How often have you had no time for your art, writing or music because you simply had to do something else?

We all suffer from life’s daily pressures and the list is endless: I have to finish this report; I have to tidy the living room; I must visit my granny; I have to meet my friend again for a drink; I must clean my bike/car/shoes… and on, and on…

Now just hold on there, I hear you saying – these things do have to get done, otherwise our friends and family will hate us and life will generally grind to a halt in a mountain of dirt and confusion. And I’ll probably get fired too.

You know what? I agree. There are lots of tasks, chores and more enjoyable activities that have to be done. And there are also lots that we tell ourselves must be done that are actually a matter of choice. I’ll come back to that last point in a subsequent posting, but see also Time Theft 1 – the Anatomy of a Crime Against Our Creative Self. Let’s concentrate now on the jobs we perceive have to be done.

If all these jobs that have to be done are stopping you from ever finding your cherished creative time, or are constantly eating away at your creative time so that you rarely find satisfaction from it, then it’s my guess that you are suffering from a nasty dose of false priorities.

Because let’s face it, if you are effectively putting everything before your creativity, you must be giving it all a higher priority. Now how crazy is that?

Now I’m not suggesting that you stop doing all these different things – though some of them you probably could stop – I’m saying that priority-wise many of these activities have got way above themselves in your list of unconscious, assumed priorities. They clamour for urgent attention when urgency isn’t required. They insist on taking your times of peak energy when they really don’t need it, and they demand your guilt and self approbation if you don’t do them.

Or is it you doing all that?

Time then, to put a stop to all this false prioritising and get things back in proportion. Time to get your creativity back on the priority list.

Reconsidering Your Priority System

Here are some sentences for you to think about and complete for yourself. The aim here is to get you to reconsider your current priority system.

I must/have to ……… or ………

Example: I have to tidy the house – or – the house won’t feel tidy. Notice the lack of real consequence in the outcome part of this sentence. Often it’s simply not urgent that the job be done now. However, some jobs can have serious consequences if you don’t take them on. In that case try:

I must do this job during my creative time or ………

Example: I must do this job during my creative time or it will have to be done some other time.

Okay, there will be times when there are deadlines that really do have to be met. But in almost all cases where a job becomes that urgent, it’s because you’ve not taken the opportunities to plan and do it at other times other than your creative slots. And the reason we don’t take those opportunities is usually because we can’t be bothered or don’t get round to it.

But the clear message here is that when we don’t organise and utilize our time it’s usually our artistic and creative output that takes the hit.

Let’s try a different tack.

I can’t find any creative time today/this week because ………

Examples:

• nothing whatsoever can be re-arranged or better organised.
• absolutely everything else is actually more important to me than my artwork/music etc.
• (fill in the blanks) ……… and ……… are more important than my creativity *note – most people, myself included, have other things at the very top of their priority list, and that’s fine – but should they really be pushing it off the page?
• I choose to make ……… and ……… more important than my creativity

If you’ve completed these questions, even in your head, you should now be getting some idea of activities that you’ve been falsely prioritising above your creative time. It can be a real wake-up call to write these down and think about the effect it’s having on you and on what is probably one of the most fulfilling parts of your life.

So take some time to recognise the false priorities that are eating up your day and move them down that list. Then take a seat and figure out how to do things differently.

Make sure your creativity gets the priority it deserves.

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Falling off the Horse
Time Theft 1 – the Anatomy of a Crime Against Our Creative Self

I saw a good posting on Mind Mapping yesterday that’s prompted me to discuss it here. This being a blog about creativity and creative output, it’s that aspect of Mind Maps that I’ll focus on. You’ll also find links to plenty of Mind Mapping resources, many of them free.

First of all, if you’re not using Mind mapping already, you should be! Scroll down to the Tony Buzan video and check out the basics. And if you are already a Mind Mapper, then you probably should be using them even more. Not using Mind Maps is like being in a sail boat in a fair wind, but deciding to use the oars.

Okay, so you’ve no doubt spotted by now that I like Mind Maps.

Creativity and Mind Mapping

Mind Maps are inherently creative. Their central strength is that they encourage you to radiate ideas. These days I wouldn’t dream of beginning a project without Mind Mapping, and whenever I’m feeling foggy about my next steps I get out a big piece of paper and start a Mind Map. Typically I use A3, but bigger still can be better, so I find that using the back of left over wallpaper is fantastic when I want to really spread my mental wings.

There’s something about Mind Map’s non-linear process that makes possibilities leap out at you and I’m constantly amazed by the shear wham-bam exhilaration of creative energy let loose. I’ve found it a useful tool for beating creative block, creating fictional characters with depth, and all sorts of planning.

