Not feeling creative? Blame stress! š
Happy FearlessĀ Friday!
Last week, while working on a BIG and intimidating writing project, with some strict (though admittedly self-imposed) deadlines, I got sucked into a stress spiral. I told myself I just needed to focus (yea, right, not while the track in my head was set to a steady stream of āyouāre not gonna make itā).
And then I remembered that stress kills creativity, so if I wanted to actually meet my deadline, I needed to stop listening to the stress and start finding ways to let some creativity into the room. Iāve been down this road before, so Iāve packed an imaginary backpack of tools to help me.Ā
š¶š»āāļøThe first thing I pulled out was movement. My brain said I didnāt have time to take a walk, but I knew I didnāt have time not to either. So, out I went.Ā
š¶ I listenedĀ to a little music to help me shift out of overthinking and over-trying and just be in the moment. After that, IĀ felt ready to write a couple more sentences. But, The Deadline ā¼ļø thoughts creeped back in.Ā
š§š»āāļø So I sat down and breathed for a couple of minutes. That slowed the racing thoughts, so I made a few edits, but those pesky The Deadline ā¼ļø thoughts snuck in again.
āļø Finally, I made an SOS call to a smart friend, walked her through my work, and she told me that the project was done. It was done. I just couldnāt see through the haze of stress to know that I had actually accomplished my goal.Ā
Next time youāre feeling stuck, maybe itāll help to remember that āstuckā is often just a tricky mask for stress. Instead of hoping that trying harder will solve the problem, maybe ask yourself what softening your focus would look like. It may take a few tries, but itās a heck of a lot more likely to work than whatever youāre doing that isnāt working.
If you have kids in your life that would benefit from some calming mindset techniques (and couldnāt we all) please check out my audio series and e-books for kids ages 3 to 8 on the Encantos App. It makes a great gift that you donāt have to worry about shipping on time too. :) You can use code FAMILIAĀ for three months free.
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Hereās to breathingĀ our way forward, together.
Aransas