Procrastination seems to be a natural part of the creative process. There are so many places to get stuck in the creative process including the very beginning.
Yes, in the idea phase. It does beg the question…
Can creative people have too many ideas?
In my experience procrastination is at its height in the very early stages of the creative process. Stephen Pressfield so ably explains this as resistance.
We have fears and doubts that stop us in our tracks. Obviously one of the first questions that comes to mind is are we good enough?
We question our skills and abilities. But I think one of the things that derails us is actually a particular strength of creative people.
We are the idea generators. We live in a world of infinite imaginative possibilities.
So often you hear writers and artists say that they are waiting for inspiration, that they have no ideas.
Actually, I don't think that's the essence of the problem. I think we have too many ideas.
As a creative soul, you know exactly what I am talking about.
In the corners of your mind are all sorts of potential projects. Ideas of novels and stories, of paintings and personal projects, songs to write and new business ideas.
It is a such a precious stage of the creative process. These fragile idea seeds are perfect potential - each of them could be wondrous.
Better then, to leave them in their embryonic form?
Safe unrealised potential, rather than a failed project.
And so comes the inertia that plagues the frustrated creative. So many ideas and yet not so much time actually making stuff. Intention is there, ideas are there but somehow… we are stuck.
To begin creating is to actually choose one idea over the others. To declare one idea worthy of our time and to have the faith to trust it will turn out as well as your creative heart sees it in your imagination.
So what’s a creative to do?
Here are three tips to get you unstuck in the creative process.
Tip 1 Just choose… something, anything!
The first step to becoming unstuck is to decide. The origin of the word decide is to cut off. To eliminate other options. Impossible I hear you say…. How ever will I choose?
When we kill off these other ideas, remember it is not as final as it sounds. Today those other projects are being given a no.
But it’s not a never, it’s just a not now.
Keep a Not Now List. Then those precious ideas are safe in their cocoons until their time comes.
You probably won't believe me, but it doesn't really matter which one you choose. Each of those ideas is going to niggle at you until you actually put them in motion. It is the only way you will ever see how they are going to turn out.
Statistically of course, some will be better than others. I think of them like berries and seeds. Nature knows that not every seed will turn into a mighty tree so seeds are produced in abundance to increase the chances of one succeeding. (Just like ideas.)
The only way we ever know which one will grow into the biggest and best tree is to plant it and let it grow.Until you bravely choose one, all of those ideas are held hostage in that place of possibility.
When we hit a stumbling block on our chosen project, it is easy to return to that list and consider revisiting your decision.
The best advice I have ever heard on this topic was this.
Your best project is the one you are currently working on. It has value since it is already in motion, your investment has begun. Don’t you owe it to yourself to see it through at least until you have got what you needed out of it?
Tip 2 Remember the other gifts of the creative process
As precious as the idea stage is, it is only a small part of the creative process. While it is understandable to feel reluctance or resistance to beginning the work, staying stuck in this phase deprives the creative heart of the remaining gifts of the creative process.
Creative people like to make things. We are happy when we are in flow in the midst of the actual creating. It's the joy of the process. The wonder of colour and tactile delights of playing with art supplies, or the rewarding cadence of the words that come flying out of the writers typing fingers - this is what we are seeking.
When we want so badly for our glorious ideas to be as amazing as they can be, we become so focused on the outcome. But really it's not about that. It's about the process.
Being present in the act of creating.
Meeting the need for self expression.
Feeling the satisfaction of completing a project.
Not producing a perfect product, but simply finishing something you started.
Tip 3 Keep it small and manageable
Having chosen something to work on, the next step to getting unstuck is to keep it small. Either by breaking your big idea project down to just the next small step or by quite literally choosing a small project.
I had to take my own advice here as I found myself drowning in possible ideas of what to do next. Yes. There was a lot of Netflix bingeing involved.
Then I remembered that the important thing is to get in motion. A body in motion stays in motion.
And so I remembered my mini sketchbook. A tiny page in this book takes me less than 30 minutes, including all the inevitable preliminary fussing about finding supplies and so on. But in that 30 minutes I have the joy of creating and I remember that that is the whole point after all.
Whether I like what I produce in that time or not, there is the satisfaction of having a finished sketchbook page.
This is not to be underestimated. What it is doing is giving your creative soul a chance to build up trust in your ability to follow through on an idea.
It is self care in a way, as a creative heart seeks self expression and it is an act of kindness to yourself to facilitate that.
If all you can manage is a 5 minute doodle in the corner of your planner every day, do that.
And, by the way, my 30 minute fairy girls are based on my 10 minute girls. Those 10 minute girls are one of the best projects I have ever given myself.
The process has rewarded me in so many ways I put it all into this class in case it is something you are in need of, too.
Mix It Up!
The Mixed Media Guide to Finding Your Style
Give yourself a chance to remember the delight of making something.
Demonstrate to yourself that you can be trusted to keep showing up.
Forget about the relative worth of each of your possible ideas and projects.
Don’t concern yourself with quality of the finished product.
Just make something.
Are you on your own painting journey?
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