Having trouble getting started on a project? What to do!
Do you ever have a moment where you envision some great creative project in your head? Let’s say it’s an art piece and you’re thinking about how it’s going to look, the colors, the story, and you go, “This is a great idea! I want to make this piece!” But, once you get to that blank canvas, all the inspiration and drive goes away instantly. You immediately have thoughts that are completely opposite from just a few moments ago. And you’re thinking about how to do anything else other than the thing you set out to do.
This happens to me all the time. I get excited about the prospect of a finished project, but the disconnect comes from what I’m imagining in my head and actually realizing the idea on paper. If you have the same issue, here are a few things I think could help!
1. Plan
Imagine you’re at the beach with a couple of friends. They’re in the water, playing and swimming in it. You come up to where the water is and you dip your toe in. It’s cold. Too cold. And you probably don’t want to get in. But, because it’s a beautiful day and your friends keep saying “Come join us!”, you try anyway. So, instead of just dunking yourself straight into the ocean, you decide to take it slow and put you toe back in. Then, you put your foot in. Then both your legs. And before you know it, your entire body is in the water. It’s still cold, but now you’re warming up and joining your friends to have fun!
The same can be said for starting any creative project. When you have an amazing idea in your head and you see that blank canvas, it’s almost like looking at that cold open ocean. Diving into it seems daunting! But, you can overcome it with baby steps.
The first step is planning what those steps are going to be. This can be done with simple pen and paper! I generally start all my projects this way so I can visually breakdown how I’m going to accomplish something. It helps to untangle your brain so you don’t get overwhelmed and immediately get discouraged. Of course we want the project done and completed as soon as possible. But this is the part where we have to have patience with ourselves and manage our own expectations of what’s possible according to our plan.
2. Shut Your Mind Off
Now that we have the steps written out, the other potential problem is our thoughts. If you’re the type of person that can go through the motions and not think twice about executing a plan, congratulations! But, for a lot of us creatives (and self-critical ones), this is something that takes a lot of practice and self-awareness.
Throughout the beginnings of a project, you’re going to have a lot of thoughts. Thoughts about details/quality, some second guessing yourself, lots of irrational ones. Sometimes, you’ll have so many that you just get mentally tired of thinking and decide to put off your project or shelve it.
This is where I invite you to shut your mind off for a bit and focus on the steps in your plan. Your mind is a beautiful thing. It’s capable of dreaming up these amazing projects, but it’s also capable of overcomplicating and sabotaging your project. Think back to the example of trying to get into the water. Imagine you had your toe in and someone kept throwing sand at you. It’d be distracting, right?These are essentially your thoughts.
Now, this is not to say every thought you’ll have will be a distraction. But, what we’re trying to do at this point is to deconstruct the process into more manageable steps. To move on from this, you need to realize your thoughts are just thoughts. They come and go, but will not determine how your project will turn out. It may not feel great at first, but the more you can remove yourself from that cycle of overcomplicating, the better you’ll get at it.
3. Motivation isn’t the Answer
You might be thinking, “What if I don’t feel like doing it right now? I know I need that creative push to start it!”. So this is something that may have happened at least once in your life. Where, you have some creative itch that somehow turns into this powerful drive to start and finish a project. After it’s done, you look back on how serendipitous and organic it was and you start to think, “This is how all creative projects should go!” It makes sense that you finished this project because your feelings and thoughts were aligned with the same goal. This does happen, but unfortunately, this is not how it happens every time.
It’s important to understand there are different kinds of motivation. There’s the “Ahah!” kind of motivation that makes sense, is organic, and carries you through to the end of a project. But then, there’s the kind of motivation that’s nonexistent at the beginning, but slowly develops as you work on a project. To be honest, the latter is more common for me.
While working as a professional creative, there have been times where I had to work on many different projects at the same time and with tight deadlines all while lacking motivation and inspiration. But I found that if I just started, I’d start to develop the confidence to slowly figure out the next step. I sometimes see my mind and feelings almost as characters, where my mind goes, “Okay I’m starting. Oh look at that brush stroke. So cool” and my unmotivated feelings start to notice and go “That’s not right! It should look like this! Oh, just let me do it!”
If you’re waiting for some creative wave to hit you in order to start a project, chances are you’ll be waiting a long time primarily because it’s just easier to stay comfortable. It might feel weird at first, but as long as you start, you can generate the motivation you need to finish a project.
4. Finishing Things
There comes a point when working on a project where you can start to lose focus. The reason being that the closer a project is to completion, the more critical you become over your work. Overcomplicating, doubting thoughts can easily find their way into your mind. Things like, “Oh this could be better” or, “I’ll need to sit on this more” or, “I just need more time on this part”. Now, there is something to be said about meeting your standards and level of quality. But an abundance of these thoughts can be detrimental and prevent you from finishing anything. It’s crucial to have the idea of “I need to finish this” at the forefront of your mind to stay focused.
Finishing something allows you to 1) have something to show for your efforts 2) learn from your journey and most importantly 3) get into this habit of completing things. The self-reflection and looking back after a project is completed is extremely important as you start to think how you can improve in the future.
5. Learn
Learning is a great way to get motivation and is the foundation for starting anything really. I personally enjoy learning new things and techniques. Oftentimes, when I learn something new, I start to get creative ideas and think about how I can build a story incorporating said technique. Not only does this help me learn better by integrating the new thing into my workflow, but it makes me excited to see something new that I implemented. I feel like I become a better storyteller!
To sum this up, starting something is hard. You’re not alone and lots of creatives go through this. But, these are just a few things you can do to get past that creative roadblock. I hope this helps you start and finish your next amazing creative project! Good luck!