Cosplay can seem like such a balancing act. I have lost count of the amount of cosplays I want to do just this year. Sometimes it's hard to find a balance between cosplay and your life. It has become more of an increasing struggle for me especially with this pandemic and everything else going on in my life. I don't want to give up cosplay, I use it as stress-relief and as a creative outlet for when things get rough. It took some time, but I came up with some tips to help balance my life. Tip #1: Prioritize There is a lot that needs to be prioritized. First focus on what goals are more important to you. Whether it is school, work, cosplay, or some other hobby, make sure you know what is the most important to spend your time on. After you figure out how much time you want to dedicate to cosplay, it's important to prioritize your cosplans. There's always going to be stuff you want to get done before others, so it's important to put those plans first. Tip #2: Organize I am a bigger sucker for organization. I live by my app that let's me plan my day so I know what needs to get done in time. When you are planning out your day or week, make sure that you set aside some time to work on cosplay (even if it's just an hour). *Note DO NOT SACRIFICE EATING AND SLEEPING TIME FOR COSPLAY! Your health should be your first priority, so if you have to sacrifice food or sleep for cosplay, just take a break for that day! If you find it's hard to know what to work on, I would suggest coming up with a monthly to do list. On my computer I have a cosplay excel workbook, where one of the pages is what I call my monthly time line. On one side of the page I write down all the cosplays I want to do for the month, then underneath each cosplay, I write out each component I need to buy or make. Depending on what is going on in my life that week, I divide out the tasks on a weekly basis so I know what I need to do in advance. If I am prepping for a con, I might start planning three months out to make sure I give myself plenty of time to finish to avoid con crunching. Tip #3: Don't stress yourself If cosplay is becoming too much, evaluate if you're spending too much time elsewhere. I find that I spend too much time on my phone, so this is where I try to cut down from. It's important not to sacrifice things important to you, but if you find that there is something you can cut back on (or do why you work) do that. Another important factor is don't over commit. This is my biggest struggle because my friends have such great group ideas and I want to do them all. By over committing, your hobby will take over and throw your balance off. Make sure you only take on what you can handle, even if it means saying no to a few projects. Sometimes cosplay can be an overwhelming hobby that takes up a lot of your free time. What tips do you have to keep everything balanced? Originally posted on Nerd Fest's blog
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Last week, I posted a blog post about how I organized my cosplans. I had a request to have a template of the spreadsheet I use uploaded so others could use it. Below you'll find a downloadable file so you alter what parts are useful to you. Today's post will discuss the other tabs in the sheet that weren't covered earlier. If you happened to miss that post, you can find it here.
References This page is pretty basic. Sometimes I find tutorials that will help me with a future project that I don't want to lose. I'll write down what the tutorial is for and write a link. I personally don't include pictures in here since I find it easier to organize reference photos in folders on my computer (perhaps a future post if peeps are interested?). I'll group my tutorials together by cosplay since I *try* to finish one cosplay at a time. Shoot Ideas Sometimes I come up with great locations for shoots, and I'm so forgetful that I need to write them down. I'll write down the character's name and location that I want to shoot at. If I have a certain photographer in mind, or I have discussed the shoot with someone, I'll put down their name too, since I am super forgetful, but I don't want to burn bridges with my photographers. Once I actually have a shoot booked, I'll put it on the table on the right so I know not to double book a shoot and to keep my days straight. I only write the character name in the table since I can easily find the rest of the information in the columns to the left of the table. It might make it easier on yourself if you organize the left side by alphabetical order for the characters. Con List I use the con list section to organize the conventions I'm going to. I will put an "X" in the booked column when I officially buy my ticket. Sometimes I forget if I have a ticket (especially with events being canceled), so this helps me make sure that I actually buy the ticket. Tickets are cheaper the earlier you buy them, so I try to buy them a year in advance if I can. If you can't buy them right away, that's okay. Just avoid buying them at the con if you can. You'll save a lot of money. I also like to keep track of other con information such as dates, hotel price, and the con website. To make it easier for me to navigate, I try to organize the cons by the date they happen so I can make sure that I am booking hotels and buying tickets in the order that they happen. I like to include badge and hotel costs so I can figure out a budget. If you plan on going to out of state cons, I would also include a column for travel. Lastly, the website is good to have so you can access information about policies and other important information. Line Up The last tab is my line up tab. I like to plan my cosplays in advance so I can figure out what I need to work on to avoid con crunch. This also helps me figure out what groups I am in and what days we are doing them. Every two columns is a new year. Sometimes I plan things a year in advance, so I like to make sure I can organize multiple years at a time. In the left column of each year I write the day or event (rave, contest, etc.) for the con. In the right column, I make sure to write the con name (in order that they happen) and then the costumes that I plan on wearing. I hope this helps keep you organized next con season! Did you make any adjustments or add any new tabs? Let me know in the comments below! |
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Gamora: Get Geekish Blake: Yuki Cat Captures Nui: Ham Sandwich What's this?These post are different cosplay advice topics that I think people would find useful. Categories vary, so they can help beginners as well as veterans. Archives
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