Painting and Exercise 3: Make it routine, don't think about it.

Everyday I walk 3-5 miles and four out of five days I lift weights.

Every few weeks, I paint a squad or two of models, a few individual models and maybe a big model or two using the same basic steps: prime, color blocks, washes, highlights.

This is my routine. There is nothing exciting or flashy about it. It's not an insanity, a p90x, or extreme painting. My goals don't stretch like a kickstarter. I'm not doing something new for every project or every workout routine.

The goal is simply this, set aside a time and do this. And in order for these goals to remain a constant everyday, I set the goals low and the intensity is rather even.

It's not very exciting.

For me, that's what makes exercise and painting routine, and at the end of it, I've lost a few pounds and painted some little men. Keep it dull, use your practiced routines, and put one foot in front of the other, both literally and figuratively.

What's a routine?

A routine is figuring out how you do something and doing it the same way all the time.

When I paint blue, I know I'm going to start with a certain shade, wash it a certain way, and then highlight it a certain way.

When I walk, I know my five mile route will take me from Welles Park to Diversey and Sheffield and back.

Learn your routines, and you will get much done. A lot of procrastination is really someone stuck at some point in developing their routine.

Next post I'll have the completely opposite advice to give.