Before we dive into creative solutions, let's acknowledge the common challenges we face when it comes to managing time. First, there's the perennial issue of having too many tasks and too little time. That never-ending to-do list can be utterly daunting. Often, I've found myself in the precarious position of juggling multiple responsibilities, which, inevitably, leads to stress and that bone-deep exhaustion that comes with it.
 
Then, there's the menace of procrastination and distractions, which have reached an all-time high in this digital age. It's astonishing how easily we can be pulled away from our tasks by the siren call of social media or the incessant ping of incoming emails. These distractions, while often enticing, can derail even the best-laid plans and send productivity spiraling.

Creativity isn't just about art or music; it's a mindset that can be applied to various aspects of life, including time management. Here's how creativity can be harnessed to combat overwhelm:

Creative Scheduling
Instead of following a rigid schedule, try creating a flexible framework. Allocate time blocks for various tasks but remain open to adjustments. This flexibility allows for spontaneity and creativity.

Mindful Time Blocking
Implement a mindful approach to time blocking. Prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency, and allocate focused time blocks for each. This can prevent multitasking and enhance productivity.

The Power of Visuals
Use visual aids like calendars, mind maps, and vision boards to map out your goals and projects. Visualizing your time commitments can help you better allocate your hours.

Creative Breaks 
Incorporate short, creative breaks into your schedule. These moments of respite can help refresh your mind and increase overall productivity.

Delegation and Outsourcing 
Get creative with delegation. Identify tasks that can be outsourced or shared with others, allowing you to focus on what matters most to you.

Innovative Tools and Apps 
Explore time management apps and tools that encourage creativity. Many apps now offer features like visual timelines and gamified productivity techniques.

Experimentation 
Don't be afraid to experiment with different time management techniques. What works for one person may not work for another. Be open to trying new strategies until you find what suits your style.

Lastly, the absence of clear prioritization can be a real time-management stumbling block. Without a solid grasp of what truly matters and aligns with our goals and values, we may unwittingly find ourselves pouring precious hours into tasks that don't contribute to our personal or professional growth. It's a cycle that perpetuates the feeling of being overwhelmed, leaving us longing for a more effective way to navigate the complex landscape of our lives.

Over these years, I've had the privilege of guiding individuals on their creative journeys. As a creativity coach, my role is to assist my clients in enhancing their creative abilities, breaking through creative barriers, and achieving their artistic or innovative goals. It's a profession that's not only rewarding for me but also immensely beneficial for those I work with.  My primary task is to help my clients set clear and meaningful creative goals. Whether they aim to complete a novel, hone their artistic skills, generate innovative ideas for a business project, or simply foster a more creative mindset, I'm there to help them define and refine these objectives.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of my work is helping clients identify and tackle the obstacles that hinder their creativity. LIKE WHERE TO BEGIN..We delve into issues like self-doubt, fear of failure, perfectionism, or external pressures that can stifle creative expression. Together, we work on strategies to overcome these barriers.

Creativity coaching isn't just about talking; it's about action. I provide my clients with a toolkit of techniques and strategies to stimulate their creativity and overcome challenges. Whether it's through brainstorming exercises, mindfulness practices, or exploring different creative processes, I empower my clients to find what works best for them.

Accountability is another crucial role I play. I set deadlines, track progress, and provide the necessary motivation to ensure my clients stay committed to their creative projects. This accountability helps them stay on course even when the creative journey gets tough.  Feedback and support are integral to the process. I offer constructive feedback on my clients' creative work, providing an objective perspective and helping them refine their ideas and improve their skills.

I also aim to inspire and motivate my clients. By sharing inspiring stories, suggesting new perspectives, and helping them connect with their inner motivations, I encourage them to tap into their creative potential fully...with play, prompts or other exercises.  My approach is highly personalized. I tailor my methods to suit the unique needs and creative preferences of each client. This means addressing specific challenges, helping clients find their unique creative voices, and nurturing their individuality.

Beyond the realm of art and personal creativity, I find that creativity coaching can be applied to various aspects of life, including problem-solving in professional and personal contexts. It's about embracing creative thinking as a valuable life skill, which needs to be practiced.  Lastly, building self-confidence is a crucial aspect of my work. I help my clients develop a stronger belief in their creative abilities and encourage them to take bold creative risks.

Being a creativity coach is more than just a profession; it's a calling. It's about empowering individuals to unlock their creative potential and lead more fulfilling, creative lives. It's been a remarkable journey for me, and I look forward to continuing to guide and inspire others on their own creative paths.

Some equate who they are with the quality of their work.  Even little kids starting to draw begin to evaluate their drawings with unrealistic expectations.  “It doesn’t look like a face...” and tears begin to flow for any 4 year old who becomes overwhelmed with the stressful chore to be perfect. We all have a 4 year old inside of us.  

