I don’t know what to say

Almost every day I think to myself that I must write another newsletter. And almost every day comes and goes without a new post. But not today, because there’s this one.

During these times I find myself wondering why a creative brain, capable of delivering interesting projects for companies like Google, can also be such an empty one.

I want to be creative. In fact, I’m often willing myself to do something creative but, in the same way I can’t move inanimate objects with mind control, I also can’t force myself to create something amazing if my brain doesn’t want to play ball.

February was the month I’ve been telling myself I’ll take off work. I hadn’t really stopped working since starting this journey last May, and I needed a break. But ‘time off’ never really meant taking the whole month off work. It actually just meant not taking on any client work for this month and instead focusing on building my own things. (I’ve been working on YouTube and hoped to write more newsletters…)

I’ve sat at my computer most days but I haven’t achieved as much as I wanted. I’ve done plenty of life admin, but haven’t delivered on making stuff. I’ve tidied the house, but haven’t built new routines for myself. Why do such simple goals feel so difficult to achieve?

At this point of the newsletter, you might be expecting me to answer that question and tell you I’ve solved the challenge of creative block.

Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not what you’re getting. Rather than create nothing, I’ve decided to take my own advice and create something.

In the book Extra Focus, Jesse J. Anderson gives strategies for finding motivation. Ever heard the advice to ‘eat the frog first,’ meaning to start with the biggest task on your list? Well, Jesse suggests doing it the other way. Like a steam engine slowly gains power to pull the train until eventually reaching full speed, starting with smaller tasks can help your brain get to ‘full speed’ before tackling the big stuff.

This newsletter post is some fuel for my fire, with the hope that the engine doesn’t stall and I can unlock some more ideas for the next creative pursuit. I’ve previously found this works well for me, so let’s see.

There’s another potential explanation, of course… I’m simply giving myself a hard time and should focus much more on the things I have done in the past few weeks rather than chastise myself for those I haven’t. Or that I simply need to stop being at my computer so much during this time ‘off work’ and head outside for a walk. Good advice, probably.

See you in the next one.