I looked up and found myself two streets down and four blocks over.
That's how far away my enthusiasm had carried me from my original plan.
I had an audio book to edit.
There was a deadline.
And suddenly I got an idea for two teleclasses and dropped everything, outlined them and even wrote the sales pages.
But thank goodness for knots in the stomach.
Our body knows when it is too much.
It knows when making a certain commitment and creating a new deadline will not make it happy.
It's OK to stop scheduling The pressure came when I decided I had to schedule the teleclasses on certain dates.
That made me have to rush to create sales pages and think the classes out in some detail and schedule time to write the them.
That brought on the knot.
What if I didn't schedule them for participation until they were complete? How lovely.
Wouldn't I have a great time exploring and fleshing them out and adding and refining them? I could do it for the fun and joy rather than because I had literally "made up" some deadline.
You don't have to complete everything you start, but it certainly does feel great when you do.
And it's lovely to let creative ideas mature when they are ready.
Allow space for the push and pull of creativity I totally believe in honoring the muse-when the words start to come, I start writing.
This article is not on any "to-do" list.
It just needed to be written-now.
So I am.
I'm always ready to catch the flow of thought when it's on a roll.
And to a certain extent, the two teleclasses needed to be started too because I needed to capture the thoughts as they were coming in.
They are about information I want to learn more about and put into use myself.
But I have an agreement with myself to complete my e-book, which is a half hour away from being complete, and its companion audio book which is probably nine hours away from completion.
First things first.
I'll keep my promises to myself Get real about how long it will take Sometimes it helps me to write down how long it will take me to complete a step.
If it takes me 30 minutes to do some final tweaking on my e-book, I could have a great sense of accomplishment in 30 minutes.
But the nine hours is a bigger deal.
It's not as much fun to edit as it is to create.
So I have to think of committing to editing two chapters at a time with a willingness to work longer if I feel up to it.
I have to want to complete it enough to do it.
And for me, I prefer to work far enough ahead so I never feel rushed.
I will schedule specific editing times in my weekly calendar.
Take time to clean out your creative closet It's also OK to simply give up on things.
Drop things from your "to do" list when it's really clear you're never going to get to them.
That makes you feel better.
It's a bit like cleaning out your closet, making room for new things to come in by tossing out whatever you have not worn for the past year! Stay close to the tasks that make money It's important that we stay close to the tasks that move our business forward, not just maintain it.
Hire out the administrative stuff if that's not your cup of tea or if it takes up too much of your time.
Keep your time focused on finding new opportunities to explore, new products to offer, or new classes to create.
Stay close to the things that make money.
That's your primary job.
And particularly if, in your most creative mood, you have no desire to send out an invoice, get help.
Stay with your talent.
Stay with your passion.
Make a thoughtful business plan and base your actions on it When I found myself so far away from where I thought I should be, I had to stop and look at the business plan I have made for myself.
What had I decided in a thoughtful, rational moment, that I needed to do this month to move my business forward? That comes first.
My creative binges need to be corralled into useful segments.
Fun as they are, they cannot rule my world! Opt for the most forward moving and lucrative choice.
Maybe it's a down-to-earth step that needs to be taken and maybe it's something totally creative! You must make room for both.