Do you get stressed out about your workload, with commissions and other art commitments? I'm asking other artists about this, because they seem very cool and calm, but I get so stressed when landing new clients and stuff, and I'm wondering if that's normal or not. How do you handle it?
Totally normal! And the source of stress might be different for you, but for me it was the fact that I couldn’t physically SEE my workload. It’s not like a shelf of books that needs to be organized or a stack of papers that needs to be looked over and graded. So a pile of say even just like...3 commissions...is this amorphous blob of obligation/responsibility and my anxiety come from the fact that--without being able to VISUALIZE it, I can’t predict how long it’ll take to get each piece done or even which one I should start on first. So 3 commissions could feel just the same as 100 commissions...because well...it’s amorphous, there’s no solid timeline, who knows how much work it is, really.SO I set up a trello.NOW I can SEE my workload, I can see how much time I have for each piece, I can prioritize them. I can break them down into steps (eg: Illustration commission [SKETCH due for approval Jan 20th]). Also, I can see what I have already done, and feel a sense of accomplishment clearing out my “Done” pile.Now, my brain can’t conflate otherwise small, piecemeal jobs into this giant, emotionally consuming blob of impossible obligation.As well, letting my clients have access to this trello (as well as have access to me) helps the anxiety a lot, too. They see the deadlines, they know where they are on the queue...the communication is clear and no one’s stuck guessing and worrying.As someone with ADHD, organization is...not...my strong point. But when it comes to commissions, I’d probably die from panic and guilt if I did not find a way to properly visualize and organize my work. I’m not sure if your anxiety comes from the same place as mine, but hope you don’t mind me publishing this publicly--in case it’s helpful to anyone else who might relate! <3