How To Reduce Stress As A Busy Creative - Now & Long-term!

Stress is caused by a mixture of overwhelm in the present and anxiety about the future because of a challenge or a demand.

Stress can create feelings of resistance, confusion, anger, despair and, strangely enough, even cause you to procrastinate.

When we feel stressed, our judgment is clouded, affecting our ability to be our best creativity. 

If you use your creativity as your profession, here are 14 tips for reducing stress both in the moment and long term.

In the moment:

• Write things down. Get everything you're feeling stressed about out of your head and onto paper. Check to see which of the tasks is causing you to feel the most stress. Ask yourself if you are actively trying to resolve this and identify which you are ignoring do something about them.
• Look at where you're causing yourself more stress by being a perfectionist. Based on your timeline, ask yourself what the great, good, fine, and ok versions look like for this project or task. If you struggle with perfectionism, I invite you to watch my mini-workshop. 
• Try EFT Tapping. Emotional Freedom Techniques is free and was designed to help war veterans with PTSD recalibrate their emotions. If it can work wonders with them, it can help you overcome a stressful situation or day. Click here to watch my free EFT workshop or view my bite-sized guides on Instagram.
• Take more daily breaks by eating and drinking outside or next to a window. 
• Do you feel saturated? Then get organised. Are your workspace and material stash a mess? Maybe it's time to spend a day doing a spring clean. Disinfect your space, put things back in their place, unsubscribe from unhelpful newsletters, clean up your downloads folder, and sort out your desktop screen!
• Reduce the chance of increasing stress by comparing yourself to other creatives. Unfollow, mute or block people on social media while trying to complete your project. 
  
  

Long-term:

• Avoid the all-or-nothing attitude. Instead, learn when to rest, don't quit.
• Join a creative community or work with a coach for creatives for ongoing support.
• Stop multitasking and learn to prioritize and focus on one thing at a time. Try using The Progressive Creative Planner.
• If you're a menstruating person, where possible, work in alignment with your cycle. Don't overload your workload, appointments and deadlines on the 5 -10 days leading up to, during and after you bleed. You can watch my free workshop called the Cyclical Creative Business Owner here to learn how your hormones affect your energy, productivity and creativity.
• Don't have time to do everything yourself? Step back and look at the big picture and longer-term strategy. Where can you let go of some control and delegate or set up some systems or automation? Make this happen by reaching out to people for help or enrolling in courses to help your specific need.
• Make sure you're eating well and exercising regularly. Obviously! But it's easy to neglect the basics when you're stressed. 
• Schedule time for yourself to do whatever brings you joy or peace. Walks in nature, lunch with friends, read a book or take a nap! 
• Leave your cell and computer outside your bedroom or keep them out of the room after 9:30 pm. 
• End your day listening to a short sleep mediation so you're not thinking about your work in the last part of your day. I use the Insight Timer App.