Your creative work is what gives you passion and is intrinsically life-giving.
That’s an awesome But, that just means that resistance, is constantly trying to stop you from getting it done.
Right when you sit down to write, the children need your help, the laundry desperately needs to get done or your friend calls and needs to talk. Or if real life obligations don’t try to stop your progress, your fears, insecurities and worry will.
Creating space for writing asks you to strategize and rethink your approach to your work, so you can actively grow this important part of your skills as a writer.
Find Time to Create
Artists need to find time to create the work they were meant to do.
Writers, want to write. To push past resistance and to come to the place where you realize that the act of creating something has value all by itself.
That’s why you need to find the time to listen to what your soul is telling us and do the creative work you were meant to do.
Here’s 4 keys to help you create space you need to write:
1.Value the creative work you do. We long to create the art that stirs our soul, but sometimes we don’t make the time we need to do the things we value most. However, if you admit to yourself that writing is huge part of who you are, and resolve to put first things first, then you’ll have a new urgency to find time to write. And when you are madly chasing after work you love, you won’t need to be talked into finding the time to do it. Because you’ll be much too busy searching for every chance you can to spend time doing what you love.
2.Practice mindfulness in your creative work. This is simply learning how to focus long enough in your creative work, so that you are absorbed in it. You might have to start with short 10 – 15 minute blocks of time and build up from there, but that’s okay. Blocking out time and getting rid of distractions is critical in order to build up endurance.
Normally, I write for 25 minutes at a time, take a 10 minute break – get up to stretch and grab a tea, and then focus again for 25 minutes. If during my break I check email, Facebook or any other social media platform, I get lost. I work best when I can just focus all my attention on the book I’m writing or class, or whatever the task is at hand. It’s being mindful of what you’re doing and not worrying about all the other things that are going on in your life while you’re writing(which frankly, isn’t easy to do).
For instance, right now I’m trying not to think of the videos I still need to make for the online class this week, or that I’m behind in my goal to have the book completely edited in a week. I’m doing my best to write about how to help you, stay in the process while you’re writing. Of course, we all have real life outside of writing, so it’s important to be mindful to stay productive of the few hours we can invest in pure creative work.
3.Take time away from thinking about creative work to pay attention to other tasks. As a writer I’ve noticed that my mind wanders back and forth between the newest plot point of my story, or how I need to fix my blogpost. But, I’m trying harder to stay present and focussed on the task at hand even when I’m cleaning or doing laundry.
If you give your brain a chance to have a break away from your creative work, you’ll probably finish your task quicker and an added benefit is that your creative mind will get a break too. If you’re focussed on what groceries you need to buy for your evening meal, then gather your thoughts around that, and trust that your subconscious mind will work out the struggle you’re working through in crafting your story. Of course, being a creative means that sometimes we can’t help it – we’ll get ideas while we’re washing dishes, vacuuming or having a shower – which is great. It’s only if your feeling stressed or overwhelmed, that it really helps to pull back and give your brain a rest.
4.Fill up Your Creative Tank. Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way
The key is to find ways to fill up your creative well.
Refill your creative well. Read books, watch movies or free write… just for fun. [Tweet this]
I’ve discovered that when I choose deliberately to do stuff that inspires me, I have renewed energy to work on the next creative project.
These are ideas that I hope help you to refill and create space in your life for writing. When you are mindful to do something everyday that inspires you and fills your creative soul, you’ll find that you will be more productive, write more words and have more ideas. It’s a win – win.
Since I’ve started doing a little something everyday that inspires the child artist within, I’ve found that I’m less tired and feel like I’m energized to write the next time I sit down. Try it, you might be surprised 🙂
What do you do to fill your creative well? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.
