With 2019 upon us and my head full of ambitions, I’m admittedly feeling overwhelmed already with all of the things I want to do this year. I want to work towards the calendar, art book, etc, but also finish up many of the pending designs on my Ladies of the Months art list (pins, stickers, etc.) that I talked about before. It’s been difficult to know what to do first and trying to figure that out has left me paralyzed like a deer in the headlights!
I usually do a 10 goals list, but I wanted to try something a little different this year to organize the chaos! Lauren Panepinto, an art director I had the pleasure of meeting at IlluxCon some years ago, came to the rescue with her priority chain listing exercise. The gist of the exercise is to write down your biggest goals, then break them down into more actionable bite-sized activities, then prioritize them through their relationship to your big goals that you’ve also put in priority order. You can read more about how to do this at Lauren’s article on Muddy Colors.
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Without further ado, here is my 2019 KICKASS To Do List!
1. Paint Ladies of the Months alternates for the art book.
2. Write/Paint more Song of Exile for portfolio and short stories.
3. DREAM CLIENT Portfolios
– Card Game/ Magic the Gathering Portfolio – Song of Exile, Kushiel’s Legacy
– Book Cover Portfolio – Song of Exile, Kushiel’s Legacy, fave books, literary canon
– Tabletop Game Portfolio – Song of Exile, The Uncrucified, Our D&D characters
4. Create videos with my art animated and set to music + stories (Learn MotionArtist)
5. Create a study schedule, finish classes, keep practicing!
6. Take an inspiration trip once per month (Atlas Obscura, museums, art openings).
7. Re-write biz plan and promo schedule.
8. Expand shop with new products. Apparel, puzzles, stickers, tabletop aids, cards, bags, etc.)
9. Create commission samples for private clients (portraits, avatars, etc.)
10. Increase Patreon engagement with giveaways, pledge drives, tutorials, etc.
11. Stream more regularly. (Hangouts, study, fan art days, etc.)
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I really liked this take on making a goals list because it helps you be less distracted by random goals and focus on what’s really important to you, while also help you figure out what actually has that importance to you. For example, I’ve been trying to do so many tasks this week, from updating my shop to working on the stickers, when I realize I need to first write my new promotion schedule and business plan out first, since my tasks have changed this year from painting the main set of the Ladies.
Knowing what releases I’ll have for the year will also help dictate my release schedule, what I can launch in my shop, etc.
I think it’s also helpful to remind ourselves of those Big Goals, those lofty dreams that we’re working towards that we sometimes forget about when our nose is close to the grindstone. I’m reminded of one of my favorite motivational speeches from Neil Gaiman where he talks about making a wishlist of all the cool things he wanted to create (ie. write an episode of Dr. Who) and he just crossed them off his list as the years went on. This wishlist kept him motivated and helped him feel like anything he created in service of it was worthwhile, even if the money didn’t happen.
Now that I’ve got some direction, I can start to make sense of the chaos. And now you guys know how bad my handwriting is ha!
So what do you guys do to get organized for the year or for career/business goals? I’d love to hear your techniques in comments!