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Struggling with lesson 5

7:25 PM, Thursday January 27th 2022

Hello, I would like to ask for an advise. I am currently on lesson 5, for about 3 or 4 weeks now and I haven't done even half. I find it really difficult and stressful. Not sure why. I wasn't struggling this much before. All previous lessons was not easy at any mean, but with animals there is something different. Maybe it's just me and my problems that are not related with drawing. I don't know. I feel lack of motivation and willing to quit, but forcing myself everyday do continue. Have someone felt this way? How you deal with those feelings. How you find strength for learning, when you have full time job and family that require your attention as well? I have very clear feeling, that I am alone in this process, I mean that I can't share with someone how difficult it is, to keep forcing yourself. Or better to say, I don't have someone who would understand it, who struggled in same way and found solution. Now I understand that the problem is not with lesson 5, probably I am burning out.

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3:46 PM, Friday January 28th 2022
edited at 3:47 PM, Jan 28th 2022

You may benefit from reading through this short article on the topic of motivation. That said, have you also been devoting appropriate time to the 50% rule, as prescribed in Lesson 0? While it serves many purposes, avoiding burnout is a big one.

edited at 3:47 PM, Jan 28th 2022
5:57 PM, Saturday January 29th 2022
edited at 6:28 PM, Jan 29th 2022

Hello, I try to remind myself all the time, that what we are doing here is not an actual art pieces in any mean. And I am trying to draw outside of Draw a Box as well. But I feel like I am in some rush, I feel scared to waste time. Everyday when I am feeling exhausted, tired and can't force myself to do something else after day of work, I consider that day wasted. Like I done 0% of progress. Haven't find a solution to that yet. What I found in 50% rule article absolutely about me - "Unfortunately, we are most often our own bullies". I expect and demand to much from myself.

edited at 6:28 PM, Jan 29th 2022
1 users agree
9:06 AM, Saturday January 29th 2022

I think maybe you already know this but need to hear someone say it? It's okay to take a break. Not only that, but if you're feeling burnt out you should take a break. There's a difference between being disciplined and treating yourself like a machine with only one need.

6:02 PM, Saturday January 29th 2022

I am thinking of it, just can't dare myself. Now I understand better, that my main problem is fear of feeling that I wasted time and made no progress. That what taking a break means to me. But you are right about treating yourself like human and not like machine.

6:01 AM, Sunday January 30th 2022

I have felt this way before. Where any moment not doing "the thing" feels like lazyness and I can't relax because I just feel guilty about wasting time. It's not something I have an easy solution to, but one approach I often find helpful is to set myself small goals and treat them as maximums instead of minimums. So I might say "I'm going to draw for 5 minutes every day this week", but when I get to the end of those five minutes I have to stop. It doesn't matter whether I'm on a roll and feel motivated to draw or feeling guilty that I got so little done. I tell myself I'm not allowed to do more and I have to accept that.

Realistically you won't get much done, but that's fine. In fact that's part of the point. I find this helps train me to stop second guessing myself and accept the goals I set. You shouldn't reach the end of every drawing session wondering "Is this enough? Can I do more?" Instead you should feel good that you reached your goal and know there is a reason you set the goal you did. I know some productivity hacks encourage you to trick yourself with easy goals that lead to more work, and maybe that's good for some people, but for me that approach can be quite toxic.

0 users agree
4:44 PM, Saturday January 29th 2022

Taking a break or cutting back might be a good idea. Maybe lesson 5 is hard for you for a reason. One reason could be that animals are something that you want to draw well and animals are hard to draw well because everyone knows how they are supposed to look. You might be putting pressure on yourself to have a better finished product. That would definitely be discouraging. When we first start learning something it is very exciting and we feel like we are making a lot of progress. Then we move to a plateau and it feels like we are not making progess which is very frustrating. But you are learning, every time you pick up a pencil (oops!, sorry, pen). Eventually you will have another little bump to your learning and you will feel excitement again. Then back to the plateau.

As a person with a full time job and a family, finding time to practice can be difficult. Sometimes my practice takes place sitting on the toilet while my child is asking me questions through the door (All the parents here know what I am talking about). But the phrase that I have put on my wall is "Action BEFORE motivation". I commit myself to doing something very basic, like draw one box or one cylinder, everyday. I usually find that I can't stop there. But if I need to, I can, and I don't feel bad about not doing more, because life takes over and there are important things to do sometimes.

6:15 PM, Saturday January 29th 2022

After reading your comment, I realize that my expectations are really higher on this lesson, compared to previous. And probably it's because, as you said, everyone knows how they are supposed to look. Great that you found a solution for yourself, how to maintain progress, even with small steps. Eventually it will build up in something bigger. It could be I want results too fast, and discourage myself this way. Thats also something that I should keep attention on. Maybe it's really that simple, and I just need to persuade myself on taking a break.

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1:00 PM, Sunday January 30th 2022

im sorry youre going through a tough time right now. Youre not alone in your art struggles and I hoep that brings you a little bit of comfort (just look at the art frustrations channel on our discord).

I actyally struggled with Lesson 5 A LOT. It took me 1+ month to finish even though I sat down everyday for 8 hours to draw. Nothing looked good to me. I'd start and not finish most of the pieces. I ignored the 50% rule. Basically I did everything Uncomfortable told us not to do. What worked for me to get back unto the groove was sticking to the 50% rule. I told myself that no matter how much i did or did not accomplish, I'd offset that with drawing other things. This has helped me immensely through lesson 5, 250 cylinder challenge and Lesson 6.

You're the ONLY person that can tell yourself to take a break. Youre the only person that can tell yourself youre allowed to take a break. This website will still be here no matter how much time you take to recover from burnout.

sometimes, when things arent going right, you just have to be kind to yourself.

11:55 AM, Wednesday February 2nd 2022

You are right, I treat my learning process as some kind of race. But as you said, this website will be here even if I will take a brake, maybe I should. Nice to hear that you managed to overcome your struggle with lesson 5 and moved further, that is really great.

0 users agree
9:34 PM, Tuesday February 1st 2022

Ok, I need to say something. I hated the 250 boxes exercise.

I probably should not have said it while Unfomfortable is watching but I really, REALLY hated it. I hated it so much that it took me 6 months to finish it. I'm sure that it was all in my brain but every time I had to draw a box, I felt almost a physical pain. And it was all im my head. It's not that the boxes are hard, it's just the idea of drawing 250 of them seemed terrifying to me. 250? IT'S SO MUCH! I was afraid that it's too much and that it will take ages to do it. So of course it did. ;)

So yeah... I think that maybe you're treating the lesson 5 as something more than just an exercise. Maybe insted of learning the construction, you're concentrating on how to draw perfectly? I'm not sure, but I just wanted to say that the struggle is real and you're not alone ;) Also, if you feel alone maybe try joinging the Discord. This way you can complain on how hard Draw-A-Box is with all the other students.

Cheers!

11:51 AM, Wednesday February 2nd 2022

Thanks, It's good to know that I am not alone. What you are describing about your experience with 250 box challenge is pretty much what I feel right now. Hope I will overcome it eventually.

1:47 PM, Wednesday February 2nd 2022

I'm sure you will. And you know what? It will feel amazing when it's done ;)

Good luck

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