If you know me, you’ll know that I am all about making time for creative fun and nice moments. It’s my jam. It’s my very favourite thing to do. Of course, I am not alone. I bet you (yes, YOU!) are pretty hung up on having positive and inspired times too? I knew it! Yep. So let’s talk shop.
You’ll be pleased to know that I’ve come up with something super useful to help nice moment loving types like us keep our lives on track, because let’s face it, it can be hard to find the time to do the thing we love the most.
And let’s pause there for a second. *pause* Let’s ask ourselves why. Why?!
Why do we put the things we love the most or the things that make us feel happy and inspired at the bottom of the list? It’s a crying shame.
I suppose it’s part burnt chop syndrome and part misguided, selfless resignation and part the fact that we often feel so time-challenged or overwhelmed.
All those (pretty crappy) parts smoosh together to have us de-prioritising our own creativity and fun times, to the detriment of not only ourselves but also those who have to deal with the (creatively frustrated, slightly joy-challenged) version of us every day.
It’s OK, though. I have a fix.
Inspired by an invitation from the good folk at Office 365 to try their software, I thought what better way to use awesomely practical organisation focused programs than for getting ourselves in tip-top, as-positive-as-possible creative shape?!
They say it takes 21 days to form a solid habit, so I figured if I pulled together a 30 day guide to nice moments and inspiration it would give everyone a cracking good start to making time for themselves well beyond that month-long time frame. All the better if I organised it into something you can print out and stick on the fridge or in your diary, right?
My idea was to break things down to a day-by-day routine, blocking out small (and some larger) chunks of time to do, read, watch or listen to things that inspire us or get our creative juices flowing. Some days feature snippets of free time just-for-us. Other days have great film suggestions, ideas on creative outings or uplifting links that will make a difference to your day.
I’ve pulled it all together into a go-to guide using Office 365. You can download your copy here – in a pretty, colour-coded Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Then print and play!
Of course, my ideas about creativity and good times might not match yours. That’s OK! Maybe you want to think about creating your own version, tailor-made to suit your exacting tastes. Of course, you don’t have to use Microsoft Excel. You could make your own 30 day guide in Microsoft Word (cute document style) or Powerpoint (because maybe slides are your jam!)
Whatever makes sense to you is good enough for me! (Or maybe you love playing with spreadsheets as much as I do?!)
I must say I love the whole geeking out for creativity vibe. You don’t have to be a disorganised bohemian with a baguette in your pocket and paint on your face to be creative (although if you are, more power to you!) You can also be a super-sorted, cleverly prioritising dynamo, blocking out time to enjoy life and challenge yourself each day.
Another thing I liked about Office 365 is its integration with OneNote. You can add the OneNote app to your phone and save interesting articles to read later (all neatly sorted into categories, so you can find it all again later!)
If you’re the kind of person that catches up on their reading in the Post Office line or at the airport check-in (like me!), this is the perfect way to organise those interesting snippets before you curate them into a monthly ‘dig deeper’ creative plan.
Slot them into your 30 day spreadsheet/document/cool thingy and then spend a little more time digesting the things that you skimmed and seeing where they lead you.
You could even swap 30 day creativity guides with your friends and send each other off on inspiring adventures curated by you! Make it a monthly challenge!
If you’re still not sure where you will find this creative time, start small. Choose the 15 minute activities I’ve popped into my spreadsheet – or get up half an hour earlier each day and follow a made-by-you creative guide, filling that bonus half-hour with things that make you sing!
