It's been a long week for me - I've had two band concerts last week and 2 jazz concerts this week, so it's been rehearsal after rehearsal on top of all of my usual school work. I've been getting home at like 11:00 pm on a fairly regular basis now, doing homework or studying and then hitting the sack at 2:00 am for more classes at 8:00 am. Even if I had the time to do anything, I'm not sure if I'd have the energy for it.
Basically, I've had practically no time to work on anything 40k related. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this problem - we all lead busy lives and I envy the people who have time to get in a game or a few hours to paint on a bi-monthly basis or (heaven forbid) a weekly basis.
How do you find time for the hobby? Is it whenever you manage to get an hour or two of free time? Do you schedule it? What motivates you - commissions, contests, or just plain fun?
The floor is yours 40kers.
Squirrel Fish
Tom Meier's Frost Giant Dio in a box!
2 weeks ago
Usually it's just whenever i have free time and the motivation. Getting both is hard, though. The motivation part usually comes if I'm just doodling or thinking about 40k and something cool pops into my head, or if I see a model online that I really like that happens to get my creative juices flowing.
ReplyDeletePainting points are really good motivation, and even just getting up half an hour earlier to get some painting in a few days a week can help to get you feeling like you're actually getting something done. I just had my exam week at uni, and I used little bits of painting to break up the study sessions...
ReplyDeleteIf you aim for half an hour two or three days a week, you start to find time for the hobby as you get more motivated...well, it's been that way for me anyway, might be completely different for you, especially if you aren't a morning person haha.
I took the week off from work and sent my Wife and Daughter away for a few days.
ReplyDeleteWorks once every year.
@ Kevin - I've kinda been on a bit of a dry spell on terms of motivation. Everything that has inspired me to do some hobbying (ie. Amaximus' Defiler @ http://kxmxb.blogspot.com) also has the consequence of me buying/slicing/dicing/converting things that I will never use (stuff from different armies, etc) or can't afford.
ReplyDelete@ Harreh - What are painting points?
@ Ron - Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of taking a week off from the U, nor can I send it off somewhere to relax. Such is life. :P
Painting points are a system I pilfered from other bloggers, basically, you set a points reward for a painting or hobby goal, and each point you get means one dollar you can justify spending on the hobby. My system is here: http://mattsminiatures.blogspot.com/2009/06/painting-points.html
ReplyDeleteHope it helps!
It's difficult for me to find hobby time as well. My life is very demanding. I usually squeeze in an hour or two on Sunday every weeks, but not always. I'm finding that I need to make the time to do something or else it will never get done. I'm to the point now where I'm actually scheduling off work so I can have a day of hobby. I also have the unfortunate hurdle of being a very slow painter.
ReplyDeleteI have two options that I usually do, during the week I stay up late and paint after my kids are off to bed and usually while my wife is watching shows I care little for. Then on the weekends I will eitehr stay up late as the week days or I will set an alarm to give me a few hours in the morning before the rest of the family is awake.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is very supportive of my hobby so I try my best to keep it from interfering with family time.
-BJ