Managing Creative Projects

1. INTRODUCTION: I believe creative work is sacred, that it's important. It's essential that we finish the things that we start, that you get your ideas out there for the rest of us. If you're creative, professional, creative artist, you probably agree with me. But what I've noticed in some of my classes is that some students are not really missing craft technique tips. They're missing accountability. They're missing that encouragement. Actually, sit down and to get those roid yes, out there to polish. This is natural, but it's also a bit ironic because some of us have jobs some of us go to school, were able to fulfill deadlines, were able to get things done when someone else is telling us to when there are consequences for not finishing. But when it comes to our own personal life, are creative ambition. Sometimes way go off track way. Forget dream. We forget the thing that we really want to pursue. We need remind ways of motivating ourselves and ways of remembering what it is we're working on and what we've completed and where we're still going. So instead of giving you 50 different productivity hacks or tips, I really wanted to focus on 11 that I think has been successful for me and one that I think makes sense for the creative individual because it's very visual. It's very tactile and it's elastic. It can change to what you're doing, what you're working on. This technique is called the combine table, or combine chart that comes from a different world that comes from the world of manufacturing. But again, I think that it has applicability for us because it's elastic because it's visual, because it is a constant reminder of this big dream that you have. My goal is not to turn it into a productive robot. My goal is to support your process, your creative process and your medium. So whether you're a graphic designer, novelist, musician, painter, writer, whatever it is you're working in, whatever of goals that you can find ways to support that and find ways where you don't lose hold of the dream 2. FUNDAMENTALS:: I've decided that probably the best way for me to illustrate the tool is to actually use my iPad. So I'm gonna be illustrating sort of, how we use the combine method is gonna allow me to show you variations very easily. I know that screen cast can get boring quickly. What I've tried to do is script this out and break up the the lessons the sections, but also provide sort of little conversations or little tangents where we can talk about just productivity for the creative individual in general. So let's get started. I think the best way for us to get started is to talk about creative productivity. What does that mean? Because it sounds like a contradiction. It sounds like I'm trying to pull you in opposite directions, and in a way, I guess I am. Or at least that's the connotation of that phrase. So if you imagine yourself represented in the middle with this face, productivity is pulling you in the direction of schedules. Deadlines. What else? Repetitive work, right? That's that's kind of what it commentate. It's regular regular mechanical work, right, and on the other hand, creativity the connotation of it at least suggests In many ways the opposite creativity is more airy. It's more organic. It's one of a kind, right? So I'm not I'm not doing the same thing over and over again. And in many ways, for a lot of people, it's driven by inspiration, right? We only work when we have an idea or were in the mood. So what I'm trying to do in this class is retained This I want to retain your creative spark. I don't want to do. I don't want to damage it. I don't do anything to it. I don't want to turn you into a productive robot. My argument, though, is that I think that we can take some ideas from from productivity. Some ideas that we've learned at school at work at Teoh help push our creative work to help to help us complete that creative work so that we're not just stuck on inspiration or stuck in the place of ideas. But we're actually acting on what we're doing. So in this class, we're gonna be taking or we're gonna be borrowing. Ah, an idea from manufacturing called combine charts. And I wanted to give you a little bit of background. A little bit of history will not history, but just little bit of background without getting bogged down in the details. So the best way for me to explain this is with a very simple assembly line. So if you imagine I'm making some kind of item, may be in this example a car and I start off first with my role supplies my components that have come in from my suppliers. And then I have the phase where my workers are putting together these components to make a car, to make a widget, to make something. And then I have the final phase where this product is ready to be shipped out to a customer , ready to be picked up by someone. And so very broadly, I have these three phases, right. I have work to be done. I have that work that is being done, and then I have work that is completed or completed work. Now, if you imagine yourself in the position of a factory manager who is overseeing this assembly line, and they are there trying to keep tabs on what's happening on what's going on, and they've got two options. Option one is that they actually walk the floor, they actually go out and they count every single time. They want an update. They talk to their factory workers. They count how many finished cars, how many finished items there are. And then they go back into their office. And you can imagine that that, you know, option one is very painful, very cumbersome option, too, if they can turn their office into a kind of control