Ever since I got back from America my mind has been overflowing with thoughts -ideas for creative projects, worries, what if’s and more. It is causing me to wake during the night, sometimes for so long I feel as though I should get out of bed and start my day, that’s how awake I become.
Ugh yes to the noisy brain! It never stops, and it has a tendency to be a negative Nancy. I am planning to try morning pages, and see what that does for the noise and my current creative block!
Ah yes, the busy mind. I think you are close to the right track with writing things down, but need a couple more steps. David Allen's Getting Things Done is excellent as a base to start then tweak the system for yourself. As he says, the brain can only hold about 3-5 items in memory. When you have more than that, it tries very hard to remind you usually in the middle of the night.
First off - you need one trusted system either a specific notebook or an app on your phone. If you write in whatever notebook is handy, your brain thinks "I'll never find it again!" or "I'll have to hunt for it when I want to do something with it!" It leaves your mind unsettled.
I prefer my phone as it's always with me whereas I might set a notebook somewhere and have to go find it every time I need to use it. If you prefer to keep things in a written form, you could make a note on your phone then transfer it to your main notebook at the end of the day. On iPhone I love Reminders app, on Android there is likely an equivalent type app.
Then it's likely you are writing something that should be called a Project. It isn't just a single action, it requires planning and steps to complete. Again your brain will try to sort this in the middle of the night. So you should create the idea as a Project then put steps under it. What you need is called "the very next action - the one thing you need to do to move the project along". You can write down all the things you would need to do to get it started, but you need the very next action at the top of the list. If you don't have that, the project stalls and your brain can't let it go.
I'm trying to think of a good example... maybe
"Create the collage seen on a friend's IG channel".
- buy the backing material
- the find the items to put on the collage
- glue
- scissors, etc.
- But wait! Before you can start you have a question about the process so the very next step would be:
--
- contact the person on IG and ask your question
Some projects can go into a list of "Someday Maybe". You can't do it now, but you don't want to forget it. Put the project name in that list. Then every so often revisit the list, see if you want to promote a project to doing now or maybe even remove a project if it no longer grabs you.
Last of all is review the lists weekly or every other week to see if you need to add or remove things or have the happiness of seeing a project completed listed in your notes.
That's a quick and hopefully not too meandering overview. While writing about how various things make you feel is useful in many ways, in this case, making sure you aren't letting things slip through the cracks is usually a great way to quiet the mind.
I'll be curious to know what you think if you try it.
Ugh yes to the noisy brain! It never stops, and it has a tendency to be a negative Nancy. I am planning to try morning pages, and see what that does for the noise and my current creative block!
Ah yes, the busy mind. I think you are close to the right track with writing things down, but need a couple more steps. David Allen's Getting Things Done is excellent as a base to start then tweak the system for yourself. As he says, the brain can only hold about 3-5 items in memory. When you have more than that, it tries very hard to remind you usually in the middle of the night.
First off - you need one trusted system either a specific notebook or an app on your phone. If you write in whatever notebook is handy, your brain thinks "I'll never find it again!" or "I'll have to hunt for it when I want to do something with it!" It leaves your mind unsettled.
I prefer my phone as it's always with me whereas I might set a notebook somewhere and have to go find it every time I need to use it. If you prefer to keep things in a written form, you could make a note on your phone then transfer it to your main notebook at the end of the day. On iPhone I love Reminders app, on Android there is likely an equivalent type app.
Then it's likely you are writing something that should be called a Project. It isn't just a single action, it requires planning and steps to complete. Again your brain will try to sort this in the middle of the night. So you should create the idea as a Project then put steps under it. What you need is called "the very next action - the one thing you need to do to move the project along". You can write down all the things you would need to do to get it started, but you need the very next action at the top of the list. If you don't have that, the project stalls and your brain can't let it go.
I'm trying to think of a good example... maybe
"Create the collage seen on a friend's IG channel".
- buy the backing material
- the find the items to put on the collage
- glue
- scissors, etc.
- But wait! Before you can start you have a question about the process so the very next step would be:
--
- contact the person on IG and ask your question
Some projects can go into a list of "Someday Maybe". You can't do it now, but you don't want to forget it. Put the project name in that list. Then every so often revisit the list, see if you want to promote a project to doing now or maybe even remove a project if it no longer grabs you.
Last of all is review the lists weekly or every other week to see if you need to add or remove things or have the happiness of seeing a project completed listed in your notes.
That's a quick and hopefully not too meandering overview. While writing about how various things make you feel is useful in many ways, in this case, making sure you aren't letting things slip through the cracks is usually a great way to quiet the mind.
I'll be curious to know what you think if you try it.