Hit 500 consecutive days of sketching in my pocket notebook

3 comments

3 Comments

500 days is a solid streak. Once you get past that first month it really becomes part of your routine. The biggest thing that helped me keep it going was telling myself I only had to fill one page no matter how bad the sketch was. Some days my pocket notebook just gets a ugly little coffee cup or a quick stick figure of someone on the train. That tiny commitment kept me from skipping when life got busy.

corablack3d ago

That reminds me of my neighbor who kept a gratitude journal for about two years. She told me the rule was she had to write something down even if it was just "the toast didn't burn today." Her entries got shorter and shorter as time went on but she never missed a day. Eventually she filled up three notebooks with tiny observations about her cat and the weather. I think the little things count for more than people realize when you're just showing up.

victor_robinson1d ago

500 days of half-hearted sketches is still 500 days of mostly just going through the motions though. I tried a streak like that once and after about three months I realized all my drawings were the same boring coffee cup or the same view from my desk. It stopped being about improving or even noticing anything new. That's when I figured out I was just checking a box instead of actually engaging with anything. A streak can become a trap where you're just proud of the number and not what you're actually getting out of it. Maybe it's better to skip a day here and there if it means you come back with fresh eyes instead of grinding through.