Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces—what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.” Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference—the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals—but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
—Bruce Mau's Manifesto for Growth
There are times I get so busy that this becomes a painfully accurate description of my life (notice the beady, red eyes):
Once this starts happening, I feel like I need entire days with nothing but work, work, and more work in order to have adequate time to finish a project. While this is often the case whether I like it or not when it’s crunch time—it’s not practical for every day. Because it’s amazing how little you accomplish when you give yourself an entire day to work. If you don’t have anything planned but work—you’ll find yourself moving at a snail’s pace, continually having to stay on task and motivate yourself all day long.
It’s amazing how little you accomplish when you give yourself an entire day to work.
The hardest thing about having a student schedule is that it's constantly changing. Even if you get into a routine, all of that changes with each new batch of classes—when you swap a 9am class for an evening class, and so forth. Not to mention trying to hold down a demanding job (for some), while trying to maintain a social life (other than talking to your cat). As a student, there's always a vastly different schedule for each day of the week, making it difficult to set good habits for managing time wisely. At the end of the day, it seems there’s always, always, always more work than time to do it all.
But that's just one way to look at it. There is, in fact, a way to work within time constraints to make the best possible use of the time you do have. Being a student means that your schedule is essentially pre-made for you. Class times and deadlines could seem like a burden, but having these set times on the calendar can actually be helpful in getting stuff done.1
Uninterrupted work sessions give way to far too many opportunities for distraction. Even worse, non-stop work will burn you out and slow you down, making you less and less productive. I’ve found that it’s way better to have a little structure in each day’s schedule. Put something into your day where you’re not technically working, but you’re staying busy with something.2 I cannot even tell you how valuable this is.
The idea is to make the time you’re working, time that you’re actually working.
It’s much easier to work for just an hour or two at a time. Getting stuff done means swiftly moving from one task to the next. Sitting still in front of the computer for hours on end (with a nagging voice in the back of your head telling you to hurry up) prevents you from being nimble.3
Once you feel weary in one task and you feel like you want to quit, switch to another task. Sometimes I feel like I just need to rest my eyes or rest my shoulders, rest my fingers, my brain, my back, etc. Switching tasks is a good way to give yourself a rest, but without wasting time. Just check out this interesting infographic detailing the routines of famous creative people.
Remember: Taking breaks helps you get busy. Being busy helps you relax.
Here’s a list of things I’ve done in the past where I’ve actually gotten my project done on time for once:
1.
I choose a project that I want to work on with a subject that sparks my interest.
2.
I section my project into phases, knowing what needs to be completed in each phase, and knowing when I need to be moving onto something else. This (ideally) prevents procrastination.
3.
I keep working when I know I have the time to. You’ve got to push yourself here!
4.
I decide when to work, and when to rest. These two activities are very separate from one another!
5.
I give myself several days for printing and production (with non-digital pieces). Not one day, but several days.
6.
I start each work session by making small, reasonable to-do lists and check each item off as I go. When I’m done working, I reassess and reprioritize the list for the next work session.
7.
The overall scope of the project is reasonable enough to complete given the amount of time I have to work on it. Remember you can always come back to a project later, too.
8.
I find ways to cut corners and simplify the workload. This usually happens when I realize I've got too much work to do. Teachers really come in handy for this.
9.
I plan out how I will execute production in advance and make progress toward that plan throughout the course of the project.
10.
If the project extends the length of the class, I set a new deadline for myself to work towards. It's hard to get anything done without deadlines!
An Interview with:
Karalie Juraska (2016 grad)
1.You seem to have a really good handle on craft and production in general. What’s your approach?
It’s all in the details. I think I found templates online for a lot of what I built, but for every one I had to tweak/customize them because they weren’t correct or accurate. I also made sure to approximate real world versions as closely as possible. Every detail of your piece is critical for bringing authenticity, whether it’s an album cover, beverage package, chocolate bar, postage stamp, movie poster—they have more of a real feel if you get those little details right.
I also try to research materials (paper, cardstock, binding tape, rivets, etc.), and even design to a material if it makes sense. And tons of print tests. Tons! I burned through so much ink on each of my projects leading up to Review, but it really informed the work. You don’t want to skimp on that. Make sure you have backup ink cartridges too. 2:00am and running out of ink before a deadline where you then have to hustle over to Lloyd Center FedEx (open 24/7!), pay for prints, and then back home to trim and assemble is really no fun. Well, it’s a little fun. ;^)
Be sure to explore all the nooks and crannies of your local art and hardware stores too, you’d be surprised what kind of inspiration you’ll get from seeing lots of different materials and methods of attaching things together.
And lastly, if you can manage it, do a lot of assembly tests. Work with paper mockups, then move on to card or whatever is your final material. The more bugs you can work out early the better. It will give you time to redesign a piece to work around a flaw in a material. Also try to be rested before you do a final assembly. Again, 2:00am is a great time to slice a finger or destroy a seam with a bad glue join. ATG glue guns (arts stores have them in pocket sizes, and varying stickiness) are a lifesaver when you know you’re going to have to place and reposition tricky elements. This was key on my album cover and beverage package projects.
2.Commissioning pieces can be spendy, yet sometimes not even worth it. How do you know when to go with a professional?
You probably mean how a spent $150+ on my portfolio cover. ;^) I wanted to have a hardcover, clothbound book feel to my portfolio, but new I wouldn’t have time to build that myself and get all the other pieces done in time. So I found a great place in LA that does custom builds, and went the extra step and had them emboss my name on the cover. It looks amazing, is great quality, and should last forever. I was okay with the price because it’s a commemoration of a ton of hard work, so why not wrap it in something special? And they did great work, so it just brought everything up a notch in presentation.
3.What’s your advice on overcoming issues with craft/production? Any specific lessons you’ve learned?
A lot of roadblocks come from being too tired to solve the problem in the moment. Sleep on it if you can, and the solution should come to you. Also, it really helps to ask around for tips/suggestions—you’d be surprised how a handy friend or relative will have a crazy perfect take on how to execute something you were literally banging your head on a desk trying to figure out. Instructors too! They love to help problem solve this stuff.
As for lessons, banking enough time to build a piece is key. Learn what you’re estimating multiplier is. If you always think it’s going to take 3 or 4 hours but it’s really all night and into the morning, then you need to 3x that estimate next time. So instead of Sunday night you should start on it first thing Friday. That kind of foresight helps you deliver at a higher level, because you now have time to work out the kinks, go back and tweak files and reprint parts that aren’t working. You have time to drive back and forth to the printer, or run back to the art store for more supplies (at a time when they’re open), or even time to wait for your inkjet to physically print the job out. All those little bits of time add up to really long nights if you don’t prepare ahead. So the biggest thing for me is to start early so I have time to fail and fix along the way.