How I Quit Feeling Overwhelmed
Posted on May 4, 2009
Filed Under Creativity | Leave a Comment
This is a something a little different for my ARRRT! blog – I usually post this kind of thing over at Wait… Come Back, but since this relates to my world of making stuff, I figured it would be good to post it here.
I have a habit of overbooking myself and then driving myself absolutely insane to meet all those obligations. Usually I end up in a corner sucking my thumb by the middle of it all and not performing well on half of these commitments (at least by my standards), and that’s never a pretty sight.
Lately I’ve been reevaluating what I’ve agreed to do and decided that it’s never a good thing to let myself get *so* overwhelmed that I get paralyzed. No one benefits and I’m sure it’s taking off minutes – if not days – of my life. So last month I decided to start hacking away at things I said I’d do but were stressing me out big time.
And it worked. People were disappointed, but they’ll get over it. What’s most important is that I kept myself healthy & able to create. When I get overwhelmed I get blocked – creatively & otherwise – and I become rather useless. I know I’m one of those people who wants to please everyone all the time (eldest daughter, dad w/ temper, sister who’s a bit wild) and in the meantime gets so frustrated and stressed out that she explodes with her own pent-up energy at the most inopportune times.
This month I realized I overbooked myself. Three shows, 2 classes, 1 band gig, several arts league-related things, new fantastic, exciting project & helping my sister with her upcoming wedding. Argh! All this on top of writing articles for eHow & keeping my 6-8 hr/day web gig.
So now I’m going through my schedule and hacking away at things that aren’t important to me and are not doing anything but increasing my stress levels. That means backing out of one show (which I didn’t have to pay for) and flaking on a few friends (who I see weekly anyway) to keep my sanity.
And I’m feeling good about it. That is, until I got hit with major sinus crap yesterday. (double argh!)
I guess what I’m trying to say is:
Be good to yourself.
Quit doing things because you feel obligated (and that’s the only reason you’re doing it).
To create you need space – both in your life and around you – so make the space you need.
Even if it means disappointing people. They WILL get over it and you will be a lot happier & more creative. And as a bonus, those people you disappointed may ooh & ahh at your latest and greatest creation!
photo credit: FredArmitage
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