Sometimes Creativity Can Be OverWhelming

The best feeling in the world is when you have ideas flowing, they are literally oozing out of your brain. You feel so inspired, excited and energized by the possibilities of the day and all you can accomplish.

Now here comes the problem, Where do I start? I want to do it all, right now, this moment and get it all done today! This in turn starts to give me feelings of urgency which then turns into anxiety which then turns into procrastination which then turns into “it’s time to take a nap”. You see where I’m going with this.

So, how do we pull ourselves back from that edge of total lack of productivity. For me the hardest part is recognizing and admitting to myself that im heading down that path. After all I’m in a state of urgency and you want me to stop and think about what i’m feeling! That’s nonsense, I need to go faster and do more without any plan of attack because that’s the way to overcome this horrible feeling i’m having right now! (AGAIN! You see where again I’m going with this).

I have several people comment to me on my YouTube channel that they like me, thrift and find all kinds of wonderful items to make Ito something else, that they have rooms, closets, garages stuffed to the brim with thrifted goodies. They want so badly to craft and make all these wonderful things, they have so many ideas and thoughts and the creativity is just flowing but they walk into that room or closet and open the door and find they are so over whelmed by what’s there, they close the door and walk away.

You see the ideas are just flowing so rapidly that is so hard to sort them out, to process them in any kind of organized way. Our eye drifts from one item to the next never finishing the thought or idea for that item before we glance upon another item and a different thought starts to flow. I know those felling all too well. I do this with everything. Housework, organizing, crafting even cooking. When I splurged on an ingredient to make something but the possibilities are endless for this ingredient and I don’t know what I should do with it. I will admit that Ive let things spoil because I can’t seem to make up my mind and my worms end up eating this cherished ingredient that I wanted so badly to make a wonderful treat out of. Where does it end.

I wanted to get a handle on all of this because it if you let it, it can take a major part of your life. If you dont find a way to start then guess what you will never start. Starting doesn’t look the same for everyone. I use to feel like I had to clean everything up in my craft room and organize before I could start a project, this didnt work for me either. I often would spend all my time cleaning and organizing and NOT actually doing what I went in there to do. I obviously had to change my strategy. I did notice I would get more things done if I limited myself on what I had to think about. Let me give you some examples.

I make a list of what I need to do that day, sometimes I do it in the morning over coffee. Most times I do it at night before bed, especially if I’m feeling anxious because I know I have several things to do. The anxiety comes from the thought I might forget something so writing it down takes that anxiety away. I think this is called “brain dumping”. Another strategy I have for this that works for my whole family because when you are the central person in the home and responsible for most of the things that happen there everyone needs your help so they have to put themselves on the to-do list.

Everyday I put a sheet of paper on my desk that I have in the kitchen. (this desk is where we run the house from, pay bills, calendars, emails etc.) On that sheet of paper we all right the things down that we need to remember. If the kids tell me they need something I tell them “Put it on the sheet” If my husband needs me to pick something up from the store, call the tax guy or even just to remind him to do something, what ever I tell hime “Put it on the sheet”. Now I have limited myself to what I need to deal with instead of all the things I might THINK I should deal with.

Another way as far as my crafting goes how I handle all the different projects and the overwhelming desire to do it all right now and to have it all done today. I limit what I focus on. Making videos for YouTube isn’t always easy. There are so many different aspects of that process, so I needed to get myself STARTED, I don’t have the luxury of time to think it over for very long. This is my process.

I will go to my thrifted stash and pick out 5-8 items and then I close the door and walk away with those items. This is then what my brain will focus on. All the other noise from all those other projects screaming to be done then goes silent. I can start to focus and process those ideas for those projects. I don’t beat myself up anymore because I have already done the hard part. I HAVE STARTED! I have already made decisions on projects, I have already started to process ideas, I have already started the ball rolling on finishing those projects. You can do this starting with one project because once you start conditioning yourself to START it gets easier and easier to do it. Now you have a plan now you have a process now you have a goal and a way to achieve it.

I did this same idea with keeping up with the house. I have a week calendar, everyday has a different room of the house on it. Friday is living room day, I will set my timer on my phone for 1 hour and I will clean for that time, the kids know that they are in charge to pick a chore for that room as well and do it. So they may say they want to vacuum the other may say he wants to clean up the couches (fold blankets, fluff pillows etc.) now I can focus on the other things for that room because I know those things are getting done. I limited what I allowed myself to focus on because before I would run from one room to the next and really never finish cleaning anything. I have said this before and I will say it again, my house is lived in, I’m not looking for perfection I’m just looking for a well kept home.

My husband does not believe in plans, list or organizing but I have noticed that if I make him a list he has better success with accomplishing those things. I tell him the list is for me lol, (don’t tell him I’m secretly keeping him organized)

So if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by your creativity and it has stopped you from starting just remember you are not alone, dont beat yourself up about it. We all just need to find a system for ourselves that help us get started. I hope some of these ideas help you in finding a strategy that will work for you. I hope you will find that your creativity can be free flowing but sometimes it just needs to flow in a direction not in every direction.