Hey everyone! Hope you’re doing well this week.
Just a reminder! I’ll be at Auckland Zinefest on Saturday August 1, 2026 at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. (New artists will be there on Sunday.)
I’ve been working really hard on a few new books. If you’re unable to make it but still want to pick up one of my zines, they’ll be available online shortly after.
People often ask me how I have time for all the say yes to. And lately it’s been all coming down to how I think of tasks now.
Get this: Loops.
You start something, you finish something. It’s a complete circle.
Sometimes you’re doing everything you can on a project but there’s a reason that the circle can’t complete. Maybe it’s an event you’ve been preparing for, or some freelance that needs feedback. These things take up a lot of space in your mind and can be easily overwhelming.
So when you’re able to close those loops, it frees up so much in your mind.
Take for example my Zinefest Loops. I can finish all my zines, pack my bags, be ready to go, but the loop doesn’t actually close until Zinefest is over. This is a date based loop. You might be tempted to start a new loop because you want to have more at your table. If you can work quickly or have the time, that’s fine! But be sure you can actually finish it or you’ll have an open loop after the event has happened, leaving you feeling like you didn’t do enough.
Or maybe you’re in the middle of a few different freelance projects. You’ve finished everything you can do on one project but you’re waiting on notes from the client. You think you got it all right and you’re just waiting for sign off. You go about your day, making lunch, maybe working on one of your other projects, but no matter what, you have that loop open in your head.
It can also be as simple as taking out the trash. Sure, you took the bag to the bin and went back inside, but that loop isn’t closed until you put a new bag in the bin. If you neglect to put a new bag in the bin, the chore isn’t technically finished. It’s just another open loop now.
I use this method to have a lot of projects open at once. Some projects, loops, will be smaller than others. It can be done quickly or it’s personal and I decide when it’s done. As someone who needs a bit of stress to work (not healthy), I find it helpful to have multiple loops open at a time. Maybe even too many.
Sometimes loops are big, and take a long time. Sometimes loops are small and can take just minutes. Closing the loop, any loop, can be a load off the mind and give you a quick win to fuel the next big effort.
But the more loops you have open in your head, the more chaotic and messy it becomes, making it harder and harder to decide what to do next.
In my experience, loops add up when I’m deep in a long term project and I let smaller term projects pile up. So sometimes I need to take a step back from the larger projects to clear up some of the smaller ones. This might mean powering thru drawing something I should have drawn a week ago. Or calling the doctor to refill my prescription. Or even simply vacuuming the office so it feels cleaner.
The more you close these loops, the clearer your mind will be.
Am I making any sense? For me, it’s been a weirdly more satisfying way of thinking about my tasks. A more tactile way of thinking about all the things I said yes to. A lot of people like to do the “spoons” thing. That doesn’t work for me cuz spoons doesn’t make any sense (to me).
I hope you got something out of this.
I feel like I’m talking in circles. canned laughter
Reminder that I’ll be at Auckland Zinefest this Saturday, August 1, 2026.
And you can still pre-order Fast Break!
Del Hahn
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