Frustrated
I am feeling very frustrated today. I finally got up to my sewing room after doing various essential cleaning jobs (there are always essential cleaning jobs after the kids have been off school, however lackadaisical I am about housework, and believe me, I AM lackadaisical).
But it is so untidy and there are bits of sewing here, bits of painting drying there, stuff from workshops and swaps over the table... I'm feeling overwhelmed and I don't know where to start! And I've got so many ideas buzzing round my head for journals and stuff just to try that I just end up doing nothing.
So I've come downstairs with my various assorted sketchbooks and bits of paper all over the place to try and get something down on paper (so why are you sitting at the computer moaning about it on your blog, I hear you ask?)...
Does anyone else have this problem? What do you do to get over it? Have a good cleanup? Or close your eyes and pick something at random?!
posted by Liz Plummer @ 4/13/2005 11:34:00 am
6 comments
6 Comments:
I have this problem also. That's one reason I started my blog. It helps me to organize my projects and time.
I work in a small bedroom (actually a nursery) and when the room gets crowded with projects... well, let's just say I don't want to go in there. My temporary solution is the same one you found: move to another room. But eventually you'll have to go in and (gasp!) clean (lackadasical doesn't begin to describe my method of housework) and organize. Put stuff from the same project together, move the stuff out that can go elsewhere (like paint drying) and get back to work. You do great stuff, just don't let a little thing like too many ideas or too much clutter get in your way.
Thanks Lisa. That's helped. Actually, it has helped just putting my thoughts down on paper.
Organisation is the key!!!
I've identified three problems since posting:
1. I think I'm an afternoon/evening person. Problem there is that I just seem to start warming up about now (3 pm BST) and the kids come home from school in half an hour and there's my time gone!
2. I've got to get organised about sketchbooks and stuff. At the moment if I have an idea I scribble it down in any of about 5 books which can be anywhere in the house at any one time. So - how to get it all in one and find it when I need it??? Or just copy it all into one big one... hmmm... sounds like hard work.
3. I like starting things but get stuck and don't finish them. Like everyone!! And I don't like to plan the whole thing through from the start (despite having been forced to at C&G or maybe because of that) so I get halfway through and get stuck...
Hi Liz,
When my sewing room is messy and I'm not productive, the ONLY way for me to progress is to clean.
Regarding your idea of copying all your ideas into one book. I'd still go with the handy books all over the house, but then I'd rip the pages I wanted to use further and paste them into the master book. Or use a plastic pocket folder.
AND I always get stuck on projects, there's like a pain barrier with them and if I don't push through it often I wont ever finish the piece because I've left it on a bad note.
Hey Liz
While I agree with others that cleaning (or taming) will help somewhat, I think there's more happening here.
Tomorrow when the kids leave for school, go in there are put things away for maybe 1/2 an hour. Items for projects you really want to work on all go together... Clear a shelf to place these on. (I know... and put the stuff from that shelf where???)
Find a small space on the wall and write down what you want to do.
Make it simple and honest.
Those projects on your shelf... list each one where it is and what you want to do next. Don't want to do anything... that project GETS OUT of your studio. The clutter of it's presence will slow you down.
Make sure that some of the projects have simple kind of mindless work. Then the next time you have a couple minutes break.. start working. Start with the mindless stuff... as a warm up exercise.. and go from there.
As for journals... I have 2 that I lose/rotate through on a regular basis. As these are for inspiration.. I don't care how many I have.
The good ideas, however, I want to be able to find. Those are clipped out and saved on a cork board in my studio. This way, when I need inspiration for the next piece, it's right there. Sometime I rotate those out (about quarterly).. putting the aged ideas that haven't been chosen yet into yet a different book. There they usually die a quiet death.
Here is my solution: I keep a kitchen timer in my studio. I set it for 15 minutes and just see how much I can get done. No pressure, just dive in - this could be cleaning or picking up one of your projects. Next thing you know, you are in the groove and moving forward!
I'm a piler. I make piles. When rooms get overwhelmed with stuff which they often do, and I want to work on something other than cleaning, then to quickly get organized I'll just grab everything related an put in a pile. After getting several piles, I've usually cleared enough space to work on the important task at the moment, and at least if I need something, I know which pile it's in even if the pile isn't totally organized.
My piles have been getting out of hand, so now every Monday, I've instituted a "Monday deep clean" where I spend one hour, really organizing the piles, ie putting them in files, or taking them to the rooms they really belong. At the end of an hour, I've made some progress and feel good about myself. At the end of a month, I'm starting to see some improvement.
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