I’ve been thinking about creativity more than usual.
After what seemed like eons of inactivity, where my creative drive stalled, I have come full circle, regaining some control over my creative life, producing content, not just consuming it in droves. It’s easy to get carried away by the force of social media, YouTube, and access to entertainment that’s always at your fingertips. Sure, it can be a great source of inspiration, but it can also freeze us in creative paralysis. For me the solution has been to rekindle my love for the power of a schedule.
Let’s be honest. Ever since I returned from my summer abroad, and after a hurricane raged on the island where I live, I have been aimless. I had all the symptoms of an aimless life: lack of concentration, anxiety about what would come next, what to do with my time, feeling useless and finding little space and energy to progress.
Everything felt wrong. She was looking for answers, anything. Then I remembered the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
That single thought changed my outlook on the last two months of this year and hopefully all the months and years to come. I looked elsewhere for inspiration. Much has been published about organization, order and time management. Everyone has a strategy. Everyone has something to add to the self-organizing salad. And any strategy can and should be improved.
Even Ben Franklin went back to the drawing board of his daily schedule repeatedly. The rest of us are no different. The process of evolving, evaluating and knowing ourselves is continuous. And therein lies the self-empowering truth.
The structure of our creativity will take many forms over the days, weeks, months, and years. The point is to harness the powers it unleashes. This doesn’t happen by chance, but in the process of building, tearing down, and rebuilding the kind of fulfilling, creative lives we want.
Having enjoyed the feeling of empowerment and freedom from a daily routine for the past two months, here are the four powerful keys that have unlocked my creativity:
1. The Power of Purpose: Having a clear intention, for your day and your life in mind, gives you a goal to commit to and work towards.
2. The Power of Progress: Setting bite-sized, achievable daily goals for yourself, and keeping track of those goals, will boost your confidence and keep the procrastinating elephant in the room at bay.
3. The power of knowledge: Having some control over your day, in the form of a simple routine, gives your mind a break from mental energy, gives you a sense of self-made security, a sense of control over some aspects . of your day and your life, and the flexibility that leaves room for surprises. This power also opens the doors to greater self-knowledge through the reassessment of our progress and purpose.
4. The power of a single day: We must rethink the 24-hour time frame. Breaking your “limits” with wise time management, mindful rituals, and moments of gratitude.
Where should you start? I started with a blank page on my tablet. I wrote down the hours of the day and the tasks that needed to be done at those times. I put the schedule in motion and reviewed it. I then wrote a second version and copied it to a medium-sized whiteboard in my creative space, for quick self-assessments. It will change, as I learn more about myself, which hours I am most productive in certain activities, such as writing or learning something new, which activities I want to keep up with and which ones I should stop.
Everyone’s programmed creativity will come out looking different and authentic, and that is its brilliant result. By taking the time to embrace these keys to empowerment, by developing your own schedule and evaluating him and yourself on a daily basis, you will find new ways to know yourself, what your purpose is, what gives your life meaning, how broad space there. it is within you so that all your passions can breathe and flourish.
There are days when I can’t meet all the basic tasks in my schedule. There are days where other responsibilities take priority. There are days when I move tasks. I have full control and authority to do this. And you will have full control and authority over yours.
And, there are days when I manage to check off every task, hit every note. When I manage to complete each bit size target. When each simple ritual is done and each of the passions of my life receives its time and attention. These are days when these passions bring unexpected surprises. In those days, everything is possible.
Make room for that kind of day in your life!