Sometimes I have a hard time focusing when I have a million ideas in my head at once. I think this is the curse of many creative-minded people. I will think about the other smaller tasks the whole time I’m working on something big and important. Because of this, I used to find myself jumping form one task to another and not working as efficiently as I could. If I did make myself batch work and do similar tasks in one sitting, I found my creativity would suffer later on when working on a different type of project.
I have tried a few things over the last year and a half and I’m going to share what has worked for me.
- Do something that makes your mind happy first thing in the morning. This calms my anxiety I may have about upcoming tasks. For me, this means getting up early and taking my morning slow. I like to sip my cup of coffee at the perfect temperature and visit with James before we both head to work. Being able to take my time when getting ready for the day and making my lunch is something I have to go out of my way to make happen, but this calmness helps my overall daily workflow.
- Batch work. This means that I will concentrate on answering all of my emails in one sitting, then move on to something else instead of spreading my mind in 15 different directions as soon as I sit down at my desk.
- Keep your favorite planner/notebooks close to where you are working. As a creative-minded person, I tend to have lots of random thoughts and ideas that I immediately want to immerse myself into. We all know this is not possible during most work days. When I do have these thoughts, I simply note them down on a list or in my planner so I can revisit them later. This lets me think freely without feeling like I’m blocked in, but still have the ability to concentrate on the task at hand.
- Use the monthly view in your planner or a desk calendar, not just the daily view. When I think of something I need to do, I used to flip right to the day and schedule every minute. Now, I write that task/event in the little squares in the monthly view and schedule the details later that day when I have time. This prevents any time waste when scheduling less-important things or getting caught up in the nitty gritty.
- At the end of the day before I go to bed, I like to repeat what we talked about for the morning. I do something that puts my brain at ease. This could be reading a book for 15 minutes or writing down any last minute thoughts for the next day. This is especially helpful for people like me who have some of your best ideas when you’re in the middle of your shower or about to fall asleep.
All of these little adjustments to my day have made a significant difference. I feel like I found more of a balance. When I sit down to work on a creative project or something fun, my brain is still able to think creatively and is not run by rigid ideas and parameters.
What are some daily things you do to help keep your brain in balance? Please share with us all on my latest Instagram post!
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