Get more out of your hobby time with these 3 tricks!

One question I get asked quite often is do you ever sleep? And the reality is that yes, I do sleep. On the regular too, I get enough of sleep daily. But I also juggle 2 or 3 full time jobs in the time it takes average people the time to work one.

I get so much done because I don't waste any time.

So, how do you take control of your hobby time? 

 Read on for 3 techniques I love and do on the regular.

I wasn’t always like this. But over time I must’ve read every book, blog and article on time management, and watched a great many hours of video about it too.

And little by little I added these things to my daily schedule to become the beast I am now, where these techniques and tricks transitioned from my hobby time to every aspect of my life because the results were so positive.

Time management is about productivity, not about being busy. 

I’m sure you know the type of person that’s always busy, seems to be painting all the time, yet has almost nothing to show for. Heck you might be that person, I know I was. Some people even brag about this, as if wasting time was some sort of talent.

But we don’t deal with that here.

Real talk moment : There is nothing to gain in taking 20 hours to finish something that takes 10.

The goal of these techniques is removing distractions.  Every time you stop hobby-ing to do something mundane, check your twitter feed, read the hellfire blog (yeah, yeah...), answer that message, you lose focus.

Losing focus means being out of the zone.  And the zone is where great things happen.

Don't half ass two things, whole ass one thing.

Technique 1 : Eyes on the Prize

A while ago, I posted on Spikey Bits about having a purpose when you paint. Setting up a goal for each painting session, or working solely on your goal is a great trick.

Pick a project that’s your priority, define exactly what you want out of it, and don’t stop until you drop.

Want to get that army on the table? 3 colors on every model in the army. Not in the army? Not getting paint on it.

Want to learn NMM? Start models and only do the metal on them. So what they’re not finished?  They’ll get there when they become the priority.

Technique 2 : Time Blocs

I covered part of this technique in this book, as it’s more suited for folks who paint all day, but the same can be done over the span of a week.

Setting fixed periods of paint, usually short and reasonable like an hour or two on a specific task will make it a lot easier to keep your focus on what’s at hand, and not get sidetracked on other stuff, or straight up lose motivation.

If you have 3 hours per day to paint, set a side an hour in something specific you want to achieve and lack motivation to do, like cleaning a desk, or assembling some models you don’t feel like getting out of the box.

 After an hour, no matter where you are at in your endeavor, stop, put them aside, take a little break, and work on something else (your priority project) for the rest of your hobby time.

If you paint full time, or an entire day like on weekends, break down your day in three blocks of two to three hours with half an hour in between.

 Do something different in the bloc of time in the middle of the day, and it should be much easier to stay focussed on the task at hand and not dabble in everything else.

Technique 3: The Buddy System

This is one of my favorite, but it's 3rd because it can back fire on you pretty quickly.  The buddy system as I call it is having someone that keeps you focussed on the task at hand.  I don't mean asking your wife  to look over your shoulder and slap you every time you take your hand off your brush, but something like it.

Paint with a friend.  Don't have anyone close?  I feel you, all I have is Kevin, and I hate that guy.  Twitch, Facebook Live, Skype calls or G+ Hangouts is where the party's at.

Twitch and Facebook live are pretty self explanatory. I mean, if people are watching you paint, you can't really stop and start scrolling for memes.  Plus this ties in with a nice paint learning hack we'll cover next week.  Oh the drama and suspense.

Skype also requires you some kind of friends, but they can be from various parts of the globe and you don't really have to wear pants.

G+ Hangouts is the ultimate killer in my opinion.  I made a lot of painting friends through these and learned quite a lot.  There the Hobby Hangout community on Facebook you can join to find other painters  that feel like chatting while hobby-ing away. 

Until next time,

No excuses, hobby like a champion!