty of starting again, you know? I procrastinated so much and now I just feel worse than ever.
Yeah I feel that hard sometimes. It's a futility fallacy, whatever part of your mind or whatever insecurity your mind uses to keep you from drawing in the first place pertains to a similar mechanism. I think you just have to say "It's never too late" and though your mind will probably try drag you down immediately by saying it's futile, it is too late etc. You just gotta say "It's never too late" again. Your brain loves to exhibit the same patterns so it will be difficult but if you simply disregard any futility fallacy it throws at you and proceed to simply sit down with a sketchbook/tablet and start by drawing a single line you'll already have it beat by behaving in contrast to what it's telling you. You can literally reprogram your brain through altering your behaviour and by how you interpret and react to your thoughts. Never give up :)
Sum's up how I feel some of the days
This is really difficult because when I sit down to draw I get completely lost and often spend over 6 hours a day stuck to the paper, I literally get tunnel vision and cant stop, it can’t be healthy but for some reason it feels like it’s worth it. I should add I don’t even want to be professional I just like to draw with no obligation.
SAME
it happens the same to me and since I live alone I lose myself into my drawings
Same thing happened to me today. Time just slows down when you’re in the zone and then BAM it’s suddenly been 4 hours.
@@crisptomato9495 I wonder if its better to embrace the days when this is possible and grind it out as much as you can, (maybe have a little burnout at the end of the period) or to pace yourself and restrict the amount of drawing you do each day on the days that you wan to draw for 4-8 hours?
Thats my story, I dont even plan to go professional, but have developed aweird facination for trying to be good like my favorite surreal artist. But with my work habits have become the equivalent to game addiction. If im not doing art I have to see and collect art, artbooks, art on twitter, pixiv or deviant art profiles clicking and saving through EVERY LAST PIECE. Most of which I haven't gone through yet, watching tutorial videos, practicing for six hours a day (so I try) and if I cant do that or the Internet goes down I fall into depression.
I'm here's to say I love you all
Love you too bud ❤️
Love you to guys
"it will be difficult at first but everything is difficult at first "-Miyamoto musashi love that quote
I haven’t gone to sleep at the same time for two consecutive days in years. To be honest, I’d given up on being a human being. Perhaps I will try once more to have a sleep schedule. Cross your fingers for me.
Your situation sounds awfully familiar.
Hows it going now?
@@MaidDucko I've been sleeping and waking up at the same time every day since that post. I'm still very tired throughout the day, but I've read that it may take a couple of weeks to adapt.
Try to instead get up at the same time. I find after several weeks of getting up between 8 and 9 (even on weekends), you start waking automatically in that period. And that forces you to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.
@@elindis oh saw this other update now, good job!
Speaking of snipers, there's a line from "Shooter," that goes: "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." Seems applicable to a wide range of things.
I like that!
...wow
Me: I gonna be productive today and finished my comic!!!
Skyrim: No! You're not.
Oh well hello me
I have a problem of thinking of myself as a loser when not doing art. Being compassionate, more forgiving to myself is a thought that never crossed my mind. Thank you, Adam, love your videos and the art style you work in
i made it into a habit... it's difficult to not draw every day, i remember how lazy i was... it's a good practice to start a social account just to post every day, post something, a lil thing every day.
your brain does everything in it power to save energy and watch youtube... but if you give yourself small goals every day you will become more productive
Dude... I was literally having this problem, I swear you make videos at the right times.
