I find myself going through a broken record dialogue trying to convince myself to spend more time writing.
Sometimes, I find myself driven to this activity, but oftentimes there are mindset obstacles that prevent me from getting fully present with the task.
What else could I be doing right now? What should I be doing right now?
What about the things left on my various to-do lists?
Do I even have anything important to write right now?
What I am writing for? What am I going to do with whatever I write?
The obstacles build on themselves to the point that sometimes I can’t get any writing done at all.
And the thing is, I’m not writing for the sake of writing something inherently important. I’m not writing for the sake of writing for something or to do anything with the writing. For me, at the core of it, writing is an activity I enjoy, it’s a space for reflection and creativity, an engagement that doesn’t need to be anything more than what it is when I’m connecting with it in those moments.
For one reason or another, I still have a difficult time putting aside the values of productivity that drive many of my other personal and professional decisions. These values emphasize performance, efficiency, accuracy, and outcome in ways that choke up my freeform writing.
Even with self-coaching techniques, I am still working through the mindset obstacles that get in the way of my creative drive to write. It’s an ongoing process, but through consistent strategy, effort, and reflection, I’m finding ways to shift my mindset and allow myself to be present in my creative space.
Is there anything you do, or want to do, that consistently leaves you in mindset dissonance? Maybe there’s a creative project or practice that, like me, you just don’t make the time for.
Whatever your thing is, what mindset obstacles do you experience?
Do you feel like you aren’t being productive? Do you feel like your work needs to be for some result?
Maybe you find yourself stuck in a swarm of guilt whenever you try to sit down and focus.
Do you get caught thinking about everything else you could or should be doing with your time?
From my experience, there are a number of accountability factors that tend to come up. These accountability factors make it easy to justify why I should be doing other things and not focusing on my writing. With other things I could be doing, someone might know if I don’t get them done. Someone else may rely on me spending time on X so that they can then do Y.
I could be doing something that will bring in a paycheck. Or I should be doing something that brings me closer to a tangible goal.
So, if we’re thinking about accountability factors, let me ask you this: what type of accountability factors do you need to justify your creative project?
Do you need someone checking in on your progress to help you actually commit to taking action?
Do you need positive affirmations you can repeat to yourself to empower your decision to spend time on your work?
Do you need to break your project down into smaller steps or tasks to make it more of a feasible thing to spend time on?
Do you need to set specific time in your schedule to allow yourself the time to focus on your work?
Do you need to articulate the benefits and the “why” of spending time on your thing in order to help you justify it?
We can make excuses and get caught on obstacles all we want when it comes to our creative outlets – that’s not going to change unless we put in some effort to shift our mindsets to reflect and support our creative values.
When we shift our mindsets to align with our creative values, we can then take steps to actually invest time in our creative practices without feeling as guilty or distracted by our mindset obstacles.
If nothing else, these moments spent creatively can lend themselves to better productivity, focus, and success in the other realms of our lives.
But beyond that, our creative focus allows us to thrive. It gives us space to be mindful, to reflect, to think, and to create. It gives us meaning and allows us to make sense of our life experiences. Ultimately, these practices are important, and we have the ability to lean in to give them space.
If you’re interested in putting your accountability factors into action to help you commit to your creative work, consider my Creative Accountability Community. Within this community we support one another to commit time, energy, and space to our creative projects. Through this social support, we work to shift those mindset obstacles, so we can fully engage in our creative focuses.