tower, if they can invent some kind of visual radar that they can use as a way to see what is actually happening out on the floor. So if you imagine this radar screen or this radar graphic that I've drawn and this is moving, you know, in all directions, it's moving 3 60 So I'm seeing a picture of the entire floor, and I'm able to see kind of what we're juggling. I'm able to see what deadlines are coming up. I'm able to see where things have slowed down in my process. And so if I could invent something like this, right, some kind of quick visual, that would be fantastic, because then I can get a sense of what's happening on the floor. And if things are moving forward or not and that's what a combine chart is, it takes this really process, this riel place, this this really set of tasks and turns it into a visual. A table that we can reference and we can use is a kind of control tower to figure out where things are in the process. Now again, I have started off this discussion with an example that comes from a world where we are making the same thing over and over again, an assembly line and obviously as a creative individual. That's not the case for you. Each project. Sometimes each task is unique and has its own demands. But I would argue and kind of the theme of this entire classes that even though our creative process is unique and each individual project is unique, I think that there is a kind of similar three phase process. We start off with the raw idea, the thing that we haven't really acted on. We start to work on it and we complete it. We we we get it to a point. We're ready to share it with our friends, our family, our audience, the creative process is is mess here, so we're not necessarily moving in a leaner direction like an assembly line. But there is that kind of, broadly speaking, those three phases. And as we continue, I will, I guess, complicate or I will show you how you can tailor it to your needs. 3. Flow of Tasks: we start off on the left with the to do items thes air, the items that we haven't really started on the doing items, the things that we're actively working on that are taking up our schedule, that that are sort of the priority right now. And then we have the done column, the done column for for you as an individual consume kind of repetitive like Why do you need this reminder of what you've completed? And in my opinion, this is probably the most important. Call him, because what it does is it's a It's a reminder. It's not just functional, but it's really motivational as well. Your They're gonna be moments where you feel you haven't made any progress where you feel you're stuck. And the done column is just sort of this reminder of the past of how far you've come. And as we continue you, you get a better sense of that. So let's go through this table with just one task. Let's see, let's see how we move one task through this table. I'm kind of mimicking here like a post it note again. You could be doing this in the digital world or in the physical like with a poster and posted notes. But let's assume that I have a task written down on this. Post it note, and this represents my This represents my task in the language of common charts. We would call this a compound card but would just refer to it as a test to make it easy, any sort of items that I know that I want to start working on. Eventually I would put in there to do a column. This would be kind of my brain dump, right? So just all the the role ideas that I have for a particular project I would put in this column when I'm ready to get started on it, I would move it forward, and I would literally do this, whether it's physical or digital, the combine chart that I've created for myself. I would literally move this Ford into the doing column so that I have this kind of visual reminder, this indicator of what I'm working on. And then, of course, when I complete it, I would put it to rest in my in my done column. Now this seems like kind of overkill for one task Right now, the combine chart becomes really interesting, in my opinion, when we have multiple tasks related to one project. So if we populate this just, for example, with a couple of different tasks. So I'm working on, Let's say I'm working on three tasks and I've completed, for example, uh, of completed eight tasks, right? So you can see here. Visually, it's a lot easier to get a sense of what I'm doing, where I roam at what things I still have to get started on versus trying to keep all of this in my brain. And one of the things that begins to emerge when you start to use a visual like this is when you've written tasks or you designed tests that are too big, right when you find yourself kind of getting stuck, are not moving forward on something. It's usually an indication that the way you've designed that task the way you've word, it is maybe incorrect or or too ambitious 4. Projects vs Tasks: So, for example, I can have a task that I spend, let's say, 1 to 2 months on or even years right? And because I've designed that task, I've ordered that task in a kind of insane way. It's not really a task anymore when you find yourself sort of sitting on the same thing. So, for example, if you gave yourself the task of I'm gonna write the great American novel, which is a crazy thing to, you know, it zits a wonderful ambition. But it's a crazy thing to try to pursue in one shot, right? That's that. That's something you pursue in stages. That's something that you try to break up, and that's that's an example of what I mean is that you need to differentiate between projects and tasks. So I think what will make this a little bit clear is to define