Ok, this whole week has been a blur. I’ve got to review decor8’s Creativity’s SeriesTips two at a time now because I missed last weeks tip #6. Well, I didn’t actually miss tip #6 but the paying work I have kind of took over. I’m totally not complaining though, I love my clients. I got up early today to catch up on things and have a little “me” time, which means blog time (or me and you time, if you prefer!) I am still working on my time management skills so bear with me on a few things until I get myself more together…I’m thinking April-ish. Haha, no, actually March will be a better month for me as far as project management goes. I am going to start posting FREE desktop artwork for anyone that wants to cute-ify their desktop and hopefully their office or local coffee shop, wherever you peeps are reading this from (or Hulu-ing from! More on that in my next post)

Wow, the coffee is really starting to kick in, where were we? Oh yes, the decor8 creativity series tips….#6 and #7. First, let me just say that Holly at decor8 is a pretty freeking awesome woman and you should visit her blog and all her links and love her like I do! (NOW! ok not right now but you will….you will) I’m obviously in stalker mode, ha! But seriously, I talk about Holly so much because she is a great inspiration, and a generous artist-blogger that deserves recognition! (too much gush?)

OK the TIPs…#6—what is APS and why is Aimee talking about it…(I’m enjoying third person references lately)

Well, really I made up APS (Analysis Paralysis-Syndrome) just the Syndrome part though, because Analysis Paralysis is REAL as explained by Holly it’s the never ending over-cooking, over-research, over-exploring of your own ideas until, ultimately, you do NOTHING (and if you’re me…then you complain about it!) -how was that for a run-on sentence? enough hyphenation in there for you?! 

So, how about you? Do you over-cook your ideas? I know I can’t even bake cookies (or anything else for that matter) so I can relate to this affliction…I over-think everything and it really does slow my progress. After reading tip #6, I sat down and wrote an outline for myself and then did an action list to match the things on the outline I want to accomplish. Simple as that, I had a clear plan before me. But it didn’t happen without some effort. I had to think of myself as one of my clients and assume the “get the job done role” that I do so often when I have a new client that is unsure of their direction or target or even their own style. When I meet with a client I have an “It’s All About You” worksheet that really helps them simply and matter-of-factly describe their project/preferences/feelings. Then we talk about it and I get a “sense” of what they are looking for and we proceed from there. I’ve always been good at the “sense” part (pictures actual weave in and out of my head while they speak, ooooh weird, right? goose bumpy!).  I think that previously when it came to my own personal projects though, I have been too close to the subject (Me!) and therefore could not “sense or feel” which direction to go in or see the solution (be the driver Aimee!) – hence the constant over-analysis, searching for the perfect solution (which was in front of me the whole time but too close to see). Does that make sense?

Self-confidence is another aspect of this concept of over-cooking your ideas. Knowing yourself and your abilities is most important; knowing that you’re awesome is important!! Yeah, I’m talkin’ to YOU. Many artists have trouble with this because they worry about appearing arrogant or still see themselves as “just me” or talk to themselves using their inner critic voice “who do you think you are? what makes you so special?” “Everything’s been done before, you can’t be original” “you’re just another page in a book my friend, a big fat, ugly, stupid blank page” (too much? sorry I’ll pull back a little) You get my drift. In my opinion, having confidence in yourself and your talents, whatever they may be, is step one to breaking the Analysis Paralysis cycle. You gotta start somewhere, so better start now, because you are pretty awesome, you know. (now say it to YOURSELF and MEAN IT!) Quite bossy today, aren’t I?  Hehe.

OK so what was Creativity Tip #7 all about??? You’re gonna love it. It’s all about being a good listener, and if you’re not one, how to practice being one. Practice makes perfect right? Most people are not good listeners, I am guilty of this as well. I get over excited and forget to ask questions. The “classic Aimee” example is getting to work and someone asks “How are you?” and I say “I’m good” and then the conversation kind of ends…I have to remind myself to reciprocate. Like so: “I’m good, how are you (insert name here)?” I think my tendency not to reciprocate has a lot to do with my shyness brought on by being so self-conscious, I go through ups and downs with this still but I am definitely improving my listening skills. Asking questions is how we learn, and if you don’t understand or are curious about something don’t be afraid to ask questions, of course wait until the other person is finished speaking (PLEASE) Over talkers irk me more than anything, then it’s the one-uppers (who you KNOW aren’t listening or even caring what you are saying, they usually take a big breathe before you are even finished talking-which prompts you to stop talking – because it feels like you are interrupting and rude if you don’t-ugh), next on the list of irkson habits are long-laughers but that is not on topic. Maybe I’ll cover that in my Hulu post. Alrighty–so hop on over to Holly’s blog decor8 and read up on how to be a good listener, she does a waaaay better job of explaining it than I have here. And, while I’ve got your attention I’d like to extend a personal thank you to Yvonne Yam for being an EXCELLENT listener, albeit via email (she is in Singapore). I spill all my ramblings into an email and she always responds with the most helpful information and encouragement that shows she really “listened” to me and can effectively convey back to me her insights. Thanks Yvonne! And of course, if YOU stuck with me through this whole “Two-Fer” Blog Post and clicked all the links—and hopefully have questions for me (wink), thank you, thank you for being such a stellar listener!! 

[artwork © Aimee Elizabeth McEwen 2009]