Small Bites vs. Lofty Projects

“10 minutes a day,” “30 day challenges,” “Morning Pages,” and “Sketchbook Prompts” — all of these timed drawing exercises have been crazy helpful for me for the same reason. They limit my time, focus my endless ideas, and most importantly reset my “perfectionist” brain by helping me find joy in completing simple assignments incrementally.

One of my many positive Covid lessons was my adherence to a practice of daily 10‑minute art making. Mornings were always the best time, and I learned that just making 10 minutes for doodling in a sketchbook, or following a Facebook challenge, or participating in another Substack’s drawing prompts (like Wendy’s Draw With Me challenge) changed my art habits and attitude.

Breaking up larger projects into smaller tasks is not new info. It is, however, the trending continued wisdom from sources like Atomic Habits — which champions this approach as fundamental to making a task easy and accessible. Small daily tasks have officially helped me “practice my imperfectionism” and helped me take my work less seriously. It’s a key part of developing my Encore Artist identity. It’s about showing up consistently for my heart’s passion, which is creativity. Small bites make this Encore Artist journey possible.

A small prompt to try

1. Imagine one project or skill you want to learn.
2. Describe it simply — e.g., “I want to learn how to paint with more symbolic abstraction in acrylics.”
3. How — the small step part: “I will dabble and sketch with shape reduction and use a limited color palette for 10 minutes a day (most days — I’m human).”
4. Reflect on those painting sketches and notice how their energy and simplicity can seep into your larger painting projects.

How about you? Is there an artistic project that lights you up? Can you break down the small steps? Share it — and it’s okay if you miss a day or fall out of passion. Share that too, because it’s all part of this kind of growth.

(The painting in this post is one I’ve been working on for two years. I still don’t like it, and I’ve redone the sky already. I’m sure I’ll redo the colors of the sky again.)