what do I mean by task or what? What do I think would be helpful in your design of tasks? For me, a task is actionable right? It's doable, like you haven't written something that that you can't understand when you kind of go back to when you go back to your combat chart its atomic. And what I mean by atomic is that you've you've made it bite size, right? You've broken it down into its sort of bear pieces. Another key quality of a well designed task is that it's something that is essential. The point of a combo on board is not to just populate it with dozens and hundreds of tasks . Every task that you have on your board needs to feel like it has to be done. It has to be done. Otherwise, there's something incomplete about the project. Finally, some tasks are sort of murky in nature. Some are very clear, like I need to send email to this person. I need to buy this thing. I need to buy this software. But some tests air really about sitting down, and you're writing office in your studio for X amount of time without really knowing exactly what's going to happen. So, for example, if you know that the first draft of your first chapter of your novel is gonna take two hours and it's it's a guesstimate right, that can change as as you're working on it. But you come up with that gold or that idea and we can break this up into sort of. Actually, before I do that, let me just make sure right duration so that we don't forget we can break this up into four 30 minute increments, right for 30 minutes, sort of tasks or sessions. And in each of these sessions, I know overall kind of what I'm working on. But it's not clear how I'm gonna get there or what the individual tasks are. The goal that to do. The task is about sitting down, sitting it down about with for X amount of time. So that's that's really important, especially for the creative process. Some of some of your to do's are going to be more about just sitting down and investing some time on a particular problem, without knowing exactly how you're going to solve it without knowing exactly and maybe how long this is going to take. But you start with with a guesstimate if we design our tasks right, little bolder. If we design our task intelligently than what we should see is we should start to see things in our combine board, you know, flowing moving. We shouldn't see this phenomenon where things are just sort of stuck in the same place for weeks and months and again when we see things moving like so this is really encouraging. This this makes us feel like, OK, we're getting somewhere. Even though the project itself might be humongous, it makes us feel like we're getting somewhere. 5. Task Paralysis: I did want to go over an example, though, of a task that you know it is a task. It it is something that one could say is a world is on task, but for whatever reason, you are paralysed by it. So let's use the example of let's say that you're a writer and you want to send your manuscript to Charles, who is a editor at a publishing company. And you know, if if you can get Charles on board, that's going to really push your project forward, right? This is a This is a high stakes email. You have to get it right. And if this particular test right here has been sort of sitting in your board, like so for weeks and months and whatever, that's a sign that, you know, you're really paralyzed by it, and you really want to get it right. And this, this happens all the time that you come up with something that should be simple should be straightforward. But for whatever reason, you can't move forward on it. This is Ah, this is a moment where I think we can break this into smaller pieces into pieces that feel like there's less at stake that there's less mistakes that I can make. So, for example, with this example, if I just come up and I'm just doing this on the fly, let's say that I break this test this big test, their paralyzed by into three steps. The first step will be to draft the email. Let me just write numbers here so I don't lose that warder. The second step will be to, UM, re read or revised list. They revised the email and then finally with send the email. 6. Task Details: What are the things that we need to write on these compound cards on these tasks on these posted notes, one is the duration, the expected duration, sort of your plan Duration. And this can change. But this will be helpful when you're trying to decide. What do I do next? Right. Like if you only have half on hour to spare than and you wanna work on your project, then you kind of look and find those things that you think will take that long. You will most likely get these wrong. I get them wrong all the time. But it's just a ballpark, right? The other thing that you can write down is any relevant notes. So, for example, if you had had if one of these tests was to send an email to somebody, you could have had their email address, their phone number, whatever it is that you need so that you don't have to go hunting and all your other different resource is everything that you need Eyes on. The Kon Bon board is on the combine card. I think I think this is really powerful because one of the things that slows us down in our projects is when we have to start hunting through our journals and R E mails for things. So whenever we have information that we need to complete a project, it's best to put it on the card or on the task if you can. The other thing that we can put here is if you're a visual person, if you're a photographer, if you're painter, you can instead of using well, you can use a task name, of course, but you can also use the rest of the area for a kind of icon, something