We’ve all been there -- a deadline looms in the very near future and we find ourselves emotionally and mentally paralyzed in front of our computers. The pressure to be creative when you're on a deadline can take a toll on your mind and your soul. How can you be wildly creative and still fight the clock? How do you calm yourself to let your ideas spark like they do when you have no limits?

I know the panic-induced anxiety of being creative on command all too well. The truth is that if you have an important deadline, you’ll likely meet it.

The question at the end should always be, were you able to overcome your panic to do your best work? Was the process enjoyable or hell? Where do you find yourself on a soulful level? The answers to these questions determine whether you have been able to maximize your authentic creative flow. The emotions that usually come along with being on command include: creative blocks, depression, anger, sadness and most of all pure frustration! So it all comes down to this, how do you let your authentic, badass self be fully creative on command?

migrate your mindset how to be creative on demand belong magazine blog

HOW TO BE CREATIVE ON COMMAND

SCHEDULE CREATIVE TIME VS. PROCRASTINATE //

Procrastination is always the enemy when it comes to getting shit done. Sometimes life gets in the way and procrastination kicks in full gear until you’re left with just 1 day before your deadline. When you procrastinate being in the space to ignite creativity, you fuel the fire of having a creative block. What’s the key to making space for creativity and avoiding a full-blown block? Schedule in daily creative writing! Cutting out 30 minutes a day to just let yourself BE in your creative space is a great way to exercise your creative mind and let your authentic self speak through your ideas.

BE OPEN TO BE INSPIRED VS. BE OPEN TO THE EGO //

Allow yourself to be inspired! As one creative out a whole bunch of others with businesses, you may find yourself shutting yourself off in fear of the competition. This feeling of anxiety is the ego and also contributes largely to why procrastination happens and also to creative blocks. The ego is fear and is never the truth. The truth is that collaboration is always the answer and competition is not. By allowing yourself to be inspired by other creative people and businesses, you make way for new ideas, amazing networking opportunities and collaborations!

BE READY WHEN AN IDEA OR INSPIRATION STRIKES //

Ideas can POP into your head at anytime – the best usually come when your mind is at rest and you’re not concentrating too hard – like the middle of the night! Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote the book BIG MAGIC describes the concept of ideas perfectly and magically, of course! Gilbert says that, “ideas are alive, that ideas do seek the most available human collaborator, that ideas do have a conscious will, that ideas do move from soul to soul, that ideas will always try to seek the swiftest and most efficient conduit to the earth (just as lightening does).” It’s all about knowing that you can't force ideas when it comes to creativity, it comes to you when it comes to you. So how do you make yourself the “most efficient conduit” for ideas? BE ON YOUR A-GAME! I recommend having a notepad by your bedside, the Evernote app on your iPhone and any other quick idea grabber handy at all times of the day. Be ready when inspiration strikes!

ONLY TAKE ON CREATIVE GIGS THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR SOUL //

Never take on projects, write a blog post, or collaborate with other businesses if it’s something that doesn’t align with your soul- your authentic self. When you choose to do something/write something that’s not aligned with your soul, your full creativity is never exposed. The ego runs the show on this one. If this misalignment gets recognition and becomes exposed to people, they will have a misrepresentation about who you are and what you truly stand for. You’ll fall down the rabbit hole of being someone you’re not, and this only ends in some kind of self-destruction down the road. When you choose to do something/write something that’s aligned with your soul, your full creativity is BLAZING BABY! Your SOUL runs the show. You become a magnet for the audience that aligns to who you truly are and the authenticity of your creativity. You attract your soul squad. Your tribe. Your people. Your community. The Universe will have your back and whatever you put out into the world will be returned enormously. Synchronicity of meeting the right people at the right time and the right opportunities will be knocking on your door.

Creativity is a living, breathing, beautiful thing. It’s not something to be forced or reckoned with when you’re attempting to ignite it with an inauthentic you.

Being a creative means being surrounded by deadlines for projects, blog posts, eCourses and workshops. You will feel pressure and that’s a given, it’s the way you handle having to be creative on demand that will make a world of difference for you, your creative business and everyone else around you! Remember that scheduling in time for being in your creative space is important and will release pressure on your deadline, leave the ego out and be inspired by others in your creative industry – collaboration over competition, be the available human collaborator for ideas and be on you’re A-GAME at all times for when that idea strikes and last but not least only take on creative gigs that align with who you are on a deep authentic, soulful level.

Photo credit: Amy Francis — Photo credit: Amy Francis

Kelly Misbin is an internationally certified life coach and intuitive medium from Brooklyn, NY. Kelly helps women who believe that they have something different and rare deep down inside of them. They’re ready to be navigated away from fear and are ready to come face to face with their authentic selves. They’re ready to fix old wounds, accept the truth, discover magic and reach towards their goals and become present in who they are and what they’re meant to do.