There’s so much to do… and not enough time to do it

There is no possible way I could say I’m in a creative funk at the moment. No, I suffer from the opposite in that I’ve got so many ideas, so many things on the go, and so little time to work on them, it generally makes me feel like I’m not making progress. Hell, I’ve got collection of 180 odd post ideas and fourty-odd first drafts — yet I’m struggling to finish them.

Life has been tough since my partner had a back op. With her taking most meals in bed for the last 6 months, it’s been me doing the cooking, laundry, dishwasher, as well as running up and down the stairs with food, drinks or just to help reach things.

We’ve got a gorgeous bundle of blonde who is now 3 and… strong willed. She’s at that busy age where she’s a lot of fun, but into everything — and with mum not able to look after her for more than an hour or so, it’s a lot. My daughter also rises at 5am most days. I rise earlier just to get a few hours in before the day starts. Add to that a full time job which I love, keeps me on toes, but also seems to go from “it’s so quiet at the moment, I can take some time to catch up” to “I’ve now got a backlog of four projects to get live, and I’m out of the office the entire day”.

It’s safe to say, I struggle to find not only the time, but the mental energy.

My Writing

I love writing. I don’t know if I’m any good, but still I write and I write and I write. Through Scrivener, Focuswriter, Inspirewriter, Typora — my output was fine. No worries there, but finishing and publishing something — that’s a whole other thing.

The trouble with the software above was, I just couldn’t keep anything organised with traditional folders. Yeah, you can put things in folders, but do you have a folder for each website you publish on? Folder for each writing status, or a folder for each topic? It’s limited.

And when you’ve got such little time, you need that focus, that clear direction. You need to know what needs to be done, and that’s hard when you’ve got so much in progress.

I long to make finishing and publishing a regular thing. My writing feels wasted just sitting there unfinished.

I discovered Anytype last year and it’s given me the potential to organising my writing by having a single writing ‘type’ complete with property fields for writing status, topic, website, publish date, etc. I can then filter my entire collection of posts/articles, etc by whatever means I want. This is key to me moving forward, knowing what I’m working on, and getting it ‘shipped’.

The issue? I’ve actually got to get my head down and organise.

…and it’s the same with…

My Photography

I’ve thousands of unseen photos — less than 1% of my work is online. It’s not even that I want to been seen by the world, just that I can have it there. To say “here, I made this”.

I’ve gone onto Flickr, 500px, Behance, Instagram, Facebook… and come off again. I don’t know what it is exactly about using third-party photo sites. Yes, whilst they will get more exposure on those sort of sites, I kind of feel more comfortable posting on my own site. It’s mine and I can keep it how I want. No ads, no algorithm, just my body of work. I don’t have to worry about a platform closing or charging. I feel safe to put the time into it.

Again, Anytype has been a real spur towards me publishing my work, helping me create a dynamic, definitive portfolio that I can use as a guide or prep for sharing online. I need to explore some gallery options for my site that will allow easy updating, a nice display, and easily filtered results.

So that’s my next step. Get the gallery ready. Then I can get to work on putting it out there.

My Artwork

I’m still getting contact from various sources asking if I would be willing to speak about art, or if I have any work to sell. But honestly, my artwork came to a halt in 2021 while we were expecting. I sold most of my work and just didn’t have a chance to make more.

I kind of knew it wouldn’t be feasible in its old form — too much to get out and pack away, too high a barrier to entry. But I did set a goal ‘Restart My Art’ for this year. I’ve invested in some digital painting software, and intend to try and do some regular work using that. It should be much quicker to grab a graphics tablet and start painting with that than clearing a large space, getting the paints and brushes out, drying, etc. I love traditional media, but digital will have to do for now.

This is all very much on the back-burner. As much as I’d love to dive back in and sell again, it’s not one of my top priorities, so progress will be slow.

So that’s it. I’m still here, chipping away at everything. I just hope I’ll have something more to show next time I post.

…and in other news:

We’ve just come to the end of an absolutely glorious late March/early April with barely any rain, crisp early mornings, and jacketless days — even to the point where blue lights flashing up the road and fires on the mountains has become a regular occurrence.

Spring is in full force with most things freshly leaved and glowing in the early evening sun. After a soaking wet and cold 2023/2024, I sincerely hope this is a sign of how the rest of the year will be. I think it’s safe to say we’re all hoping for an actual summer this year.

I’m going to feel a bit down about it to be honest, like coming back off a two week jaunt in the sun. I’m so grateful though, but still keeping my fingers crossed for that summer we deserve.