best friends are all well and good...

Boba Fett and Dog the Bounty Hunter are best friends by Mike Joos

...but the problem with them is that they always know exactly what you need. Maybe it's a hug or a cupcake or to be told you are awesome, and that is all good, but if what you really need is to be told to darn well tidy your studio, get focused and stop "trying" to be an artist and just get on with it, it's not so great. I half-heartedly tidy my studio every now and then, but it is only when being told I have to do something that I really set about doing it with any conviction.

After a splendid breakfast at a wonderful greasy spoon in Walthamstow with my BFF this morning, I was told that at 5pm this evening I would be receiving a home visit (possibly including cupcakes) and that my studio had better be tidy by then, or else. This was exactly what I needed: a deadline.

If Kaz had simply said, "I really think you should tidy your studio so that you have a nice environment in which to work" I would probably have come home and done a bit of tidying, but really not put my heart into it.

The addition of a deadline, however, and I became a crazed tidying machine! For the next three hours I listened to a charming selection of 90's boyband hits (Let Loose, anyone?) and completely blitzed my studio, like it has never been blitzed before. Yoyo must have thought I had gone mad, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the neighbours had complained about my less-than-tuneful melodies - but the enthusiasm and dedication for tidying and the volume of my "singing" simply drowned them out, leaving me in a state of naive oblivion.

Best Friends by Amaranta Martínez

In no time at all, 3 o'clock had rolled round and Kaz was on her way to the flat earlier than we had agreed - we even shook on it, the cheeky monkey. She was met with a Studio of Perfection. The odd work-in-progress lay on my working desk, and there may have been a couple of small boxes of miscellaneous items, but considering she was 2 hours early I think I had done a pretty remarkable job.

We sprawled out on the newly tidied, newly cleaned and newly swept floor and took in the view. Perhaps that's a little exaggeration as my studio isn't all that big, but I can safely say she was shocked with how much I had achieved, and I was glowing from the effort and pride of getting so much done in such a small amount of time.

I have been battling with myself for such a long time about my irrational lack of focus and I really think I have made a breakthrough today. What this girl needs isn't an endless list of tasks (though she does love a good list) nor a robot timer (though that has helped), what she needs is a personal-trainer-style talking-to every now and then, and someone to tell her what she needs to get done with a strict deadline.

I realise this is pretty unrealistic and impractical, but the thought that my best friend would come over to my house, bring me cupcakes and then be disappointed in how little I had achieved completely filled me with shame, and I was willing to do anything for that not to happen. I guess it's like doing well at school, you fill with pride at having done a good job, and I suppose having had those experiences at school, I kinda still occasionally crave them now. I know that's ridiculous at my age, but it's probably just human nature to an extent - people like being told they have done a good job, and I'm no different.

The big problem here is that I need to find a way of working which doesn't involve other people giving me constant deadlines and then checking up on me: though this would be brilliant for me, it might inconvenience them just slightly... but just imagine it - with Kaz as my mini-manager, I'd be unstoppable!

Super High Five by Roselina Hung at Rosy Designs