Brain dumping to find inspiration and stay motivated as a self-employed creative
Are you tired of struggling to find inspiration and motivation for your business? Perhaps brain dumping in a paper planner can help.
In this article, I'll be sharing the tips and strategies I'm currently experimenting with for staying motivated and finding inspiration. Whether you're looking to get into flow state so you can do deep work, or generating fresh ideas and planning out a project, this post is for you. So sit back, relax, and let's work through this together…
When you’re feeling like you’ve hit a creative slump and are struggling to find the motivation to work on new projects, it can feel like you’ve fallen into an engulfing funky fog that’s keeping you captive. For a creative person, this type of brain fog can lead to a lack of clarity on which idea to pursue, an inability to focus on seeing current projects through to the end, or they may find it stops them from being able to generate fresh ideas.
The key is not to stay in those stuck feelings for long
The frustration I experience when I’m stuck in a funky fog can be totally demotivating, leaving me with swirling thoughts of not being cut out for the work I’m trying doing. And when I’m deep in the fog it can be almost impossible to know where to start to get out of it, making me feel even more overwhelmed and unproductive!
One thing I’ve learnt is the longer you feel stuck, the more your passion for creating diminishes, and the more the feelings of being directionless increases.
Sparking inspiration and staying motivated
Because the fog has become so familiar to me I’ve had to search out simple ways for sparking inspiration and staying motivated as a multi-passionate creative, even in the toughest of times.
I imagine how it would feel to wake up feeling energized and excited to work on my latest creative project with a steady stream of fresh ideas and inspiration for my creative projects.
My dream is to have a thriving business with a loyal community who not only get my way of thinking but also find my work the perfect fit for helping them with their creative endeavours.
So by experimenting with the steps I'm about to share with you, I’m hoping this positive future can become a reality, not just for me but for the fellow creatives who are stuck in the fog.
3 steps to find inspiration and stay motivated as a self-employed creative
Consider starting your days with 20 minutes of ‘morning pages’. I was first switched on to the journaling exercise of morning pages after reading the book The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron*. If you're a creative person, this book should be on your must-read list. But even if you're not an artist in the traditional sense, such as a painter, you can still gain a ton of valuable insights from the book.
The journaling exercise of morning pages involves writing three pages of longhand stream-of-consciousness writing every morning, without stopping to edit or censor the content. However, I usually manage just one page and only occasionally reach two or three pages. The purpose of morning pages is ‘to get to the other side’, which is to clear the mind of distractions and negative self-talk, so you can tap into your creativity and intuition. The best time to do morning pages is first thing in the morning, before you’ve had a chance to become distracted by the events of the day.Use a journal or notebook to brain dump ideas. A brain dump can be a useful way to find inspiration and stay motivated as a creative because it can help you get into a flow state and generate fresh ideas for projects.
By setting aside time to write down all of your ideas, you can clear your mind and focus on the task at hand. Once you have a list of potential ideas, you could use an effort vs impact prioritization matrix to choose the best one to move forward with.
The Brain Dump Bundle includes various page styles you can print out for your A5 or personal sized planner which are designed for getting ideas down. Choose from a dot grid page, mind mapping pages, or a combination of lined and dot grid on one page. These styles of insert are ideal for not just getting ideas down but for also exploring the pros and cons of pursuing each idea. If you’ve brain dumped a ton of great ideas you might feel unable to pick one to move forward with, this is where a pros and cons list or effort vs impact matrix can save you from over thinking! I’ll be talking more about this in an upcoming article.Remember, it's okay to take some time to sift through your ideas before choosing one to move forward with. Don't rush the process - take the time you need to make an informed decision.
Create a project plan or roadmap to help you stay on track and focused on your goal. By breaking down your project into smaller tasks and milestones, you can stay motivated and track your progress over time.
One way I like to map out a project plan is by starting with the end in mind, then working backwards. By getting clear on what the very last step would be for the completed project, or to put it another way, knowing what would indicate I’ve reached my goal, I can take time to think about would need to happen prior to that final step, and prior to that, and so on until I get to the starting point.
For this process the flow chart pages in The Brain Dump Bundle are the perfect printable planner insert for the job, as they already have boxes mapped out for you! The dot grid page is also another great choice if you want more flexibility over the layout of the boxes and don’t mind drawing out a flow chart from scratch.
Bonus Tip!
Also remember to listen to your body, if you're finding it challenging to be inspired and motivated then perhaps your body is trying to tell you it’s time to rest and recharge. Feeling like you must be productive can easily become toxic when it’s at the expensive of your health - in my experience it’s never good to force yourself to push through tough times when what you need is a moment to pause and catch your breath.
Often when I’m struggling to find inspiration or motivation I ask myself if I need to pause for more sleep, alone time, healthy food, time in nature, physical movement or connecting with friends - sometimes a pause is all I really need to rekindle my creative enthusiasm.
And finally…
Don't give up on your passion for creating - by finding ways to tap back into your inspiration and motivation, you can uncover and complete your best ideas.
Hey Planner Friend, I hope these steps help you stay motivated and on track towards your goals, even when they're feeling stuck or uninspired.
Chloe x
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