Weekly Reminders - Maintain Momentum on your Creative Projects

As a multi-talented person, you've got a lot going on. It's very easy to be pulled in multiple directions, pretty much every day. Sure, you intend to write that novel/update that reel/submit that painting to the juried competition...but then the car battery dies and your sister gets sick and your buddy needs a favor and suddenly it's Friday and you haven't spent five minutes on your most important creative project. To keep yourself on track, establish the habit of using regularly scheduled weekly reminders of your talents and creative projects.

WHY BOTHER?

(a) To remind you what's important.

It's so easy for urgent items and random aspects of life to overtake your time and energy. By regularly reminding yourself about your talents and your creative projects, it's more likely you will keep them from being shoved aside by whatever life throws at you. Sure, you'll still need to attend to your car battery/sick sister/needy friend...but you're more apt to attend to these things without abandoning your creative projects completely.

(b) To maintain momentum.

Weekly reminders will help you establish the practices and habits you desire and will keep you plugging away on long-term projects.

So how best to do this? Here are four easy, effective ways to set up weekly reminders to keep you on track:

1. Sign up for relevant e-mail prompts.

The simplest, easiest way to receive weekly reminders is to subscribe to relevant, free weekly email prompts. Even though I write several series of prompts, I subscribe to a few others. Why? Prompts are automatic, free and effective. Even if you don't open them, seeing them in your inbox will at least remind you of your talents and your priorities. If you do open them and take a few moments to process their contents, all the better. As one of my subscribers told me, "I do treasure these prompts. Sometimes they make me grumpy because I don't want to do anything but cope with what I have in the moment....which is usually precisely when I need to refocus and see the larger picture. Anyway, thank you for doing this, I appreciate them." Another says, "I find the advice focused, practical, quick to employ and ultimately effective. I appreciate any support that moves my work forward." If you haven't already, give weekly prompts a chance. And if you're interested, you can sign up for mine at www.davincidilemma.com or www.liisakyle.com.

2. Set up a recurring weekly meeting with yourself. Agenda: your talents.

Schedule 15 or 30 minutes at the same time each week. Use this appointment to remind yourself of your major talents, projects and goals. Review the past week. Take a moment to note your accomplishments. Ask yourself: What's working well? What's not? What adjustments can you make going forward? Give some thought to what's most important for you in the upcoming week. Keep things simple and attainable. The idea is to motivate yourself -- not to stress you out.

Yes, 15 or 30 minutes. Every week. You're worth it. Your talents and creative projects are worth it. If you'd like some tips on how to free up time for your talents, please read my article 'Time Management - How to Analyse your Time Use".

You may find that your initial plans a bit ambitious...but within a few weeks, you should be able to set weekly goals that are achievable.

Be sure to reward yourself for doing what you set out to do each week.

3. Find a creative buddy and check in with each other weekly.

You can chat on the phone, get together in person or touch base by text, email or Facebook message. Pick someone who makes your heart sing -- someone you trust and find inspiring. The idea is to set regular goals and to keep yourself accountable. Keep things brief and simple. It's enough if each of you state your intentions for the next week. Seven days hence, fess up: how did you fare? What got done and what didn't? What do you intend to do over the next week?

4. Sign up for a class or two.

Whether you're teaching or taking them, classes provide you with a regularly scheduled date with your talents and an opportunity to learn, grow and hone your skills. Classes allow you to interact with like-minded creative souls and to be exposed to new perspectives.

If you'd rather go it alone, then schedule regular time to focus on your talents or projects -- a block of a few hours, once or more a week can work wonders.

*****

Activity:

Select one -- or more -- of the four ways of setting up weekly reminders. Give it a try over the next month.

*****

I'd love to hear about your experiences maintaining momentum. In the comment section below, please tell me about the weekly reminders that have worked for you.

*****
As a multi-talented person, you've got a lot going on. It's very easy to be pulled in multiple directions, pretty much every day. Sure, you intend to write that novel/update that reel/submit that painting to the juried competition...but then the car battery dies and your sister gets sick and your buddy needs a favor and suddenly it's Friday and you haven't spent five minutes on your most important creative project. To keep yourself on track, establish the habit of using regularly scheduled weekly reminders of your talents and creative projects.

WHY BOTHER?

To remind you what's important.

It's so easy for urgent items and random aspects of life to overtake your time and energy. By regularly reminding yourself about your talents and your creative projects, it's more likely you will keep them from being shoved aside by whatever life throws at you. Sure, you'll still need to attend to your car battery/sick sister/needy friend...but you're more apt to attend to these things without abandoning your creative projects completely.

To maintain momentum.

Weekly reminders will help you establish the practices and habits you desire and will keep you plugging away on long-term projects.

So how best to do this? Here are four easy, effective ways to set up weekly reminders to keep you on track:

1. Sign up for relevant e-mail prompts.

The simplest, easiest way to receive weekly reminders is to subscribe to relevant, free weekly email prompts. Even though I write several series of prompts, I subscribe to a few others. Why? Prompts are automatic, free and effective. Even if you don't open them, seeing them in your inbox will at least remind you of your talents and your priorities. If you do open them and take a few moments to process their contents, all the better. As one of my subscribers told me, "I do treasure these prompts. Sometimes they make me grumpy because I don't want to do anything but cope with what I have in the moment....which is usually precisely when I need to refocus and see the larger picture. Anyway, thank you for doing this, I appreciate them." Another says, "I find the advice focused, practical, quick to employ and ultimately effective. I appreciate any support that moves my work forward." If you haven't already, give weekly prompts a chance -- you can sign up in the purple box located in the top right hand side of this page.

2. Set up a recurring weekly meeting with yourself. Agenda: your talents.

Schedule 15 or 30 minutes at the same time each week. Use this appointment to remind yourself of your major talents, projects and goals. Review the past week. Take a moment to note your accomplishments. Ask yourself: What's working well? What's not? What adjustments can you make going forward? Give some thought to what's most important for you in the upcoming week. Keep things simple and attainable. The idea is to motivate yourself -- not to stress you out.

Yes, 15 or 30 minutes. Every week. You're worth it. Your talents and creative projects are worth it. If you'd like some tips on how to free up time for your talents, click here.

You may find that your initial plans a bit ambitious...but within a few weeks, you should be able to set weekly goals that are achievable.

Be sure to reward yourself for doing what you set out to do each week.

3. Find a creative buddy and check in with each other weekly.

You can chat on the phone, get together in person or touch base by text, email or Facebook message. Pick someone who makes your heart sing -- someone you trust and find inspiring. The idea is to set regular goals and to keep yourself accountable. Keep things brief and simple. It's enough if each of you state your intentions for the next week. Seven days hence, fess up: how did you fare? What got done and what didn't? What do you intend to do over the next week?

4. Sign up for a class or two.

Whether you're teaching or taking them, classes provide you with a regularly scheduled date with your talents and an opportunity to learn, grow and hone your skills. Classes allow you to interact with like-minded creative souls and to be exposed to new perspectives.

If you'd rather go it alone, then schedule regular time to focus on your talents or projects -- a block of a few hours, once or more a week can work wonders.

*****

Activity:

Select one -- or more -- of the four ways of setting up weekly reminders. Give it a try over the next month.

*****

We'd love to hear about your experiences maintaining momentum. In the comment box below, please tell us about the weekly reminders that have worked for you.

*****

(c) Liisa Kyle, Ph.D.

*****

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Are you struggling with too many talents, skills, ideas? You may have The Da Vinci Dilemma™! Find tools, fun quizzes, coaching, inspiration and solutions for multi-talented people at http://www.davincidilemma.com/.