Spoiled for Choice? Try Setting Limits.

The paradox of choice seems to spill over into every aspect of our lives. When I was little, if I wanted to make art, it was simple - a pad of paper, a box of colored pencils. There wasn't really any choice. Now, if I feel creative, I first have to decide on medium - pencil drawing? Colored pencil? watercolor? Or maybe collage? Should I use the watercolor pencils, or the Derwents, or the Prismacolors? Or maybe I should use the pastels.... or maybe I should have another go at finding my way around Adobe Photoshop? And spending time learning each of these mediums means that I've never fully mastered any of them.

I also like to knit, but rarely do, as I always think I should spend the time doing 'real' art. So it occurred to me that if I just knitted one kind of thing - just socks, for instance, which I perversely enjoy working on - it would make the hobby far more manageable - limiting the yarn stash and the range of needles. I'm applying the idea to other activities too, paring down hobbies to low-maintenance versions. One of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits, posted an excellent article on this idea a while back, labeling the concept 'Haiku Productivity'.

If you find that you are often juggling too many things, with never have enough time for good quality work - whether it is a rushed concept sketch or storyboard, lack of preparatory drawings making a design or painting weak, or wishing you could learn to draw but never putting pencil on paper - the 'Haiku' approach might help. Limiting your choices can save you time setting up to work, and help you focus more quickly on the task at hand, and help you maintain the technical skills that you need.

Some limits to try:
• Stick to one medium: use only charcoal, or only graphite, or only Graphitint or pastel.
• Use only black-and-white for a while
• Limit your scale or format: trim some paper to a uniform size, and work on compositions to fit that page.
• Explore a single subject
• Group projects by theme or medium, and focus on one
• Push one project to completion - no multitasking
• Put all the 'someday/maybe' sketches and notes in a box, and focus on what you're doing right now.
• Organize materials so that irrelevant stuff doesn't spill into your workspace.