What are your best working (animating/drawing/spriting/working in general) conditions? For me: - I need to listen to music, so I'll have my iTunes or 8tracks open, usually wearing my noise cancelling headphones ^o^ - My window blinds have to be closed, or I feel like someone's behind me, watching and judging me LOL - I need at least 1.5hrs to myself to fully focus and actually get somewhere - My desk has to be clean of crumbs or copious amounts of dust, or I feel icky and can't concentrate - I need to wear long sleeve pants & shirt, 'cause I focus better when I'm warm. ^-^ - My room needs to be well-lit, I prefer the light from my pink lamp. - I focus better when the pants I wear are loose or just my pajama pants - Usually streaming helps me focus, but not-so-much when I'm talking to friends (on chat or Discord x'D) - Having warm/hot tea next to me really helps (unfortunately, I go to the bathroom more OTL) Lately, it's been hard for me to focus on my animations, mostly because I've been moving around and helping my parents throughout the day. So I thought it'd be nice to list out my best working conditions to help allocate my time better and set myself aside for the most productive conditions. Then I thought it'd be nice to hear everyone else's. Maybe we could end up helping each other out~ :D
I honestly don't know right now with how scatter-brained I am in my current work at the print shop. Although having some time to browse through Reddit does help me simmer down from projects, it sometimes feel as if it's taking away from project work. Not to mention my current working conditions are the exact opposite; the desk is extremely messy of random writings of past projects or current projects. I honestly don't know which is which lol. I'm not allowed to wear headphones as it distracts from my work & customers coming in, so I have to have the window blinds open to see them as well. I always try to keep a pen and notepad near me so I'm able to write down new tasks or requests, although those sometimes get lost or forgotten in the mix of all the projects going on.
I can't stress enough that streaming is the #1 thing that keeps me motivated and focused. It doesn't have to be public (like I usually see you do), I stream for one person about 99% of the time. That's been doing WONDERS for my workflow. Anyone who's reading this, heed my advice and give it a shot, even if it's just for one person. (Google Hangouts is my general recommendation) That aside, I personally don't stay so focused whenever I'm in a call (mainly a group call), my mind wanders off so much, and I'm really not of the multitasking type. If I weren't streaming, or in a call, then I'd normally put on some music via YT, or listen to a podcast (because hearing conversations without being involved in them is oddly motivating to me). This is really kind of a minor thing, but I tend to keep my door closed when I animate, cause I want to keep the outside noises to a minimum. That's about it, really. Not a whole lot to my setup, but it keeps me goin'.
for me the working conditions is have metal song games soundstracks fan music listen to get ideas for animation some chocolates wach anothe animation to see how can aply to my animation i know is short but is simple
Honestly I don't have any set of conditions like in the OP, except music maybe. Just the fact that there's always something you can improve on from the last animation you've made is motivation enough for me. If you really, really take the time to try something different or go out of your comfort zone, it'll do wonders.
I let some educational videos play in the background, a crash course playlist, scishow, halaltube or whatever interesting i can find, to keep both brain sides working. Sometimes it's too much for my brain to process and i need complete silence to focus. Rarely any music, i dislike repetition so i don't favor a genre, traditional folk songs are now on the list. Room should be cold, comfy blanket around me. Sitting with one knee up. Some meditation breaks are cool, i should do them more often. Cleaning up doing dishes are god breaks too. Best time to work is mornings when everyone is too sleepy to get on my nerves. Tea, raisins and nuts are optional but i try not to rely on them. I still need to get good light, i want to get one of those bulbs with customable colors so i can play with the mood.
A lot of people are mentioning streaming. Once, I streamed my math homework just for the hell of it, to see if anyone would actually watch, and I was able to stay focused. It was amazing, especially given how hard it usually is for me to focus when I'm at my desk. Working at home seems to be a poor choice for me in general. There's just endless distractions. I've even tried studying in what's essentially a storage room for my toys from when I was a kid, and I still couldn't focus at all. Working somewhere else, like in a coffee shop or library, seems to work better for me. I like listening to music, but it's not a must. It's also hard to keep from checking my phone :T Though all of this is in regards to homework. When I animate, draw, or whatever, I do get distracted sometimes, but not as much as I do when I'm doing homework. And since there aren't deadlines for drawing and animating, getting distracted is no big deal at all, which is really great. I do tend to get more distracted when I'm drawing or working with a MIDI than I do when I'm animating, though. I think I'm better at hyperfocusing on animating.