For me as an artist and also a writer- I am working on postapocalyptic book right now and your video helps me a lot! Thank you again for your wise tips!
nice! a very fun topic to explore - a subject with a lot of humanity and depth to it, endless inspiration
@@AdamDuffArt it is true, you are amazing for all kind of artists
Due to the situation, I'm in right now, being 15 years old and realizing that my parents got bored of me, being ignored, while they fight all day, calling me useless because I'm not able to do the stuff they never cared to teach me. I became so helpless, that I just, don't do anything, I stay in front of my monitor, watching people succeeding, watching people being happy and making art, stories of people who went through the worst and rose... And I just think, Will I be able to do this? I have a reason to not end it all, my boyfriend. He keeps me afloat, and I do the same for him, just three more years, and I can fully go to live with him. But meanwhile, I'm just, here, lost, going to school, trying my best to not break down when the teacher complains about my homework, trying to keep myself from breaking, trying to think "Just, three more years, just, three more years, and you will be loved and accepted". The fact that I'm gay makes it even harder, I never felt, in my entire life, that I was accepted, or loved until my boyfriend came into my life, he helped me, taught me, made me know that, no, there is nothing wrong with me.
Just, three more years.
Bro, don't wait 3 years. Don't be the person who points the finger unto others. Believe in yourself. You've seen people rise from their challenges. They've already shown you what's possible. So the only one holding yourself back is not your parents, teachers, or other people. It's you. It's hard. The greatest battle is within.
If you wait 3 years and nothing changed, what then did you waste 3 years for?
Don't worry about those who do not believe in you. There are people who will. What's left for you to do is..... Believe in yourself.
dont listen to those shit people in your life, i believe in u, everything will turn out okay, please dont worry :)
@@cagn3692 Thank you for the kimd words, I appreciate it, lately I have been more happy and inspire, so there is that 😅
Don't depend on the future to make you "happy", focus on the only moment that we have, the NOW, the PRESENT MOMENT, the past carry frustration, the future, anxiety (or sometimes, the thought that everything will be ok works like a relief, but it's temporary), to the point where I learn to focus more on the present, without compulsive thinking, my life changed drastically, of a life full of anger and anxiety, to a life with sometimes full peace and so much less anxiety and anger, I highly reccomend you to read the book The Power of Now, of Eckhart Tolle (it's possible to read for free in the internet in pdf), after read this book,I realized that I AM the only one who creates the suffering, and not the other person or situation, for example, a person embarrassed you in front of several people, thoughts during and after this occurence will pop up in your mind, always remembering you of that moment, and sometimes creating new history upon that, and making you more anxiety. I recommend you to also search about the Ego and Compulsive thinking.
That knowledge will make you a better artist and a better person.
Sorry of I wrote something wrong, I'm actually studying English so...Yea haha
Hey kid, hope you're still hanging in there, wherever you are and your home life has improved in the last year.
I know it's way easier said than done but, try not to let outside negativity impact your internal views.
Try to view everything as a critique. Extract the bits that will help you grow and dismiss the useless negativity.
Good luck and I hope you're doing well. 🙏
Another thing that helps when you feel there is a mountain of tasks ahead is to minimize it in your brain.
Stop for a second, take a deep breath and think in your mind: "Now I'm grabbing my pencil". "Now I'm dragging the mouse to the photoshop icon". It's when you sit down and think about the task, the details and time consuming work you have to push through that it becomes impossible. Stop thinking about the hard task and start with the ridicolously simple actions you're able to do. Do simple action after simple action and suddenly you've finished something!
this is such good advice, thank u :'>
@@sofasocks6663 Happy I could help :)
Something simple that I find helps me to get started every day is to just open the program and look at whatever it is I'm working on.
I think most if not all artists have the tendency to make tiny adjustments to their work, or at least see some flaws that bother them.. Often when I'm not in the mood, I start tweaking the painting here and there, just a small stroke here, a color adjustment there and a slight scale adjustment there.
And before I know it, I'm sucked into the painting and my mind is fully committed again. Works like magic to me.
lol I was doing something else and came back to hear him say "Your a Weak Breed" out of context had me on the floor laughing ahhah.
