I was introduced to the concept of Creative Constipation a few years ago through the book Start Finishing by Charlie Gilkey.

Creative Constipation is a clever name for what happens when you’re full of ideas you aren’t executing on. Whether time, resources, or executive function are to blame, when you have many things you want to do yet haven’t taken the time to prioritize any of them, it places you in a freeze mode—you don’t do a damn thing. This week’s Weekly Creative Work Roundup of everyday creative projects will focus more on creative blocks than last week’s creative roundup post.

Creative Blocks

Chaos

The last several months were chaotic times. I’ve tried my best for consistency and routine, but I kept getting sideswiped. At the worst of it, I was handling it all surprisingly well. Call it a coping mechanism, call it learned behavior from my tumultuous childhood. Things are settling a bit now (aside from my husband beginning a four-hour daily commute, three days a week, after working from home for the last five years. Yeah, that happened, three weeks ago.) and in the pauses that have been finally occurring, the feelings of all that has transpired have finally surfaced.

My creative block is exhaustion.

My creative block is overwhelm.

My creative block is lack of prioritization and organization.

No matter the time, success without stress lies in prioritizing and being organized.

Dita Von Teese

I dropped so many balls last week. Appointments were overlapping, things were cancelled, I was late more than once. I hate being late.

Then it occurred to me: I’m dropping these balls because I wasn’t open for a pass. I never said I could take on more. I was drowning, and instead of being thrown a life preserver, I was thrown a couple of dumbbells. It’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just how things happened. I needed to give myself more grace.

Confidence

With my schedule out of whack and the cook of the house absent quite a bit, some of my healthy habits went by the wayside. I’ve gained fat and a couple of pounds. My clothes aren’t fitting the same and that builds on a negative self perception I’ve gained as I’ve floundered through this fish-out-of-water transition.

Confidence nourishes creativity. Without it, the maker-muscle atrophies.

Pivots

Back to Basics

I have to emphasize my health first and foremost. Though I’m consistent about being active, I haven’t been consistent about eating the way I prefer, the way that makes me feel my best. I can’t expect to excel when I don’t meet my own basic needs.

Best ADHD Planner

I discovered the Panda Planner a little over two years ago. My first one was the larger “weekly” version, and it took me more than two years to (almost) complete a year. That’s ADHD for you. The great thing is that because the pages are undated, you just start right back up with your planner again in a few weeks or months and you don’t have to start another.

It was time to start fresh. It’s useful not only for planning out how I want to spend my time, but also going back and penciling in how I spent my time. Sometimes it can feel like a day went by and you haven’t gotten anything significant done and it’s only because you’re spending the majority of your time on maintenance tasks rather than creative ones.

Master List

According to the aforementioned book, Start Finishing, the first step to alleviating creative constipation is to release all of those creative ideas onto a master list. Just let it all flow on the page. After that, eliminate those that aren’t the highest priority and group those remaining.

This act of organizing the to dos has helped ground me. The tangible list, rather than digital, has already made me feel empowered.

Soften the Load

We had an electrician come last week to do a few repairs that have been on my list for years. Though I knew those tasks would be outsourced from the get go, having some things removed from my list was a huge motivator for me to offload a couple of other small projects.

Open the App

This is really silly, but last week’s weekly creative round up is mostly late because I never tried starting it. I kept thinking, “later, later.” When I finally started typing last night, the words flowed quickly.

I need to remember to simply get my ass in the chair and call it an accomplishment. During Covid times, I had a wall calendar for tracking habits. Simple ones, like getting outside, journaling, exercising. I’d give myself a sticker for doing the bare minimum of the habit every day: I had to do whichever thing for only one minute. It was adapted from Jerry Seinfeld’s technique for being funny: write a joke every day, and put an X on the calendar. Don’t break the chain.

For me, it wasn’t about keeping the chain going as much as it was creating a habit of showing up for the person I was intent on becoming. If I showed up to my easel to paint for one minute, I knew I’d want to keep painting. Same for the garden and journaling. It was effective and I may incorporate it with my planner. Even if I don’t add stickers to the mix, I need to remember to show up and give myself space to let things flow.

‘Fit Pics

I still got dressed this week, even if I didn’t feel like it.

I got this vintage Enid Collins clutch last week at a vintage store in Manhattan. I love it! My youngest said he’s allergic to it 🙄

I hate this outfit, but I realized too late! I wasn’t sure about it to begin with, I got those pants the day before and was trying to figure out how to style them. After I took them off halfway through the day, I decided I’d probably take them back to goodwill 😅

Thrifted head to toe! Sweater is J. Crew, sneakers are UGGs and I’m pretty sure those pants belonged to someone’s dance costume.

Art

I finished the little Ganesh marker painting I made last week. My teen peeped it halfway through and said he wanted to hang it up in his room! It’s nice to have completed an art project, even if it’s not a big one.

A little creative momentum…

Goes a long way! I feel reinvigorated. More creative work to come!