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Hello fellow creatives,
I’m wishing you a good Monday, as usual - how’s it going? I’m sensing increasing restlessness around us lately, understandably so! Even if we can’t shift the larger situation (who knows how long this pandemic will go on), there’s still a lot we can shift within our own daily actions.
I’m generally a person who thrives under a good amount of structure, but despite this, I allowed myself to be less structured during the first month of shelter-in-place, because that felt like a key part of processing and allowing space to meet my needs.
More recently, though, I started to crave more structure, so last Wednesday I started experimenting with fully scheduling out my daily activities in Google Calendar, something I last did in 2016. At the end of each workday, I decide what I need to do the next day, and I’m scheduling out my day by the hour, allotting time for each of those things.
Before I last did this in 2015-16, I had resisted this type of extreme schedule structure because I didn’t want to feel boxed in or lacking freedom in my day. In a way, it actually gave me more freedom to focus on and be present in a single task at a time, without worrying about everything else undone. When fall 2016 brought a schedule shift, I adopted a looser approach to time blocking, and haven’t done the full version since.
I know this will develop into a full blog post, and then I’ll share more specifics about exactly how I’m doing this, but it’s already been super interesting after a few days. Here’s what I’m noticing so far:
• I’m more productive with this highly structured and intentional schedule. (I know, not extremely surprising.)
I’m more focused because I know I have constraints on how long I have to work on each thing, with a huge fringe benefit: I don’t open a new Facebook tab for “just a quick peek” (IT’S ALWAYS A TRAP!)
• I’m also more productive in a meaningful way because creating a detailed schedule forces prioritization as I decide what I need to spend time on.
This is a return to something I already knew but hadn’t been practicing: Activities and tasks need a place on the calendar in order to happen! Otherwise, urgent things get done, important things sometimes get done, but less comfortable or convenient important things might get pushed off for the future.
• My attitude as I assess the success of my own adherence to my calendar is much more self-compassionate different now than it was in 2016.
I just looked back at my calendar from back then, and it hurt a little to see how packed my teaching schedule was, both in terms of teaching and how I filled my time on top on that! Back then, breaks made me feel guilty, even short ones, and if I didn’t plan enough time for something (this happened often), I’d feel bad about myself because I was falling behind. You can imagine how that would continue to compound on itself and be increasingly stressful.
Now I’m much wiser about allowing for breaks, and revising as needed, trying to accept that not everything can get done right away or exactly as planned, and that might even be better. For example, today I showered later than I planned, technically during the block I set aside to write this newsletter, but I also wrote a big chunk of this in the shower! The shower notepad is an amazing invention.
I also took a chunk of time this morning to lie on the couch and stare at the wall, because I was tired. Having trouble focusing used to be an opportunity to criticize myself for my unproductivity, but now I see it as an opportunity for stillness - my brain is asking for less input for a reason!
• The negative side: I felt that old sense of pressure creeping in.
Part of this came from being on a deadline right before the Feel-Good Creativity Un-Challenge launch on Friday, but being on a stricter schedule can make me feel rushed and trigger some anxiety.
I can alleviate this somewhat by expanding my time blocks, since most things take longer than we think, but the bottom line is that detaching from whether I feel behind or ahead is very much a practice.
I’m still considering:
• How to find the best balance of structure with flexibility
• How to best allow for breaks: so far I haven’t scheduled specific breaks, and have been taking them when needed, but might try scheduling in longer breaks and leaving short ones spontaneous. If I need a break before one is scheduled, I just take it (have to honor those needs!) and adjust everything accordingly.
• How to continue to be self-compassionate and not fall into those old patterns of pressuring myself.
I’m very interested to see how this goes as I experiment further, and I’ll report back!
If you’re looking for more structure in your day and work, and this resonates with you, stay tuned for the full blog post (probably next week) with more info, and tips on how you can put this into practice for yourself in a way that works for you and your personal nature.
Also, if you missed the beginning of the Feel-Good Creativity Un-Challenge on Friday, it's not too late to join us!
It's 5 days of daily creativity prompts that are ridiculously easy to do, along with a wellness/mindset prompt to help soothe your nervous system and put your mind in the right place for creating.
And, you guessed it, the main goal is to have fun and make you feel good. Best of all, it’s free!
It’s all happening inside my Facebook group Creative Wellness Club.
Want to join us? Click the link below to catch up!
Stay well, my friends. As always, please feel free to reach out if you need support!
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