that is a visual reminder of that particular task or that particular part of the project. So this could be some kind of icon, some kind of picture. I think this is probably the most important idea is you can have a reminder of why are you doing why we're doing this task like, What is the context? What is the motivation? Because a lot of times when we procrastinate, it's because we forget why we came up with that goal, like we forget about why are past Self said This is important, So it's nice to have little reminders of like why you have this on your on your board 7. One of a Kind Work: finally, I just to make probably the most critical point clear, even if I'm being repetitive, that's okay, because I really do want you to leave with this idea that what I'm suggesting is for you to retain your creativity, for you to retain the uniqueness of your projects, of your ideas, of your of your process, not to lose that. But what I'm suggesting is if we can begin to look at the way that you work, we maybe can start to see a pattern, right? We can begin to see a rhythm kind of emerging in your work in the way that you work, and we can see where your your process is working for you and when it's working against you , right? I have met a lot of creatives, and I include myself in this category who seemed to have one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake at the same time. And what I'm hoping for with this particular will call it a part activity hack or any productivity hack is that we get out of our own way and and we start to get to the finish line more and more often with our ideas, with our goals, with our projects. I think that's a beautiful thing, right? I mean, I think that if you look at any of your heroes anyone that you envy anyone that you see as a kind of historical mentor, one of the things that stands out isn't necessarily how much they produced, but what they produce, the quality of it, the depth of it, and the fact that despite everything else that was going on in their lives, and a lot of times their lives were quite traumatic. And they're going through bad marriages and poverty, and they have so many different excuses. But they complete their work, and it's maybe not necessarily because of some nifty productivity hacked, but because of their own internal motivation, their own sense of I have to get this done. I have to get this out out there, and what I'm hoping is is maybe maybe by, um, borrowing some kind of hack or some kind of tool from some other place. That can be a reminder of our motivation. That could be a reminder of how important something is to us in a world that is very, very busy in a world that is sort of pulling us in all these different directions 8. TAILORING TO YOUR NEEDS:: So now you're more familiar with just the basics, that simple framework of what a combine chart looks like. Let's talk about how do we hot rod this? How do we customize this to what you're doing? The first example is a situation where you're working on multiple creative projects, which is a common thing, right? Very few of us have one ambition or gold that we're working on in our creative life. We don't want to get confused when we look at the chart, right? We want to be ableto see it and immediately know kind of what we're working on, what's getting stuck. So if you're trying to separate those projects so that they have their own lane, the first option is simply add an extra row where you have, for example, you have Project A All along this road and then project be along here another option and one that I prefer because it's more colorful, colorful, more visual. And you can do this if you're using analog or digital Compound board is simply to use different colors. So combine our sorry project A would be in yellow and then project be wouldn't read, be in red in this way again. You're you're looking at the combine chart immediately seeing or realizing where you're at with regards to each project. And there is something visual. Tactile, colorful, you know, interactive it, Zaveri Sensory, I guess. 9. Collaborating: another situation is where you're collaborating with someone. So sometimes you've done your part and you're not really you know, it's it's still unfinished, but it's not something that you can continue working on. You've pass it on to someone else downstream, and you're just waiting for them to get back to you. So in that situation, all I would do is when I've kind of finished a prod my task, and I've sent it off to the collaborator. I would just put it in that column so that I know that I'm waiting on them and I might actually put their name in this column here. So let's say I'm collaborating with Ben. That way. If I have multiple collaborators, I can create a column for each. 10. More Structure: another situation is where you want more structure. So, for example, let's say that you have a deadline for an application and it's on Friday. And so this is like, really a time crunch thing. And what you're trying to do is sort of map out what you want to get done in this application every day, so that when you look at the whole thing, you can make sure that you have all the components, all the things. So basically you're just apportioning out all the work in these four days. And I like the structure a lot when you have some kind of deadline, some kind of situation, some kind of reason where it's not enough toe have this simple sort of basic chart because I don't have any dates associated with my to do or doing tasks. It doesn't have that sense of urgency, whereas with this I've kind of mapped out exactly what I need to get done. This is not typically what we see in a combine chart. This is more of ah, schedule, I guess, but we're using the same principles because we can, of course, move things as we get information right or we can create within each of these days, sort of micro combine charts, right? We can We can create little to do doing done so that each day we have our own little combine chart within the schedule. 