3 Ways to keep your sketchnoting practice alive

A supporting Lab Member asked how to sustain a sketchnoting practice. Here's my reply.

Jul 18, 2026

A Lab Partner, Mudita Kundra, reached out with this great question:

”I’d love to hear any sketchnoting sustainability tips for someone starting (or struggling) to keep a practice.”

Here's what I said:

1. Overlap sketchnoting with something you already love.

Are you a gardener? Visualize your planting setup. Sports fan? Capture your favorite team's games as a sketchnote. When you can tie sketchnotes to the things you already love and spend time on, it's a win.

My NFL Football sketchnote from a lousy Packers loss to the Vikings, where I decided to have some fun with metaphors.

2. Keep it small.

Instead of feeling like you have to fill a page or a giant sketchbook spread, sneak a sketchnote into a little corner of your regular notes, or carry a pocket notebook and pen. I love carrying a little notebook so I can spend time sketchnoting what I’m seeing, thinking, or feeling instead of doomscrolling.

An observational sketchnote in my pocket sketchbook at a local McDonald's

3. It’s OK to be a little messy.

You may feel the pressure to make your sketchnotes beautiful, but messy ones do the job just as well. News flash: You don’t have to share your work with anyone. All a messy sketchnote needs to do is move you one step closer to finishing a project or understanding an idea more clearly. Messy gets the job done too!

A very loose, messy sketchnote I created from a live session with Andris Lagsdin of Baking Steel, demonstrating his 72-hour dough mixing process.

Did you notice that none of this is about better drawing? It’s about tying sketchnoting to what you already love, keeping it small, and letting it be messy.

Now go experiment!

Thanks, Mudita, for the question!

— Mike Rohde, Chief Scientist, Sketchnote Lab

Sketchnote Lab is Mike Rohde’s space designed to bridge the gap between sketchnote theory and practice. You don’t need to be an artist to think visually. Join Mike and learn to use sketchnotes to clarify your thinking, solve problems, and move forward. Learn more about Sketchnote Lab.

Mike is the author of The Sketchnote Handbook and The Sketchnote Workbook, bestselling books that teach regular people how to start sketchnoting and build a regular sketchnoting practice.

He founded the Sketchnote Army and hosts the Sketchnote Podcast, where he interviews visual thinkers to understand what makes them tick.

Mike teaches recorded, live, and in-person workshops to help accelerate your sketchnoting practice and provides personalized coaching for your specific visual thinking challenges.

He is the illustrator of bestselling books like REWORK, REMOTE, The $100 Startup, Honest SEO, The Culture Playbook, and The Future Begins with Z.

Become a Supporting or Founding Lab Partner to support Mike’s work.