It’s true that creative people need different ways to organise themselves because traditional methods usually don’t work too well for them.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to organising; in fact, since each person is unique, each person’s organising system should also be different.
Let’s look at four areas to organise yourself for success:
- Attitude
It’s a myth that creative people can’t work in a structured environment. On the contrary, having a bit of structure in your life actually enables you to be even more creative and to do better work.
A few years ago, a client emailed to tell me how she’s been energised and has been creating beautiful things again.
What was the difference in her life? We’d worked on organising her office space and within the new-found order, she could be creative once again.
Stop telling yourself that you can’t be organised; rather tell yourself that you organise yourself in non-traditional ways.
- Schedule
Traditionally, we’ve all been told to work according to the clock. I’m telling you to work with your energy cycles; don’t try to battle them.
If you know that you go through a bit of a slump around lunch time, maybe that’s when you want to run errands or exercise to give yourself an energy boost.
If you design websites and you know that you’re most creative at midnight, then design your websites at midnight Who made the rule that you have to start working at 8am?
- To-do list
Scrap the to-do list. Yes, you read that correctly. The to-do list may set you up for failure especially when you feel you’re not getting things done.
Rather use an Eat the Frog list. This list helps you be more flexible so you only need to get the most important things done. My clients are always a bit shocked when I tell them, “the fewer items you have on your list, the better it is”. Just make sure those are truly important things on your list.
- Workspace
When you can find your equipment and supplies easily, your valuable energy is used for actual creativity and not wasted on looking for things.
It’s so important to have your workspace set up according to your organising style. Are you a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner? Are you a paper or electronic person? Maybe the reason you can’t seem to get your papers organised is because you’re actually an electronic person.
I’ve had clients with very messy offices whose computers are perfectly organised, and vice versa. It’s so important to play to your strengths.
My friend, Suzanne, admitted on the podcast that she hadn’t been creating because her workspace was too messy. She then took up my challenge to organise her environment so she could create again. Look at these fantastic results!
My challenge to you
Check your attitude and start telling yourself you can get more productive once you organise according to your style.
Tag me on instagram to come see your workspaces and creative environments. I can’t wait to see.
Are you creative? What are your particular challenges with regard to your workspace?
PS I wrote about my space to create on the blog before.
I love this topic, I agree that some temperaments need to follow different rules, but organization is still important and useful. I really struggle personally with the fact that I love creating systems but hate maintaining them. I have found it worth the time and self control effort to make myself clear my desk every couple of weeks, and reorganize my office and bookshelves periodically. I’ve tried to make myself get rid of, or store away, things that I thought I would use and needed out but haven’t touched. Thanks for the post!
I was so thrilled to read a wonderful blog post recently that said much the same. I will link to it and write more about it soon, but the gist is that we are far more productive when the foundational elements (like a clear and organised space) are in place.