11. Less Linear: another example is where you know you've got projects. You've got ideas that you're not sure if you actually want to move forward on which I've I've created this column here. Maybe for that. So this is sort of like the parking lot. This is where you put all the things that you would, you know you would love to get started on, but you're still not sure you're meditating on them. You're trying to get a sense of doesn't make sense to actually commit to that. And so I really like this column. People have different versions of this. Sometimes they'll just have, you know, the write in their journals. And I wish I could do this or I wish I could do that. Um, here it's nice again because it's visual, and it's part of my overall commitments already. I already have a sense of what I'm currently working on, so I could be more realistic about what I what do I take off of this column and what do I introduce into my work life? What do I commit to basically So I really like adding this. Call them here. Another structure, another example of less leaner or messier. Creative process is where you know, for me personally, as a writer, I really like to be able to pause between stages. So if I draft something, for example, instead of moving to to the done column, I really like the idea of moving it to the desk drawer, moving it to kind of like someplace where I'm just pausing. I'm taking two weeks. I'm taking a month, maybe more, to come back to it with fresh eyes to see. You know, what do I need to? How do I need to revise this? This structures is great for writers. It's It's great for any kind of creative individual that is not just spitting out work, but there's constant revision and drafting and sitting and meditating all of that. This is where we use a very combine charts. Can you know that basic three column structure can feel very rigid? It can feel very like it doesn't reflect reality. And here we see that we're actually beginning to not only reflect our reality, but we're also giving ourselves space. We're not feeling guilty about taking a break or putting something on hold or whatever, because now it's almost like because of the structure. I'm being reminded I'm being forced to, you know, sort of go through each stage. And this is a very simple example. You can complicate this as much as you want This basic unit here, I could have multiple of those. I can have, you know, kind of like the first draft second draft, third draft, etcetera, depending on you, depending on how you work, how quickly you work, how illiterate of your process is. The nice thing about this is it really forces you to remember and to accept and to be ok with your particular process. 12. Juggling Everything: How do you juggle your creative projects with everything else? All your other responsibilities, all your other projects that maybe are not creative in nature but our Maura about, uh, the home life, for example, Like if you have projects that you're doing around the home, if you're a handyman or handy woman and you know, you've got this long list of things that you're gonna work on, you have a long list at work. You have a long list in your social life. The way that you would juggle is you would same thing as the multiple projects. We would add multiple rows and we would, you know, use ah, ro or lane for that specific thing. So I would have my sort of creative project I would have home. Maybe I have a fitness project that I'm working on, right? Maybe I'm trying to build a home gym for me. Personally, this gets a little crazy. You can you can do this and I have done this before. But what I find is that the thing that I am supposed to be moving forward on, I'm kind of paralyzed on. I'm not moving forward on this anymore. And Instead, I'm moving on. The easier things on the on, the more straight four things on the things that don't really require creativity, these air more straightforward. I know. I know what is involved. I kind of know how to solve the problem. And I'm not moving forward on these things anymore. Another option going back to the multiple projects example is that you can just simply use different posted notes for each project. And again, this can get crazy very quickly. So if you have, let's say you know, four different projects that you're working on. In my opinion, it this looks beautiful, but I just don't know how effective it is and how productive you will be. Your focus will be everywhere. I really like the idea of being able to look at the combine chart and be reminded of a single project or a single ambition with this. All we've done in this example have done is we've turned our to do list into a combine chart and that that was not the point of introducing this technique of this tool. The point waas for you to push forward on that one project or that that ambition whatever it is that you're not moving forward on for whatever reason. So you can do this. You can juggle your life in your work and everything on a combine chart, but I don't recommend it. 13. YOUR PROJECT: So your project your assignment is very simple is to just create a combine chart for whatever project you're working on, especially if it's a Harry project. It's something that maybe you've been paralyzed by. You haven't really moved forward