How To Not Let Your Emotions Get in the Way of Your Creativity
Overwhelmed?
Tired?
Distracted?
Worried?
How do you put emotion aside and take action? How do you take action consistently despite fluctuating emotional states?
At the end of the day, you want what’s on the other side of the action right? You want to bring your dreams and desires to life. But how do you do it on those days when you feel flat and inspiration is nowhere to be found?
Here are five ways to stay creative and productive and not allow your emotions to dictate your results or stop you from achieving your goals.
Keep it simple:
It’s easy to overcomplicate the process, so watch out for sneaky thoughts that take your focus away from what matters most. Set yourself achievable and realistic goals on repeat. Break the process down into a daily practice that you can always manage. Set a minimum level of action that you will do each day and commit to it. For example, you might commit to writing 2,000 words a day, or to blocking out a minimum amount of time for your writing. Of course, there will be many days you achieve much more. But on those days when you are stressed or busy, you want to be able to fall back on a few simple daily actions that are achievable no matter what mood you’re in or what life throws at you.
Rest when you need to:
No-one can be creative when they are exhausted or overwhelmed. Rest your body and mind when you need to. You will be more creative and productive and happy because of it.
Feel it to heal it:
Sometimes we just need a good cry and that’s okay. Many creatives fear that if they let themselves feel overwhelmed or anxious or hurt that they will get stuck there or be completely overcome by the emotion. Rarely that’s the case. Often it’s easier to move on from an emotion once you’ve let yourself feel it. This is especially true for emotions that are heavy or highly charged like betrayal or grief. Other emotions like frustration or fear of failure can be felt and dealt with in a small container of time, whereby you give yourself permission to feel what you’re feeling to its full capacity for 5-10 minutes, and then move on as best you can.
Keep your promises:
If we allowed our emotions to run our lives 24/7 we would be in a constant state of flux and insecurity. As simple as this next step sounds, keeping the promises you make to yourself and others is a way to access your creativity when your emotions have got the better of you. A promise is different to an obligation; a promise is something you want to do and have said yes to from a place of positive intention. So instead of writing a to-do list each day, write a promise list, and stick to your promises.
Remember your why:
There are times when you need to keep things simple and there are times when you need to think bigger. When our writers are feeling unsure of themselves or suffering from writer’s block, we remind them that their work is not just about them. There are people out there that need their work, and having access to it could change someone’s day or even their life. Remember why you do what you do and why it’s so important to you. Remember you are the vehicle carrying the work to the people it’s destined for. You have to put your “stuff” aside and step into service mode. Sometimes, it’s just not about you.