Thursday, September 08, 2005
Creativity Coaching: 11 Tips to surviving a day job with your creativity intact
11 Tips to surviving a day job with your creativity intact
By Jori Lynn Keyser
There’s no doubt about it — maintaining a day job while all your instincts are roaring in another direction is one of the toughest things a creative soul can endure. If you’re keeping body and soul together for hourly wages and then find yourself too tired or distracted or frustrated to be creative after work, you’re not alone. It’s sometimes a superhuman challenge to sustain creative energy so that the switch to art or writing is as easy as possible once you get home.
Here are a few of the many things you can do to stay connected to your inner creative thread when circumstances make it impossible for you to be in your studio or at your writing desk.
- Name your vision.
- Set a creative goal that will keep you moving.
- Begin the night before.
- Get up early.
- Design a morning ritual and do it every day.
- Learn to do the Lifeboat Exercise.
... Find yourself a raucous bell. Ring your bell loudly and shout, “Create!” Go to your workspace, set a timer for ten minutes, and work. When the timer goes off, shout, “All clear!” You’ve just made ten minutes progress... [You don't need a bell. A timer on your 'puter works just as well.] - Set a theme for the day.
[As much as I hate astrology and other New Age junk, I happen to like Angel Cards.] - Practice [looking for] relevance.
- Put on the headphones and crank up the volume.
Don’t underestimate the power of fun... - Surround yourself with who you are.
- Be grateful.
Each of these points deserves a book of its own, and there are many more tiles in the ever-surprising mosaic of creative process. For now, start where you are. Look upon your day job as the blessing it is while you set your formidable creativity to the joyful task of honoring your art every day and growing from the challenge.
In the meantime, examine your big vision, select a goal or two, and watch everything in your life align in that direction as you move steadily and surely toward your heart’s desire.
© Jori Lynn Keyser, 2005
