Holy cow we’re busy.
Is it just me, or are you feeling it too? There’s only so many hours in a day, and with the constant demands of work, family, life…my to-do list is as long as my arm and no matter how many hours I put in, it never seems to get any shorter!
This has recently caused a big problem for me, because I was falling behind on my creative work. But what’s worse is, I started to consider my creative work a chore. I’d get through everything I had to do in a day, then I’d realize, “Darn it! I still have to write that blog post. Aw crap! I need to work on that book outline. Sigh. I supposed I really should practice my guitar.” I felt like my creative projects were just something to be fit in around everything else. My creative time fell to the bottom of my priority list, and even when I could fit it in, it wasn’t something I looked forward to. I had started to dread my own creativity!
That is so wrong.
Great Minds
I was trying to understand what was happening to me, so I started looking around at other people. Great, creative people. Famous ones like Richard Branson, and not so famous ones too, like some of my various online and offline friends. I thought about how busy those people are in a day. I mean, I only have one company to run – how many flippin’ companies does Branson have? Yet somehow he still seems to have all these amazingly creative ideas (c’mon – space travel for regular people? That’s pretty creative!). I watched some of my friends too….people who are also super busy, yet still were finding the time to write a new blog post every day, produce podcasts, or write songs. I started to think….there’s got to be a way to be super busy AND still be creative, right?
The 24 Hour Clock
I sat down the other day and really thought hard about how I was spending my time each day. Here’s how it was playing out. Get up in the morning, make coffee, log onto the computer, check email. Get immersed in email for the next 2 hours. Check social networks for 1/2 an hour. Tackle the task list, while flying back and forth between new email and social network message notifications for the next 5 hours. Realize about 3pm that I forgot to eat lunch, but rush out of the house because I’m late for school. Come home after 3 hours of class, and spend 2 more hours immersed in email and menial tasks.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Sure, I was accomplishing things in a day – I was getting through my email, always teetering close to inbox=0. I wore that like some kind of badge of honour.I was chipping away at my To-Do list, but I wasn’t ever seeming to finish anything in one go. Sadly, though, in my average 10-12 hour work day, not once was I considering my own creative projects. Weeks went by and I realized I hadn’t gone near my own blog. I’d pushed deadlines for my other creative writing work to the last minute, and hadn’t given my all in every case.
Get Out The Carving Knife
Upon reflecting on my typical day, I realized that I was not carving up my time effectively anymore. This was a strange sensation, because time management had always been one of my strong suits, especially back in my cubicle dwelling days. But the thing is, my life and work patterns have evolved significantly in the past couple of years. I’m now a full-on Workshifter, and instead of having one job to do for one employer, I have about 5 jobs at any given time (ah, the life of the unemployable!). The entire dynamic of what I do and how I do it has changed, and I had failed to account for that.
I needed to re-carve my days, to make room for my creative life again.
So I did it.
Now, my day consists of a significant chunk of distraction-free time (I’m talking like, upwards of 60%). This means I shut off email, social networks, notifications of any kind, text messages, and my phone, entirely. I focus on one thing, like writing this post. I do it till it’s done. And most importantly, I enjoy the process again, and I’m back to putting out consistent work that I’m proud of. My creative life has taken priority again, and that is not only good for my soul, it’s also spilling over into the work I do for others. Why? Because the energy that I manifest when I’m exercising my creative spirit becomes part of every bit of work and every interaction I have.
And re-carving my days has had an added positive side-effect. I am dealing with my email more efficiently now, and even though my inbox might sit slightly more full than usual, I am communicating better with the tool because I’m focused on the task when I’m doing it. And, I’m completing my work projects and tasks all at once much of the time – the power of distraction-free focus at work!
Creative spirit is infectious, and in our busy world it’s more important than ever that we be sure to nurture it. And if that means having to re-carve your busy life to bring your creativity back into focus, then do it. It’s vitally important. I’ve learned that lesson, and I hope by telling my story here it may help you too.
[Photo Credit Robert van der Steeg on Flickr]
Maybe you’ve experienced this little problem before. You’re working on an creative project and you’re distracted by something interesting.
Lean in, kiddos.
We often talk on this blog about how to be more creative. We share tips on how to get into that “zone”, where the ideas just flow and everything that comes out of your head is brilliant. That’s all great, but what happens when all these techniques start to pay off? What do you do when you end up with too many ideas?
Do you wrestle with your thoughts as though they have a will of their own? Do they tend to occupy your attention at times when you desperately need that attention for something else?
With too much information, too much to do, too much pressure to succeed and produce and “get things done” – and too little time in which to accomplish everything on our lists – the inevitable result is a kind of physical and mental panic that leads us, like Leacock’s Lord Ronald to ride