You have 3 written twice! :o

Mmm. I feel like I've been walking along a similar path for the past couple of months. That said, I'll do my best to answer with my experiences thus far.

1. It was random, initially, as I was working only when inspiration struck - but I eventually discovered that I'm much more productive in the afternoon period to late at night (which takes a toll on my sleep cycle. @-@) So I adjusted my schedule to fit that. I work a couple hours at a time and try really hard to remind myself to take breaks (never forget to take a break).

2. Sometimes I'll trudge through it if I'm not feeling it, but I'll try and rectify that issue beforehand by turning on music that'll get me into said zone, having a talk with my partner/friends, or look at inspirational photos/art (sometimes whilst crying :P).

3. Personal projects and studies/practice. Yes, it does cut back on funds to spend on, but I almost always make time for more personal endeavors. I've been on a roll lately, and I definitely don't want to burn out again.

4. It kind of depends on the commissions and the amount thereof. I spend anywhere from 3-4 hours a day to 12-15 hours at a time, 5 out of 7 days.

5. I started small and worked my way up. Currently feeling like I can definitely manage 4 commissions with a turnaround within 2 weeks, so I might increase that by 3 next time. :3 If slots don't fill up, I close them and do more research on where I may have gone wrong (all while continuing to practice).

6. N/a. (Haven't tried. :O)

7. N/a.

8. Mmm. I think it'd be cool - but this is up to you. :O I understand the sentiment, I think.

9. I think that's about all I can share with you off the top of my head.

Hope I was able to help!

1) How do you structure your day/week or weekend to work on commissions?

I get up around 10 or so, give or take an hour. I have breakfast, do a few quick chores or something, etc etc. I start setting up to stream around 12:30, and try to be online at 1. I stream til 6 minimum, but sometimes I go til 8, 9, or 10 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In the stream I work on whatever I can. Commissions, trades, personal work, whatever, it gets done on stream (unless it can't, for whatever reason). Sometimes I work a little after I'm done streaming, but not often. I work Mon - Fri, and weekends are free. I sometimes work or do casual streams on weekends, but there's no pressure to get anything done or put a certain amount of effort in. tldr it's okay if I get distracted on social media or decide I don't wanna do it anymore lol

2) Do you make yourself work even when you aren't in the "zone?"

I try to. I used to not, but I found myself getting anxious about not getting work done. So now I try to at least do SOMETHING, even if it's just little sketchy doodles. Also worth noting, you can include things like managing finances, sending emails/invoices, making graphics/promo material, etc as "work". So if you can still work if you're not actually making art.

3) When you don't have commissions, what type of projects do you focus on (personal projects, live stream on demands, anatomy/etc. practice, speed-paints), OR do you take a break?

Sometimes I give myself a day or two of a break, or a bit longer immediately after a convention. Otherwise I do personal projects and stream commissions (though I do those even when I have regular commissions, since they don't take me very long).

4) How many hours a day do you work? How many days a week do you work?

Already answered in the first question, but 1 - 6 min Mon - Fri

5) How do you determine how many "slots" to open? What do you do if they are not filled? (Do you close commissions anyway?)

I have 5 slots open at any given time, plus a few unofficial long-term ones. If I have more than that, looking at the list starts to stress me out. I don't take into account the size of the commissions, but a lot of artists do. If I have more than 5 inquiries, #6 and onward get added to the waitlist and I message them when I have a spot available to see if they're still interested. If the slots are not filled (they're usually not), I just keep promoing as often as possible, or do stuff like YCHs or adoptables. I never close commissions unless I need to prepare for or recuperate after a convention.

6) Have you been successful with "your character here" (YCH) commissions? What character types do you find work best (canine, feline, anthro, monster)?

Kind of? I haven't really done enough to say. I've sold one or two furry ones fairly easily, but got absolutely zero interest on the one featuring my monster boy. I've heard fanart ones do pretty well (i.e. your character interacting with a canon character from a popular series), but I've never tried it myself. Taylor the content to what your fans follow you for. If you're known for dragons, do dragons. If you're known for porn, do porn. So on and so forth.

7) Have you been successful with adoptables? Do you package your adoptables with lore or role-playing tools? What do your clients generally do with their adoptables?