on. So just to apply all of these concepts that we've talked about Andi to share what you're comfortable sharing. The key things are we do wanna have something that's visual. We wanna have something that you could kind of move pieces around. I recommend in this first, if this is your first time applying the method to do it with a sort of analog physical chart. Two piece of paper posterboard, something on the wall. I also list digital options in the project description. There's no right or wrong option is just about doesn't feel real to you. For me personally, when something's physical, it feels more riel, especially that I can kind of move things around. It's just much easier. Digital things tend to be kind of hidden. I have to open something I have to open whatever. So for me, when I use the combine chart is always something physical on my wallet next to my desk the other thing to look out for in this first time applying it. I prefer that you just focus on that creative project that Harry projects. But of course, if you wanna throw your whole life into it, your other responsibilities or other projects, that's fine as well. There really is no wrong project. The idea is just to apply it and then to think about three advantages and disadvantages for you like, Is this really useful? Do you have to use this? Was maybe with other tools, maybe with your planner, etcetera. 14. STAYING CONNECTED: So again, by the end, you might find the combine method that combine chart Really useful you might find that is just a tool that doesn't really apply to what you're working on. The key thing that I really want you to take away from this is stepping away from the way that you work and asking yourself, Are you happy with that? You know, are are not not Are you moving fast enough? But just Are you happy with that? Or there different things that you can do to make the process simpler, Easier? What I've noticed with some creatives is that they have the foot on the gas and the brake at the same time that they're there. They're getting in their own way, and they're making it more difficult than it has to be. So I really want you to just take a step back and think about how can you stay on track? It doesn't have to be. This particular method doesn't have to be this particular tool, but how do you design your to do's your tasks in a way that's kind of intelligent and realistic? I I would like to make more classes like this sort of like a Siri's, dealing with creative productivity and just focusing on one tool to tools at a time. If this is something that you want to see more of, please leave me feedback. Leave me and no in the discussion form kind of the the areas that you would like me to focus on the trouble areas that you have in terms of staying up to date with what I'm doing . I do send out a newsletter every month. You'll find a link in the project description. For that, Please sign up. Please leave me feedback because I do read and take that very seriously. I really do believe in the importance of creative work. If you're a creative individual and getting those ideas out and finishing it, I think there's something very beautiful, whatever, whatever it is, whatever your goal is, I think there's something great beautiful in finishing that creative idea because it is so difficult because the world is kind of against you, all the distractions and all the other responsibilities air sort of pulling you out of that dream. And I really believe in the idea of holding on to that dream and making it a reality. And I hope that this class is somehow helped you with that. Thanks 15. APPENDIX: Narrowing down your list: I thought it might be helpful to make a kind of informal ah appendix video after the classes publication address, saying some maybe a question or ah, frustration that I've seen from the students that have taken the class so far and that that being, um, a lot of students have have talked about this frustration, this feeling that they have too many creative projects that they're trying to juggle or that they would like to pursue simultaneously, they feel, may be self conscious about that. They feel that maybe something is wrong with them, or that there's some kind of flawed because they can't narrow that down any further. Um, the point of the class was not to feel more self conscious and more frustrated with yourself, in fact, that this chart, the specific tool of the combine shark, was meant to make your life a little bit easier. It was meant to take all the the day dreams that you have all the ideas that you have, all the things that you would you think you might want to pursue, or that you might want to invest time into and to make it physical. So because ah, a daydream or a dream is very easy to forget, right? It's it's elusive, is transient. But once we jot it down in some form, there's there's, ah, there's a better chance that it might grow into something it might not. I mean, you've probably had more ideas than, you know, Completed projects are completed things, and that's the nature of creative work. You're not theirs. Not everything that you Dream Month is meant to be realized or or that you'll have, you'll have time to realize. So I wouldn't feel bad about um wanting to go in many different directions at once. I think that if you throw that into your combine chart or into whatever tool that you like to use if you like to use mind maps, if you like to journal, I know that a lot of people like Teoh Bullet journal their creative projects. Um, whatever physical thing you like to use that you can kind of look at and reflect on, um, I think that you stand a better chance of