Using an Alternating Schedule to Balance Both Art and Fitness (or whatever recharges your battery)
^^ Listen to a recording of the article below.
^^ Listen to a recording of our discussion about “Using an Alternating Schedule to Balance Both Art and Fitness.”
This is a very wide ranging discussion and we talk about a lot of semi-related stuff too. I definitely think a listen is worth it.
Getting in time to maintain your body is hard - especially if you’re trying to make some personal art as well.
One thing I’ve noticed throughout my career is just how much more time being an artist takes. For ten years, I worked in a studio, and then came home to make personal work to improve my portfolio and get into bigger studios.
Although I was super active as a teen, my 20’s was largely, “go make art in the studio that isn’t really what you want to make, then go home and make the art you want to make.” I was mostly sedentary. Then I got hurt, which you can read about here.
It became abundantly clear to me that I needed to make time to maintain my health - not so I could be a bikini model, but so I could keep making the art that made me happy.
But how to balance that?
For me, it was by alternating between mostly art days and mostly fitness days.
Note: if fitness isn’t your goal, please replace fitness with whatever works best for you.
When I adopted this routine, I was: working a FT day job, just post RSI rehab in both arms and legs, and trying so hard to start making personal work again.
I really wanted to get back to making art, my first illustrated novel, and I didn’t want to let my PT exercises slide, since my RSI was still very present in the background, waiting to reemerge with the slightest amount of slack in my prescribed stretching and strengthening routine.
Here’s what the routine looks like:
Mon: Day job followed by 2 hours of personal art and 30 minutes of stretching/strength
Tues: Day job followed by 30 minutes of personal art and 2 hours of stretching/strength
Wed: Day job followed by 2 hours of personal art and 30 minutes of stretching/strength
Thurs: Day job followed by 30 minutes of personal art and 2 hours of stretching/strength
Fri: Day job followed by rest, and play
Weekends: If I could make art for more than 2 hours I would, but if I couldn’t due to pain, I would focus on stretching and other activities.
((All the days and times can be changed to fit your life. Use what you need.))
I used this alternating routine to great success for the last year or so of my day job. I was able to keep my body in working order and make solid progress on my book.
I especially liked this sort of routine because there was always something to look forward to or break up the schedule. If I was stuck on the book, the next day, I could mull it over while at the gym. If I was absolutely sick of doing the same PT exercises, I had a big block of art waiting for me the next day.
When I went freelance, I found that I still tend toward doing something like this. It’s less formal, but I try to schedule tasks that are less demanding of my joints on days I hit the gym hard, and I try to stretch out after longer art days. My favorite thing to do is roll out my arms.
Give this routine a try and let us know how you like it.
Best of luck!
❤️
Written by Sarah Dahlinger
Discussed by Sarah Dahlinger and Sarah Forde