I was participating in National Novel Writing Month this year. 50,000 words of a story in 30 Days.
I planned for an entire year on a project. I scheduled. I organized. I cataloged and calculated the appropriate workload to get it done within the deadline. I was dedicated, and I was responsible about getting it done. Basically, I did everything this comic preaches.
And I think it’s why I failed. I did worse this year than when I attempted the same thing last year. When I had half the time to finish, and was more prone to procrastinating and spontaneity. When I had no plan at all. All of that planning and keeping track just took time out of writing, and cataloging the workload just reminded me of how impossibly behind schedule I would always be, no matter how many sleepless nights I spent plowing through through thousands of words.
I planned ahead thinking I’d have an entire month. When life intervened, I couldn’t just roll with it. It wasn’t in accordance to The Schedule. And then the writer’s block kicked in, which also wasn’t part of The Plan. I may not have finished either way, but at least if I hadn’t put faith in planning ahead I might have been able to roll with those punches better. I wouldn’t have panicked, trying to readjust the workload to make up for days lost that I couldn’t predict.
I guess what I’m saying is that this comic is full of it. OF COURSE planning ahead will always work in a sterile environment, where people who haven’t been in your life in years never suddenly pop back in, or family emergencies don’t occur. But we don’t live in a sterile environment. We live and work in an unstable, always-fluctuating set of circumstances you can never be prepared for.
Being proactive doesn’t make yesterday an ally; it turns tomorrow into your worst enemy.
I’m sorry NaNoWriMo was such a miserable experience for you! I too experience the same thing when I attempted to do my first 24 hour comic– which is where you create a twenty four page comic in twenty four hours. I woke up early, started drawing, and got my but kicked by the ridiculous pace. It ended in failure.
Even now I experience this– often when I make plans for my projects, I can rarely work as fast as I think I can, I always bite off more than I can chew– and then when life stuff happens, it’s all over. I’m going to be talking about this kind of stuff later on in the comic, so I hope you stay tuned! If not, thanks for stopping by and sharing your take on these issues!
And thank you, Stephen, for showing us how to respond graciously and productively to less-than-productive criticism. This comic is not “full of it.” It’s great advice, even if it doesn’t fit every situation perfectly (and nobody expects that it would fit every situation perfectly, anyway.)
I planned for NaNoWriMo too, and then, on October 31st, my house burnt down. It’s no reason to get sore and snippy at what in general is very good advice. On months where my house doesn’t burn down, this strategy works great for me and I have hundreds of comic pages as proof.
You just rocked my world with this comic! It is so true. I am in engineering college currently, and time management is pretty much everything, more than talent, more than knowledge. In my world of constant, constant, constant projects with their deadlines and too many to count unexpected events (in the past 24 hours: lost my wallet (minus 2 hours of my day) circuit burned me (ouch), testing a project yielded unexpected results (meaning more research next semester and busy all next week), team meeting went on two hours longer than planned, found wallet at 1:00am when stranger returns it (what??)). The schedule is sooo needed and keeps my life organic and flexible. Even when the unexpected happens, I find the schedule helps remind me “wow, where did all this time come from?” and I find it can move fluidly between topics and doesn’t feel just like a series of boxes I pass through day by day, hour by hour. I’m by no means the best time manager ever (your comic totally reminded me how important that skill is, haha!) but thank you for reiterating the value of being proactive! I’m totally linking this page to all my engineering friends, especially since Finals week is next week! I hope you someday you get the chance to publish all of these wonderful, wise comics in a book! I’d sure use it.
P.S. Sorry for totally rambling about life! I’d be amazed if you read it all. Just a burst of awesome internal awakening from reading your work, and felt like sharing. Hope you have a good day!!
Awesome! These comics are aimed at artist folk, but if I can create something that makes it all the way to the engineering crowd, I know I’m on the right path. Thanks for the encouraging life ramblings! Good luck with your studies!
Hey, thanks a ton! Really, a lot of us here in engineering college have our minds half soaked in some kind of artistic vision of life. For most of my peers, its passion for the world and wonders of living that drives us, just like artists. Such wonders help us feel at home in a universe detailed and full, and often intimidating, beyond our comprehension, and I think we face many of the same internal anxieties for identity and triumph that artists do. Keep sending out your great insights, Steve! They can travel far.
