Creativity can be energizing even if the work you are doing is tiring. What energy level do you operate on? There are many forces and factors that can affect how much energy you have to devote to your creativity. Here are some tips for using your energy wisely:
• Try to discover when your energy levels are at their peak and save your most taxing work for those times.
• If you have an outside job that you have to go to, why not devote some of your peak times to your creative projects instead of the ones someone else is claiming of you. Giving your best to your work is a reward that might help you go to your job more easily if you wish you could work on your creative projects full-time.
• Save repetitive or mundane tasks for times when you have less energy to devote to projects that require lots of brain power or decision-making. I do this when I have glue something or paint the same thing on 50 Christmas ornaments or want to watch TV with the family.
• Do not discount small increments of time or smalls burst of energy to get things done. Used wisely these small efforts can mount up to big accomplishments. Steal small clumps of them wherever and whenever you can. One woman completed a rough draft of her novel in a year writing just 15 minutes a day while riding the bus to work.
• Notice your energy levels when your workplace is messy. I am notorious for creating a whirlwind on my desk. My desk does not invite me to, "Come play." It says, "Go take a nap." Find a way to make your creative space inviting. It really is easier to clean up at the end of your time at the desk than to enhance it when you first sit down to it.
• When you stop work for the day, try to have a plan for what your next step will be when you return. Leave yourself a little note if necessary. This helps eliminate opportunities for getting sidetracked until you get into the flow working. It also helps if the first task is an easy one so you are successful from the beginning.
Do not forget to rest and take a break.
Energizer : Make a pact with yourself to stop working after forty-five minutes for an energy break. Your focus, thinking, and energy will be less than optimum if you do not and the energy flows of you body can get out of balance.
A quick way to re-balance is to stand up and walk around the room while swinging your arms enough for them to cross alternately across the front of your body. Having a glass of water also improves energy levels.
Go look at something restful. Your eyes are doing powerful work. They need a break too.
Keeping your energy levels up can increase your creative output.
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