What does a sustainable creative habit look like?

Not toxic productivity, not pushing through, but connecting with your art in a way that respects and nourishes your nervous system.

Writing Divergent Creatives has been an incredible experience for me. I’ve loved pulling together all my work on understanding and working with variable nervous systems, energy levels and wellbeing capacities.

The actual writing of the book has been a case study on why this work matters—whilst making this project happen, I’ve been unwell, my kids have been struggling emotionally, and life has been completely upside down. I’ve needed all the tools I write about in the book to actually write the book; and, in the midst of all the chaos, it’s been a surprisingly joyful experience. Because of those tools. So I can’t wait to share them with you in the book!

Writing this book has also helped me to crystalise everything I do, and see how it all sits together.

In Divergent Creatives, I share the framework I use in my own creative practice. I don’t want to call it a methodology because that sounds a bit stuffy and prescriptive, and you know that’s not what I’m about. It’s more of a gentle container to encourage a creative habit. It’s a foundation for building a regular habit, not a formula for enforced productivity or tormenting yourself about “consistency”. It’s an anchor point to allow you to drift and then return to your centre.

It’s a cycle, not a process. There’s no start and end. It’s a continually moving part of your life as a creative that can pause for as long as you like. And that’s really important.

We’ve been fed so much bullshit about needing more motivation, needing to push through, needing to “hack” our brains and completely override our bodies’ signals that this is too much. All of that simply puts us in a state of overwhelm. We go into freeze mode, and end up doing nothing.

We need a creative habit that nourishes, not assaults, our nervous systems. We need to work with our unique needs and our true selves, not against them.

The Creative Fix Cycle

So this is how it works in practice.

Arrive

Before you begin a creative session, take a moment to check in with yourself on how you’re feeling. You can then work on a part of your project or in a way that suits your current situation.

Open

You know I love a creative ritual. It’s a great way to open space and signal to your brain that now is the time to make your art. It primes your system and eases the transition, engaging and soothing your senses.

Create

Now we make the art! Whether you have 5 minutes or 5 hours. Make it messily, make it imperfectly, just let yourself play.

Close

It’s a good idea to have a closing ritual—even something as simple as closing your notebook / sketchbook / laptop and saying, “That is enough for today.” It closes the loop in your brain and allows you to detach.

Reflect

Taking a couple of minutes to notice how you feel now, at the end of the session, gives you a lot of useful information. What gave you energy, and what drained you? What went well, and what did you find challenging? What do you need going forward?

Integrate

Your reflection will probably tell you what you need or want to do next. Making a note of your future intentions will help you to pick up the project again when you are next able, without spending time and energy figuring out what to do.

Celebrate

I rarely see anyone talking about this as part of the creative posts, but we really need to take a moment to celebrate ourselves! Whether you’re a rewards person (there’s more about this in the book!), or someone who simply needs acknowledgement that you showed up, that moment of celebration helps build your confidence, and gives you a hit of dopamine to encourage you to come back to your practice again.

Rest

Probably the most neglected but potentially most important part of the creative process. How are you going to do anything if you’re not adequately rested and resourced?! Rest is crucial. Both actual rest and creative rest (we talk about the difference between those in the book, too). The rest phase can last as long as you need it to, but you absolutely cannot skip it.

I am absolutely not at home to creatives being pressured to burn themselves out any longer!

This toxic productivity narrative serves no one except the billionaires that are fuelled by the bones of our exhausted carcasses like true energy vampires. Everyone wants to make a quick buck these days by selling you a methodology that will make you do more than you’re capable of, and, in doing so, they want to shame you for not doing enough, no matter how much you’re already doing.

The whole thing makes me sick.

We were all borderline nervous that we were going to be hurled into armageddon last week because the greedy, grasping capitalist babies that have taken control of their planet were throwing their toys out the pram. We should take that as a wake-up call—this planet, and the humans and other-than-humans that call it home, will not take much more of this. The system has to change.

There’s a revolution underway. A remembering of ways of living that respect our true natures. Creativity is such an important part of that—creativity is the antidote to capitalist consumption. So creating from a place of authentic self-care is not only radical, but necessary.

I don’t want to be dramatic and say that the future of our world depends on it, but…

We need your creativity. We need your unique perspective on the world. And if you don’t take care of yourself, the current system has damn well proved that it won’t do it for you. So it’s time to rise up.

Time to reclaim your art, and consider how you can show up for it in a way that nourishes your truest self.

What does a sustainable creative habit look like for you?

If you want to see the Creative Fix Cycle in action, I’m running a FREE five-day experience where we work through it together in just 10 MINUTES each day. You don’t even have to show up to every day. I’ll talk more about how it works, and about how you can make it work for your specific needs.

In just five days, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to stay in touch with your creativity throughout health and energy fluctuations, changing time commitments and variable capacity. You’ll let go of ideas of toxic productivity and misapprehensions around “consistency”, and find a habit that nourishes you.

Join me!