I am gonna use the ‘calendar’ idea for my graphic novel as well. Time management was never my strong suits and I am a master at procrastination(I am not proud of this anymore). Looking back its been about 2 years I first came up with an idea for a graphic novel and I still am no where near the middle. Your ‘calendar’ process looks very effective!
P.S: Looking forward to your Book Stephen. What’s it about?
Google has a calendar feature included with all accounts; it’s really useful for time management, since it you can apply all sorts of dates and deadlines with timeblocks or even checkboxes, and will email you a couple days in advance if it’s prioritized..!!
All the same, keep up the great work!! These are so fun to read.
[...] So think about your own life. When do you have time? How could you use it better? And try to be as productive with what is basically dead time as possible! You’ll be surprised how much you can get done if you do! Here’s a great post my buddy Stephen McCranie made about procrastination and time management. http://doodlealley.com/2011/11/30/be-proactive-not-reactive/ [...]
[...] So think about your own life. When do you have time? How could you use it better? And try to be as productive with what is basically dead time as possible! You’ll be surprised how much you can get done if you do! Here’s a great post my buddy Stephen McCranie made about procrastination and time management. http://doodlealley.com/2011/11/30/be-proactive-not-reactive/ [...]
I’m the same way with school. I can totally do things the hour before class, and get A’s, but… The rest of the day, I’m sort of burn out. It’s a habit I’m trying to kick…
Love your work so far! I’m looking forward to reading more!
[...] a great webcomic from Stephen McCranie on being proactive rather than reactive. Choice quotes: When you [...]
Lauren on December 5, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Brilliant! Is there any chance you are selling prints of this? I would love to have this in my room as a reminder. If not maybe I can send some money your way and print them myself? If not that is okay too. Either way keep up the awesome work!!!
I’m crunched for time right now, so I don’t have any immediate plans for prints, but it’s definitely something I’ll be looking into in the future! I’m glad you like it so much you’d put it on your wall!
I’m a current senior in college, majoring in applied design (concentration sequential arts). I’ve been going day by day just as you explained here. But I must say I totally agree that “Deadlinosaurus rex” will certainly seek up on you. (lol) I’ve found out that the last few semesters where I’ve used a planner (WITH A CALENDAR ), it made my days go by MUCH SMOOTHER! I should probably stick to that consistly now that I think about it. Thanks for reminding me of that advantage through this blog today Great work!
AND LASTLY!
I’d like to thank you once again for sharing yoru advice. These are things EVERYONE has or will experience and can relate to. Your goal of “making comics about true things” is definitely formulating itself cause I see it right here and now! I hope you put up so much more of your advice in this picture blog soon. I love reading it!
Hi Stephen,
I was listening to your archived interview/podcast by Katie Davis on Brain Burps About Books, and came to your website. THIS IS GREAT!!!! Thank you so much!
I love this comic! I would be interested in getting prints or even mini-comic versions of it if they ever become available. I teach at a private university and think this would be a great thing to hand out to students at the beginning of the semester. Especially Freshmen!
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch as I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! “A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” by Mark Twain.
wow! I absolutely love all your comics! Do you sell huge prints? I would love to stick them all over my room as daily reminders. These are fantastic. The work you do is really motivating.
Hehe! This is cute and encouraging, Steve. I’m glad you discovered calendars!
Yeah, who knew right? Calendars are awesome!
AWESOME.
Scott McCloud just plugged your blog on Google+. What an inventive way of sharing advice! Taking comics to a new level, brother.
0_0
Wow. Thanks for sharing that– I’m excited!
Can’t wait until you have these all written up as a top-selling motivational book!
Thanks buddy!
Way to go, Stephen!
I think you’re a great philosopher, not just a cartoonist!
Thank you!
I was participating in National Novel Writing Month this year. 50,000 words of a story in 30 Days.