Lol that’s hilarious!!
i always loved high school art class because it was like the one hour every other day i had to sit and do art nothing else it was so peaceful there . i really appreciate my public school district/ art teacher buying all the supplies they did even when i got to college art you had to buy everything you made art with it kind of sucked
Your Art is like a therpay to me 🤩🤩
For a long time, I had trouble sitting down to draw. I didn't know what my reason for drawing was anymore, I didn't really enjoy doing it either.. it was sth. I had to do and had to get better at.. and I didn't.
I've been trying to get back into it and finally, I think I'm at a point where I can safely say that my relationship to drawing is changing for the better.
There's a video by Unconfortable (DrawABox) where he talks about drawing things you aren't ready for. Taking a sketchbook and just filling each page to the brim with ink sketches. And it's just so relaxing to let go and draw what I want, even if I don't feel confident in my ability to do so yet. Especially then. It's no longer: "I can't draw that." Nowadays I'm thinking: "That idea sounds fun. I wonder what it will look like."
And I'm really noticing the difference between pencil and ink. With ink, I'm drawing so much more bolder because I know I can't go back on it and erase it. And it's black no matter how much pressure I exert.
And I realized how important it is to just draw for yourself and your own enjoyment. I'm finally experiencing this feeling of relaxation again. :)
I honestly dont care about being good anymore i just draw for fun even if it sucks at least ill have something to look back on
For me it's the "I will never be as good as the Artists I see around me." and I just give up. My love IS art but it's so demeaning when my art is so trash in comparison. I have began to realize I will never enough with art. But now I know I will pursue art. Now that the pandemic made me realize my life can be snapped out of existence. As I had lost my job, my money and have to start from the ground up. It was scary as can be. I'm sitting down everyday as often as I can to draw. I even bought a REALLY cheap used iPad Pro gen 1 so I can draw when I go for a drive and pull over.
I LOVE art and it stopped my anxieties during the lockdowns.
I have been struggling so badly with the transition to digital art and it gets compounded with the guilt of setting aside a rental place to have time, but still not being able to get out the door from family & household stresses. It's insane. I feel "blank-canvas" anxiety A LOT. This video was a great help for today. Thank you.
omg howwwww i literally haven't drawn anything for 3 days I've got so many projects pending and I haven't had any motivation to finish anything or do homework for courses and stuff and here Adam just drops the exact video i want when i am again suffering from not being able to draw and finish this one stupid piece i am working on.... ADAM YOU ARE A MIND READER i so appreciate you and your content you're such an inspiration to me and many others i sure and i hope and wish u nothing be safety and happiness!!! i love your work and these art talks so much wish me luck cuz imma go check out an animation college soon i hope i can finally decide something i have been so stressed out about it but anyway have a good day
also if you are someone who is reading this and made it to the end of this comment, i wish you good luck too!! for your endeavors and stresses just know that it will pay off in the end and you can do this!!!!!!!!!
This really resonated with me. I used to work three different jobs, and even though they took up most of my day and I was exhausted, I did not waste any little free time I had and drew so much. Now I only have one job and a lot more free time than I'm used to having, and suddenly my motivation is gone and I barely want to do anything. Now it finally makes sense why I feel that way! I will definitely try the tips in this video, thank you so much!!
Lmao, no wonder my motivation and energy levels are so erratic. I work three shifts in a factory and I hate it.
I'm gonna completely ignore how emotional that made me and talk about how he used an egg as a reference for her face 💀💜
Every single time I watch one of Adam’s videos I feel like I not only improve a little bit as an artist, but also as a person. This guy is incredible and should be one of the Wonders of the World
It's very hard to be productive whilst working a job with different shifts. Like you said it's destroying me slowly. You're always tired and when you're not you want to relax and maybe check a movie or play a game. The rest of the time just slowly fades and you feel your 'skill' dripping away. Really hard to keep yourself 'motivated' on a shitty job to keep it because you need money to survive...
Driven to distraction is my biggest challenge these days…
ADHD symptoms sucks so I have to figure out how to follow my capacity, energy without following the neurotypical way because I tried following the good old be consistent and produced nada or I’ll be in shame island.
