Creativity and productivity – that sounds like a challenge right away, does it not? Well, it has been for me. At least the way I used to look at it.
Because, me being a creative type so is my life! Like in nature and no matter what I try to do to limit it there is always too many ideas and projects to handle… Can you relate?
I still haven’t learned to tame this “animal”, and I know that I never will! Which, I’m convinced more and more, is a really good thing! But how do you live with too many projects and too little time for them and remain (fairly) calm and (very) joyful? How do make creativity and productivity work and play together?
This has been an ongoing challenge and learning for me, and I have been experimenting a lot. These days the name of the experiment is: Joyful un-controlling!
Because, creative as I may be, part of me does like a certain measure of control … Except, life has a different take on that!
Seriously, I do trust and see that life is wiser than the part of me that thinks I can structure my way into productivity. Well, I can to some degree but then life takes over (firmly and lovingly).
So, typically I start my day with making a nice, creative overview of what I want to accomplish that day (not a traditional to do list, it’s a more playful version of it, but still) and then I play with it, from an inner sense of what really is most important in that moment and that is wonderful, going with a mellow flow… Except…
Sooner or later life happens in its own way! People, requests and urgent tasks show up… And all I can do with that is go with it the best I can… To the degree you can go with a rather lively river!
So here’s the beauty of it: At the end of the day, I am tired in a good way, and also amazed. Because while often times there is a lot left undone on my playlist (and some of it will be taken care of another day and some of it maybe never), some other things that I would never have thought of came as gifts. So in spite of the partial chaos there is also the sense of wonder, of accomplishment, of fulfillment.
What I learn these days is that good things happen even better without me trying to control the process too much. It’s like with dancing! All I need to do is tune in to the music station that is there for me and let my body do the rest. But if I try to do it “the right way”… haha, no way!
But how about you? On your way to living and manifesting your life’s work, how do you deal with creativity and productivity, structure and too many projects and ideas? What works for you, or not?
