“Planning for a project and doing the actual work are two separate efforts.” – Lauren Hom

To start, I am completely aware of the potential contrast that this might have to my last Creativity post. I cover that here too, don’t worry.

This quote hit me right in the face. It is so true.

I read an article a few years back saying something along the lines of “I spend more time researching my hobbies than I do actually doing my hobbies.” I find that this is completely true for me. In between working on projects I am looking up knitting patterns, new markers and art supplies, researching new ways to improve my process, looking up why my stupid fine liners dry around the side of the felt tips so I have to hold them perpendicular to the paper to get any ink out (seriously, save me… anyone? I can’t figure it out… all brands, all but the tips dry out… siiiiiiiigh).

I also saw a quote this week that said: “Knitting and buying yarn are two different hobbies.” Can confirm. The same is true for art supplies, books and reading, and so many more I am sure.

Anyway, I think that this is a key part to the execution of any project, but recognizing the difference between planning and execution will save your sanity, I promise.

Anyone how knows me has seen me, at least once, dive right off the deep end with a project. I just learned to knit, I think I’ll try testing knitting. Sure, why not? I like the design of cards. Maybe I’ll try a whole tarot deck! If there’s a “hardest way to learn something” something, you know I tried that first thing haha. Sometimes it works, but usually it puts me in an area of frustration, “WHY WON’T THIS WORK?”. First, you’re starting with the most difficult thing you can do in this and you don’t know how to do it. Everyone has to start at the beginning for a reason. There is zero shame in this. This is for me just as much as it is for you 😀

In my experience, any large efforts cannot have a successful final product without some sort of planning. Sometimes they go hand and hand and are a lot of fun, sometimes I like one part more than the other. But the planning is really important, it helps you to see where your problem areas might be and brace you for some road bumps, or advantages you’ll run into because of your planning process. Here’s what I mean.

Planning

For some projects, the planning part is my favourite, this is where the research is and that’s my jam! Sometimes this is the only part I want to do. When I was planning my tarot deck, I had every card nailed down to the final detail, seriously, you should see my copy of the Night Circus. But the execution is where I slowed down a bit, I didn’t know what I wanted the final look to be, how I wanted to do it, or what would do the characters/visuals the most justice. In the end I haven’t really been able to fully execute it (see reasons here).

Trust me. I get it. I just want to dive in, be good at the thing, and have it turn out awesome. Rip open that subscription box and make art right away. But, if I hadn’t tested out the markers that came in the box ahead of time, I wouldn’t have known that the fine liner was water based, meaning it would wash away with my watercolours. Or I would have found out too late that the metallic markers should go on last, ruining my final result and making me go back to the start.

Another example, say it with me knitters, the swatch! It’s such a pain. I want to knit the sweater now! That’s fine, please, be my guest. However, my experience has been, if I hadn’t swatched for my sweater it would have been WAY too big and I would have wasted nearly $150 of yarn on a sweater I won’t wear or knit a second time because I’ve already knit it. I know that swatches aren’t always accurate, but they have got me a little closer than if I had just grabbed the needles that the designer recommended off the top.

Planning is really key. Without it we are going in blind. Sometimes a good thing, you can learn a lot that way, but without it there is a lot of room for frustration. To go alongside my last creativity post, I think that planning here really applies mostly to the process. You don’t need to plan how many strokes you need to complete the face in the right way, or where the flowers need to be for the best balance. Most of the time, letting those things just happen has still resulted in a better final product. For me anyway. I am more talking here about the tools that you are using, the output that you want (printer capabilities for example), the cost sometimes plays in.

Plan it out! (roughly…)

• What do I want to do?
• How do I know how to do it?
• Where can I find tips on how to do it better?
• What needs to happen first?
• What has to happen last?
• What do I need to consider for the output? (Printer, delivery, final product, etc)
• You don’t have to plan every little step, but it will be helpful to have that bit of a roadmap, especially if you are working to some deadlines.

Actual work time!

When you have finally wrapped up all of your planning, or most of it anyway, and you have your tools and your research, it’s time to actually do the work. This can be the fun part. And you have pretty much guaranteed that it will be the fun part, because there should be less anxiety about “will it work if I do it this way? what if I ruin it? etc etc etc “. You’ve done your research, you know what order things should go in, what it should look like, and what to do if things go wrong.

Without the stress, you should be having fun, and if you’re having fun, amazing things will happen. So many artists will tell you, that if you’re working on something that you are enjoying, the work will come out better. You’ll feel more confident in what you are doing and it will open doors for new ideas and improvements.

As annoying as the planning process may be for delaying the “fun part”, there can be a lot of joy in that initial process. If you’re lucky that research will come into play in future projects, meaning you will have to plan less for the next one.

Help your future self out, do some planning, you’ll thank past-you!