Drawing pictures all day can be isolating
It’s a job that I love, and I’ve slogged away at evening classes and then an MA to get to this position, but sometimes I find myself at home feeling unhappy and isolated.
Lack of human contact gives me what I call freelance paranoia. Unanswered emails make me think that people don’t like me anymore, and if I’m not happy with how my work’s going I can quickly lose confidence in that too.
I’ve spent years doing stressful and uncreative jobs in offices, but I never had these issues then, because I was surrounded by nice people who would distract me from negative thought patterns, get me out of myself, and give me a sense of perspective.
It’s proven that small daily interactions with people, even casual acquaintances, is very good for your mental health. So while I work from home (which I do love), I now miss out on those little chats with the man at the desk opposite me, the girl in the kitchen, and the woman at the coffee shop. I never have to smile and tell people that I’m fine, and how are they, and yes the weather’s rubbish, and in so doing feel better and connected and human.
So what to do about it?
This January I was able to take a full month away from office work to finish my first picture book (I work part-time as a producer and project manager, which is what I did full-time before moving into illustration). But I knew that isolation would be an issue, and so I used one of things that I do on a daily basis at work to see if it would ease the isolation.
It’s called a standup and it’s a short meeting that I do every morning with my team at work. Everyone gets together and takes it in turns to say what they did yesterday (or since the last meeting), what they’re doing today, and if they have any blockers.
It comes from Agile project management methodology, which is a way of working where projects are broken up into ‘sprints’ of work, and small tasks that are done in priority order. It’s an excellent way of ‘eating an elephant one piece at a time’, and can be applied to any project, including writing and illustrating a book. It keeps everyone on the team feeling motivated and supported.
Of course, as a freelance illustrator I don’t really have a team. I have an editor, or whoever has commissioned me, but it’s a different relationship. So I decided that it’s irrelevant whether or not someone is working on the same project as me, and asked my illustrator friends if they would like to do daily standups.
Standups are called standups because they’re meant to be done standing up, to keep the meetings short and concise. They’re also meant to be done in person, which is another hurdle when you don’t live or work with your illustrator friends. So four of us have been using Google Hangouts for video calls each morning at 10:00am, and spending around 5 minutes each talking about our work. Sometimes we share our computer screens with everyone on the call, and show work that we’re doing digitally. Sometimes we hold artworks up to the screen. Some people on the call are working on books, but others are working on ideas that are not yet sold. Some are at the planning or writing stage, while I’ve been at the final artwork stage. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, just that you’re doing something that day.
I’ve really loved doing these. Talking about your plans adds a level of peer accountability, and I feel really motivated when it’s time to get to work.
When I’ve been feeling less confident my friends have encouraged me, their knowledge and advice has helped me to overcome problems in my work, and more than anything, it’s just lovely to see their faces each day!
how we do it
We try and keep it to a maximum of 20 minutes, but we do have a nice chat too. I think it’s made us more in touch over the course of the day, sending emails and Whatsapps of work in progress, and getting feedback from one another.
I think it’s definitely made me happier and less lonely this month.
People don’t have to attend every day, there’s no obligation. We’ve had a core group of 4, which feels like a good number - it would be hard to keep it brief if there were many more, but I think that up to 6 would be just about workable.
A screenshot from one of our illustrator standups
How to do it
Here are some tips if you would like to have a go:
Find a bunch of people in a similar situation to you who you trust respect
Agree a time to hold you standup. We used Google Hangouts as its free, and Google Calendar invites supply a link when you make an event. You could use other video conferencing services though, Whereby is good but you’re limited to 4 people with the free version
It’s much easier to do these on a computer or laptop than your phone
Let everyone know the rules - so tell them that in the meeting everyone:
Says what they have done since the last meeting
Say what they are planning on doing today
Say if they have any blockers/issues that are hindering their work
If there are any blockers then the team can briefly discuss ways to solve these
Do it as regularly as you can
You can sit down if you want, I usually do!
I’m really going to miss the frequent contact with my art buddies, but I will keep on doing these standups on the days that I’m working on illustration.
Other ways not to be lonely
Do a ‘breakfast club’ with your creative friends who live nearby. Meet once a week at someone’s house for breakfast and a nice chat before you get on with work for the day
Meet a friend/friends for a morning or lunchtime walk
Go and meet an office-bound friend for lunch
Get a dog and then everyone will want to talk to you when you take it for walks.