What one question you can ask to overcome overwhelm?
When you feel overwhelmed, here’s a way out:
💎 Ask yourself “What is the minum you could do and still get the desired result?”
For example, you want a social media presence, why? And what is the minimum you could do to achieve that goal?
In’s possible to be really active for a season on social media, but it’s also possible to step back and regroup, do something else, and come back again.
If I do one #kidlitartpostcard a month. I’m good for social media, everything else is a bonus.
If I’m drawing a spread do I need to draw every blade of grass? Or will it still work if I just drew a few?
Prompt:
What is a project that you feel overwhelmed about, what is the minimum you could do to deliver that project well?
Adam’s illustration journal
This week has been packed for me, I delivered a few spreads for a book, and agreed to illustrate another book (book 5),
That’s not to say all I did was sit in my studio churning out pages. I also met up with my parents from out of town. Took my baby girl to swimming class twice and baby gym practice. And I managed some major errands too.
It’s a full life, but it’s a balanced life. And that is the perk of the illustration career, the ability to choose when to work and slot the work into the day in interesting places, that are not typical of other kind of work.
I did have to abandon and postpone a couple of personal projects, but part of the reason I do personal projects is to keep working at a high capacity, so that I can swap in work when I get it.
How was your month shaping up, particularly in your creative practice?
P.S: I have exciting news to share: You can now read Adam's Notes in the new Substack app for iPhone.
With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.
The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.
PS: please recommend some creative substacks for me to read, even if it’s yours!
I woke up this morning with this other question I use when I over-complicate things. I decided to call it the "what's the point on doing this, anyway?" therapy. When you work on an illustration (but it can apply to anything in life), wrote down what we are really asking from you. Working on a children's book? The objective is to deliver in you style 15 spreads that support a story (define the story). Period. When you have self-doubt during a project, return to your main objective. Are you filling this main objective? Yes. So, everything is fine.
When I was a kid, my mom was calming my anxiety crisis (I was a really anxious child and was always overthinking everything) with this question: what's the worst that can happen? The usual answer was: not much. I still ask me this question when I'm unsure about something.