Hello Friends!!
Let’s be honest, the most difficult aspect of a blog post is starting it. I skipped Monday due to weariness from a trip to Melbourne, and Tuesday/Wednesday was spent seeking answers to a career predicament I am currently pondering. As a result, I’ve hardly touched Friend of Note since last Thursday! It is also currently 5pm … meaning not much is likely to change on that front, but at the least, I felt I could smack together a very brief, very belated, post.
Last week was pleasingly productive – I gave time blocking a proper go and used the Toggl Track app to test out the pomodoro method. I felt very focused and quite cheery!
Thanks to this, I have a rough idea how I spent some of my time – even though it feels like an eternity ago now! Though, as you can probably see, I didn’t always remember to record times, (& I certainly don’t capture every task).
The Pomodoro method of blocking chunks of time into 25 minute slices, with 5 minute breaks in between, was really quite useful! With many tasks i.e; drawing, blogging or editing, time can just slip by without notice. Suddenly, 3 hrs have passed and you haven’t even gotten up for a break. Being forced to acknowledge each 25 minutes spent gives one the chance to evaluate whether too much time is being spent on an activity and just gives your eyes a little refresh.
Check List?
Last post I shared the tasks I hoped to tick off my list, so I figured that would be another easy way to retrace my week.
- Create a new cake illustration? NOPE! Ran out of time.
- Commence the next Halloween design? YES! & I finished it in the one week, so that was a success!
- Finish a secret piece I will share later on? Yep!
This little ‘secret’ task was making a hand-cut, hand-painted rocking horse miniature for a friends nephew. This was really quite fun to craft, even if I felt incredibly rusty, skill wise!
Once I had the design down pat, it was pretty quick work to cut the horse out. It was the painting stage that challenged me most. Deciding on a colour palette was one thing, but then re-discovering the patience & steady hand for fine detailed painting, was quite another! On the whole, I was quite pleased with the results- even if the horse rocks a little drunkenly. (Though being my first attempt, I can’t really be too hard on myself.) This is the sort of thing I would love to make if I could land my dream job… as one of Santa’s elves.
- Investigate Printables a little further, potentially beginning to create supporting documentation for customers? Kind of, but certainly not the second part.
- Finalise my Frog Video? Wrote & half recorded the ‘script’… then didn’t get any further. Beginning to feel this might not happen.
- Finish some printing work for my Dad? Yup! There were a few things he’d requested, these very basic labels being one of them. The other tasks, pieces for upcoming dioramas.
Recommedations?
I’ve been listening to quite a few podcasts at the moment & these were the weeks highlights:
- Discovered Emily Ratajkowski’s podcast, High Low. Admittedly. Emily has never really been on my radar but I stumbled across her episode with Maddie Ziegler, and then started listening through her back catalogue. I thoroughly enjoyed her episode with Iggy Azalea – who had fallen off my radar – it was very interesting! Troye Sivan’s was a goodie too!
- I also found this Keke Palmer’s interview with Craig Bartlett, creator of ‘Hey Arnold’ a bit of fun, and quite nostalgic!
- Barbie – I don’t have time to dig much into this right now, but if you haven’t watched it yet, I heartily recommend you do! I felt it started, I dunno, a little cringy(?), but it finds its feet and I, may or may not, have got teary a number of times. Not sure how I felt about the conclusion of the film, but all the middle stuff was a whole lot of fun. OH & that soundtrack!!
Anyway, that’s it for now – hopefully next Monday’s will be a bit more exciting!
Talk soon,
Fiona x