Respect Your Process

Today's thoughts have wandered over to noticing when you need to repsect your process. Sometimes your process for anything can be consciously designed, but sometimes it just happens that you always do THIS thing before you start THAT thing, and if you do it enough, you might notice that it's part of a process.

I have a purging thing that happens when I'm about to embark on something big or new (or even scary) and it used to bug me greatly when I found myself in it because, honestly, it looks a lot like procrastination.

Procrastination is usually a shame-laden word, especially in this "productivity at all costs or you’re a loser” pressure cooker we call life. Who has time for procrastination, right? Gotta get on with stuff. And if we admit to it we’re usually beating on ourselves about it.

But I find that a lot of my so-called procrastination maneuvers are actually just me keeping my hands busy so that my mind can gnaw on something. Sort of like all the great ideas that come in shower.

I was unpacking from a trip a couple of days ago, resetting my travel toiletries, and suddenly noticed that I had the contents of the bathroom drawers all over the counter.

HUH.

Ok, I’ll go along with this… really, how many of those little cosmetic samples do I need? Yes, I still think that having them in a drawer (where I can’t see them, and therefore forget they exist, and therefore they rot) is somehow going to give me a different face… yet I know that’s BS, and besides, I LIKE my face.

So out they went (incidentally, bagged up to donate to a young mom who doesn’t have budget for makeup).

Did I need to be purging this particular drawer RIGHT NOW? Nope. Those little tubes and pots could have happily rotted there until the next time I move house.

BUT.

These purges happen for me when I’m gnawing on my next big idea. Or big push. Or big project. My hands are tossing eye cream, but my brain is laying out the steps for my next video series, or book, or artwork.

And I’ve learned that I don’t get into those deeper thoughts quite as easily when I fight cleaning out a drawer when the mood takes me.

THINKING time is not unproductive in the least. We need to make space for it, and that gets increasingly harder in this world of constant visual stimulation that’s trying to sell us ways to be more perfect (all wrapped up in so-called freebie cosmetic samples).

I think this purging process of mine is the way my brain demands its thinking time despite the pressure to remain busy. It’s a subtle “Yo! Give this a ponder, will ya?”

OK brain, I hear you.

I respect that.

I want my next juicy project too, so let’s go clean a drawer.