What I do:
- Technical Art Director at WB/Turbine
- Co-founder of and Mentor at Rigging Dojo
- Author of Art and Animation Work - A job hunting primer for 3D Artists
- Speaker
- Organizer of the Boston Maya Users Group
Where you can find more info:
Focus:
I’ve been trying to incorporate a minimalist strategy to my life; both personal and professional. I’ve seen clear benefits along the way.
To me, the “biggest bang for buck” has been developing habits of focus. Mind you, I’m no expert; breaking bad habits is long sustained work. But it’s also very rewarding. I’m able to do more simply by shifting to an early schedule. I’ve been getting up an hour before my kids do and have been able to write posts like this, start a book targeted for students of 3D Art and animation who are trying to enter the workplace and/or do work on Rigging Dojo all before the day really begins. Some nights I don’t get home until 9 or 10pm, so cramming in that extra couple of hours was exhausting me. Now at night, I can actually have conversations with my wife and not run around frantically until after midnight or later.
For me being an early riser is just part of focus. I’ve been batch processing my email and that is a huge timesaver. Again, I’m no expert I’m just learning as I go. If you looking for a way to start as I was recently, do start with that. It’s surprisingly easy to do. Once in the morning and again before I leave for the day is what works for me. My workplace is communication heavy so I do leave our internal IM on all day, but try not to initiate conversations unless it absolutely can’t wait. Try it for just one day and see what happens.
All this points me to the things that got me started. “The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life” and The “Focus Manifesto” both by Leo Babauta. They were a real eye-openers for me. These are short and powerful books which you can go back to again and again. Maybe it all wont work for you, but it’s the best place to start and refer to in my opinion.
I’ll be talking about how these changes affect my personal and professional life here. Thanks for visiting.