productivity

November 7, 2012 by Cynthia Morris 2 Comments

The Hidden Gift at the Finish Line of Your Creative Projects

Are you one of those people who can’t seem to finish your creative projects? Books, blog posts, art pieces…no matter what you try, the finish line remains an elusive land you can’t seem to access.

Why, why? Are you simply lazy, inept and perhaps stupid?

I doubt it.

When we consider the entire arc of the creative process, it’s easier to understand why the last part can be so difficult. Imagine a funnel, wide end open to the sky. At the top, we have the beginning phase of creating. In this wide space, we are flush with the heady, exciting sense of possibility.

Here, anything can happen: Our idea will be successful and lucrative. We love this spacious phase, where our ideas shine with intoxicating brilliance. Our abundance of ideas provides proof to us of our creative genius and allows us to dwell where we’re most happy – in the creative dream.

As we move down the funnel, the realm of possibility narrows toward the realm of reality. We begin to bring our snappy concept down to earth. We map it, sketch it, outline it and force it to live according to the laws of gravity, cost, and the dictates of its genre. As we work on our projects, we come in direct contact with our capacities: how much time, energy, resources and skills we actually have to make our idea real.

This reality check can be really uncomfortable. It can be painful to discover that we often get ideas that we don’t yet have the skills to execute. Squeezed by the dictates of our genre, we’re tempted to abandon the mission. (New, sexy ideas crowd around us at this phase.)

To make matters worse, we can also get caught in the emotional undercurrents that run below the surface. Everything that quietly prevented us from creating now shouts loud and clear. It gets more and more painful to even think about your once-beloved project.

The further into the creative process you go, the narrower the space feels, and the more you are required to deal with the emotional eddies that swirl under the surface of your creative life.

Fears lurk to sabotage us:I’m not good enough.
I don’t have anything to say, or show.
This has already been done, and better.
No one will like it.
I’ll be exposed as a failure.
If my work is bad, I am bad.

You’re not a fool for feeling these things, and you’re certainly not alone. After thirteen years of coaching myself and others through all these phases, I believe that the work of creating calls us forth in a deeply powerful and challenging way.
The only way to overcome these fears is to keep creating. If you want to know who you are and what makes you tick, take up an art form and stick with it. Staying with a project from start to finish will teach you more about yourself than years of therapy.

Can you accept that this is the nature of art-making? Can you stop bemoaning how hard it is? Can you embrace the emotional challenges of writing? If so, there are rewards.

Every project has something to teach us. What’s to learn? It’s different for everyone. You may learn something about your true limits. You may unearth some old wound that will be healed through this particular project. You may discover that the forces that have been driving you are no longer your own wishes.

Sticking with writing and finishing my novel has been the best teacher, the most challenging coach, and the biggest gift I ever gave to myself. My clients, too, have seen themselves develop alongside their commitment to their art. If we don’t finish our projects, we lose the valuable insight that each project has for us.

Next week, I’ll share three vital pieces that have helped my clients and students stay with their projects. In the meantime, what have you gained from your completed creative projects? Share with us in a comment below.

This post is excerpted from Cross the Finish Line: Five Steps to Leap Over the Hurdles to Completion.

September 4, 2012 by Cynthia Morris 6 Comments

Seven Steps to Get Your Groove Back When You’ve Lost Your Writing Rhythm

You know the feeling – you’re writing regularly, feeling the flow of your unique writing impulse. You’re making headway on your project and you feel gooood.

Then life, as it is wont to do, throws a wrench in your rhythm, halting the sweet ratatatat of your keyboard. Events on a scale large and small, tragic or irritating interrupt:

vacation
honeymoon
illness, either yours or a loved one’s.

Once the chaos has settled, you start to hear the sound of your inspiration calling you back. You like this tune and truly want writing back.

But weeks pass and you don’t return to that project you flowed with so well before life intruded on your progress.

Despite our best intentions, life’s distractions can easily derail us from our writing.
It seems all the time we spent finding our writing rhythm and focus was a one-time investment, and we’re forced to learn the steps all over again.

But even though it may feel like it, you’re not starting from scratch. Try these seven simple steps to resume – and refresh – your writing groove.

Draw upon your past successes.
What structures, times or places helped you focus on writing? Resume your Friday afternoon writing date, return to your special writing café, and other rituals can be renewed.

When we consider what worked in the past, we will often get snagged by stories of how our plans fell apart. The inner critic loves to chime in with variations of “Remember what happened last time – it didn’t work! Why bother now?”

