So I’m an on-and-off-again runner. I run 1 mile most days of the week, and longer distances at least once a week. Every now and then if the weather is just right and a warm breeze is coming off the ocean, I’ll go a bit further. The longest I’ve ever run (so far) was 9.3 miles. I *like* running. I get a kick out of it and It makes me feel good.
But this was not always the case.
If you took a flashback look at my elementary school days, you’d find an adorably chubby little girl who wouldn’t even *walk* a mile. Back then, I thought running was the worst thing ever and convinced myself that I just wasn’t *built’ for running. My distaste for it continued well into high school where I successfully petitioned my principal to waive my remaining required P.E credits so I could take more art and music classes instead. (true story)
But now I run regularly. I get a kick out of it and it makes me feel good. How did this happen?
Well, first I had a co-worker back when I worked at a grocery store who was really into it. The way she talked about it initially piqued my interest. She talked about it all the time and seemed to genuinely enjoy it. She was also in great shape, which I wanted to be too. Inspired by this person, I found a beginners program that made sense to me. The program was called “Couch to 5k”, and the way it’s set up is quite brilliant. What it does is take this huge notion of running a 5k (3.2 miles) and breaks it down into bite-size manageable chunks that anyone can do, even if you’re coming straight off the ‘couch” so to speak.
On your first run the first week, they aren’t asking you to go run all 3.2 miles at once. Instead, they say “Run for 30 seconds. Then walk. Then Do it again”. You do this for approximately 10 minutes, and that’s it for the first session. Maybe when you first start running you don’t think your lungs can handle a full minute just yet, but you can probably handle 30 seconds. And then you do it again. Slowly you work your way up to longer and longer times until you’ve built up the physical and mental endurance to run the whole 3.2 miles. I can testify that it’s an effective strategy because that’s how I got there and learned how to train my body and mind in the process.
Besides feeling capable and better in my body at the end of it,, there was an excellent side effect of doing the program;
I figured out I could apply the same principle of “breaking it down” to my business and artistic practices.
An example of this: Say I have a big project to complete. Like the “Make 100” challenge I just wrapped up. For this challenge, I knew my goal was to make 100 paintings in 30 days. At first, that seemed as nuts as running an entire 3.2 miles with no training. But I knew I could break it down into manageable chunks. I figured out how many paintings I needed to make per day to reach my goal and then approximately how many hours of dedicated painting time per day that would take. Then it was just a matter of putting in the time per day to reach my desired results, which I did. I generated a whopping 95 paintings during the challenge! (The remaining five I consciously chose to roll over into the month of February so I could invest more time in developing and making them extra special.)
Breaking the process down worked for me in this case. I knew if I put in the time I was guaranteed to get there. The only challenge is that I didn’t always “feel’ like putting in the time. So how did I push past the “not feeling like it” moments?
Enter the magic of a ten-minute timer
Much like the “Couch to 5k” method, I figured out a while ago that, like running, if I just set a timer and do it “until” oftentimes that would lead to me doing more. When I was doing the “Make 100” project I would actually set a timer for a full hour to see how much painting I could get done in that time. And then I would do it again until I reached my goal for the day. Usually, after the first hour, I felt motivated enough to keep going regardless of the timer..
Other times I set that timer for just 10 minutes. Ten minutes is like the mental equivalent of that 30 seconds of running to me. I know if I can just get myself to focus on *something* for 10 minutes then usually I will opt to do another 10 minutes. I used this method when I rebooted the blog a few weeks ago. I had known for a while that I really wanted to restart my blog, but I was getting in my own way and making up excuses for not doing the work. So I sat down one day and set a timer for 10 minutes and I just wrote as much as I could. Then I set another. And another. It took me about 40 minutes in total to punch out a solid first draft. The next day I revised, finalized, and published it!
I’ve found the 10-minute timer method helpful in many other situations related to my art business and practice. Here are other examples of when I’ve used it to push past feelings of procrastination or “not feeling like it”
- Applying to shows and festivals
- Updating my business bookeeping
- Doing my quarterly taxes
- Doing production work (batches of earrings or glass, or the paintings)
- Blog Writing
- Painting when I didn’t “feel” like it
- Brainstorming new ideas
- Marketing work (posting to website, social media, adding things to my archives)
- Cleaning up my studio at the end of the week
Have you ever tried this or a similar method out? What was effective about it for you? Like my running practice, I get a kick out of completing tasks that have been lingering on my to-do list, and it feels good to push past the procrastination and “not feeling like it.” If you’ve never tried a method like this, I invite you to give it a try! Let me know if it’s helpful and if setting that timer gets you into the groove of the thing you’ve been avoiding.
Well, the day here is beautiful and a warm breeze is kicking off the ocean. So I’m signing off, for now, to go for my daily run. Seeya next time, and remember…
Every day is an opportunity to make art.