I planned for an entire year on a project. I scheduled. I organized. I cataloged and calculated the appropriate workload to get it done within the deadline. I was dedicated, and I was responsible about getting it done. Basically, I did everything this comic preaches.
And I think it’s why I failed. I did worse this year than when I attempted the same thing last year. When I had half the time to finish, and was more prone to procrastinating and spontaneity. When I had no plan at all. All of that planning and keeping track just took time out of writing, and cataloging the workload just reminded me of how impossibly behind schedule I would always be, no matter how many sleepless nights I spent plowing through through thousands of words.
I planned ahead thinking I’d have an entire month. When life intervened, I couldn’t just roll with it. It wasn’t in accordance to The Schedule. And then the writer’s block kicked in, which also wasn’t part of The Plan. I may not have finished either way, but at least if I hadn’t put faith in planning ahead I might have been able to roll with those punches better. I wouldn’t have panicked, trying to readjust the workload to make up for days lost that I couldn’t predict.
I guess what I’m saying is that this comic is full of it. OF COURSE planning ahead will always work in a sterile environment, where people who haven’t been in your life in years never suddenly pop back in, or family emergencies don’t occur. But we don’t live in a sterile environment. We live and work in an unstable, always-fluctuating set of circumstances you can never be prepared for.
Being proactive doesn’t make yesterday an ally; it turns tomorrow into your worst enemy.
I’m sorry NaNoWriMo was such a miserable experience for you! I too experience the same thing when I attempted to do my first 24 hour comic– which is where you create a twenty four page comic in twenty four hours. I woke up early, started drawing, and got my but kicked by the ridiculous pace. It ended in failure.
Even now I experience this– often when I make plans for my projects, I can rarely work as fast as I think I can, I always bite off more than I can chew– and then when life stuff happens, it’s all over. I’m going to be talking about this kind of stuff later on in the comic, so I hope you stay tuned! If not, thanks for stopping by and sharing your take on these issues!
And thank you, Stephen, for showing us how to respond graciously and productively to less-than-productive criticism. This comic is not “full of it.” It’s great advice, even if it doesn’t fit every situation perfectly (and nobody expects that it would fit every situation perfectly, anyway.)
I planned for NaNoWriMo too, and then, on October 31st, my house burnt down. It’s no reason to get sore and snippy at what in general is very good advice. On months where my house doesn’t burn down, this strategy works great for me and I have hundreds of comic pages as proof.
Dear Stephen,
You just rocked my world with this comic! It is so true. I am in engineering college currently, and time management is pretty much everything, more than talent, more than knowledge. In my world of constant, constant, constant projects with their deadlines and too many to count unexpected events (in the past 24 hours: lost my wallet (minus 2 hours of my day) circuit burned me (ouch), testing a project yielded unexpected results (meaning more research next semester and busy all next week), team meeting went on two hours longer than planned, found wallet at 1:00am when stranger returns it (what??)). The schedule is sooo needed and keeps my life organic and flexible. Even when the unexpected happens, I find the schedule helps remind me “wow, where did all this time come from?” and I find it can move fluidly between topics and doesn’t feel just like a series of boxes I pass through day by day, hour by hour. I’m by no means the best time manager ever (your comic totally reminded me how important that skill is, haha!) but thank you for reiterating the value of being proactive! I’m totally linking this page to all my engineering friends, especially since Finals week is next week! I hope you someday you get the chance to publish all of these wonderful, wise comics in a book! I’d sure use it.
P.S. Sorry for totally rambling about life! I’d be amazed if you read it all. Just a burst of awesome internal awakening from reading your work, and felt like sharing.
Hope you have a good day!!
Awesome! These comics are aimed at artist folk, but if I can create something that makes it all the way to the engineering crowd, I know I’m on the right path. Thanks for the encouraging life ramblings! Good luck with your studies!
Hey, thanks a ton! Really, a lot of us here in engineering college have our minds half soaked in some kind of artistic vision of life. For most of my peers, its passion for the world and wonders of living that drives us, just like artists. Such wonders help us feel at home in a universe detailed and full, and often intimidating, beyond our comprehension, and I think we face many of the same internal anxieties for identity and triumph that artists do. Keep sending out your great insights, Steve! They can travel far.
