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Post by lordtarrant on Dec 20, 2013 3:17:16 GMT
How do you guys find the time for crafting? I'm a father of two special needs kids and between working, taking care of my kids and all of the other things attached to being a parent/husband I find I barely have time for planing my adventure let alone crafting. I'm just curious.
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dmbrad
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 166
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Post by dmbrad on Dec 20, 2013 3:18:23 GMT
Two words. Sugar Mama
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neil
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 134
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Post by neil on Dec 20, 2013 3:48:43 GMT
Wow you are a busy person. I have respect for you as it sounds like you get things done Maybe set aside an hour or two per week to craft- set crafting time and stick to it. You need some time to find your bliss and get away from your responsibilities - crafting can be a focus that helps you unwind. Maybe you can get your spouse or kids involved in crafting, get it done and spend time together, if safety is a concern, you just work on different projects. I need this and that can you make that for me? Also if you have players maybe one or two of them can help. If you DM that is prep time that the players don't have to spend. Maybe they can craft some stuff and the whole group can enjoy the work. When you make this stuff it is time and effort, but it lasts. Make a few tiles, make a few halls - set it up for important encounters. I have cut cardboard during commercials while watching TV. I struggle with the time thing as well - busy people often find ways to get things done. I look forward to seeing your creations.
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Post by miltonmurphy on Dec 20, 2013 3:55:50 GMT
How do you guys find the time for crafting? I'm a father of two special needs kids and between working, taking care of my kids and all of the other things attached to being a parent/husband I find I barely have time for planing my adventure let alone crafting. I'm just curious. Hi lordtarrant...I don't have the same situation you do, but I am a father (one child) and husband who works a 9 to 5 job. My perspective is that I get the things done that need to be done but I carve out some time for myself and it needs to be mutually understood with my spouse that it is important. My opinion is that it is important for you (and your spouse) to realize that each of you *need* some time of your own where you can craft, get your nails done, consider the lint in your belly button, whatever. So I have a gaming night and she has a yoga night. In addition there are always "stolen minutes" (that's what I call them) throughout the day. When there's 5-10 minutes of downtime I think about things like "what am I going to craft next" and maybe doodle out a sketch. That way when I have a half hour to actually sit down and do something it's in my head and I can go right to it. I also have the fortunate ability to stop whatever I'm doing right in the middle of doing it and come back to it at any point an pick up where I left off without any concern which is helpful (some folks get upset when their interrupted...big waste of emotional energy.) This works for me. Cheers, MM But I still wishfully buy lottery tickets.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 20, 2013 6:23:17 GMT
Lordtarrant, I have a special needs child, and have a very demanding career that usually requires 50+ hours per week, and I have a very extensive list of other hobbies like stargazing, guitar playing, golf, fishing, hiking, shooting... well, let's just say I've got a lot going on. Plus I finished my first novel this year....
How do I find time to craft?
I just do it. Not because I want to really, as much as I am just compelled to.
But that's not very helpful. So I'll try to explain my typical crafting process.
1. I get very little sleep. I typically get about five hours of sleep a night. Not so much by choice as by nature. I find it virtually impossible to sleep earlier than 12:30 am or so, and I typically get up no later than 6 am on a work day. And I almost never go to sleep right away, so I do my reading at night while trying to get to sleep. 2. I multi-task. A lot. I find it very difficult to sit still no matter what I'm doing. When I'm at work in boring meetings I doodle or do origami. I do a lot of design work while multi-tasking at work, and I find a bit of effort on design helps a lot on focusing on getting things done later. I do a lot of crafting while watching TV with my wife. The 2.5D terrain I created this week was done while watching TV. 3. I try to have the right tools and a place that is reserved for my crafting. For example, if I want to make some Hirst blocks, I don't need to spend 30 minutes clearing out an area for mixing and pouring plaster, my game table is also my craft table and if I'm not gaming, it's ready for crafting. I also keep my tools handy and organized so that I don't waste time looking for my craft knife, glue gun or paint brushes. 4. I do my best to arrange things in such a way that I can squeeze even as little as fifteen minutes here and there to do something craftworthy. It might be fiddling around with some Sculpey clay, or it might be cutting some foam or it might be painting a single mini. 5. I take advantage of my "alone time". I rarely watch TV by myself, so if my wife and kids are not home, that is time I spend on crafting binges. An afternoon on a weekend that is free can result in building new terrain, sculpting minis, painting things, etc. 6. Finally, I am something of an efficiency nut. I focus on what I am doing and waste as little time and effort as possible. My gaming group will see something I've made and assume it took days when sometimes it only took minutes or at most a few hours. I've developed a sort of assembly line mentality for a lot of stuff I do. The 2.5D terrain I made, for example, was made by first focusing on cutting the cardboard into all the pieces I need. That meant for half an hour or so I had my craft knife actually cutting cardboard for at least 20 minutes. Then I spent another 30 minutes focused on gluing the bits together. Then, finally, just before bed, I spent another 30 minutes base painting. Then the next day I spent a final half hour or so doing the shading and highlighting to finish up the elements. So for a total time of maybe two hours over two days and ended up with more than a dozen 2.5D terrain elements.
Again, a big part of this is that I rarely have my hands idle, even if I'm doing something else at the time.
