(no subject)

[figment]

I am feeling stressed about too much stuff to do. I hate that. I know it's self-inflicted and I like being busy but right now it's not good.
And I hate that I spent over an hour yesterday after I got home just goofing off. I don't normally do that - usually I get home and launch right into cooking or cleaning or creating something or going to the gym. Not yesterday: yesterday I just sat and listened to This American Life and stared out the window.
Very disappointed in myself.
Also disappointed that I feel it's unlikely I am going to get a piece made in time to submit it for a really cool fiber arts + communication show. Pieces are due May 2. I am totally creatively blocked and can't even get myself to settle on a single design. I was so excited about this show, to submit for it. And now I doubt that I'm even going to get something done for it. That really bums me out.

Today will be better, I hope; at least I am hopeful I will Get Shit Done. But I still am not hopeful about the submission.

Comments

[wired]

Your brain needs Sabbath. You are very busy and once in a while you are just going to stare out the window, because that also feeds the soul.

Being disappointed in yourself seems like an unjust punishment for the crime of only being productive for 9 hours in a row, and then, probably, making dinner and other things.

[figment]

You're right, thank you. It can be so hard to cut myself the same slack I'd willingly give anyone else.

[star5.livejournal.com]

sometimes spending an hour for yourself when your stressed is good for you. i understand you have a lot to do and you feel bad about not being able to do everything, but try not to be too hard on yourself. you're hardly a slacker!

[star5.livejournal.com]

also.. if you ever want someone to bounce project ideas off of, feel free to bug me! i know sometimes it can help to talk through things with someone else..

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

Thanks - it can be hard to have the right perspective and cut myself a little slack from time to time. :-/ And I may take you up on that, maybe this weekend in-between waterslides...

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

I agree with Miss 5. Especially as someone who tends to overbook and likes to Get Shit Done. I'd file staring out the window and listening to This American Life under "self care".

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I know you know about this kind of thing!
Sometimes being human is hard. Can I be a robot for a while?

[earlapricot.livejournal.com]

Agreed with the caliys: I think you should just add "stare out the window for an hour" to your todo list so you can just check it off when you're done and feel accomplished. It's totally one more thing that got done! Also - I don't know much (anything) about This American Life - but listening isn't doing nothing either. Listening is important.

[saracura.livejournal.com]

You are being very hard on yourself, dear! You don't have to be super productive all the time. I am speaking from 100% experience... haha It's actually not good for you to be like that. It's good to have down time.

[nicholay.livejournal.com]

Everyone pretty much said what I was going to. If this was someone else getting down on you like that, I'd want to beat them up! So be nice to my friend, and cut yourself some slack.

Or, you know, tiny fists of doom. Grarrrr. :)

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

I think that if you're normally very proactive about Doing Stuff [tm] when you get home, but you automatically just sat down and did "nothing" for an hour, that tells me that your body/mind know you needed to just...wind down for an hour and spend that time not focusing on anything but just being.

Why be hard on yourself? Deadlines, and crafting, and everything else we do for fun is only fun if we're not beating ourselves up over it. If it's not fun and you're not enjoying it, you're defeating the purpose anyway.

Maybe some down-time is just what you need to get back up again and into the swing of things. Be gentle with yourself :)

[cloudscudding.livejournal.com]

And sometimes time spent not actively doing anything is what the creativity well needs in order to refill.

[qubit.livejournal.com]

Dear $DEITY, if you only spend an hour once in awhile goofing off after getting home from work you are waaaaaay more industrious than most of us. And you deserve the downtime.

(Says I, who am reading LJ after dinner when I "should" be composing. So you are not alone in this sort of feeling. But still: do as I say, not as I do, and practice self-compassion, and the attendant good things.)