I am gonna use the ‘calendar’ idea for my graphic novel as well. Time management was never my strong suits and I am a master at procrastination(I am not proud of this anymore). Looking back its been about 2 years I first came up with an idea for a graphic novel and I still am no where near the middle. Your ‘calendar’ process looks very effective!
P.S: Looking forward to your Book Stephen. What’s it about?
I’ll be getting more to how to motivate yourself to accomplish your goals and plans later on, but a calendar is definitely a great tool to have.
My book is called Mal and Chad!
http://malandchad.com/
Google has a calendar feature included with all accounts; it’s really useful for time management, since it you can apply all sorts of dates and deadlines with timeblocks or even checkboxes, and will email you a couple days in advance if it’s prioritized..!!
All the same, keep up the great work!! These are so fun to read.
[...] So think about your own life. When do you have time? How could you use it better? And try to be as productive with what is basically dead time as possible! You’ll be surprised how much you can get done if you do! Here’s a great post my buddy Stephen McCranie made about procrastination and time management. http://doodlealley.com/2011/11/30/be-proactive-not-reactive/ [...]
[...] So think about your own life. When do you have time? How could you use it better? And try to be as productive with what is basically dead time as possible! You’ll be surprised how much you can get done if you do! Here’s a great post my buddy Stephen McCranie made about procrastination and time management. http://doodlealley.com/2011/11/30/be-proactive-not-reactive/ [...]
I’m the same way with school. I can totally do things the hour before class, and get A’s, but… The rest of the day, I’m sort of burn out. It’s a habit I’m trying to kick…
Love your work so far! I’m looking forward to reading more!
[...] a great webcomic from Stephen McCranie on being proactive rather than reactive. Choice quotes: When you [...]
Brilliant! Is there any chance you are selling prints of this? I would love to have this in my room as a reminder. If not maybe I can send some money your way and print them myself? If not that is okay too. Either way keep up the awesome work!!!
I’m crunched for time right now, so I don’t have any immediate plans for prints, but it’s definitely something I’ll be looking into in the future! I’m glad you like it so much you’d put it on your wall!
I’d love a print of this, too!
You are not only a cartoonist but also a philosopher. Great, I will put up the wise words on my door.
I’m a current senior in college, majoring in applied design (concentration sequential arts). I’ve been going day by day just as you explained here. But I must say I totally agree that “Deadlinosaurus rex” will certainly seek up on you. (lol) I’ve found out that the last few semesters where I’ve used a planner (WITH A CALENDAR
), it made my days go by MUCH SMOOTHER! I should probably stick to that consistly now that I think about it. Thanks for reminding me of that advantage through this blog today 
Great work!
AND LASTLY!
I’d like to thank you once again for sharing yoru advice. These are things EVERYONE has or will experience and can relate to. Your goal of “making comics about true things” is definitely formulating itself cause I see it right here and now! I hope you put up so much more of your advice in this picture blog soon. I love reading it!
Hi Stephen,
I was listening to your archived interview/podcast by Katie Davis on Brain Burps About Books, and came to your website. THIS IS GREAT!!!! Thank you so much!
Hey Stephen,
This comic really spoke to me.
It’s definitely so true – and I LOVE the deadlinosaurus rex! 
You are so talented (but we always knew that!)
Hey Stephen,
I love this comic! I would be interested in getting prints or even mini-comic versions of it if they ever become available. I teach at a private university and think this would be a great thing to hand out to students at the beginning of the semester. Especially Freshmen!
I’ll be looking into making some prints. Thanks for stopping by!
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch as I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! “A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” by Mark Twain.
Ha ha, I’m glad you’re benefiting from these comics in more ways than one!
wow! I absolutely love all your comics! Do you sell huge prints? I would love to stick them all over my room as daily reminders. These are fantastic. The work you do is really motivating.
I’m looking in to doing huge prints– I’ll keep you posted! Thanks!
I chuckled when you made friends with Deadlinosaurus Rex.
Ah, the Deadlinosaurus Rex. I met him often during my studies.
This post is rater good advice in general I think.