I’m glad I’m finding ways to be productive without feeling guilty that my mind and body is wired differently.
Now, I’m doing my best to turn my alarm on so I can paint and produce something.
I’m torn between doing abstract vs landscapes.
Thank you Adam for this reminder.
It's starting to be a bit clear now. Been feeling really unmotivated to draw lately especially with school and homework getting in the way and me just not having a good schedule.
This video literally changed my life and helped with my depression. Keeping a healthy schedule seems like such an obvious thing but it really is life changing. I've spent so much of my life working against myself instead of with myself that I've been in a constant state of burnout. Having an actual structure to my day has made me feel less like my life is out of control, less like I'm just drifting along, and more like I have power over myself and what I do. Thanks for this video. My therapist loves you :^)
"ride the wave" those words washed over me and soaked into my core. Hormone, illness, inspiration, emotion, sun, moon, clouds, water waves. All of the waves, ride WITH them. Thank you for those words in this context. I needed them.
I'm glad that youtube recommended me this channel
I'd love to have a schedule so strict but I'm ADHD as all hell and can't stick to it even when there's no other reason stopping me
I was going to say something similar. I haven't managed to be able to build habits and routines the way neurotypical people seem to be able to. I've tried sticking to things for 30 days to create a habit, and no habit seems to form even after 30 days.
It's rough, to be sure. I have ADHD as well, and the only thing that has vaguely worked for me has been A) definitive external structure, and B) little, gradual rewards to look forward to.
I actually learned a saying
"Dont wish, DO IT".
I genuinely cried a little hearing this because I never realized how much tired and burn out I feel about being productive and better every single day... It feels really good listen someone ( at least an stranger) saying the thing that I needed; and I cried because i realize how rude and cruel I was with myself (even in my mind and my thoughts). Now I understand that I feel anxious all the time about my work because the hight and unrealistic expectations that I created...
I have been trying to take my art more seriously because I want to make it a job, but I have always had problems with productivity and it's been really hard to just sit down and do it. This video has illuminating! I don't think I've had anybody explain things more clearly and made me feel more incentivized to work on my schedule! Thank you!
18:49 I dont know why but this made me cry. I always tought i was not cut out for drawing coz i either "roude the wave" or had no clue what to draw, i hated myself for it. I hated how all over the place i am. But this way of saying "Its gonna be ok"..... It got me. Thank you man, thank you
Oh I feel you. I have been going through this during the pandemic. I started drawing a lil more during march and february. I still dont feel like i spend enough time on drawing. I dont really draw everyday. Im tryimg to chantge that now. I dont need to draw multiple hours im thinking about 1-2 hours everyday after work.
"if you go back 50 years 100 years, *back when I was a kid* " 1:54
omg just how old are you art-dad?!
Productivity has always been very easy to me. My father raised me to not waste time. Nowadays is different though My children don’t let me get anything done.
Lol, I can very much relate. But your little ones are still very young (and adorable!)
Enjoy it while it lasts!!
No person ever, except you, was able to influence the negative side of my mindset, to such an extent and making my eyes more open, to things that I should be grateful for and that make me happy.
I'm actually finding it harder to be productive with all this free time. Cause then I think I can do it later.
I’m trying to figure out how to paint without outlines because I feel like they limit my work and I like the look of digital “painting” rather than just digital 2D picture of a character that looks more cartoonish than what I’m wanting. It’s very VERY difficult and frustrating to not have money for schooling but also be swarmed with artists who seem to have found a way to tap into whatever it is that enables them to paint in such a way...I know I have talent and sometimes I do work that I’m very proud of, but creating digitally what I see in my mind is so hard at times that it makes me want to break down in tears...so thank you for being so compassionate in this video. This alone has helped me tremendously. And your work is lovely.
