Structuring Creativity and Multi Passions
Talking about how to create a structure for creators is like sticking your hand in a beehive, it’s a bit tricky. Creators are notorious for being rebels and not following any plan. Only our own plan. The key is to structure creativity and your multiple passions in a way that works for you.
Let me set the stage for you a second:
You are fired up, you are super excited about your goal. This is the right one. You have other dreams and goals, but this one is the big one. And you finally have time to work on it. You sit down to get to work but first, you just have to check if there are any new skating stories on Insta from @jvn because he is so lovely and funny. Oh, and you concentrate better when the floor is hoovered, it’ll just take 5 minutes. OK, ready. Wait! You got that email you have to have a look at, and THEN you’re ready to work on your goal. What! Fu**! It’s time to start dinner. Never mind, you’ll get time tomorrow, and anyway, you did get the hoovering done.
Can you relate?
That’s me. I need structure, and a plan broken down into daily small jobs. I need structure, if I want to do any work related to my goals, my creative growth, and my personal growth. Otherwise, I’m all over the shop, doing a bit of this, doing a bit of that. Basically, I get nothing done definitely nothing that’ll make me closer to my dream.
Every creator I have spoken to, or coached, every multi-passionate person I have spoken to, struggles with sticking to a plan that’ll make her follow through on her goals and dreams.
Structuring creativity is a personal process
One of the main reasons clients come to me looking for creativity coaching is because they don’t do the creative work, they long to do, and dream of doing. They struggle with finding a consistent way of working that feels good. In my coaching language, the reasons for this struggle can be rooted in perfectionism, feelings of overwhelm, fear of change, and chronic procrastination.
I understand all of those fears and then some. And I understand the rebellious ways of a creative, fiercely independent mind, the “no one can tell me what to do”- mind.
Not being able to build some structure around moving closer to your goals and dreams, can be truly devastating. Especially if you look at how well other people seem to be doing, comparing yourself to their progress.
However, structuring creativity and multiple passions is a personal process you have to navigate for yourself. You cannot adopt someone else’s process.
Tips to create a personal structure for creativity and multi-passions
Take a realistic look at your daily life, and a typical week.
How much time can you spend on your creative work and passions?
If you say 2 hours every day, I’ll say have another think. If you push yourself too hard, you’ll likely not stay consistent. I say this boldly from my experience as a creativity coach.
Two hours a week is more realistic, but however much time you can set aside, make it a non-negotiable. Just like you had a weekly appointment with your dentist (can you imagine?). It’s important you show up.
Once you have your time scheduled in your calendar, it’s about showing up to the process, without expectations, and attachment to a specific outcome. This means, your creative time is not about productivity or how much you get done.
By making your creative time about self-love and compassion, joy and playfulness, you train your fear and resistance to relax. Plus, it becomes something you look forward to. A time to sit with yourself for a moment and let the outside world do its thing without you for an hour or so.
“It’s hard to be fully creative without structure and constraint. Try to paint without a canvas. Creativity and freedom are two sides of the same coin. Want freedom? Get organized. Want to get organized? Get creative.”
I find structuring creativity and multi-passions work best when it’s:
based on really small steps.
fueled by self-compassion.
flexible and you’re “allowed” to break the rules.
blends beautifully with your life and personality.
focusing on enjoying the process and letting go of expectations to the outcome.
You can use a calendar you like, and make it nice if that inspires you, just be careful you don’t make your calendar more important than the steps you put in it! You also might need to review your plan daily. I do.
Nothing ever goes to plan for anyone, but if you make enjoying the process your goal, you can’t go wrong.
A planning tip from Earl Nightingale
I sometimes like to listen to inspirational and motivational recordings while I drive. Earl Nightingale is one of my favorites.
On one of his tapes, he talks about this simple tip for reaching your goals consistently.
Write down 6 jobs related to your goal.
Organize them in order of importance
Tomorrow, start working on no 1 and finish it. Then move on to no 2, and so on.
Write this list every day, it’ll take you, at the most, 20 minutes.
It doesn’t matter if you only get 1 or 2 things done, but what is good about this simple method, apart from it being simple, is that you can relax knowing, that you’re working towards your goal.
It also trains your ability to focus, and staying with a task until it’s done.
This is adapting someone else’s structure, that I said earlier you can’t do. However, I found this one useful for training my “focus and finishing muscle”, so I thought I’d add it, in case it’s helpful to you too.
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