We lose trust in ourselves when we focus on what didn’t work. We build something sustainable when we turn a curious eye toward what will work for us.

If there are negative associations with any of those practices, what can you replace them with?

Manage your expectations.

We often set ourselves up to plunge back in, pens raised and charging forward with brio. We expect to spend hours at the work, producing pages and pages of scintillating prose.
But it’s more likely we’ll start slowly and ease back into our rhythm. Instead of letting your high expectations lead to disappointment, use little victories along the way to fuel more successes.

Fend off saboteurs.

If it wasn’t a major interruption but a foggy dissipation instead, what derailed you from your course? Knowing the main saboteurs can help you identify trouble when it shows up next time.

Write down all your naysaying excuses that beat you away from the keyboard. See? Once they’re exposed, they seem to carry much less weight. Keep the list handy for the next time you’re tempted to believe your saboteurs.

Start with a brief rendez-vous with your project.

This is a simple meeting to reacquaint yourself with your work. We’re talking a 15-minute ‘project assessment’. Take notes. Jot new ideas and insights.

If you are starting anew with shorter articles or blog posts, check what you had done before you took your sabbatical. Review your lists of content ideas to spark new posts.

Refresh your deadline.

Deadlines can motivate us, even self-imposed ones. Recall former deadlines. What worked? What didn’t? One of the most common mistakes we make is to be overly optimistic about how long things take.
What do you know about yourself and your pace? Use that to set a deadline that engages, not strangles you.

Keep your cards close to your chest.
Some writers find it useful to announce their intentions publicly. Others find the pressure of others’ expectations counter-productive.

I prefer a middle path. Speak your intention to your writing tribe: your writing buddies, former classmates and teachers, a coach, or your favorite writing forum.

Dial it just right.

When planning the return, people often envision something like this:
“I’ll write five days a week for two hours each day.”

What’s wrong with this picture?

We don’t operate in two-hour time periods. Saying we’ll strap into the writing chair for two hours is a guaranteed way to assure that you won’t do it at all.

Let this be easier by starting small – one or two 30-minute writing sessions per week are much easier to slip into.

Which approaches will you try to get your groove back?

Try any or all of these strategies to slowly but surely ease back into your groove. Focus on building trust, engagement and momentum for this new phase of your writing life.

Notice that these suggestions ask you to rely on yourself. Build a positive and sustainable relationship with your writing that can withstand the capricious fluctuations of life.

Set yourself up to win by choosing steps that are right for you, right for this time, right for your projects.
What has helped you return to your writing groove after losing your step?

July 31, 2012 by Cynthia Morris Leave a Comment

Why You're Not Creating Like You Want

I recently polled my Impulses subscribers, asking what was blocking their creative satisfaction.
What do you think is the biggest thing lacking in people’s lives? Guess.

That’s right. Time.
Lack of time is the #1 obstacle people believe prevents them from creating. Is this your excuse too?
An excuse, not a real obstacle? Yes and no. There’s one way that we make ourselves victims of time. Read on and see if this is you.

Curb your time optimism

It’s a wonderful thing to be an optimist. Life is good, things always work out, we’re on the right path…we like these optimistic perspectives.
But when we extend our optimism to the clock, our positive perspective backfires on us.
We believe that we can do it all, that tasks take less time than they do, and that we can catch up later. Consequently, we book our days to bursting. Our schedules are crowded. We rush to keep up with all we’ve committed ourselves and our families to.
There’s no space. No space to rest, to relax, and to allow fresh solutions and insights to float in.
I believe you can reduce your time optimism and increase your satisfaction with your creativity.

Fifteen minutes a day

Start taking back your time with fifteen minutes each day. Before the day starts, in between errands, at the end of the day – wherever – insert some sanity space into your days.
In your space, do what you want. Perhaps you nap, read, write, play, stroll or meditate.
Do not use this 15 minutes to check your email, peruse Facebook or throw in another load of laundry. This is space to dream, be, refuel and inspire yourself. Not a space to tick items off your list.

It’s not easy to slow down and do nearly nothing, even for 15 minutes. But it’s vital. In the cracks between busyness we hear our wisdom.
When we put pen to paper or take a walk, we often hear the answer to the question that’s been puzzling us. We get to know ourselves in ways that are necessary to lead an empowered, authentic life.
Experiment with inserting 15 minutes into your days in August. In this space do whatever you want, but don’t try to get anything done.
If you’re not creating how you want, be honest with yourself: is your time optimism stealing your creative satisfaction?
What would 15 minutes of space a day do for your mood and happiness?
Who’s in? This is an informal challenge, and I’d love to hear if you decide to do it. Leave a comment below and let me know you’re putting space into your life for the sake of your creative sanity.

