Is wasting time ALWAYS a bad thing?
Have you ever tried to sit down and FORCE yourself to create a new line or project? What about a new blog post, logo or recipe? I have and it hardly ever works. I sit there looking at my sketchbook or staring at the supplies should use until I just can’t take it anymore. It’s hard when I HAVE to come up with a project or idea and even harder when there’s a deadline attached.
So I have to walk away, even if there is a deadline. I’ve found that sitting there and trying to make something happen will have the opposite effect … and make me cranky. I don’t know about you but one of the reasons I decided to start my own business was because I wanted to be happier.
So I walk away and putter. Lots of my ideas come to me when I’m doing nothing in particular, like tidying up, pulling weeds or taking a shower. I find that when I’m doing something mindless my mind is working in the background. Once I stop trying to force ideas then my brain goes to work.
You might think that procrastinating by showering, weeding or cleaning might not be such a bad idea because at least you are getting something accomplished, but what if you aren’t feeling so productive?
Sometimes my procrastination takes the form of surfing the web. I’ll check my email, open something that has an interesting title, click on a few links and somehow, before I realize it, I’ve visited eight or 10 websites. I find interesting information but it’s totally unrelated to my task.
I think that can be helpful too. My mind is still turning over ideas, shapes, colors etc. While I’m clicking links, I’m seeing lines, form, color and images. I never know when what I see will click with all of the other stuff I have piled into my head. Who knows – it could turn into a fabulous idea.
I’m not saying you should squander day and wait idly for your next big idea to jump up and bite you. I am saying that maybe, if you’ve stared at that blank page or screen long enough, it may be time to wander off and do something else.
Take a walk, feed the dog, nap with the baby. Come back to your work later with a fresh perspective, an attitude adjustment and an open min. You might be surprised when the ideas begin to flow.
What tasks do you usually find yourself doing when your best ideas strike?
By: Vicki O’Dell, The Creative Goddess
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I do the same. I cant think when my mind is cluttered up with lots of tasks either. So I have to clear the decks, do those odd calls and letters [form filling too ugh!], then once my mind is free I give time to ‘mulling’. I turn everything off, make coffee and sit in the quiet an let my mind wander.
Many times nothing comes immediately but like you, I get on with other things. Its as if there is time lapse because I suddenly start tripping over ideas.
Balloon plans are another way of kick starting the mind, as is a friend to bounce ideas off.
But you are so right,, never just sit until something happens, in most cases it never will.