In my days as an English Lecturer I used computer mindmapping extensively, both for my own learning and for handouts. You’ll find some excellent software options below. But my computer based efforts were always based on hand drafted versions. I found them great for recording and reproducing Mind Maps, but too cumbersome for that initial explosion of ideas.

Mind Mapping Resouces

This video by Tony Buzan should get you started. It’s a bit ‘corporate cheesy’ if you get my drift, but a good introduction.

If you want to get the full low-down I’d recommend one of Buzan’s books on Mind Mapping.

Try: How to Mind Map: The Ultimate Thinking Tool That Will Change Your Life You can pick this up very cheaply and it will make sure you achieve Mind Mapping’s full power.

Using Mind Mapping for Creativity, Note Taking and Productivity, by Chris Garrett, is the post that prompted me to write this. It gives a good description of the many uses of Mind Mapping.

99 Mind Mapping Resources, Tools, and Tips, does what it says. It’s a fantastic resource for all things Mind Mappy.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

I love these two sayings, but wow! they’re overused these days. It’s become accepted wisdom that if you want to achieve a long term goal, or even a large, grey, wrinkly goal, you only need to start small and keep going – and you will reach your dreams.

Well – I can almost agree with that – small steps, small bites can get you a long way. It’s a powerful message. But it shouldn’t be the whole message.

First of all I’ll assume that you’ve set yourself a compelling vision of what you would like to achieve from your creative and artistic instincts. Well done. Now let’s take that sideways look at the guidance from these excellent sayings.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with a Single Step

Confucius wrote this. He was very wise. Recent research has uncovered his draft versions, which show he was even wiser than we thought. Here, for the first time anywhere, is what he also wrote -

A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step:

- so make sure you’re heading in the right direction, dumbo – you are walking far enough already

- but check to see if there are any rickshaws running, or better still, go by plane

- and make sure that wherever you are going is worth the effort

- and (this is an important one) try to figure out what you will do when you get there

And now some suggestions for our second saying.

How Do You Eat an Elephant? One Bite at a Time:

- but make really sure you like elephant!

- and don’t be scared of snacking on the odd meerkat for a bit of variety – but do avoid giraffes as you’ll not want to eat the elephant afterwards

- and why not ask some friends around for a Barbie?

See what’s being said here? Whatever your creative shtick it’s great to have something to aim for. Just make sure it’s the right goal, be creative in getting there, and don’t be scared to get some help if you need it.

A final thought: if you are setting off on a journey of a thousand miles – don’t take an elephant as your packed lunch.

* Photograph courtesy of John Hobson

Planning and goal setting? Is the mere mention of these twin devils making your stomach churn?

I know that many successful artists have harnessed the dark arts of planning and goal setting to their advantage. But it’s my guess that for many more, any thought of imposing any kind of order on their creativity is enough to have them crouched and quivering in a corner (metaphorically, I hope).

If you can identify with the above, then this post is for you.

What is it about planning that’s so scary and often so counterproductive for so many people?

Well, lots.

For a start, there’s an instinctive, intuitive fear that imposing any sort of limitations on your muse will send her flying for cover. After all, don’t we all know that our creative muse is a sensitive and whimsical being that only visits when she is good and ready, when she is in just the right mood?

This instinctive fear is often backed up by bad experiences. When you’ve tried it, it just hasn’t worked. Here are a few typical negative responses -

• You’ve become completely frozen, unable to even go near anything resembling creative work. You are procrastinating and completely blocked. It’s horrible when it happens, and not surprising that you want nothing more to do with planning or goal setting if you’ve suffered it.

• You feel a failure – because every target you set, you fail to hit. You end up focusing on what you failed to achieve rather that what you did achieve, and constantly feel bad about yourself and your artistic ability.

• You feel inexplicably and very uncomfortably threatened.

And then there’s the image of goal setting and planning. It seems somewhat cold and logical – the antithesis of creative thinking. It’s the kind of thing people in business do (horror!) and even if you are in business and use planning tools, you really don’t want to limit your creative freedom by bringing it into that area of your life.

And finally it might be that you haven’t a clue how to go about it in any part of your life – and your normal way of doing everything is to simply muddle through.

But here’s my message – planning and goal setting can work for you – whatever your chosen medium – it can help you have more creative events (see previous post), it can galvanise you to produce much more than you could have dreamed – and it can help you to hugely enhance the quality of your work.

But – it has to be the right kind of planning. And the right kind of goal setting. And for every one of us the answer to the question what is the right kind will be different.

What freezes one person will set another on fire with drive, ambition and confidence.

In the next post I’ll look further at planning and goal setting – I’ll discuss how instead of it seeming hard and limiting it can be gentle, liberating and incredibly empowering. For now, I’d ask one thing in advance – open your mind to the possibility that you can improve your ability to plan and set inspiring targets for yourself. And that it will lead you to producing quality work – and more of it.

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See also: Organic Goal Setting
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