I feel the exact same. Painting without worrying about all the lines is so freeing. At the same time I still need to practice perspective and just laying down the right proportions and understanding the form. I just really hate doing outlines. I am better with bold ink than pencil. Get so caught up in the details. Frustrating but I hope we both find a way!
Watching this after finally picking up the pencil again after a month
Every day for the past year I draw/paint for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, (sometimes more sometimes less) and I have experienced so much growth in what feels like such a short time from staying consistent. I started to feel guilty because my work hours are so much less compared to the long 8 - 12, or even 14 hour days my friends and family have to do. Recently, I took an online course taught by Rachel Bradley and Ergo Josh, and they helped me understand that I can't compare art to a different profession because art requires so much focus, precision, and emotion. It's why 2 hours of focused work on art can be so draining to me. All you need is at least a couple hours a day to grow! Don't hurt yourself by forcing your body to draw for 8+ hours every day.
I started sticking to this schedule when I heard about it in an old art talk you did so thank you, Art Dad, for helping me improve and for providing these great videos
Oh i want to say quick that I started playing darksouls 3 (my first souls series game) this year after being curious about it and always hearing good things from you and I love it so much. I am playing bloodborne now but taking a brake for a few days because spider rom is annoying me.
LOL! Welcome down the rabbit hole Galinn - and welcome to (in my humble opinion), one of the most artistically inspiring creations of all time :)
@@AdamDuffArt Thank you, and I made sure to try look up as much as i could as you mentioned in your book review XD
This is the most relevant argument for having a regular schedule that I've heard on this website.
I just realized that it easily has been over 3 years that someone said I love you out loud to me. So I wanted to thank you for breaking the dry spell. :) Have a wonderful day whenever you read this.
Aww, my pleasure :)
Distraction. You just nailed it. You are 100% right. We need to get focused in our goals.
Now how did you know exactly what I needed to hear lol
Landed into my latest art rut recently and this man like immediately posted a vid. I practiced for literally another whole year in art and today it’s like I haven’t gotten any better and I’m back at square one. It makes it so easy to slip into distractions.
Adam what's different with you is all your subscribers are your constant viewers. Which is a compliment. I always enjoy listening to you when I'm working. Please keep posting videos like this. You've become a mentor and a friend even if thought we may not personally known each other.
I have never heard any artist apply the science of the body into the production of art. This is by far the best tip and explanatory help that has ever graced my ears. Thank you.
i was literally talking to my mom last night about how hard it is for me to sit down and draw and get motivated, and now this is on my recommended. you are a psychic
A friend sent me this video, and wow it’s really nice to not feel yelled at for not constantly producing art work. To instead create a healthy achievable schedule. Thank you ❤️
Brother you must be a serious empath. Just seeing this title really resonated with me. So many UA-cam videos have these titles designed to “grab” the viewer. Clickbait. Yours are so different. They always get my attention. They always resonate. They always soothe, and reassure. Your voice and pacing is therapeutic. I think I’m not alone when I say that accepting myself has always been the biggest hurdle for me. I doubt everything about myself 90% of the time. Getting past that is something I know I’ll always struggle with. Thank you for helping so many of us with your thoughts and philosophies. Bless you brother. Love and respect. 🙏
When I was working on a portrait everything was going great I was in the zone. Then I got a phone call from a friend who said she was lost and needed to find a location. I told her I was busy for her to find someone else to help her. Well she got mad and said she did try someone else but they were not home, so just help me. I did help her but in doing so lost the moment and the zone. Everything was now a struggle. I realized then to not have my phone on while I'm working or even in the same room while I'm working on art or crafting. I never got that amazing feeling of being in the zone again. So having a time set aside is so important and not let anything distract you at that time is going to be a challenge but it will make you stronger and people will have to learn to leave you alone.
