How to prioritize your next creative passion project
Hello friends,
How do you prioritize the next creative project to work on?
I’m currently working through this process myself, as I’m almost done building a website for a client.
Finishing a project is exciting! But for a multipotentialite like myself, it is often more exciting to scan the horizon for my next challenge.
I want my creative projects to align with my values and goals for the future. I also want to feel excited to work on something meaningful or challenging, or both!
Last year I wrote down all of my creative project ideas in a Notion page. There’s at least 20 of them. As I scan the list, I re-order them depending on which ones spark joy.
That’s right, I let my feelings guide me through the process of prioritizing my next creative project. You might be thinking, feelings are too squishy to use as a guideline for prioritization!
But I think our gut feeling, our intuition, should be a guide more often. Following my intuition is how I stay in-touch with my feminine side and resist the urge to become achievement-obsessed.
After I read through my list of projects, I don’t make a decision for several days or even weeks. I let everything marinate. I reflect on my previous projects. I try to be thoughtful and remind myself that there is no reason to rush.
I read about game and interaction designer Ryan Mather’s process for getting organized and deciding what to spend your time on, and was excited to see that I use some of the same techniques.
How do you decide what to work on next? Do you let your feelings guide you, at least a little bit? Do you allow yourself the time and space to get centered before making a decision?
I encourage you to observe your own decision-making process the next time you’re selecting a creative project to work on. Your process is uniquely yours, and above all, it should feel good.
Weekly Reflection Question
Are we the same people all our lives? Do we change? What changes? What stays the same?
This prompt was brought to you by V.B. Price
Creative Resources
How to prioritize your project ideas by Ryan Mather
Ryan has created a fun and interesting way to build a balanced and nourishing creative practice that aligns with his personal values. Here are the steps in his process:
Step 1: Write down all of your project ideas Step 2: Document your personal values Step 3: Map your values across your project ideas Step 4: Set up a menu of days
We need cultural work more than ever by Mi’Jan Celie Tho-Biaz
Cultural work goes beyond art, and recognizes how art can lead to cultural erasure. Often, when artists and arts organizations move into a neighborhood, gentrification and displacement quickly follow. Cultural work, specifically cultural heritage preservation work, on the other hand, bridges a people’s cultural heritage with their collective future, continuing a legacy of creative practices within one’s community or creative discipline. By definition, cultural work enhances a sense of belonging, rather than participating in displacement.
From productivity porn to mindful productivity by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Why do you want to be more productive? This was a question I asked myself throughout 2019. Digging deeper, I realized that I was ultimately trying to create more time and space in my life for thoughtful reflection. I was using “productivity porn” as a distraction from what I actually needed to do to make that space. This article offers practical tips to guide you on the path of mindful productivity instead of the hedonistic treadmill of procrastination through productivity porn.
Weekly Quote
How many times have you been told a life dedicated to beauty or nurture or healing is unrealistic? Maybe after everything on your farm is all ship-shape, maybe after you are personally secure with a solid career and secure investments, maybe then you can afford a little generosity. So I admire people who are generous first, generous with their precious lives. They are my teachers. They are the ones who have eroded my ambition to make it big – even with the excuse of serving the cause.
— Charles Eisenstein, The Age of We Need Each Other