Too Busy – Allowed to be Intentional with Your Time

Creativity Killer #5 – Too Busy

In creative business, some days come easier than others. Sometimes, we’re focused and on task and cranking things out. Then other times, it feels like slogging through mud while walking uphill in a snowstorm.    

What makes the difference? Why are ideas exciting and energizing one day but overwhelming and unappealing the next day? What gets in the way of motivation and kills creativity? In this post, we’ll talk about the fifth of seven creativity killers and give ourselves permission to move beyond them.

Too Busy Doing All the Things

Being too busy can take on many forms in creative business. 

Too busy can mean that my mind is full and processing many different things. As a solopreneur, I fill the roles of business myself: accounting, social media strategy, content creation, project planner, product creation, and service completion. This can cause mental busyness and physical busyness as I work to switch from one element of business to another. 

Feeling too busy can also develop from poor time management. In business, this lies in wanting to say yes to all of the projects when they’re available because they don’t always come in a steady stream. A paycheck is a paycheck after all. But taking on too many projects only leads to underestimating time and overestimating energy. It is wise to remember that a day only has 24 hours and you will only ever be one person.

How does being too busy doing all the things kill creativity?

• When I am planning, strategizing, and multi-tasking I don’t always have enough time, let alone enough brain space, left to come up with new creative ideas. 
• Creativity stumbles upon us when our brain rests, not when it moves hastily from one intense thought to another. When I’m caught up in the necessities of business, I become unbalanced and forget that rest enhances creativity and original thoughts (my best processing happens when I am running outside without a podcast). When I push through life tired, I fall back on what I know instead of exploring something new in unique ways.

But it’s business. Things have to keep moving.

How do you keep from being too busy?

• Be realistic in your expectations for yourself.
• Remember that some things can wait for another day.

• Only take the jobs that you want to be known for and you enjoy most. You can say ‘no’ to a project if it isn’t a good fit … even if it pays. 
• Make space in your schedule to breathe. Plan times for your brain to rest. Go for a walk or a run. Outside. Without a podcast.

(If you want to read more about creativity and being too busy, here’s an interesting article by Emma Seppälä, Happiness research shows the biggest obstacle to creativity is being too busy.)

Remember, the business will not stay a business if you can’t keep up the pace. You are allowed to be intentional with your time. Balance it out to keep the creativity flowing. Your clients will see the difference … and so will you.

Happy Creating!

To read about the other Creativity Killers we’ve discussed, click on the links below.

• #1, Perfectionism – Allowed to be Imperfect
• #2, Fear of Failure – Allowed to Make Mistakes and Keep Trying
• #3, Striving and Stressed Out – Allowed to Slow Down
• #4, Too Many Ideas – Allowed to do One Thing at a Time

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