When we talk about our "Pyjama Time", most people would think we are talking about sleeping...or whatever ( for those of you that aren't a member of the club, PJ time is code for making time for drawing) Most of us have busy lives, jobs, kids, spouses, so how do you find the time? Any tips?

I gave up housework! Wasn't that hard to give up!

The first tip is to avoid dressing the PJ..... I've noticed that I saved a lot of time by showing up at the table without changing my clothes everytime

Considering that I show up at the table at least five times a day and everytime I change my clothes to wear PJ I save at least up to fifteen minutes a day

Obviously I was kidding

Love it!

The truth is that I have a wonderful wife who always lets me do everything I need and express myself... I can never thank her enough for her support

Yes, I am fortunate too! My husband even does laundry!

this is a hard one for me ,, i live in a mad house that could easily absorb all my time with out me getting a choice and could easily never draw again and know one but me would care rofl

but i have worked out now what i have to give up to draw ,, and thats listening i have to shut off as such and learnt to say yes and no when its needed without breaking concentration ,

Slaine, I don't even live in a madhouse.. and I still have had to learn to say yes and no without breaking concentration! I realize this can be a problem, sometimes I say yes... when I mean no... could become a problem!

Why don't you just say "mmmm"

That can be whatever you want... above all nobody can blame on you if you deny that while you were in your pj time you said yes or no

"HHmmmm" def means your not listening and would then get me a 15 min lecture on not being caring blah blah lol

yes or no gives you a 50% chance and for some reason when i get it wrong it makes them laff

Cindy's advice is the main thing: just show up at the table. I have an insane life, but I think my biggest enemy at times is avoidance. For whatever reason, I sometimes have trouble settling down. I think I'm still a bit nervous about everything, and that eats up more time than physical therapy and screaming at the kids put together!

What kills me is when my husband starts to talk about something we've apparently "agreed" on and I don't even have a clue what he's talking about! Then I think... BUSTED! When I'm tuned in and focused, I can hear him talking but... good thing he loves me!


Nuffy, yes... avoidance or procrastination is a killer! I think we all know it well! Easy to talk yourself out of even starting! Good advice... just show up, do the best you can, and the rest will take care of it self!

For me that's totally what it's about. I had more than two months break recently because I was involved in other studies. It was way too long away from the table and I really lost the momentum I'd built up from having a regular practice. Now, I'm back in my PJ's and once again showing up at my table. And it feels really different this time around. I'm in less of a hurry to work my way through the exercises and really just want to savour each part of this incredible journey and learn as much as I can. The other thing that's been really liberating for me is that I've stopped comparing my work to that of the more brilliant artists in the group. I do the best that I can and realise that is all I can ever do. And the more PJ time I put in the better my best will become.

More and more I'm also seeing that it's really just about having fun - and where's the pressure in that? The only comparing I do now is with my own work. I look back at some of my first drawings and think, Wow, you've come a long way, baby! LOL

And just knowing that there are people all over the world, showing up at their tables (at all different times of the day and night) in their brightly coloured PJ's really helps too!

Bingo! Metta, You said it perfectly! You have exactly the right mindset!

I was thinking to preapaire a bunch of pencils with the tips ready for Chisel point and Shading so that I don't have to prepaire always the same pencil... this way possibly helps to keep our pencils some more time before they shorten too much. What do you think about it? I don't know yet how many chisel points I'll need to do in a normal drawing but this is something that comes up in my mind whenever I show up at the table

I did exactly that, ZioRiP. I keep a second set of 2B and 4B pencils with chisel tips...it's definitely a good idea!

My tip for Pyjama Time is to carry a sketchbook and use it whenever possible. I don't always have time to sit down at my table at home, but it really is surprising how often I find a few minutes to sketch or doodle. By doing that, I keep improving my skills bit by bit, and I find that I'm more inclined to spend time at my table when I do have the time.

I'll try that! Sounds like a great idea!

I'm glad to see positive feedbacks I didn't do it yet

I always cook extra to freeze for those times when I lose myself in my PJ time for a few hours and then think 'whats for dinner'. I can be cooking frozen veg while the dinner heats up in the microwave.

Excellent, I use my crockpot some nights so that dinner is ready when I get home, so I can eat and then get to my drawing while my husband does the clean up!