00:09
Hi, this is Katie, and thank you for joining me on the Creating Your Sanctuary podcast, and this is a podcast about creating those little moments and space that's support you.

00:19
And this week I wanted to talk about stopping as being part of the creative and work process.

00:28
So I am very guilty of doing this sometimes.

00:33
I very much enjoy being in a flow state where you take time to kind of transition into being super focused on the work that you're doing.

00:44
And you find that you're very productive during those times.

00:49
It's really rewarding.

00:51
It's hitting that dopamine.

00:54
little notes in your brain of just like, yes, I got this.

00:58
I'm on this.

00:59
I'm getting it done.

01:00
I'm, um, just concentrating really well because someone with ADHD, sometimes that doesn't come so naturally.

01:07
It's sometimes you have to wait for it.

01:09
Sometimes you have to kind of clear out your schedule, sometimes you have to clear out your mind. Or get other things done before you can get that done.

01:17
Like it's a whole thing sometimes.

01:19
But part of being in the flow state and working hard on things and being super focused.

01:29
is taking a break.

01:31
So, I have, especially during times when I'm trying to get a lot done before either I'm having a family visit or before a holiday or before some kind of deadline, I will push myself.

01:49
And I've talked about this in other podcasts and videos and things that I've done, where if you are pushing yourself,

01:58
It's like the pendulum swinging from the guilt of not doing much because of chronic illness or, um, executive function skills lacking at some point of like, I just can't get work done that day, and then you swing the other way and you do get in a focused state.

02:17
And you can kind of burn yourself out.

02:20
So, There are some signs that you can look for, and you can also schedule, you know, some stopping points.

02:30
And I hate having like, I have to get this done by a certain time.

02:36
It's so kind of anxiety producing, but I also enjoy.

02:45
And do I enjoy it?

02:48
I do enjoy or at least celebrate.

02:52
knowing that when I hit those points and I'm not going over and I'm not burning myself out, that I am Saying thank you, Katie.

03:02
Thank you previous me for slowing down and going, okay, let's pace ourselves.

03:07
Let's take a break now.

03:09
And It is a fear of kind of like losing track of where you're where you are at.

03:17
Sometimes you are have these wonderful ideas.

03:19
And you're afraid of just losing them because you're, they're in your mind.

03:23
So capturing those ideas of like you're in the moment and you definitely are coming up on like maybe the 3 hour mark or whatever hour mark and you're just going, okay, I'm feeling fatigued in my body.

03:37
My brine, my brine.

03:40
My brain is on fire.

03:42
Um, in a good way and a bad way.

03:45
Like, it's, like, everything's kind of coming together, but you're starting to get feel a little frazzled on the ends, um, on the edges and just going, you know, I kind of feel like a fried egg that needs to come out of the pan.

04:00
I don't know, that's that's kind of my kind of thought, or sometimes your brain starts feeling kind of staticky, where I'm like, oh, wait, I was really in a flow state, but wait a minute, I'm kind of overdoing it.

04:13
So making notes about where you're at right now is actually a really good part of the process to re-enter really easily later.

04:23
So sometimes when we complete a little too much.

04:27
I mean, if we're wrapping up a project then we're wrapping it up.

04:29
But if you're at a stage where it's kind of like, when you watch Netflix episodes and you watch to the cliffhanger, then, um, then what is going to help you re-enter the next time?

04:47
Are you the type of person?

04:49
I mean, you can take that both ways.

04:50
You can be the type of person who likes to watch, like, the middle of an episode to a middle of an episode so that your cliffhanger is kind of more salt and you kind of hit that high and then go back to a low and then end.

05:05
Or you can go cliffhanger to cliffhanger because the cliffhanger is going to bring you back into the project.

05:11
I don't think there's a right way about it.

05:13
I just, I could see it working both ways, but also like taking those notes, making files that are set up.

05:22
So maybe there's a template that when you sit down, it's just ready for you.

05:27
Maybe there's, you know, the color palette's already picked out or the, um, stock of photography, stock photography, um, is all like picked out and put onto the art board and Canada or something. And the next day, you can just kind of sit down.

05:45
You don't, you have all those selects already ready.

05:48
So, Or maybe you're writing and you have an outline done.

05:53
And so the next day you can pick up and start at the beginning of that outline.

05:57
For instance, this podcast.

06:00
I have an outline in front of me that I'm looking at.

06:02
And I knew that when I sat down, I had a really solid thing I was going to talk about, but I already had the outlet done, outline done.

06:12
And I knew that I could sit down and then talk about these things.

06:17
And I do feel like this is when experience steps in that you have done this type of work long enough to recognize, that you still got it, whenever you take that break, you still have it, to finish up the project, to make it become a reality.

06:34
But your brain just has a limit on it sometimes.

06:38
You just can't keep going and going and going.

06:40
And you do feel like you're pushing yourself.

06:44
And that is definitely a point where you're, you know, pull back, okay, how can I wrap this up?

06:49
Well enough so that I can jump back in next time.

06:53
And, you know, maybe you are, your, your body itself is like, oh, I just want to scroll a little bit on my phone, um, maybe I need to go grab a snack, maybe I need to walk around the block or just something, like your body's already like telling you, you need to take a break that can be kind of involuntary that are just signaling.

07:14
Take a rest.

07:16
Rest your brain, move your body, do something else because this is all part of the natural cycle of creation.

07:25
And when you're creating and pushing yourself is just not going to work.

07:30
So try to pay attention to some of these things that you're feeling, some things that you're noticing and seeing if even scheduled breaks can offer you a better pace of those deep dive, still being very productive, but also stopping being very productive in the long run.

07:49
So, however you're Creating Your Sanctuary right now.

07:53
And I hope you're taking some breaks when you do.

07:56
It's enough.

07:58
I'll see you next time.