Life

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  • Remove friction by creating a space

    One of the biggest self-sabotage tools in my box of procrastination is setting something up. If there is an effort to get things out of creating a space, the likelihood reduces the longer it will take for me to do it.

    I was reminded of the importance of removing that friction for myself this past month as I set up a painting space again, having not done so since I moved and took down my studio space. It’s just a desk in the corner of the lounge, but I am back painting regularly, thanks to it.

    Having these spaces doesn’t just work by having the space to go to; it also makes the space visible. A kind of creative nudge to my mind that ‘hey, you’ve not been creative today’. I think there’s something from my learning about having an art space at college. I adored those spaces; they were creative pockets of pure energy. Universes you could go and indulge in pure artistic freedom. You’d never have to set them up because they were ready to go.

    Getting a creative urge to paint or draw is easy to lose. If you then have to set up everything, it rapidly can dissolve. I realise that having a space is an indulgence but also being creative can be a mental salve – so perhaps it’s worth considering. It can be a tiny corner, anywhere you need. But a space that can just be used for that. It also then allows you to set a mindset there. There’s a ritual, mode you enter in that space.