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It’s all too easy to play it safe with our creative work. There’s a segment in my podcast that’s the fun part. The whacky part. The part that brings me joy and makes me giggle.

It’s also the daring part, the part that is different than anything I’ve heard. It’s the part that makes the ‘safe’ self in me worry about what others will think. Where I wonder, is it any good? Will it be…dumb?

Although this was a fun part of the project, I had to set this concept aside while working on the main parts of the podcast. I had to let it go so I could feel safe enough to work on the stories and the assignments.

I was even ready to go forward without what could be the best part. And then, when we had most of the episodes wrapped, my engineer said, What if we just add that part in at the very end?

And that somehow helped. It gave me permission to do it, and to do it in a way that felt safe.

So I recorded some new bits and had a blast doing it. It felt easy. A friend listened to them and loved them. And they may indeed be the best part of the podcast.

Sometimes we don’t have to abandon the scary stuff, but just set it aside while we gather our confidence. What are you working on that feels too scary or too much of a risk? How might you set it aside to work on parts that aren’t as daunting?

I work on this all the time with my clients and Atelier members. It may seem counterintuitive, but I am always nudging people to lower the bar. To make the work easy and simple. To layer in the process so that we can build confidence over time and tackle the hard things when we feel ready. This doesn’t mean doing nothing and sitting on the sidelines. It means knowing what we can work on in a sane and safe way.

Making things is daunting. What helps you feel safe to take your creative risks? 

I do a lot of things in my office/studio aka atelier. I write, meet with clients, lead groups. I make videos, art and recordings. I ship packages out.

That’s a lot of different activities, and I need different spaces for each one. Lately, I’ve been frustrated having to move things around each time I switch gears.

I know we can’t always have our perfect environment. But we can make tweaks. Later this year, Steve and I are moving to our new home. I’ll be keeping this place and taking it over for my work, art and writing projects. I’ll be hosting events here. I cannot wait! But I have to wait.

When I realized I needed to set up my space for better lighting on video, it was clear that the light needed to be in a different spot. And then when I got my new microphone, I saw that would need to be positioned on the other side.

I haven’t been making changes to my space because I know the big change is coming. But one day, a door of possibility opened to me.

What if….I turned my desk around? That would give me the long side facing the way I wanted. I could put the light on one side and the mic on the other. It might not look pretty, but it would work better.

So on the weekend, I shifted the table. I re-positioned the equipment. I put the box on the desk and my computer atop it. It seemed good.

And then I got on a call with a client. And the setup? It felt GREAT. I don’t know if it was more space or a better view, but the whole thing just functioned much better. I am easily able to sit or stand and can adjust my desktop accordingly.

I’ve been enjoying this a lot. It’s hard to believe what a difference one shift makes. I would have lost months of this good feeling if I had waited until the big move.

Is your creative space working for you? Even if it’s a corner of your home or if you’ve commandeered the dining table, it can be tweaked to work better for you. Here’s a process I lead my clients through to help make simple, powerful shifts in your creative space.

Sit or stand in your space. If something feels off, identify specifically what it is. The lighting may be not right. You might perhaps not like your seat. Or the view.

Make notes about what doesn’t feel right for you. List as many things as you can about what’s not working for you in this space.

Then, step back. Ask yourself what tweak might be possible? I challenge you to not buy anything new. We often think purchasing something is the solution. And sometimes, it is. Hello new chair! But more often than not, we already have everything we need. Perhaps something just needs to be moved or removed.

Another shift that will change your writing

Maybe you don’t make a shift in your physical space, but in your mental space. Here’s another simple shift I invite my clients to make all the time. The results are profound.

We often think we need a long period of time to get any writing done. Two or more hours is what most people consider necessary to write. But when do you get that amount of focused time? Rarely!

I suggest starting with short bursts. Small writing dates add up. Fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes. I know we think we need some time to get into the zone. That’s where a short free-write can help with the transition. You can free-write about anything to drop in. I often end a transition free-write with: Now I am ready to write….and I fill in the blank.

That’s just one mental shift my clients make. This kind of shift is deceptively simple. But small tweaks can change our creative course for the good.

What simple shift have you made recently that’s affected your creativity? Share in a comment below.