Do you know what happens when you’re 20 hours deep into creating an illustration but it still doesn’t look complete and would definitely take 10 more hours?
Most artists hit the wall. The initial excitement vanishes completely. You’re dragging yourself toward the finish line. In the beginning, progress felt lightning fast. Now it feels impossible. You can’t rely on motivation anymore because it already abandoned you.
The difference between artists who consistently finish projects and those who abandon them comes down to having flexible systems that work when you don’t feel like working. When you’ve already been paid for the project, you can’t wait endlessly for inspiration.
So today, I’m going to share the 4 systems I use to finish creative projects when motivation abandons me, and how you can adapt them to your own routine and personality.
Let’s walk through each one.
Find Your Golden Hours (And Protect Them Fiercely)
I get up at 5am to work on art before school starts, but that’s because I’m forced into morning work by my schedule. The real principle isn’t about being a 5am person. It’s about identifying when your brain works best and making that time untouchable.
Are you a morning person or a night owl? This matters more than you think. Some people’s brains are sharpest at 6am, others at 11pm. The magic is in finding your natural peak energy time and protecting it from distractions.
Here’s what I’ve discovered: If you haven’t touched social media before starting work, concentration becomes dramatically easier. Social media introduces noise in the back of your mind that seeps into everything you do. Once I check Discord or see my recent post suddenly doing well on X, my mind gets stuck thinking about that instead of the canvas in front of me.
Your golden hours are when you’re mentally fresh AND the world isn’t demanding your attention. For me, that happens to be 5am. For you, it might be 10pm when everyone else is asleep, or 2pm during your lunch break.
Find your golden hours. Then guard them like your career depends on it – because it does.
Use Time Blocks, Not Micro-Management
I put big blocks of time into my Google calendar – things like “Work on commission, 4 hours” or “Personal sketching, 2 hours.” I’m not scheduling every minute because that would drive me crazy.
Think of your calendar as a suggestion system, not a prison. When I see “Commission work: 9am-1pm” on my calendar, it’s like my brain saying “if I spent 4 hours on commission today, I’d have 2 hours left for personal projects and 2 hours for the gym etc…” Seeing your day laid out like this creates natural motivation because you realize how little time you actually have.
Start simple: Block out your creative work time and one other important task each day. Don’t be afraid to move things around as the day progresses – life happens. If calendars feel overwhelming, try this instead: Before bed, think about what you accomplished today and what needs to happen tomorrow. When you wake up with that mental checklist, it’s surprisingly motivating.
The goal isn’t perfect scheduling. It’s awareness of how you spend your time and intentional choices about your priorities.
Engineer Flow (But Pick the Right Projects First)
Flow state is when all your attention locks onto the canvas and nothing else exists. Getting there takes different amounts of time for different people – sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes an hour. For me, it’s usually around 30 minutes.
But here’s what’s more important than timing: choosing projects that can actually create flow. If the project is too easy, you’ll get bored. Too complex, and you’ll get overwhelmed. Flow happens in that sweet spot where the challenge matches your skill level.
Once you’ve picked the right project, environment matters. I put on my headphones and play my favorite album to signal “work time” to my brain. The music isolates me from everything else. Hours pass without me noticing. Phone notifications stay off – your brain can’t chat and create at the same time.
Find your flow triggers. Maybe it’s a specific playlist, a clean desk, or a particular lighting setup. The key is consistency – same signals, same response from your brain.
Set Your Own Flexible Deadlines
External pressure can work, but self-imposed deadlines feel better and last longer. Instead of rigid “must be done by Friday,” try “I’d like to finish and post this art by the weekend.”
Here’s something interesting I’ve noticed: When I’m working on a big commission, I suddenly get compelled to draw silly personal sketches and little projects. It’s like I’m avoiding drawing by drawing. Resistance is weird like that. After finishing the big project, the urge to escape into those little sketches disappears too.
The solution isn’t forcing yourself through resistance – it’s acknowledging it and working with it. Set deadlines that push you forward without creating panic. Give yourself permission to take breaks when you need them. Sometimes lack of motivation is your brain telling you to recharge, not push harder.
When Systems Fail (And They Will)
Let’s be honest about something: I haven’t figured out how to avoid burnout completely. Every time I’m about to finish a commission, I think “After this one, I’m taking a huge break.” And usually, that’s exactly what happens.
Maybe that’s not a bug, but a feature. Cycles of intense work and rest might be more natural than constant grinding. When my creative systems fail, I focus on other parts of life: playing guitar, finding new friends, school. The creative work is still there when I come back, often with fresh perspective.
However, keep in mind that it’s still good to keep a daily habit of drawing even for half an hour a day, this way when you get started on your next commission, you don’t feel like you’ve lost all your skills.
These systems work in moderation. They’re suggestions, not commandments. If you have ADHD, depression, or other conditions that affect motivation differently, approach these ideas as experiments, not universal truths. Take what works, leave what doesn’t.
Start With One
Every professional making real money has some version of these systems. Not necessarily my exact approach, but something that works when motivation doesn’t.
Pick one system from above. Try it for one week as an experiment. If it helps, keep it. If it doesn’t, try a different approach. Building sustainable work habits takes months of experimentation, but the alternative (abandoned projects and disappointed clients) costs much more.
Your reputation depends on finishing what you start, but not at the expense of your mental health. Find systems that support both your creativity and your well-being. The best system is the one you can actually stick with.
