Push past the mid-year slump and get your creative projects done

It has gotten to that time of year when it gets very easy to give up on our passion projects and goals, pushing things back until the new year, because this year is already half gone. My simple advice to you is don’t, don’t give up on doing what you love and creating beautiful things. Stop thinking about the half a year that is gone and think about the abundance of time you have ahead.

The first step to being productive is to stop procrastinating through stress and obsessing over what we haven’t achieve but looking forward to what we can achieve.

It may seem daunting to get back into the swing of things, but with a few tweaks to out inner monologue and a shift in our planning and environment you can rapidly increase your productivity in your life and your creative projects.

Just taking things one step at a time is a great way to start, but let’s run through some steps that you can do to get yourself in a great place to start being productive:

1. Clear all your to do’s
   get rid of all those ambitious plans that are stressing you out. Anything unessential must go. Write everything down on a super long list and get rid of all those nagging to so’s lying around everywhere (phone, laptop, note pad… everywhere).

2. Categories your responsibilities
   Now you have everything in one place categories them into essentials, wishlist and personal.
   Essentials - things like bills, work responsibilities, doctors appointment and necessary life admin that you cannot avoid doing
   Personal - anything that pertains to friend and family commitments, things that don’t necessarily need to be done but you are doing as a favour or gift (this list may be quite large for parents with all the extra responsibilities and tasks that kids bring)
   Wishlist - this is where all your projects should be, everything you really want to do but feel like there is never time for, all the ideas that nag your brain, anything that is creative and not a responsibility

3. Rank your wish list
   Contrary to common belief, multi-tasking is not a conducive to productivity. Working through one project at a time will help you get things done. Rank your creative and personal projects from most urgent and/or meaningful and write them out in a new Wishlist of your priorities. During this stage eliminate any items that don’t inspire you or are overwhelming.

4. Make a schedule
   Once you have these three categories sorted look at all your must do’s (essential and personal) and schedule these out. Figure out the realistic amount of time you have to commit to these tasks. You may find you have more time than you think once you have a schedule sorted (schedules limit procrastination which comes from figuring out where to start).

5. Find your 30 min a day
   Once you have a schedule you should see you have at least 30 minutes a day that you can use to work on your creative projects. This could be first thing when you wake up or after dinner in that down time before you go to bed (try and fit your project in with the time your brain will be most active and awake). Even the busiest person would have 30 minutes a day spare for their own personal projects.

6. Start creating
   With 30 minutes a day you can donate 3 and 1/2 hours a week to the project you really want to achieve. Pick the first item off your Wishlist and get to it, you will start to see those to do lists shrinking and see all those projects completed.

The above list is by no means exhaustive but it is a good start to kicking into gear and getting some of those passion projects complete. Commit to yourself and achieve your creative goals.

If you want to push forward into your creative pursuits or know you need a little extra hand to move past procrastination I have a bunch more tips and tricks that can help you out to get you creating productively.

In the below video series there are 12 unique methods that you can use (together or individually) to become the creative superstar you strive to be. These tips don’t only work for your artistic pursuits, they can be used in all facets of your life to help you get organised and get things done. click here or the picture below to start the class on Skillshare, and even get 2 free months of Skillshare when you subscribe.

Click here to access the class and receive 2 free months of Skillshare

Happy creating,
Cara