Making time for creativity

You’re a creative person.

You’re full of exciting ideas – if you could only decide which to start on first.

You’ve got the skills to make something good – maybe even something amazing.

Yet somehow you never seem to have enough time to… well… create anything.

You start projects, but they never get finished.

Those brilliant ideas lose their savour halfway through, so nothing feels good enough.

You go over things in your head so many times that they’re so familiar, you have a feeling they’re not original – that you must have heard them somewhere else.

And life gets in the way, and it seems self-indulgent to waste time on your personal creative projects when there are so many more important calls on your attention.

So you end up with a handful of crumpled dreams.

Newsflash: You ARE good enough. Your ideas are good enough. You can do this.

But creativity doesn’t just happen – you need to make it happen.

The first step is finding time for creativity.

Unless you’re super-lucky, you won’t be able to create your best work in scraps of spare time sandwiched between your daily responsibilities.

You need to give creative time a higher priority in your life. If you’re a creative person, it’s a necessity, not a self-indulgence – you owe it to yourself to develop your skills to their full potential.

Setting regular times to work on your creative projects shows your family you’re serious about what you do. If ideas don’t flow, don’t fill up the time with ‘filler’ activities like checking your emails – dedicate some time to planning your next project, or create stuff which at first may not be up to standard – then revise it or redo it.

You may find that some times of day are better for your creative work. Do ideas flow more easily first thing in the morning, or in the afternoon, or late at night? Try to allocate creative time at these times of day, even if it’s only one day a week.

Think about how you’re really spending all that time. Could you cut back on your TV viewing time, or spend less time on Facebook – or housework? Could someone else take over some of your duties to give you time to develop your talents? Do you need to do so much overtime at work? Could you stay up later, or get up earlier, to find time for creativity?

If time really is an issue, think how you can be more organised or multi-task to save time, and plan your work while you’re doing mundane jobs, travelling to work, or even in the bath. Keep a notebook by your bed so you can jot down ideas.

Even if you have infinite time, inspiration doesn’t always strike right away, so it can be beneficial to create a dedicated place where you work on your creative projects. Having somewhere where everything you need is ready at hand with no distractions can really help you get your work started – and finished.

 

How do you organise your time for creative work?