One thread we humans have in common is the difficulty with tolerating not being competent in every minute of our lives.  And for some, give up quickly, never recognizing life is a practice.  We humans are influenced by values in the world – some think there is one right way of doing a task, and too often these tasks are evaluated, judged, compared to other works, all done through unrealistic thinking. 

It’s no wonder we have some sort of relentless self-evaluation running through our thirsty souls, searching for the next brilliant solution and perfect ideas.  And even when we humans get the feedback we long desired, we might think others are not honest, or feel we are not good enough.  We continue to focus on what is wrong, rather than what’s going right.  

​Perfectionism … it’s the most debility part of the creative process.  Where does it come from and why does it show up when creating?  

Actually it shows up even when you’re living your every day life.  We tend to call it something different like “I learned if you want do to something …you do it right the first time.”  And while that makes perfectly good sense from a survival position, to not to waste your energy on repeating tasks until you get it perfect ... you might not get anything done.

We disguise it as education.  In this process are some repeated behaviors socially conditioned to be necessary.  We blindly accept rote processes of learning grammar, mathematics, or any sport.  So why isn’t it accepted to be the same for creativity?  Well, there lies part of the problem.  There are myths, preconceived ideas passed along about creativity such as “you have to have the genes to be creative,” “there are creative geniuses, and you’re not one of them,” or “only a few have the talent, and I don’t, so why bother trying.” 

Once you have been infected with limited creative thoughts, any attempt to be creative which does not give you the positive feedback you may need, turns quickly to avoidance or resistance. New beliefs form around creative attempts, justifying the originating memes of “only a few can be creative.”   And further block any attempt to try something new as “you have to be an expert in this other wise you’re inept.”  Survival takes over and rigidity controls any process of new discovery.  

One small way to move past perfectionism is by paying attention to your thinking.  Notice if you are judging too harshly.  Give yourself permission to lower your expectations for the outcome of any creative adventure.  Open to the practice of understanding the creative process.  Embrace your mistakes.  

What are the materials needed to create art?
 
Some would say you need sophisticated easels, canvases, and paint to create art. But the Masters, at least some of them, did not always use these materials.  For example, a very famous Picasso sculpture – “The She Goat” (1950) is made entirely of materials Picasso found in a garbage dump.  From the basket he used for the rib cage to the ceramic flower pots he used for the udders, and various pieces of metals, all found in the garbage dump close to his home, he used to create the sculpture he later bronzed.
 
Creatively takes play.  And just a guess, but I bet Picasso walked daily in the dump to find things he could create with…such as the bicycle seat and handle bars that became “Bull’s Head” (1942) which he welded together.  In 1944 when the visitors to his show at the Salon d’Automne in Paris saw his exhibit, they were shocked to see these found objects repurposed as art. 
 
A powerful message can be made by using materials that others cast off as garbage.
A message the material possessions we use in our culture which we think of only one purpose, can be repurposed, can be reused, can be recycled into art.  Art that carries a message beyond aesthetics can also be very aesthetically pleasing.

​Long before there was the internet or YouTube to look up how to make cream puffs, you used a cookbook or called a friend.  Years ago while I was living in Alaska, a friend who was interested in making a fancy dessert for her dinner party called her sister in Georgia - long distance.  Not at home, she left a message for her on her answering machine with a request for the recipe for cream puffs.  Her sister called back and left the following message for the recipe on my friend’s answering machine… “ ½ cup butter, 1 cup water, ¼  teaspoon salt, 1 cup flour and 4 eggs, mix and drop onto cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.”  She had timed her puffs to come out 20 minutes before her guests’ arrival.  She mixed the ingredients, and followed her sister’s instructions.   She called me in desperation, “They are as hard as hockey pucks!”  I asked what the recipe called for – Angrily she defended, “I added all the ingredients just like she said and I didn’t leave anything out.”  
 
This is the day I learned about the empathy of cream puffs … and the creative process. 
 
To make cream puffs there is a process.  What was left out of the instructions for my friend was that the cup of water and butter were to be “boiling” before adding the flour and salt.  As well as each egg was to be added individually into the flour mixture, beating thoroughly before adding each one.  There is a process in making cream puffs.  Leave out this important part of the process, and there is something entirely different than what was expected.
 
This is the same for creativity.  You see, a creative process takes

• Time
• Materials
• Skills
• A willingness to explore
• A willingness to fail
• Openness to ambiguity, and it’s
• Non-linear.

 
Just like the cream puffs, when you throw it all together with no awareness to the process, it might end up as disaster.  This is why most people do not enter the world of creativity.  And those that venture out in to it, often quit working on the projects they once loved.  “It’s just too hard,” and “it’s not worth it.”  The Creative Process takes time.  Something we humans become so frustrated by…and become more inventive to strategies that reduce time like developing paints that dry faster.  For materials and skills, some do not want to waste their money to explore.  Admittedly they never want to fail.  They limit the creative process through an unwillingness to look at old beliefs or myths about creativity.  Everyone is creative.  You do not have to have the genes… that’s a myth. All humans come equipped with creativity.  Creativity is a master strategy for problem solving.  Creativity is like a muscle, when you don’t use it, it atrophies.  You want to keep it exercised, used on a daily basis as Julia Cameron, the author of Artist Within, says that “creativity is the blood of the soul.”
 
