Planning to Have No Plans

I’ve been thinking about time recently: deep thinking time and creating time.

In our busy, busy productivity society, there seems to be a a bias towards getting things done and marking things off of check lists. It seems sometimes the only way we can prove that we have been productive, is by listing off all the things we’ve gotten done in that day, week, month or year.

There’s a lot to be said for to-do lists and getting things done. Things get done. I like that. That’s positive! But all the to-do’s can become a lot of chattering noise which is distracting and makes it hard to focus. I’m finding that having periods of time without a predetermined goal and without interruptions is what I am looking for and wanting. I want the calm and the peace to let my mind drift where it wants to and make the connections between ideas that it does. It’s in these periods when I have a-ha moments, figure out a next part of my life puzzle, or just enjoy the freedom from to-do’s.

I find that the busy-ness of to-do lists also inhibits creative play and exploration. Trying something new requires a certain amount of psychic energy. Things take longer because it’s new and I’m not sure what I’m doing. It’s hard to get fully engaged if there’s only a fifteen minute window or an hour before the next meeting. If I’m doing something I’m familiar with, I can squeeze it it. If it’s new, I won’t try it then.

Ironically, sometimes it’s important to plan to have no plan and put that down on my list or calendar to allow time for deeper thinking and creative play.

How do you create best?

A Sketch Collage of Snippets

I took a two-hour workshop over the weekend with Sketchbook Skool that gave a lot of ideas of ways to fill up pages in a sketchbook. One of the suggestions fits in with something I already love to do - collage drawings. I do this with my travel journals. This spread was much quicker and more loose and wonky than I usually draw but it was fun.

The suggestion was to take a spread, a couple of pages, in your sketchbook and fill it with drawings of things that you live with and that are around you. It can be done all in one sitting or done over a few days. The drawings could be larger or smaller or exact size to fit in puzzle-wise on the spread. You can keep it as just ink or add color later.

I started with various things that were on my desk or were within arm’s reach. A lot of them turned out to be things that I had been keeping there so I would draw them. I have a dragon from Japan, soap from Portugal, a gift, a picture of my grandmother’s cat, pictures of my departed dog, as well as various odds and end like a Kleenex box, lip balm, a jar of brushed, a small container of ink..

What’s nice about this kind of project is that it can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it. It can also be done in different rooms of the house or it can be a visual diary of a day. Do it with one kind of tool one day, and a different one another day.

Try it and share with me what you drew.

A sketch collage of snippets from my desk

Are you interested in the possibilities of what you can do in a sketchbook? Do you have some ideas but aren’t sure where to start? I am offering a new 6-week workshop: Exploring Keeping a Sketchbook which starts this Friday, May 1st. We will be meeting live via Zoom, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm Pacific time. I will give you at least 5-10 different things to try every week in class and between sessions. Come join the fun and start filling your sketchbook and developing a creative habit.