There’s Always Time for Creativity

The washing. Work emails. Job applications. Mending that wheel on Jack's bike. So many things vie for our attention. And letting ourselves loose with a plethora of pens and paints can feel self indulgent. So we relegate activities, like creative journalling, to the bottom of our already bursting To Do lists.

Creating Time for Journalling

I won’t champion the inherent self-care and transformative capabilities of journalling and creativity in general here. But that might be a reason to make it a priority. No?

☆ For more on journalling and self-care look here.

Plus, you’re not losing yourself for days, weeks, months in the making of a masterpiece. In contrast, the beauty of creative journalling is its self-contained format. It’s small, portable and you play by your rules.

So, if you don’t have the luxury of an open afternoon, or an evening alone. Perhaps you can look for pockets. Pockets of time.

Pockets of Time

A term beloved by productivity mavens, pockets of time has a kind of fairytale feel to me. It speaks of secret spaces. The overlooked. The in between. Of golden moments of opportunity.

I’m no productivity pusher, but it can be all too easy to let time slip through your fingers. While you might dream of pouring over your pages for hours, giving yourself tight creative boundaries can be motivating. And surprisingly revealing.

Time Tips

Journalling Tip: Allocate 10 - 20 minutes of your day to journalling. Have your journal kit and prompts ready to go. Put it in your diary. Create a sustainable practice.

Pockets of time a fantasy too far? Then consider that we spent around 90 minutes a day scrolling through social media in 2021 (eMarketer).

While other pockets of opportunity you could mine might be:

On your commute or travels — journal on the train. or in a cafe
During your daily walk — try journalling in nature. En plein air, as the French say…
While the dinner’s in the oven — the TV is tempting, but…
When playing taxi — loose yourself in your journal while you wait

Food for Thought

As Toko-pa Turner founder of the Dream School and bewitching writer of the book Belonging says of creativity and time:

“Creativity isn’t something we do so much as a continual flowing through us. Whether through dreams or ‘gap time’ in our schedules, creativity is something that natures through us when we give it the room it needs.”