Dear Friend,
How do you make progress on a project when you have no time? I invite you to really think about the POWER OF SMALL. In my video, I will show you three projects that I’ve worked on a tiny bit at a time and suggest how you can set yourself up to make progress on your own project a tiny bit at a time.
Hi! I’m Cat Charissage, and I do Soulwork. I’m with you as you find your Why and make your Way in living a more mindful, intentional, and meaningful life of depth and integrity.
I know it's often just too hard to set aside hours at a time to work on a creative project. But you don’t have to have a clump of hours. The painting I show in my video, still a work in progress, is set up to be completed 20 minutes at a time. Most days, I can finish one square of the overall pattern.
TIP 1
This first tip entails you having the space to keep a project out where you can work on it without having to pull out and put away all your supplies each time you work at it. I keep my art supplies for this painting on my desk in their own box so that I can grab them easily when I take my 20 minutes to paint, and I schedule those 20 minutes between the end of one activity and the beginning of another one. Since my supplies are out and available, I can resist the urge to just check my email or the news, and instead, I move forward on this project.
TIP 2
My second tip is for when you don’t have much space to keep your supplies out and need to work smaller on a project. I take small squares of watercolor paper or cardstock measured 2 in. by 2 in., or 3 by 3. They sit in a little pouch I can carry with me, along with a waterproof ink pen and my small set of watercolors and waterbrush. It takes me less than 10 minutes to draw some sort of pattern on a square, and I know that as the squares pile up, I will have plenty of beauty in which to make a larger finished piece of art. This also works well with many kinds of needlework: embroidery, sewing, knitting, or crochet projects that you can work on a piece at a time. For other kinds of crafts or artwork, perhaps you can keep everything on a tray that you slide under the couch so that you can work on it when you’re with your family or watching Netflix.
TIP 3
Finally, my own largest project was working on my book, and it took about 4 years. I carried with me index cards and a pen everywhere, and every single idea I had, I scribbled down on a new card. (buy clothes with pockets in them!) Sometimes I would write myself an email with a new idea, and then print those emails up just 5 inches wide so that I could easily add them to my index card pile. When it came time to do the sit-down writing, I had hundreds of notes to help me with that first draft. That book is now a reality!
Wildflower Seeds: the Beauties of a Reflective Life is all about why and how to take 20 minutes a day to explore your own depth dimensions, to know your deepest priorities and listen to your inner wisdom. It has almost 100 different exercises and suggestions for how to do that, 20 minutes at a time. My book is available worldwide through Amazon.
Writing yourself notes can be adapted for all sorts of projects. When you don’t have the paper and pen with you, you can write yourself an email. No new note-taking apps to learn, no fancy filing systems. Of course, things will get more complicated at some points of the project, but these easy ways help you gain enough momentum that it’s easier to keep going and actually finish your creative endeavors.
I explain the 3 tips in this video...
How to Make Progress on Creative Projects When You Have No Time
I invite YOU to think about how you might work on your project a tiny bit at a time. Take 20 minutes one day to set up your project — your idea collection of pieces of paper that you add to as you have an idea throughout your day, or perhaps a box containing all your supplies for your projects that you can work on, 20 minutes at a time. Do not doubt that you will make progress if you have the containers to pour your passion into, a tiny piece at a time.
You CAN live a more mindful life AND move forward in your creative projects.
I’m rooting for you!
With warmth,
Cat
P.S. If you’re interested in learning how to create direction and focus in the midst of overwhelm, sign up for my newsletter at my website www.catcharissage.com, and I'll send it to you right away.
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