Okay time for airing some dirty laundry so to speak. A few weeks back I promised before and after photos of my studio/creative space/computer room. I was completely motivated one saturday as I often am and also completely fed up truth be told of looking at this space. This is my view when I sit down to create or pack orders it is just an absolute mess. Disorganised and unproductive to say the least.
Anyway back to a few weeks ago. I began organising I spent a couple of hours work mainly to get that big pile of 12 x 12 patterned papers on the left hand corner of my desk loaded on site and filed in with all the other 12 x 12 papers in alphabetical order like the photo below
All great but that's where it began and ended. Then life took over, orders come flooding in, kids need to be driven here there EVERYWHERE, school needs volunteers for this or that because apparently there are no other parents available, birthday parties looming,etc etc. I am sure you all know the drill, this is nothing new in the world of the multi tasking work at home mum.
Let's fast forward to today. Last night just after we finished dinner my husband made a comment that I am the messiest cook. WELL need I say more. In my defence if I am super organised whilst cooking and have the time, I clean as I go so there is no mess at the end, however, if I am not quite so organised, and rushing, yes I will be the first to admit that the kitchen ends up looking like a science experiment gone wrong. So why am I talking kitchens and cooking??
I think creating in my studio is not all that different. Often when I am in that creative state and in the flow I just grab and use and no, I don't put back as I go. If I use a punch, a stamp, an ink pad, a ribbon. The whole lot gets left on the desk. Often after I have finished or at the end of the day I will do a quick tidy up and put things back, but should I get sidetracked by the above distractions I mentioned earlier it gets left. That's life and that is the reality.
So what is the point of this blog post????? I am not justifying that I am a messy creative person even though a part of me thinks that if you constantly stop and put things back in their place while you create, you are interupting the creative flow of your project. However there is the tidy side of me that likes everything in order and neat and that every item has a home and it is put back there after each project no matter what!!! This is not just a physical clearing of the space to be prepared for the next creative project its a mental clearing also. Lets face it, it does my head in seeing this view day in and day out. It also doesn't help that kids often use this room and add their own mess. Not to mention when a customer dropped in the other day to pick up her order and came right in to see the other colours of twine available I was completely embarassed and apologetic and she was most understanding. However to me it is just not a productive business enviroment and it blocks the flow of success.
Soooo preparing the space, making the work area clean, clear and organised makes way for creative ideas to flow so your right brain (creative brain) is not bogged down with how cluttered the space is and how messy the desk is and how it can not possibly create untill the mess is cleared stated by left brain (logical brain).
In my defense this room gets no sunlight and this is a big deal for me as I think this can make or break how productive and creative you are in your work space. Ideally it would be great to move this all to a larger sunlit room, but given there is nowhere else in the house to do this I am stuck here and need to make the best of what I have. So it is all a work in progress and I will keep you updated in stages as I find really great ideas for storing and organising this space. Rather than doing some amazing after photos of a whole room makeover, because clearly that won't be happening anytime soon.
Having said all of this, if your creative space looks like mine and I bet it does, be kind to yourself and perhaps try and implement at least 10 mins at the end of the day to just put everything back in its place. That is my challenge from here on in so lets do it together. Besides you are more inclined to come back sooner to create if the space is clear and ready for the next time.
