Welcome to this weeks Dishin’ About Business! If you’re just joining in, you might want to read previous posts first. I was so happy to see everyone linking up last week, and hope to see more get brave and join us this week!
This week we’re talking about getting, and staying, creative. We all obviously have creativity running through our bones, but channeling that into something productive can sometimes be a challenge right? First, we need to talk about the space we have to create in. Some of us have a whole room (and feel very blessed to have that!!), some have a corner, some are delegated to using the dining room table in between meals. But no matter where it is, we need to use our space to it’s highest potential.
For me, I have a whole room in the house devoted to my sewing business, unfortunately, it’s spilled out into the dining room as well. I have a completely ridiculous fabric stash, that inhibits my creativity alot of times just because it’s overwhelming! That also leads to my sewing room being quite messy most of the time, which impedes being creative even further.
As Kari talks about in the book, we need to use our space to it’s highest potential. Wherever it is, make sure things are at least moderately tidy-I know I do better in a space that is slightly disheveled-as they say “A clean desk is the sign of an empty mind”! If you need organizational inspiration, there are a few Flickr groups you can browse around here (mmm eye candy!!), here, here, and here to get you started. If you know of any good articles or photo inspiration, please feel free to leave a comment with the link!
Another thing Kari talks about is having an inspiration board or wire. Do you have one? I don’t, YET. I have a notebook I tape pictures in, but then it gets hidden away where I don’t really see it. I do find alot of inspiration by just hanging out with my fabric, listening to it tell me what it wants to be (I really should get out more, I know). Another place I’ve seen chatter about online recently for keeping inspiration pics in one place is Tumblr. I haven’t really checked it out much, because to be honest, I don’t get it! If you use it, would you mind explaining it to me on a toddler level? HA!
Staying motivated is another challenge we all face with no boss telling us what to do, etc. Not only for actually creating products, but the “drudgery”-taking pictures, editing pictures, doing listings, answering emails, etc. It gets tempting to just say “Meh, I’m tired, tomorrow” all too often for me. I TRY and take it easy on weekends, focusing on spending time with the family and such, but I have massive guilt if I let emails go too long unanswered!
OK, are we ready for this weeks assignment? It’s a 2 part one! First, show us your space! No, not the pretty ones from when you just painted the walls and got everything neatly put back in the room. The real ones, that you go and snap and then immediately blog about it (you can see mine here from last week, I was unintentionally working ahead!). I want to not just see pictures, but know how you make it work for you. Second, leave us your tips on how to get and/or stay motivated to do even the not so fun things. I’ll be doing my post about it tomorrow, but I want to hear from you. Give “the class” your tips! You can either link up to Mr. Linky, or leave them in the comments, either way, but speak up!
Glimpse into next week: Branding!! OOOhhhhh..it will be a good one!
