One year, I decided to experiment with timed painting sessions to see which ones worked best.

I was single, living alone, and painting all the time. To keep from losing my mind, I started inventing little experiments for myself.

One of them went like this. I wanted to work on eight different paintings, three times a day, morning, afternoon, and night, like an assembly line. I would set a timer, paint on one painting for a fixed amount of time, then move on to the next when the timer went off. Once I reached the eighth painting, I would take a break and start the whole lineup again. I wanted to find the best time limit to work on each painting.

I tested time limits ranging from five to twenty minutes. I logged notes on how each felt, it was very scientific. Eventually, I narrowed it down to three favorites: eight, eleven, and fifteen minutes.

Eight minutes was best when I did not want to paint but knew I should. Eleven minutes was perfect when I wanted something quick and stimulating. Fifteen minutes was for when I needed a little extra room to breathe.

Working on eight paintings, three times a day, twenty-four sessions total, meant the time limits could not be very long. Out of all of them, eleven minutes was my favorite. It was just enough time to get into flow and feel good, then bam, time’s up.

I still work in timed sessions today, though they have grown longer. Twenty minutes, thirty minutes, sometimes forty if I am feeling ambitious, although forty often feels like too much. I like to stop right before I get irritated, though sometimes I wonder if I should push through that irritation instead of running from it. Some paintings don’t need time limits, usually the more abstract ones, and I let myself work on them for as long as I want, as long as I have spent time on all my other projects.

I don’t juggle eight paintings anymore, more like five. I usually work on each one just once a day. Every now and then, I set the timer for eleven minutes, just for fun, to turn the work back into a game.

It changes everything.

I think, “I only have eleven minutes, what am I going to do?”

Only the most important things.

Of course, I always cheat and keep painting after the timer goes off. But back then, with eight paintings and a full schedule, there was no time to cheat.

The photo above was taken during that phase. My sister came to visit me, probably regretting it the moment she arrived. I am sure she had to endure endless talk about my scientific painting study. She is sitting in front of the exact lineup I used for the experiment.

I finished all eight paintings pictured above in eight days, using the eleven-minute method.