God created this world to be beautiful. He made everything on this earth to have intricate detail. This includes us humans.

God made us excited and interested in a vast collection of things. This is a beautiful gift. It can also help us to be unproductive.

As artists and storytellers, we have a thousand ideas running through our heads daily. Art we want to create and stories we want to tell. This is a great thing. Ideas are a blessing.

The real question is how do we pull in all those ideas so they get honored while still being productive?

There are a few things we can do to embrace the abundance of ideas we have and still get things done.

First, celebrate or be happy that you have so many ideas. This gift isn’t given to everyone, meaning we must be good stewards of our ideas.

Secondly, take in all the ideas, knowing there are ways to prioritize those creative ideas you have and a way to get the right ones done.

Thirdly, STOP trying to be a perfectionist. Not all ideas need to be accomplished immediately, and not all are the best fit for you. Also, some of our ideas are there to help us grow, and if we keep thinking we have to do it perfectly or we are a failure, we won’t experience the growth we need that comes with that idea.

Now, let’s figure out how we will organize all our ideas.

Journaling and Idea Dumping. Around my house, we call it a data dump. This is when we unload all of our ideas or tasks. You may choose to do this digitally on an app, spreadsheet, or the good old-fashioned way with a piece of paper. I’m a paper person.

Once you have all your ideas on a piece of paper, it is time to categorize them. Where does every idea fit? Make a list for artwork, writing, business, home, spouse, kids, vacation, travel, fun, etc. Whatever categories you need, add them. You may find that some of your ideas don’t have a category of their own. This is totally okay. Make a miscellaneous category and move on. It does not need to be perfect.

This exercise aims to get all your ideas out of your head and sorted into categories. Once you have everything on paper, you can weed through the ideas.

Prioritizing your ideas may seem difficult when all the ideas sound fantastic and seem like they will move you closer to your goals. Be honest. Some of those ideas make you a lot more excited than others. Other ideas you know will get you closer to your goal and need to be done even though they don’t make you jump for joy when thinking about it.

Prioritizing may seem like a “bad” work regarding your ideas. But some things are more important than others, don’t feel guilty about this. When it comes to spending your energy, you need to work on one idea or project at a time to avoid stretching yourself too thin and having no mental energy to accomplish the project.

Deadlines are another thing that gets a bad rap in our culture. Deadlines are GOOD things. If we never hold ourselves accountable, half the things we want to do won’t be accomplished.

Quick story. Early in 2024, I was hired to design a desk mat for someone. My client never gave me a deadline. I putted around for weeks until my art group called me out on it and helped me make a deadline. I would NOT have completed that desk map as quickly as I did had the deadline not been set.

When determining your deadline, consider what your daily schedule will allow. Do you have time to work on your idea daily, or will it have to be done weekly?

With that in mind, do you need to evaluate your schedule and priorities to have more time to work on your project? Something to think about for another time.

We’ve talked about time blocking before, and you can read about it here, but this is a valuable tool to help you accomplish significant steps for your ideas and projects. Blocking off a set time every day or week where you focus only on that idea.

When you are done prioritizing and setting deadlines, you will look at that list and feel one of two things. First, you will be thrilled that you have all your ideas on paper and a plan to move forward. Or, you will be sad that some of your ideas will need to wait for some time.

Learning to say no to particular ideas for now is okay. By saying no right now, you are saying yes to something else that needs to get done first. Yes, to something that will bring you closer to your goals and desired life. Remember, those ideas that aren’t number one are still on the list to get accomplished and are set aside for future exploration.

If you are just starting on your creative journey, it is crucial to integrate creativity into your routine. I talked about habit stacking here. Minor changes will take you a long way on this creative journey. When designing your plan to incorporate creative time into your schedule, note all your personal and work obligations before setting this schedule. It will lead to a remarkable victory and a sense of accomplishment.

Tools that will help you get all your planning done can be found in this blog series—Master Time for Artists, which has multiple posts discussing many ways to organize and plan.

Give yourself some grace. This is a new way of working for you, focusing on one thing at a time while not multitasking. Each day, you are going to get better at it. When you have a less-than-desirable day, remember grace, take a deep breath, and keep moving forward. This may even look like tea and a book to help your mind clear and go back at it tomorrow. This is okay. We all need downtime.

Remember, ideas will always be there -focus on quality over quantity and trust that things will come together.

Ideas are a gift. Steward them well by prioritizing what needs to be done first and setting deadlines. It is okay to take a break and refocus so you can be the most productive and avoid burnout.

Now, take some time to do a massive idea dump. Don’t filter any ideas that come to mind; let them all flow out. Get to work prioritizing them and start moving forward toward your creative goals.

Until next time, Happy Creating.

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