I'm not tearing up reading a bunch of comments about people who seem to just echo my head and my life existing in a consistent limbo with no glimmer of hope of making it out, you are.
this explains why I was more productive in high school. After a certain schedule, I knew I would be ready to go back to writing
tahnks for this, I had a massive block for almost a year. I am an engineer, but still made doodles and painted since a child. I finally understand my job is not everything and now I am free to create
Adam, so much of what you said reminded me of what George Leonard has to say in his book "Mastery". Not sure if you've read that, but highly recommend anyone going through. Learning to appreciate the plateau, the process. Love the texture, rhythm, and the feel of the work we do, rather than just chasing the contingencies (results). A good quote from the first section:
"Goals and contingencies, as I’ve said, are important. But they exist in the future and the past, beyond the pale of the sensory realm. Practice, the path of mastery, exists only in the present. You can see it, hear it, smell it, feel it. To love the plateau is to love the eternal now, to enjoy the inevitable spurts of progress and the fruits of accomplishment, then serenely to accept the new plateau that waits just beyond them. To love the plateau is to love what is most essential and enduring in your life."
Leonard, George. Mastery (pp. 48-49).
Adam: ''don't call yourself a loser, don't think that you lack de motivation your DNA is weak ''
me: who told u that mate? are u spying me ? where is the mic ?
This was really insightful. I usually tend to stick a fixed schedule, but sometimes I tend to slack off due to health issues or maybe because I'm not in a good mood. I get why it's so important to adhere to a schedule & yet not force yourself to be productive all the time
As I sit here at literally half past midnight. Having missed my first wave as you so eloquently described it. I realised the truth in how you phrased it. And accepted that simply lying there and frustrating myself over my non sleepiness was in reality an act of self cruelty to my mind for a miscommunication with my body.
I decided to sit up. And take some genuine time for once, to turn every light off in the room. (Which I normally never do) truly disconnect. Put on some reflective piano music. And just... have a word with myself. To take the moment to have some compassion for myself as you seem to reiterate in these videos.
And I have to say. A half hour, and several years later. I feel genuinely calm for the first time in several years. Like I finally opened the storm of concerns in my brain and instead of trying to wrestle them down with logical solutions or bind them with promises of betterment. I just let them blow through me for a moment. Let the air pressure settle. And allow things to just calm. So that I could have a genuine dialogue with my own internal thoughts.
Adam I have only just discovered your videos this week but they have been a huge help to me at the stage of almost post burnout and uncertainty I am at with my own art. Your wisdom is impressive and the way you express it speaks to me and I’m hoping a lot of people in such a wonderful way. I hope you understand just what a beautiful thing you are producing here.
And I thank you deeply that you do.
You must have telepathy. I have this strange situation when someone gives me a prompt/assignment to draw, I immediately know what I want to draw and start immediately with no hassle.
But when it's just me sitting down on my table and sketchbook alone, I can't even draw a proper face.
I don't like oversharing on public forums but there's something about your videos that just grabs something in me and makes me want to share in the honesty you give us...... some amazing tips in this one, and at just the right time too, my sleep schedule is so bad I'm nocturnal lol.
I can definitely attest to this because it's what I implemented a long time ago. After having no job or school for over a year I realized that somehow, despite having nothing but free time, I was doing less than ever, I also developed a health issue that required maintaining very solid sleep. I started getting up and going to bed at exactly the same time every single day, drawing and doing anything else productive that needed to be done in the morning, having a snack and coffee at noon, and then doing whatever, and it has worked out fantastically and really improved my life far better than anything any of the doctors I'd seen told me to do.
Adam what is it with you and being clairvoyant?! Space magic I swear! I needed to hear this!!
I've recently begun to tackle this within the past few days after months of failing. I was going insane with being frustrated at not feeling satisfied with how I've been spending my time and what things I haven't been getting done. Back when I was growing up my family was too poor for internet, so I would draw and write, and I achieved a lot of amazing stuff because of that. Yes, we had video games but I usually only played them with my father, he closely regulated how much we played. He knew what my career path back was back then and would tell me to go and draw.
