Do you tend to obsess over things?
I do. I think it’s a blessing as well as a curse of being a creative. Once I get an idea, or two, or three, it can really take over my brain. I’ve heard this referred to as monkey brain! I’d love to hear how you cope with this problem!
I will research my idea extensively. This is a good thing in most ways, but can also be very confusing and tiring. I will write my ideas down and keep adding to the note when more thoughts occur…I have a notepad app full of these musings! This is good also, but can lead me astray, as I can write so many thoughts down that I lose the focus of the original idea.
This has been going on recently and some of my ideas have to do with this blog and my YouTube channel. Stay tuned to see if anything comes of it!
But what are some ways to cope with this creative madness?
Write it down
It does help to write things down even if the notes become unfocused and random. Later, when I’m more calm and a bit more detached, I will be able to sort through those thoughts and choose the ones that make sense or show a trajectory toward my goal. The ticket is to be patient and wait to evaluate the random scratchings until I’ve been able to distance myself from it. Which is difficult. Did I mention I can also be impulsive?
Force a Break
Take a break from thinking. This is hard! I’m obsessing, remember? But I’ve learned that I can help myself by putting down my notes and getting busy with something using my hands and requiring physical movement. Cleaning house, washing dishes, taking a short walk, folding laundry–these are all great options. While leaving my mind free to think about my ideas, it also calms me and orders my thinking processes instead of allowing the freewheeling randomness of jumping from idea to idea. I often find that I do need to keep the notepad near, because my thought process will settle down and make sense of things that weren’t cohesive before.
Here is the detail of a painting I’m working on. So excited about it! I’ll definitely post it along with progress shots when I’m done.
