How To Swim When You're Drowning in Creative Ideas

If I asked: "Do you struggle with creative ideas?", you'd probably think I was talking about not having enough ideas and the problems that can cause.  Equally debilitating though - and often overlooked - is the dilemma of having TOO MANY creative ideas, and being so overwhelmed with possible creative projects that you COULD start, you end up doing none at all.

So here are 5 tips to help you learn to swim when it feels like you're drowning in creative ideas:

1. Honour your creative calling. Most of us have a list of possible creative ideas, whether written down or in our minds. We then usually try to work through them in sequential order, as if the ideas are an angry impatient queue that must be served in the order they arrived. A better way to follow your natural creativity is to pick the first idea that really calls you. One that excites and inspires you, and that you can't wait to begin. Pick just this one, and follow that creative momentum to its natural outcome.
2. Remove past projects. How many unfinished creative projects do you have in view when you look around your workspace? One of the biggest demotivators is reminding ourselves of all the things that we haven't finished. Instead, put them out of sight in a cupboard, or in a "material to be recycled" pile for future projects. As soon as you have a clear creative space, you'll feel a weight off your shoulders and far more ready to get creating with one of your new ideas.
3. Think "one night, one restaurant". If you were planning a night out for a meal with a few close friends, would you hit the town armed with the addresses of 12 different restaurants and the intention to visit all of them, because they might just have the most delicious meal in town? No, not unless you wanted to very ill and out of pocket by the end of the evening! You'd pick one and then make the most of it, savouring the food, the ambiance and the company. Think of creating in the same way. Pick one project, forget about all others for now, and give it your full attention.
4. Use an ideas book to stay focused. An ideas book is a fantastic way to capture ideas to develop later. Don't use this only for specific idea brainstorming sessions though. Keep your ideas book close when creating, and then any new ideas that pop up can be jotted down right away. This allows you to continue with your current creative project without being distracted by other ideas bouncing round your head demanding your attention. Capture them as soon as they appear, close your ideas book, then carry on creating. They'll keep for another time.
5. Accept you'll never develop every idea. This is crucial and at the core of overcoming the feeling of being overloaded with too many creative ideas. Even if you created as fast as you possibly could nonstop for the rest of your life without stopping for food, sleep or the bathroom, you'd only develop a small fraction of the creative ideas that appear in your mind. Accept that, it's the reality. So instead of struggling to develop them all, and not really getting any satisfaction with any of them, focus your energy on those that you're drawn most strongly to, and that have most meaning for you.

With these tips, you'll feel far more ready to begin to develop your ideas, one at a time, without drowning! Learn to swim, put these tips into action and start realising some of those wonderful creative ideas today!