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Monday, March 22, 2010

Stuck: Where did all my creativity go?

Recently, I had a short period of time where creativity was just pouring out of me.  Any time I sat down to write,  the words flowed easily and effortlessly (and for me, that's a HUGE deal).  Floral designs came naturally--everything matched the vision I had in my head.  I could stay up for hours reading blogs, watching educational videos, and just learning new stuff in general.  What a great feeling!

Then it stopped.  And my question is: Where did all my creativity go?  

Today I realized something.  My creativity isn't gone; I just lost a bit of focus.  I'm an introvert.  I prefer being behind the scenes.  I love being the boss and I love being the creative designer that I can be (am).  But recently I've had to be 'out front' quite a bit.  OK, in reality, I WANTED to be out there, because I really do want to be successful, I really do want my business to grow, and I really don't mind (most of the time) doing the stuff it takes to make this happen. 

So instead of taking deliberate time to recharge, I unconsciously took time off.  I let blogs pile up to be read (427 unread posts on Saturday); didn't update Twitter; minimally updated Facebook; totally quit thinking about SEO stuff, AdWords, marketing, networking, or anything in the social media world; and took 4 naps this past weekend.   Not good.  Well, the naps were nice--especially on snowy Sunday.

And today (I really do like Mondays!) I went to work and knocked out 3 estimates in less time than it usually takes me to do one, answered emails, paid bills and organized my week all before 2pm.  (One of the joys of being self employed is that when you finish at 2pm, you can leave work.  I went shopping for a new consultation table.  Technically, this still counts as work but I wasn't at a desk any more.) 

So here's the new goal or the call to action or whatever it needs to be called to get me doing it: Be conscious of when I need to recharge.  Not only be conscious, but do something positive about it.  No more mini-burnouts.  I love my job, my clients, and all the things I get to do working with my clients in my job!  

Now on to updating photos. . .  :D  Oh, and if anyone wants to comment about all this, I'm listening.  

2 comments:

  1. I find my creativity is lower when I am not so happy. Hope you get it back soon. I would just skip all the blog posts. We will all write another different one and soon.

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  2. You're so right-emotional and physical well-being are absolutely connected! I've also noticed that the level of tidiness around me makes a difference. It's really hard for me to be creative in a messy environment.

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