Fast forward to today in which I have net, and unlimited access to games and socializing, I've found my productivity is a shadow of what it has been in the past and I've never liked that.
I decided to establish boundaries and stick to my schedule. I reflected, saw what was distracting me. Still working on it but a few days in and I'm already feeling better. Seeing this video is kind of a sign from the universe so to speak, helping reinforce that I am doing what's best for me.
Thank you Adam, your timing is impeccable as always ;w;
This channel is a true blessing and stands out amongst all other art channels!
Thank you for posting this content and therefore giving us a place we can come to when we feel isolated in our struggles.
It‘s so reassuring to hear that also amazing artists like you have gone/go through the same struggles we all do.
Been listening to this guy on repeat for a week. :)
god, at 6:12 when you said minecraft and cyberpunk that just fucking took a huge weight off my chest, its just making me hella guilty playing videogames nowadays when I could be working, doing school work, or getting better at drawing. Its nice to have that time validated
Well thank you, i needed that clarification that I am not "unmotivated" just, need to be more consistent thank you
so true, but it's really hard to go back when you've been doing it wrong for a long time
So much truth in this. My circadian rythm has always been shifted about 5 hours forward and I was a distracted mess, now that I'm taking melatonin every night I'm faring much better in the productivity and (tbh) being social processes... I've had a stressful month in January and suddenly not even melatonin knocked me out, and I hated it, I suddenly was back to being in a "fog" every day, the difference is SO big.
I feel like I’ve had this answer for a long time but never verbalized it properly. Thanks for making this
you are so right with you say about split shift jobs....... i used to work 1 week 6am - 2pm, 1 week 2pm - 10pm, 1 week 10pm til 6am.....on a constant weekly rotation, and that will mess you up big time becasue by the time your body is used to it, you change and start again.....doing my job was fine, but once i get home my mind and body would just give up and id be like a zombie and it ended up costing me alot.........seriously Adam you have no idea how important your videos are to the entire community. stay safe my friend
He's Like a Podcast with Feelings
So true... you know I feel like spending your time on distractions is also kind of a sign that you are not respecting your own time. I think everyone is doing it, me included. But maybe we should all reflect on ourselves here a little. We could spend more time with friends, if we spent less time on distractions. We could spend our time in a meaningful way, yet we expect others to respect our time before we expect ourselves to respect it, although we then just waste that time on useless things.
Again very great advice, Adam, thank you.
How strange. I have been struggling with writer's block for a while now. But a week ago I started writing in the evening just before I go to bed - every day around the same time and I think it's getting better. I really needed to here exactly this. Thank you. And man, that's one gorgeous artwork!
Everything you said about the circadian rythm was so spot on, I needed to hear this, Adam. Thank you!
Because of my classes and many other things make everyday busy for me,less sleep and less free time so I'm concern that i would stuck here forever but everything you said in this video help me see a solution. Thank you a lot Adam love you too.
It's so true that thing about messing up our schedule, that shit destroys us. I was working in a Restaurant and my boss made me change my shift for one week (Thank god it was only one week) and I couldn't sleep for the entire time, I was sleeping like 3 hours and that drove me insane. I was super agressive to my coworker; the cashier; we were side by side for 8 hours every day. She was like: "Hey can you do me a fav-" WHAT DO YOU NEED NOW? I'm sorry, this is not me. Also I want to add that Jerry Seinfeld talked a lot about taming our brains, and kinda confine our creative beast because aimless creativity it's pointless, building structure, routine, basicly discipline.
Love your channel man, this is meditation and therapy at the same time.
I think that having free time or seemingly free time is a curse to a lot of us, many people like me can function only while juggling several tasks and interests, I used to draw, play guitar, study a new language, study programming, work out and play videogames. I hate how much I struggle to focus on a single thing and I need to do all these things which makes me sound like a gigantic pushover because I would really love to just pinpoint one thing I like and focus on it but it's very very hard for me. I really like your take on the subject of burnout and improvement and I strive to have a work ethic like yours, thank you for this talk.
