Do you struggle to find enough time to create?

[Dan Goodwin]

One of the most common issues I hear about as a creativity coach is struggling to find enough time to create the projects we want to create.

Which of these sound familiar to you?

> Creative time just for me is self indulgent and self centred.

> There's no point starting a creative project unless I have a huge chunk of time available to really get into the flow of it.

> There's never a time when SOMEONE or other isn't breathing down my neck making demands on my time.

> The occasions when I do find I have a bit of free time, I'm never in the right mood to create.

> Even if I do find an hour or two to start something, I never know when I'll have any free time again to finish it.

I'd like to get your personal input on this area of creativity.

So, here are two questions, please share your thoughts about each with us as a reply below...

1. What’s the biggest reason you don't have time to create, the one that keeps coming up over and over again?

2. How would your creative life be different if you did have more time to create, all the time you needed?

[Pam]

Dan, those are really good questions. Many times I want to create but I don't have the time and when I do have the time it seems that I have a time trying to be creative. When I'm working or busy doing something else I can think of so many things I want to do. So how do I find the time. Also often times when I start something I lose interst before I finish it if I can't get to it regularly.

I am also afraid of failure and acceptance. I worry that maybe no one will like what I have written or made. It's as though I need the approval of others to be creative. I realized that that is not a good thing and that that is a hindrance to my creativity.

I also have plenty outside activities to juggle other than work that keeps me really busy and starting in the fall I will begin to work on my masters. And I know that is going to take up a big chunk of my time.


Pam

[Dan Goodwin]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Pam.

Maybe you could find a regular little slot of time to create in, schedule it in. Then you wouldn't lose the interest or momentum because of too much time between creative sessions. In my opinion it's much better to create for a little time each day and keep that habit and flow going, rather than creating for a few hours in one chunk, once a fortnight, and really struggling to get going and get into it.

[Maria]

Pam, I can understand you very well. When I started painting, my 3 little children didn´t give any time at all, but I worked all night long. It was this way for a long time till I got the balance, because being without sleeping was not good for health.
I am happy to find people that really NEED to create for being happy. It is something very strong we have within.
Love,
Maria

[Maureen]

Dan,
I am currently reading The Artist's Way, and I'm on Chapter 6. A lot of this chapter goes along with what you are telling us here. I wanted to share a couple quotes -- hope that's okay!

"Most of us harbor a secret belief that work has to be work and not play, and that anything we really want to do -- like write, act, dance -- must be considered frivolous and placed a distant second. This is not true." - Julia Cameron

"Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other single factor." Paul Hawken

[Dan Goodwin]

They are both very inspiring and helpful quotes Maureen, thanks for sharing with us. The JC one is massive but how many of us dismiss our art and creating as not important or worthwhile!

[Hannah]

I agree it's not really so much about finding the time but making the time, defining the role creating plays in my life. I find myself ruminating on other problems. I guess in the end I have to admit that being financially stable and dealing with people are more central to me. That's frustrating to me and even disappointing but I've been playing around a lot with schedules and allocating my time in a conscious way, trying to take my power and focus away from those other things. Right now I actually have two days a week devoted to focus on creating. In practice the other things intrude, or I let them intrude because I haven't found the right balance yet.

[Dan Goodwin]

Sounds like you're making good progress though Hannah, by organising your time, as you put it: "allocating my time in a conscious way".

Some people like to have large chunks of time to create, like you say for example with your two days a week, others like smaller chunks more often. And some projects work better with one of these approaches than the other.

Finding the right balance (and letting it evolve in the right direction) is I'm sure just a matter of time. (No pun intended!)

[Hannah]

:) Yeah it's been a process, learning to deal with the frustrations of not being able to do it full time.

[Alfredo]

The funny thing is I have the time to create right now. For those of you who know what I have been doing creatively for the last few years, you know I eventually became a creative machine. So, my question here is, what happens when you get creative burn out? Right now, the thought of turning on a keyboard makes me almost nauseous. It is not just composing music, it is what entails composing an album, finishing it, the PR, the marketing, the business... All seem to come toward me like a freight train.

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Understandable to get burned out, Al. I've done it on a much smaller scale. Seems you have been through this before, and the creative desire has always come back insistently to you, after some time away. Listen to your inner voice about what you want to do in the moment and give your self permission to have pleasure in some other way besides "working" for a while.

[Alfredo]

"...the creative desire has always come back insistently to you, after some time away." Barb, reading what you wrote just now really helped. I tend to think sometimes that the music will not come to me anymore if I wait too long to get back to it, but this has proven not to be the case. Hearing it from someone else really helps!

[Francesca]

Hi Dan,

I have been writing everyday, starting small - as you said - in the last twenty days or so and it really works. At the moment the reasons why I cannot find much time is that I am working at a translation and it takes almost all my energy and focus. I find that I need to get away from the PC after translating or doing other intellectual efforts, but then I could be writing on a notepad...

Thank you for your tips,

Francesca