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Post by skunkape on Dec 20, 2013 14:51:23 GMT
How do you guys find the time for crafting? I'm a father of two special needs kids and between working, taking care of my kids and all of the other things attached to being a parent/husband I find I barely have time for planing my adventure let alone crafting. I'm just curious. While I don't have special needs kids to take care of, I'm very busy as well, so I usually get just a few hours a week to allow me to craft things! I spend time on the forums at work usually during my breaks or down time.
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Post by gnomezrule on Dec 20, 2013 15:20:47 GMT
AD hit the nail on the head. Having a space that you can access fast.
I have a son with Autism 5 and a 3 year old. First my wife is awesome. She is at home with the kids so that limits the amount of house work I have to deal with if she worked full time then I would have a lot more to take my time. Typically I get to spend some time with the kids. Until they go to bed. At that point I might craft or whatever. I am forced to work in stages but that is fine.
On the weekends I work on things that the kids can't get hurt by and if one of them seems interested I will talk to them about it or give them something to work on. After they go to bed I will just stay up late and get it done.
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Post by miltonmurphy on Dec 20, 2013 17:07:51 GMT
Lordtarrant, I have a special needs child, and have a very demanding career that usually requires 50+ hours per week, and I have a very extensive list of other hobbies like stargazing, guitar playing, golf, fishing, hiking, shooting... well, let's just say I've got a lot going on. Plus I finished my first novel this year.... How do I find time to craft? I just do it. Not because I want to really, as much as I am just compelled to. But that's not very helpful. So I'll try to explain my typical crafting process. 1. I get very little sleep. I typically get about five hours of sleep a night. Not so much by choice as by nature. I find it virtually impossible to sleep earlier than 12:30 am or so, and I typically get up no later than 6 am on a work day. And I almost never go to sleep right away, so I do my reading at night while trying to get to sleep. 2. I multi-task. A lot. I find it very difficult to sit still no matter what I'm doing. When I'm at work in boring meetings I doodle or do origami. I do a lot of design work while multi-tasking at work, and I find a bit of effort on design helps a lot on focusing on getting things done later. I do a lot of crafting while watching TV with my wife. The 2.5D terrain I created this week was done while watching TV. 3. I try to have the right tools and a place that is reserved for my crafting. For example, if I want to make some Hirst blocks, I don't need to spend 30 minutes clearing out an area for mixing and pouring plaster, my game table is also my craft table and if I'm not gaming, it's ready for crafting. I also keep my tools handy and organized so that I don't waste time looking for my craft knife, glue gun or paint brushes. 4. I do my best to arrange things in such a way that I can squeeze even as little as fifteen minutes here and there to do something craftworthy. It might be fiddling around with some Sculpey clay, or it might be cutting some foam or it might be painting a single mini. 5. I take advantage of my "alone time". I rarely watch TV by myself, so if my wife and kids are not home, that is time I spend on crafting binges. An afternoon on a weekend that is free can result in building new terrain, sculpting minis, painting things, etc. 6. Finally, I am something of an efficiency nut. I focus on what I am doing and waste as little time and effort as possible. My gaming group will see something I've made and assume it took days when sometimes it only took minutes or at most a few hours. I've developed a sort of assembly line mentality for a lot of stuff I do. The 2.5D terrain I made, for example, was made by first focusing on cutting the cardboard into all the pieces I need. That meant for half an hour or so I had my craft knife actually cutting cardboard for at least 20 minutes. Then I spent another 30 minutes focused on gluing the bits together. Then, finally, just before bed, I spent another 30 minutes base painting. Then the next day I spent a final half hour or so doing the shading and highlighting to finish up the elements. So for a total time of maybe two hours over two days and ended up with more than a dozen 2.5D terrain elements. Again, a big part of this is that I rarely have my hands idle, even if I'm doing something else at the time. Right on adamantinedragon. Having a space with all your supplies and tools handy is important. I also handle things using the assembly line which is particularly helpful for big projects.
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Post by lordtarrant on Dec 21, 2013 2:13:42 GMT
Thanks so much guys, I appreciate all of your suggestions.
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Post by gnomezrule on Dec 21, 2013 2:23:40 GMT
Just a tip I know it helped in my case getting support from my wife. Is I will grab some of my son's toys like small figures (he has a ton of Nugz which are little pencil top figures based on Marvel Supes). He and I will play around with the caves or whatever and do some pretend play. Yes it means that he might interrupt me when I craft but it exponentially increased my wife's interest and encouragement of my endeavors.
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Post by grym247 on Jan 2, 2014 14:20:30 GMT
Im lucky my kids are older, i pretty much work , play D&D and Craft, most crafting is done while im watching TV on weekends though, i also play alot of WoW and other games, my whole family are gamers so i get away with it
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Post by DungeonMasterRandom on Jan 2, 2014 14:25:14 GMT
Since I'm a online school student, time comes easily.
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Post by crafterdave on Jan 16, 2014 1:17:04 GMT
I am a father of a special needs child. I work in the Oilfield and can work as many as the job requires so 120 a week is not entirely out of hte question but not the norm. As I do generally work well in excess of 70 per week crafting time would seem like it would be hard to come by. I try to get my son interested in whatever I might be crafting tho it doesnt always work many times it does and makes for wonderful father and son time.
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