Yes, I have great success with adoptables. I don't usually include any backstories or anything, but I do occasionally. I usually just sell the design itself and leave the character creation up to the buyer. Even when I do include backstories, I allow the buyer to change it. I don't usually hear from buyers after they get adopts from me, but I have a few who roleplay with them or commission art of them (from me and other artists lol)

8) Should Bladewind (the Aurum species) become an open species? Bladewind is near and dear so Aurum may NEVER be open, but I'm interested in what others think.

That is an entirely personal decision, and you shouldn't make it based on what other people want. They're your species and your world and their sole purpose is to make you happy. If you want other people to have them and do what they want with them, make them open. If you don't want other people to have them, keep them closed. If you want other people to have them but make sure they're done right, offer them as adoptables/auctions but don't allow people to make their own.

9) Additional tips?

Post everything, post everywhere, post often. Sell at conventions as often as possible. Check out the One Fantastic Week podcast on Youtube or iTunes. Make a plan and stick to it, but don't overwork yourself or you'll burn out. BREAKS ARE IMPORTANT.

1) How do you structure your day/week or weekend to work on commissions?
Usually at almost any time I'm not working at my "day job" (which is part time anyway), I'm at my computer doing art. If I have commissions, that's the art I'll be doing. It's easy for me to structure because I don't do much, though. If there's no urgent art like commissions or comic updates or whatever, I might take breaks on evenings/weekends to goof around doing other stuff - but I don't really take breaks if there's a deadline or paid work to do.

2) Do you make yourself work even when you aren't in the "zone?"
ALWAYSSSS. Especially for commissions. I've pretty much gotten to the point where I don't need to be in any kind of zone to work on artwork, and that's really great for me, because I usually can't get into a zone even if I try! The zone, when it happens, is a just a nice bonus. But I just plow right in and work on stuff. I mean, I know not everyone can do this though, it just so happens that art tends to be one of my favorite things to do! It makes me feel very accomplished, and for me that sense of accomplishment is always a good enough motivator.

3) When you don't have commissions, what type of projects do you focus on (personal projects, live stream on demands, anatomy/etc. practice, speed-paints), OR do you take a break?
When I don't have commissions, I have like a million personal projects I can choose from. They range from easy little art series to long-range story projects, so some get done faster than others haha!

3) How many hours a day do you work? How many days a week do you work?
As far as paid work is concerned, it depends on how many commissions I get (currently, that's not very many, because I've been forgetting to keep posting art online and I've accidentally sunken into the shadows!) As far as any artwork is concerned, it's variable, but like I said, I'm doing it almost any time I'm not at work.

4) How do you determine how many "slots" to open? What do you do if they are not filled? (Do you close commissions anyway?)
I don't really work from slots, but I would consider using slots if I started getting more inquiries than I thought I could handle at a time. I don't close commissions at this time.

5) Have you been successful with "your character here" (YCH) commissions? What character types do you find work best (canine, feline, anthro, monster)?
Never tried it! Usually when I've seen YCH bases, they're a generic furry or humanoid base, that can be modified into almost any species through the addition of different ears/tails/etc. I can't say for sure what's most popular, purchase-wise, but I know offer-wise it seems like I see mostly humanoids/furries.

6) Have you been successful with adoptables? Do you package your adoptables with lore or role-playing tools? What do your clients generally do with their adoptables?
I've made adoptables, but I haven't even posted them up haha! The ones I made are basically only recolors though, not even very fancy. I'm not sure how unique they should be for people to want them. As for lore, usually from what I've seen there's just the design and possibly some personality/identity information.

7) Should Bladewind (the Aurum species) become an open species? Bladewind is near and dear so Aurum may NEVER be open, but I'm interested in what others think.
That's up to you! If you want to make it an open species, I'd recommend pushing out as much information about them as you can, so there's no ambiguity if people try to make their own.

8) Additional tips?
Uhhh I find that writing to-do lists can be really helpful? Not necessary cross-stuff-off to-do lists, but categories and numbered longer-term lists help too. Like, okay, I haven't done big comics for a while, but when I did a more ongoing comic I might have kept a small daily list of like "line background, flat background, shade background, line characters,..." etc. and then a longer-term list of "Chapter Four pages: 3/25" so I could keep track of what was coming up.

I hope this helps!