What Will You Finish Before The End Of 2023? - ISSUE 49
Got some unfinished projects/goals/plans? Keep reading for comfort + solutions!
Housekeeping
Hey newsletter fam! Welcome back and thanks for joining me again for another issue of Love Lucy.
This week I wanted to address something a little different that I hope will help the creative community tackle the rest of the year's goals. If you are like me and things sometimes bloat and take forever, or you find yourself stuck in a cycle where you never really finish anything you started...then this one should make you feel seen and also help to combat the struggles a little too!
I also really enjoyed this video by fellow aussie YouTuber Struthless which is like a self improvement channel for people who hate self improvement content! He is relatable and offers straight up, honest advice that really speaks to anyone navigating through life as a creative person. I actually saw this video after I wrote this newsletter and I think the free downloadable journal type document he provides along with the video is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to unpack their current situation, learn from it and take some action! So when you are done reading this go give him a whirl.
Ideation Station
As creatives we all seem to have this ongoing flow of ideas, dreams and things we would love to do in our time here on earth. The ideation stage is not only a fun stage to exist in but it’s also a comfy one. Ideation station is where the possibilities seem endless and you give yourself a big pat on the back for coming up with so many banger concepts, zine names, projects, collabs and possible podcast co hosts and just generally mentally masturbating over the wonderful little creations your brain comes up with. Go you for being such a good little idea machine!
Implementation Induces Anxiety
Next up is the implementation stage and this is where the clouds come rolling over on your sunny little idea filled day. This stage involves real work and things like logistics and planning and eventually…execution. Suddenly you start to feel
Overwhelmed
Doubtful
Anxious
Fearful
These feelings then lead to procrastination or second guessing your original idea, which is a shame because it seemed so great in the beaming sunshine over at the ideation station. Now your idea seems cloudy and confused. There is all this grey area and doubt. You don’t like these conditions and so you park this idea for fear it might not be the one and opt for a new shiny, sunny one that you can pull from the many you have been storing at the previous location… and before you know it you are back at ideation station otherwise known as square one.
HELP!
If this, or parts of this, sound familiar to you then keep reading and let’s talk it out (read it out) together.
We are just over halfway through the year now and before you know it you will be drowning in Christmas wrapping paper, family commitments and a rush to finish off anything pressing at work before the year is out.
So before this takes over, let’s take a good look at where your goals/projects/bodies of work are at and plan out how to get the damn things done!
Commit To The Creation
So an audit of your unfinished projects and ideas is a great place to start - so let’s start there shall we?
Make a list of all your potential things - all your loose ends - all your half finished stuff.
Now go through and cull ruthlessly!
Crossing off things you know are either not speaking to you or are unrealistic for you to complete before the end of the year. Find a balance here of something that feels exciting and you know you really do want to see through, whilst also keeping in mind that you are only human and time is a finite thing.
Now you have your thing that you are gonna finish, you need to commit to that thing and only that thing. This is your one thing, the thing you will finish by the end of 2023!
Chunk The Commitment
Chunking is something I learnt about at TAFE when I was studying to be a teacher's aid and it didn’t actually help me in my profession but it’s helped me a lot with creative pursuits. Who would have thought right?!
So “chunk it out” is an exercise I use for pretty much everything now and it’s how I get so much shit done!
YouTube video idea - chunk it out
Client work - chunk it out
Photo project - chunk it out
Prep for coaching calls - chunk it out
Okay, so you get my chunky approach here and it’s probably somewhat obvious but let me explain…
Thinking of all the steps to do something and how they will play out and all come together to create an end product is like someone just sat on my chest and I can’t breathe. So instead I break down the steps into small actionable things I can do each day or week to move towards that end point.
Example - I have a new client that I am going to create content for. 4 reels and some photos to be exact. I instantly had so many things running through my head that I knew I would need to consider to nail this, so I wrote it all down and worked in a linear fashion.
Step 1 - I need a clear idea of what the client wants. This includes emailing, jumping on a call and asking the right questions, showing examples, doing a mood board etc.
Step 2 - Researching the brand, their website socials etc. what is their current style and content, where are the gaps and how can I fill them using the above information I have gathered
Step 3 - Mapping out the content. This involves storyboarding each reel, working out what props I need, where will we film, what gear we need and all the logistics of actually filming the content
Step 4 - Setting time aside to do this and having a few back up plans if things don’t go as smoothly as I hope
Step 5 - Reviewing the footage and putting it together. Do we need more? Did we miss something?
Step 6 - Liaising with the client and sharing the content with them. Are they happy? Is there something they want more or less of?
Step 7 - Delivering the content, following up for future work, adding this to my portfolio etc.
So you see here that there are actually a lot of steps here to get to the end point and it seemed really overwhelming at the beginning Being able to just focus on one step made it a lot more achievable.
This chunking approach can be used for personal projects as well. I was only using work as it’s something I am doing right now. I often do this for YouTube videos as well or even small things like submitting my work to a publication or open call. Just taking the first step by going on the website and looking at what I need to do, what res do the images need to be, do I need my bank card to pay a submission fee and then I feel prepared to actually enter.
Do I sound CRAZY right now like some insane life prepper!??? I promise I don’t chunk my whole life out sometimes I go with the flow…sometimes.
Create a Timeline
So now you have done all this hard work you better not even think of abandoning ship and running back to ideation station to get all comfy and safe! It’s time to push through and see this out even if you are feeling that sudden panic that what you are doing and have worked hard for, might actually suck! I promise you it doesn't and it won’t.
So when is your deadline? Give yourself one. I give myself fake deadlines all the time and just seeing it there makes me go “Okay Luce let’s get a move on here”
When you know the deadline or at least a rough end goal of when you want the thing to be finished you can start to map out how often you will work on it. Maybe once a week you do an hour or maybe you spend your Saturday morning sequencing the photos for your zine. Perhaps you schedule in a time that you will share a rough draft with a friend, or you have a deadline for when the zine will go to the printer in order for you to post before Xmas?
Just don’t let it bloat and tell yourself that “ you’ll get to it when you have time” that is like the biggest death sentence of a sentence and basically means you will never get to it, cause you didn't make time for it.
Commit and make it part of your schedule!
Aftermath
Often we kind of take a sigh of relief when we have completed something and then we sort of just forget about it. It’s so important to revisit the things that give us motivation and encouragement to keep creating. Looking back over your projects, achievements and creations is fuel for your next adventure and is a great way to assess what you learnt and what you will do differently next time!
Also don’t forget to let people know what you did and give them the chance to support you and congratulate you too! Sharing is caring so share your finished projects with the community.
So what will you finish before the stroke of midnight welcomes in the new year and we embark on 2024?
Love Lucy xx
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