ILLUSTRATION KNOWHOW Managing deadlines
Have you often struggled with time management? Rekha Salin is here to help! She’s giving us her tips on how she gets her work done with a busy, busy schedule.
This is Part 1 of 4 in this series of time management skills.
How often do we hear ourselves/someone saying we/they can't make time for art?
You may be a:
- full-time or part-time employee trying to make time for your passion
- full-time home-maker and/or mum trying to juggle between the laundry, never ending dishes and household chores
- combination of the above and many more.
For me personally, 2024 began with complete chaos! Deadlines alongside term exams for kids and getting sick. In one way or another we are all sailing in the same boat. And I am sure, though you might not have had the same challenges as me, you do have challenges.
At the end of the day we still want to do fulfil our CALLING – making art, telling stories, being creative.
So how do we not get burnt out and still continue doing what we love?
In this four part series we will start with ANALYSING TIME.
For two whole weeks I wrote down what I did in my 24 hour day. The results were shocking. I thought it was chores, cooking and cleaning I was wasting my time on but they were not the poor culprits to be blamed. Instead I wasted a lot of time doing stuff that was just nothing but a total waste of time. I noticed I spent more time on Netflix just browsing through what were the new releases instead of actually watching anything. I spent way too much time on Instagram just scrolling through reels and posts – a shocking six hours a day was a ridiculous amount of time to waste!
In this four part series we will start with ANALYSING TIME.
For two whole weeks I wrote down what I did in my 24 hour day. The results were shocking. I thought it was chores, cooking and cleaning I was wasting my time on but they were not the poor culprits to be blamed. Instead I wasted a lot of time doing stuff that was just nothing but a total waste of time. I noticed I spent more time on Netflix just browsing through what were the new releases instead of actually watching anything. I spent way too much time on Instagram just scrolling through reels and posts – a shocking six hours a day was a ridiculous amount of time to waste!
So I started using my mobile phone to put timers on time spent on the social media apps. Then I began with small changes, cutting down from over six hours to more like three hours for the first week and now I have a timer at one and a half hours which is still high. But it is time replaced from mindless scrolling to actually engaging with creatives.
Rekha has now freed up extra time to get creative
*Header image: collaboration by Ell Rose & Tita Berredo, Photos by Rekha Salin
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Rekha Salin has three books published as an illustrator. Two are picture books – one published in 2020 and the other in 2022. She also has a recipe book, (for adults), published in 2022 by ABV Publishing. She is currently working with Gnome Road Publishing and this book will be available in 2024. See more of Rekha's work here. Follow her on Instagram and on Twitter.
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Ell Rose is the Illustration Features Editor of Words & Pictures.
Find their work at www.fourfooteleven.com
Contact them at illustrators@britishscbwi.org
Tita Berredo is the Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI British Isles and the Art Director of Words & Pictures. She has a Master's degree in Children's Literature and Illustration from Goldsmiths UOL and a background in marketing and publicity.
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter or www.titaberredo.com
Contact her at: illuscoordinator@britishscbwi.org
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter or www.titaberredo.com
Contact her at: illuscoordinator@britishscbwi.org
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