I found a system for tracking my growth in my drawing abilities. It’s more of a process than a specific tool. I decided to try it on, and see what worked. Surprisingly, it all has.

I tend to bounce between “productivity systems” and abandon them once one thing fails. Something will always fail, as every system has flaws, especially on a personal level. GTD - way too much overhead for me, for example.

I don’t like how I bounce around and tinker. I’m shaving yaks, I think. But this Mindframing one has the element of mindfulness which all the others I’ve tried didn’t, so its sticking.

Here’s the source - Ness Labs.

The steps to Mindframing

  1. Pact - A commitment to yourself (and/or others).
  2. Act - The small steps (actions) you take to learn more so you can achieve your Pact.
  3. React - Reframe what you’re learning into your own words and produce something (like this blog post!)
  4. Impact - The larger project you’re building to.

“Once you feel familiar enough—which means that you can grasp the concepts and can articulate them, but still feel very uncomfortable using them—you should start creating something bigger”.

I really like the spirit of this Impact - familiar enough & uncomfortable. Lot’s of learning in that overlap of the venn diagram there, so to speak.

My Mindframing effort

  • My PACT is to publish one drawing a week
  • My ACT is to study from Visual Thinking and Sketchnoting Boot Camp and also research pen width management in the Procreate app, and composition principles.
  • How I will React - Posts like this one, and in my newsletter.
  • Impact - This isn’t fully formed yet, but I’m thinking of illustrating some of the anxiety reducing practices I’ve been learning and using. More to come on that.