I only just saw this and immediately shared it with my art friends. This is the first videos of yours I've ever seen and I'm really grateful I clicked on it. This was extremely insightful and a great watch. Subbed.
Well thank you, I’m very happy you joined up :)
All you need to train, is self control. I started meditating 3 times a day 4 days ago, and I can already feel progress. I meditate on clearing mind, motivation and third eye. I have to say that meditating works the best for my self control.
That part about the swing shifts is true. When I was doing vaccines in Oakland we would switch between day and night shift in the middle of the week. We only had one day off so it was three days night shift and then you switch to the day shift. It's horrible, I absolutely got no sleep. I kept wondering why I always felt extremely tired.
Hey fellow Canadian. Yukon checking in.
Real talk though, I think most people mistake hormonal activity as motivation. Not realizing the body needs to be trained to get "consistent motivation".
Just poped up to say. i had a job of my dreams in an architecture office for 8 months, it was a blast and a tiring work. Yet now when im looking for a new one i feel less energetic and more tired without any employment and with full free time. maybe once a week i feel a creative spark... Thanks for the video, certainly i will try out the "forced" organisation schedule idea.
Dang! I don't know how does the youtube algorithm really work but it's really scary in a way that every single time I going to something tough your channel always comes in autoplay mode and it most of the time 100 true, feels like a small voice inside my head or friendly advice of life.
Atm I'm working on 4 different projects and time management is key for succes, I'm so blessed this workload arrives for me after almost 10 months of no no emails.
I love you all too guys
Back when I used to go to in-person school 2 days a week, I had a schedule (outside of the in-person days) of wake up, eat, get as much school work done as I can handle, me time, do some school work if I can, and then go to sleep. When I realized that we were going back to 4 days of school (wednesdays off) I started having a hissy fit in my head because I loved my schedule and how I was improving mentally and physically with the old schedule that I had. Now, I'm trying to get my body used to a new schedule, and it's been kinda hard so far.
This video made me really want to start up a new schedule for myself, and I thank you for this video.
I think this has been the crux of my current issues. I'm a rather impulsive and low energy person, so the minute Im tempted to be unproductive, I fall into that. And since I'm not consistent and I dont schedule myself properly, Im not getting the proper support from my own body to avoid those distractions. So I think this helps me a lot and will definitely be something for me to work on this week
School drags me down and burns me out. It's hard to be productive when I'm always tired of looking at my marks and doing so much work especially all the math pre-calc, algebra, and essays. Worried about what I would do after high school, picking classes that I think would help me in life, this is why I didn't pick visual arts as an elective...It's frustrating to take breaks in life it makes me think I never do much. Yet I have too many things I need to do and it just kills me that I can't progress in my passion for art...But now I know that taking that class that wasn't the key to my passion I figured that I can learn art on my own as I have always had in high school teaching myself and correcting myself, it's a skill I developed through error for error in mathematics and English classes. I hope to one day progress to a point in art where I would finally say life was worth anticipating and patiently waiting for that moment for me to succeed in steps even if it's a slow and agonizing progression.
I'm just about to leave my seat after drawing as I see this but will be sure to listen in my next session later
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THANK YOU, FOR YEARS I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH DRAWING CONSISTENTLY! I only could do it at school, for obvious reasons (there was no distractions) and i couldn't help myself get back into the habit and consistency of doing it. Today i get a clearer picture of what i can do to improve.
Thank you so much, thank you.
I hope one day you can upload some of these as podcasts or audio files! I would love to listen while driving or working!
I work for a petroleum lab. Every 2 weeks for the last 4 years I've switched days to nights and back usually hitting 110 hours. In the last 6 months it switched to 4 on 4 off switching days and nights each 4. This is why I need to become an artist. To get out of this place. I forgot how unnatural it is since I've done it for so long. Thank you for reminding me of another reason to work toward my dream.