understanding, um, where you're making progress, we're not making progress. If you have to narrow things down it just instead of trying to decide at the outset, Andi, sitting and thinking and getting more and more frustrated, I think it would be helpful just to to maybe start moving forward even if you feel overburdened, even if you feel you have too much on your plate. Um, you you have too many creative ambitions because I think very quickly you will find yourself getting attracted to certain things more than other things. You'll find yourself putting more time into something than than other things. Those other things that you're not putting as much time into. You don't have to cancel. You don't have to give up on. Maybe you're just pushing pause. Or maybe you're putting on the back burner. So, in a way, the using something physical like a combine chart, um, allows you to engage with all these daydreams in a real way and allows you to begin to sort of manipulate them and and to decide what, um, where you gonna put your time and where you gonna put your time? What what's what's the hierarchy? What's the most important thing to you? You let me. You're going to put in situations where you have, you know, 20 minutes today, 20 minutes of free time. And where you gonna put that time into? And I think that when you make that decision or you you you you make an instinctual decision that will tell you something about your relationship with that particular project . That that project, even though you want to pursue these 20 things that project, for whatever reason, right now it is important. Um, if you have this this, um this this this, um, list of things on your on your wall and you find that you haven't really made any progress on anything. That is also information that is also helpful. We should not feel frustrated about that. We should not beat ourselves up about that. I mean, the world does a very good job on its own, beating us up for our ideas and the things that we want to do. So in your space that you're creating for yourself, we don't I don't think you need more off that. But when you see things like that, when you see that you're kind of paralyzed, you're not moving forward, or maybe maybe it's because you're you feel like you're spread thin. That's useful because that can help you decide. OK, I really I really need to maybe shift these 34 things that I'm not making any progress on to the to the back burner for now, because I'm just getting a little confused. So I guess the what I'm trying to say, um is one, um, if you if you if you are craving so many different things, then I would say Let's let's start moving forward with that. Let's start moving forward with all those things that you feel that you need to satisfy now and in the journey, you might change your mind or or you might you might be right. You might be. You might be able to juggle 15 different creative projects. I personally can't I find that I'm not much of a multi tasker, but you might be different, and what I prefer is that you just start moving forward. I I think that it's very easy to sit in a space where you're trying to decide on your thinking and thinking and thinking they're not really doing anything. I would I would prefer that you just let's let's jot everything down that you want to work on, and you put that in your little diary or you put that on your wall and you just you, You you use that as a kind of, ah, map of where you want to go. But you also use it as a kind of mirror of your creative process, and you get a better sense of Am I actually making progress or not? And that might help you. That might help inform what you're supposed to act on and what what you're supposed to kind of delay. Um, I think I I I say this. I think in all of my classes that there is something about making your your dreams and your sketches and your these ideas that you have in your head physical, whether we're writing a first draft or whether we're using posted notes, whatever. I mean, I think the common theme of all my classes has been We have to take these ideas and and make them into something, even if we're not able to fully realize that even if the idea is terrible. But that idea that you have is a kind of gift, and and you, you you owe it to yourself and you owe to the idea to at least put it down on paper. Then you can begin to see if it can be manipulated. Then you can see if it can be developed any further. It might not. You might have 20 creative projects, and you might realize in the in the in the in the journey of trying to complete them that 10 of them are not very good or 10 of them are not good. Ah, relative to your standards. But you'll it's hard to discover that in your head it's it's hard to judge them in your head. There is something about actually starting and and seeing it, um, in some physical form. So I hope this video helped in some way. I really wants you to try to get away from feeling self conscious or beating yourself up about about what you're doing, because what you're doing is the nature of it is very risky and scary, and very few people actually have the guts to do it. Very few people actually have the guts to follow their their daydream. Um, so I hope if this video was helpful, uh, or not helpful, let me know in the discussion form I can try to address other issues, Not not with the class project, but maybe just with creativity and procrastination and this kind of emotional stuff more. Um, but let me know. Let me know. And if you have ideas of your own, if there are things, resource is mindsets that have helped you also please share that in the discussion form until next time. Take care.