Hello, creative friends!
It's been a long time since this journal saw the light of day. With the new year comes new goals and one of my goals this year is to deliver this to you monthly and fill it with things that you can use in your creative life. Each month, I have chosen a theme of focus and what better theme to start with than overwhelm?
The plans, the planners, the lists, the goals, and all the things a new year brings can be overwhelming. We start the year with much excitement and enthusiasm but it can peter out before we hit month's end.
Managing our overwhelm can be a difficult task in today's hectic world. With endless to-do lists, high expectations, and constant pressure to reach our goals it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. But with the proper skills and strategies, we can take control of our lives and find balance amidst all of the chaos.
Here are a few tips for managing creative overwhelm:
1 | MAKE A PLAN
Having a plan with a clear vision can give you something to anchor to. People who describe or picture their goals are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish their goals.
Nothing needs to be set in stone. Give yourself permission to tweak the plan when you need it.
Review the plan every day - this way you can celebrate your progress or observe your blocks and take action to keep things moving along.
2 | MANAGE YOUR TIME
Time blocking is a great time management tool that lets you divide your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task, or group of tasks, and only those specific tasks. It's like quarantine for your most precious projects.
Schedule and prioritise 3 tasks daily. Park others for another day.
Realistically plan your day and don't overburden yourself. It can lead to feelings of overwhelm and a sense of failure when you don't get all the things done.
3 | MENTALLY DECLUTTER
Clean up whatever you can that mentally drains you. For example, you could unsubscribe from the now redundant marketing campaigns that you opted into last year.
Find a quiet pocket of time in the day to sit in silence. Short periods of silence have been shown to lower blood pressure and blood circulation in the brain. It can also enhance creativity - so give your brain a little mini spa and immerse it in a two-minute silent retreat. Couple that with some mindful deep breathing and it becomes the perfect little recharge. And it's free.
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Keep creating!
With love and light,
Lynn !