- Visual I.D.E.A.s Newsletter
- Posts
- Why focusing on one thing at a time is a superpower
Why focusing on one thing at a time is a superpower
In this issue: Why you shouldn't wait to have everything "ready" to start and How to leverage your focus for deeper value
PJ Milani
April 25, 2024
🤔 INTERESTING
“You can do anything, but not everything.” (…all at once)
I admit, before I started posting online a couple years ago, I was notoriously bad at this. And my wife argues I still have quite the room to grow in other domains (like tidying up the bedroom!).
But I make conscious (and often painful) efforts to focus on one cup at a time when it comes to being a creator.
My priority this week is to reflect on my father’s life through journaling.
📐 DESIGN
A question came up in my Thinking in Visual Metaphors course about avatars.
Do you create a reference sheet for your avatar with different moods and poses?
This isn’t a bad idea, but I don’t recommend spending the time to do this when you’re first starting out.
Why?
For years, I struggled to make anything because I thought I needed to do x, y, and z to START. Turned out it was just productive procrastination.
It wasn’t until I realized, you know what? It’s totally fine to build as you go…make what you need as you need it (applies to many things, not just visuals).
An hour spent making 20 different facial expressions is an hour not spent on creating the visual that needs only 2. And once you have those 2, you can reuse them like this:
 |  |
The 80/20 rule applies here: You’ll probably use 20% of those poses for 80% of your visuals.
So build that reference sheet, but only as you’re building your visuals.
Build as you go is my philosophy.
P.S. If you’re ready to start Thinking in Visual Metaphors, the next cohort starts late May.
🧠 ANALOGY
Most of us (myself included 😅) get caught up in shiny object syndrome which splinters our focus a mile wide, but an inch deep.
It’s the paradox of the creator. We seek novelty through experimentation, but need to improve what we do through repetition.
If we truly want to upgrade our thinking and skillsets, we need to dive an inch wide, a mile deep.
The shiny objects will always be waiting for us at the surface when we come back up.
🤓 WHAT I’M READING NOW
I’ve been a long time fan of Catana Comics, with her cute, quirky and often heartwarming comics highlighting her romantic antics with her best friend. I’ve been known to send a comic or two to my wife with: “This is pretty much us isn’t it? 😏”
Catana’s second book, “Snug,” does not disappoint and brought me more than a few smiles.
Rate this week's newsletter:Your feedback helps shape the best visual newsletter possible. |
If you'd like to join the 15,623 subscribers getting Visual I.D.E.A.s straight into their inbox, subscribe below:
Thanks for reading! Reply any time with feedback or questions.
I made this newsletter with beehiiv, my favorite tool for easily creating and growing a newsletter.
When you’re ready, I’ve built a course to teach Thinking in Visual Metaphors: Join the Waiting List
Reply