A little bit about Joi: D'Ana Joi is a multi-passionate blogger, copywriter, musician, creativity coach and community builder who believes having many passions is a gift, not a burden. Through her content, thriving Facebook community and upcoming monthly membership, she inspires fellow multi-passionates to embrace their talents, create their own niches, and live a life of Creative Abundance.) We also interviewed Joi on the WAC Podcast if you want to take a listen here.

Ah, overwhelm. That annoying friend who likes to hang out with our goals and aspirations. That thing jumping off of our to-do list and into our heads, contracting time and leaving up gasping for air.

(Honestly, just writing that gave me a little bit of anxiety.)

As creatives, though our intentions are good, we’re often overwhelmed by our own ideas, and the lack of time that we have to execute them.

Sound familiar?

You’re not alone, when I ask creatives in my community what they’re struggling with the most, overwhelm is at the top of the list.

Ugh.

So, how do we get out ahead of that nauseating feeling? And if we can’t, what should we do once it shows up? Don’t worry, these aren’t rhetorical questions.

Let’s explore 3 ways to overcome overwhelm as creative. Oh, and feel free to download my free worksheet bundle to guide you through each step.

1. Do a brain dump
Leave it all on the page, babe.

Doing a brain dump is like getting home after a long day and unsnapping your bra (the best, right?). It creates an instant sense of relief.

Here’s how a brain dump works: Take all the upcoming dates, looming tasks, and unfinished projects that are taking up space in your mind and dump them onto a page. Even those things you know you’ll remember to do like filling up your gas tank, write them down. Here’s why:

Your brain is not a filing cabinet meant to store an evergrowing list of tasks. Your brain is there to process information and create solutions. Doing a brain dump frees up mental space, because you’re no longer carrying around every unfinished to-do with you. This is sometimes called “offloading.”

The result is more space for creative thinking and way less overwhelm.

Once you’ve dumped everything in your mind onto the page, look over your brain dump page and highlight everything with a due date and put those items in chronological order. Ah, so much better already!

2. Do a prioritize session
Overwhelm tends to occur when we carry around a sense that everything is urgent. When we feel like every item on our list needs our attention “right now,” it creates anxiety and unneeded stress. (I say this confidently because it happens to me all the time.)

To move away from this yucky feeling, overwhelming feeling, do a prioritize session. Take the items from your brain dump and sort them into these categories adapted from Eisenhower’s productivity method:

· Urgent and important

· Not urgent, but important

· Important, but not urgent

· Not urgent and not important

To simplify this process, use my free printable brain dump + prioritize worksheet bundle which has these categories already outlined for you in an easy to follow grid. Grab them below.

A few things to note when you do your prioritize session.

a) Items in the “important but not urgent” category are often put off, even though they could make a big impact. Be sure to attach dates to these tasks, so that you don’t leave them behind completely.

b) Chances are, only a few things on your list are actually urgent and important. (Which means you can breathe a little!)

c) Items that are urgent but not important are great for delegating to other people if you have a team or VA who supports you.

d) If something isn’t important or urgent, don’t even bother writing it down!

3. Create a “Do/Plan” list
This next step for overcoming overwhelm is simple, yet remarkably powerful.

When writing your to-do list, consider adding in a separate collum titled “plan.” This way, you’ll separate the items that need your full attention in this moment, from those that can be planned out (with dates!) and handled at another time.

Then, from the “do” side of your list, choose no more than 3 items to complete each day. If you’re really overwhelmed, start with one item to complete each day, allow yourself to feel accomplished, and then as the overwhelm decreases, work up to 3 items a day.

These 3 tools will support you with feeling organized instead of overwhelmed. A brain dump will create space in your mind for you to breathe and think creatively, a prioritize session will show you what’s important, and what’s urgent, and your Do/Plan list will keep everything neat and tidy so you don’t have to wonder what to work on from one day to the next.

Don’t forget to grab my free worksheet bundle to guide you through each step.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found these tips helpful, and easy and implement. For more articles about thriving as a creative, visit joi-knows-how.com/blog.

3 Ways to Overcome Overwhelm as a Creative written by D'Ana Joi Spencer

How to find Joi:
IG: @Joi-knows-how
Website: joi-knows-how.com
Our Podcast episode with Joi: Listen

Guest Creative: 3 Ways to Overcome Overwhelm as a Creative with D'Ana Joi