It’s been a long dry spell for my creative projects. Years, in fact. I’ve been so busy working on my teaching business that I simply haven’t had the time or energy to do anything else.
However, I’ve finally finished creating a class that I think I can be proud of, and I’ve reached the point where I have a little breathing room. But, I still felt like I had no ideas, no inspiration for creative work.
After thinking about this for a little while, I realized it was because I was getting up every morning, spending four hours working on business stuff, and then, in my “spare time,” trying to do creative work. But it doesn’t work that way. At least, not for me.
My prime creative hours are in the morning, as soon as I get up. By spending four hours working on business stuff, I was essentially spending everything on the business and then trying to give the remaining crumbs to my creative work.
This is like the common fallacy that people commit while trying to save for retirement: save whatever money’s left over at the end of the month. Every financial planner ever born will tell you not to do that, because there will never be anything left over. Instead, if you want to save, pay yourself first. Put your money into savings at the beginning of the month, and make your finances work with whatever’s left over after that. You’ll find a way.
So that’s what I’m going to start doing: Pay my creative self first. I’m going to spend two hours every morning doing creative work before starting in on business work for the day. Whatever business work needs to get done will have to fit in around that.
Welcome back, creative self. It’s been a long time.
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Best blog post yet! I love this idea, to start with creative time and then business. I teach beginner/advanced beginner classes. This year I burnt myself out, doing plenty of samples for classes, but not enough creative weaving just to satisfy my own exploration needs. Thanks!
I really endorse what you write. My tendency has been to think that as my best hours are in the morning that is when I should see people (I am a Buddhist minister) and then the afternoon is for me. By afternoon I would have reached a point somewhere below the bottom of the well and nothing creative would be done. After a two-year sabbatical I now have learned to devote the mornings to my weaving, stitching and drawing practices – it has been a tough why to learn.
Thank you.
I start work at noon. Morning time is mine to do whatever I wish.