Saturday, September 16, 2006

Strategies for Actually Getting it Done


It's easy to be passionate about your hobby. It's easy to think about it, dream about it, shop for it and read about it. What's not so easy some days is to actually DO it. What gets in the way for you? Why do you think about it, shop for it and all the rest and still have a pile of photos and supplies staring at you? Scrapbookers everywhere seem to struggle with this-I struggle with this. What gets in our way and keeps us from doing our craft? What keeps us from avoiding our art? I LOVE scrapbooking, and yet sometimes I'll admit I just don't do it. I can't get started. I dream about the "someday when I have an entire weekend or a whole week to myself" while the photos and supplies keep piling up.

I have taught scrapbooking, stamping, painting and art classes for years. I have taught or experimented with about every technique out there and still I struggle with "getting it done". Every time I get together with scrapbookers I hear this same frustration over and over. "I can't get it done". "I don't know where to start". "I'm just not sure what to do with this." "I don't have time". "If I had more space or if I was more organized or if I had this cool tool-then I would get my scrapbooking done." I'm quite certain that more supplies isn't the secret to actually getting it done. I think the real problem is the story line playing in my head.

How can I change the story line in my mind? How can I actually start to get things done? I think this is such a crucial question-not only for me personally, but for the scrapbooking industry at large. There are only so many supplies that any one room (or bag or closet) will hold. Eventually, we will get on overload and what happens is not a burst in creativity and actual creating..."overwhelmingness" takes over. We give up.

Strategies-other industries/businesses have strategies-plans for "how to get things done". But, I think there are some different realities for the craft world as a whole and my own personal studio in specific. I'm going to use my blog over the next few weeks to share some ideas and thoughts that have helped me in the past to actually get things done-hopefully you'll get some new ideas and I will get some more motivation myself. Maybe together we can scrapbook with passion... without all the junk getting in the way.

Strategy #1 Coming Monday...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow... great stuff. So true! When I'm shopping for supplies I think I'd rather be home creating something but when I'm home... FEAR of making something ugly is what stops me from diving in. Once, my cousin who is an artist, told me to come by his place and "we'll screw up something together!" I like 'messing around' as a goal... instead of thinking I have to make a "WORK OF ART". Too much pressure!