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Comment by probably_wrong | Hacker News Reader

> "(...) I’ve written stories and parts of my novels during breaks—fifteen minutes for coffee and then half an hour for lunch. (...) Most artists I know are like this. Finding time to make art while working another job, or taking care of loved ones."

Has anyone had success finding a way do this, but for drawing? I've been trying to make time for a small comic project and, while I do have plenty of fifteen-minutes breaks I could use, those breaks are usually in places where drawing is impractical (such as buses).

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All I can suggest is to make it as easy and cheap as you can manage. Carry a sketchbook and just get in the habit of making quick drawings. If you're into painting, watercolor is pretty portable; oil is less so, but try a search for "pochade box" to get a few ideas.

What are the aspects of working on a bus that make it impractical? When I find myself in your position usually I end up realizing I'm self-conscious about people seeing what I'm doing more than I'm concerned about any practical downside or benefit.

In my case it's mostly the shaking - trains are mostly fine, but buses are just too unstable. They also tend to be more crowded, meaning I need to tuck my elbows in and adopt an even-less-stable position which compounds the problem.

I'm having the same question about sewing. I feel like the lead time to first stitch is quite high, but I think I could make quite significant progress on my projects if I could use the all small 15-minute breaks to make some progress.

The question is how far can you break things down. Also what your job is (if you need to wash your hands before starting that matters)

If you are sewing a ballroom dress (that is any very large project) you probably need longer stretches to get it together. However you could take an individual piece and put in a few embroidery stitches.

Still it does feel like you get 2 minutes of work for your 15 minute break

This won't work for the sewing itself, but while Siri itself is still a hot mess, it can launch shortcuts into other apps. Aka can ask "Siri captains log" and I've configured my phone to launch voice recording so I can journal via voice. That isn't the same as actually sewing, but organizing my thoughts has value, especially if it's during time I otherwise would have burned.

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