Hey-ho, squiders.
So far, January is going great! I’ve read three books (and have decent amounts read of 3 more), I beat three video games and moved two more into my “don’t bother” category (I tend to buy game bundles, so every now and then I find a game that I don’t like/is too frustrating/is not fun, etc. and instead of forcing myself to play it, I just move it into this category and move on), I made a cover for Deep and Blue (and had it critiqued), I finished Chapter 19 of my revision (though not sure I’m happy with it) and did the paper edit for Chapter 20, and have Chapter 14 up for this week of the critique marathon, I made example projects for all my SkillShare classes, and, fingers crossed, I’ve reposted the last of the ones that were taken down (just waiting for confirmation on that).
Oh, and I made significant progress in my sketch journal (finished the line art and notes from the Scotland trip, completed the trip after that, and did line art for the final trip that will fit in the book) and have been doing some other drawings as well.
This morning I was working on my blog post for Turtleduck Press, and I was pondering why my and other people’s Januarys tend to be so productive.
Sure, some of it could be the whole “yay new year, new possibilities” thing. Most people do give the whole resolution thing a try, and normally stick with it for at least a little bit.
But I think what it actually is is that, in general, people have more free time in January. October/November/December (Hallowthanksmas) is a crazy time. Christmas is especially time consuming, with presents, decorations, parties, activities, cards and all that jazz. I know by the time Christmas morning raised its head, I was exhausted.
January, on the other hand, has no holidays that take a lot of mental and physical time. New Year’s is over as soon as it starts, and aside from attending some events on MLK Day, or maybe reading an applicable book or watching a movie, most people don’t put a ton of effort into that either. The next holiday that might take some prep work is Valentine’s Day, and we still have a few more weeks before you need to worry about that.
Aside from that, there’s just not a lot going on in January anyway. Everyone’s burnt out from the holidays, it’s too cold to spend a ton of time outside, the kids have a whole week before they have to go back to school. It’s almost peaceful.
So. More free time. This tied in with the “I’m going to become a better person this year” mentality tends to allow most of us to make significant progress in the first few weeks of the year.
Here is where the false sense of security comes in. I’m doing it, we think. I am actually going to make meaningful progress this year.
And then everything picks up and life goes back to normal, and we feel like failures. We’re not, of course–but after making amazing progress, it can be hard to go back to the status quo.
Don’t beat yourselves up, squiders. Embrace what you got done, and be gentle with yourself moving forward.
January will come again.
See you Thursday!