I’m doing the Free Write Fling in August. I don’t have an agenda for my writing time. I look forward to a daily dose of space for myself, where I can lie on a blanket in the park and rest with my notebook, or prop myself up on the couch midday to pen my 15 minutes away. I look forward to this space.
We start August 1st. Ah, sweet space! Do it with us!

November 30, 2011 by Cynthia Morris 3 Comments

Prioritizing for Creatives With Too Many Ideas

You’re gifted with tons of ideas, which all seem great. And you want to do all of them now.
The problem is, you’re not the goddess Kali, gifted with many arms and the ability to multitask. You have to choose. You have to prioritize.
Every client and student I’ve worked with has this challenge. I do, too. With so many things to do, how to know what to do and when? Here’s what my clients and I find works.
Start big, work small
Know what you want in the bigger picture. What are you doing in this life? What are you trying to achieve?
Having clarity on you’re about and how you want to execute that will help you choose projects that align with your vision.
Work with the calendar
At the start of each year, take time to explore your focus for the year. If you’re an artist or writer, is this year about producing work? Or is it time to put your work into the world?
Understanding where you are in your creative cycle will help you focus on what’s important. This will make it easier to say no to things that aren’t related to your focus.
From your annual focus, break it down quarterly. What is each quarter of the year about? What resources do you need, what actions do you need to take, what help do you need?
You may not be able to answer these questions past the first quarter, but even one quarter is a great start.
From the quarterly viewpoint, break it down into weekly actions. Again, you may not be able to plan it all out, but a sense of each week’s work will help.
Each week, get clear on the thing(s) you most want to achieve that week. Keep this to three or fewer items. Be sure you’re breaking bigger items (write novel) into smaller tasks (draft chapter one, write back story for characters X and Y).
Every day, when you go to work, do the same thing: identify the thing you most want to accomplish that day. Have no more than three things on this daily list.
This may not be the thing you want to do. It may be the thing that gives the most satisfaction to you, or that brings you closer to completing your goal.
When other opportunities spring up, ask yourself how they align with your bigger picture goals and focus. Learn to say ‘no’ as a way to say ‘yes’ to what’s really important to you.
Keep breaking it down
One mistake people make is thinking that once they set their priorities with their vision or even a weekly plan, it should be easy to follow.
But you have to keep driving yourself to reprioritize. I use this system and still have to keep asking myself throughout the day, “What now? What now?” After I complete each task or project, I consult my list.
The secret is to spend a little time planning. Plan the year, the quarter, the month, the week, the day. You’ll feel more satisfied on a daily basis and on an annual basis, you’ll see the results you want.
What helps you prioritize? How will you try my suggestions here?
Coaches help prioritize
One of the things that really helps to prioritize and take meaningful action is working with a coach. Earlier this year I hired a coach to help me with my business. I tell you, when you plunk down money to work with someone who has your best interests in mind, you get clear on your priorities.
My coach helped me see the bigger picture and identify specific actions to attain my goals. It worked. 2011 was my best fiscal year ever. I finished my novel, increased my reach, and felt happier and more empowered by it. I published more, traveled more, and enjoyed life more.
This is what I experience when I prioritize. This is what my clients experience when they prioritize.
I have a few spaces open for new clients in 2012. My rates will be increasing slightly on January 13th. If you need help prioritizing, send me an email and we’ll talk about how to get started with our work together.

May 18, 2011 by Cynthia Morris 14 Comments

Rebel at the Peril of Your Creativity

If you’re like my clients, you’re a bit of a rebel. You don’t like being told what to do and you’re happiest when you’re doing your own thing.

This rebellion might feel good, powerful, even, but if you’ve turned this rebellion upon yourself, you may be sabotaging your creativity.

Are you self-sabotaging?

You say you’ll write for an hour on Saturday morning. Once your writing time rolls around, you ‘don’t feel like it’ so you do something else. You chafe against structure so you never end up finishing your articles, stories and book.

Or…

You set up studio time, and choose a specific focus for your work. But once in the studio, you pass hours not getting anything done. You assert your right to ‘flow’.

Often creative people internalize the obstinate stance. We become so accustomed to positioning ourselves against something that we struggle against ourselves.

We like being bad, even if it’s damaging our creative power.