I was struggling recently to pull together slides for a branding presentation – an effort requiring only a little strategic thought and creativity. But several attempts at starting were relatively fruitless. Even though I’d set aside focused time to do the project, it was impossible to progress.
At the same time, another project was pending; it had to be completed so that the next person in the process could begin. With that project lingering, I forced myself into the mode of answering questions, closing down potential options, and repeating the mantra, “Better done than perfect.” After a day’s worth of work, there was tremendous relief in finally signing off on that project and emailing it to the person looking for the results.
Then with a brief mental break from the computer, selecting the slides for the presentation became a snap; it was finished in 90 minutes!
As much as I thought that I had the creative depth to move both efforts ahead virtually simultaneously, I couldn’t. The creative reserves necessary for the project didn’t leave enough free space in my mind to work on the presentation.
So the next time the strategic and creative juices aren’t there for a project, ask yourself, “Is there something else hanging over my head?” If there is, see if you can take the steps to get the “something else” completed or delegated to someone else so that you have the max headroom for creativity.