And last, the creative process is non-linear.  A to B does not mean that C will happen.  For example, I wanted to make a fabric piece using part of Gustav Klimt “Adam and Eve.”  This creative process took me over three years to complete.  I would get frustrated with the process, not knowing how something would work, and put it aside only to pull it out when I had an idea I would try.  During this time, I went to many museums, hearing docents repeat their messages of “don’t touch!”   Eureka!  What became central to this fabric piece was that I wanted people to touch it.  The descendants of Adam and Eve became part of my creation by adding their DNA as they touched the beaded fabrics.
 
As for my friend that day, I brought over a cherry pie and helped her get ready for her dinner party.  I listened and laughed with her sharing her frustration of wanting to make something special and not having all of the information she needed.  We all need to hold empathy for our own creative process.  There will be times when we believe we don’t have enough time or the right materials and become so frustrated with the limited skills we have for our creations.  Or get stuck on the belief that “it” must be perfect to be in a show.  What creativity is… in the idea world, seldom looks like I want it to in the real world.  Holding on to ambiguity allows me not to give up when what I expected to happen does not happen the way I thought it should.  It happens they way it happens. 
 
For your creativity, keep your focus on the process - the recipe, not the product - cream puffs. 

​November 10th of 2010, 440 passengers boarded Qantus flight 32 in Singapore headed to Sydney.  Twenty minutes into the flight, one of the plane’s four engines exploded.  Immediately multiple alarms went off in the cockpit of the airbus 380, one of the largest and most sophisticated flying machines ever manufactured.  Pilots would solve one problem, only to have five new ones; each with its own alarm, arise one after the other.  Miraculously, the pilots were able to return and safely land.   What saved flight 32 from disaster was the pilots’ willingness to reframe their thinking, remaining focused when overwhelmed with all the plane’s alarms distracting their attention …all while in a nose dive. 
 
These highly trained pilots knew if they continued to focus on what alarm was going off next, they would become so distracted they would crash. The captain, with his hands covering his face, asked his copilot, “what if this was not a 380, but a Cessna?  We would not have all these alarms.  Let’s fly this plane as though it was a Cessna.”  And they did.  They focused their attention on landing the plane, rather than focusing their attention on not crashing.
 
So what does this story have to do with artists or creative people? 
 
While we are not in the same dire consequences as a plane in a nose dive, our metaphorical nose dive is our creative resistance.
 
 What is that you ask? 
 
You might be familiar with creative resistance – that is the time we spend putting off working on our painting, sculpture, or writing because we might be overwhelmed in knowing how to complete a project.  Or we are fearful our creation will be criticized by others.  We are focused on the alarms going off… that is the fear that our painting will not looking as we want it to, or our sculpture not be as perfect as it could be.  When we focus our attention on the alarms, we limit our creative potential. We do not finish what we start.  We crash.
 
Resistance is the opposite of creativity.  Creativity is energy - constantly moving.  Resistance is suspended energy - stagnant, not moving.  Resistance is a safety mechanism designed to ensure survival.  Its purpose allows us to make sense of our issue and work through the details or obstacles before we spend the energy.  When resistance blocks creativity, it is not ensuring survival, but like the airplane alarm, distracting us from what is really needed.
 
There are many forms of creative resistance – we will focus on three of the big ones: Procrastination, Criticism and Self-doubt.  Each of these serves as an alarm, calling our attention away from the creative process. 

​The alarm of Procrastination is easy to spot.  For example:  when you set a time to create and find yourself cleaning out the cat box – you can be sure the alarm of procrastination is ringing.
 
The Criticism alarm has different tones – the tone of others’ criticism and the tone of you criticizing another.  Often well meaning others will volunteer what they see as weaknesses, flaws, or errors in your creative project without a request for assistance.  (Like a friend who reminds you that you might have overcommitted to your art project.)  This alarm can make us want to abandon not only the project, but the entire creative endeavor.  And how easy it is to focus on another person’s creative flaws rather than to do our own work!
 
The Self-doubt alarm is even more shrill, but is often so continuous we don’t even recognize it is blaring. “I’m not good enough.”  “I’ll never be able to make realistic shadows.”  “I shouldn’t even try” are common ones.
 
What are some of the alarms that go off for you?  You may have to pay close attention because you have heard them so often. 
 
The antidote to the alarms of creative resistance is focus.  Focus on landing the project.  Keep focusing on what you want to accomplish.  The alarms will still go off.  You do not have to pay attention to them.