What Creating and Deep Work Taught Me

That there is joy in the intangible

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Some days I have this overwhelming urge to share a message straight from the Universe the moment it manifests in my consciousness🤩

Yesterday, I launched my podcast, but here’s what you don’t know.

I’ve been sitting with the idea for over a year, ever since I casually asked my audience about it on Instagram, in fact. I shrugged it aside because I didn’t believe I was ready.

Then, yesterday, I woke up and there was this persistent, gentle message in my head- a Higher Power- that nudged me forward. It kept whispering:

It’s time. You can do this. Let me show you how.

Within 2 hours (I am NOT kidding), I had created the podcast cover art, crafted the description, recorded the trailer and also uploaded my first episode. I had ZERO knowledge about how to do any of it and yet, the podcast manifested, if you can believe that. Special props to Anchor for making it so seamless

Then today, I worked on publishing a new interview on my blog. The art of putting it all together was so fulfilling that when it was finished I had this grin of a Cheshire cat. And it took me 2 hours again, from start to finish.

Here’s the common thread between both incidents:

I lost myself in the joy of creation. It was magical! I didn’t worry about how many people would listen to the podcast or read the published post. None of it. I just got into the flow and found inexplicable joy at creating something.

Then, when it meant I could come to social media and talk about the podcast/the post, I could do it with intention.

The message I was asked to share was:

Create First With Joy; Consume Later with Intention

When you create first, you are listening to your true self, the one that functions at a resonance far beyond what you see.

When you consume later, you can do so with the knowledge that you’ve completed your art of creation for the day. There’s more peace in the process.

As creators, we all have a gift and the best thing we can do with that gift is to nurture it, water it and help it thrive.

But in an age of distraction, this feels fairly impossible. Even for those of us who remember a time before the internet and smartphones, why is it such a struggle to make time to do deep, incisive, creative work?

When you embrace the idea of time affluence, incredible things happen.

It is the idea that you have enough time to create, enough time to be with yourself and enough time to do deep work that is both meaningful and abundant. Let’s explore how we can do this.

• Start with something very very easy. That’s the first step. For example, a mindfulness meditation practice. I started meditating for just 1 minute a day every day for the last 22 days. It’s how I start my day. And now, I incorporate multiple 1-minute sessions throughout my day.
• Limit the stream of interruptions: In his book Focus: A Simplicity Manifesto, Leo Babauta gently reminds us of this idea. Your e-mail, social media, blog reading list, the news, Whatsapp messages, podcasts, mobile notifications, bookmarked articles can all wait. Create first; consume later
• Pick just one creative pursuit for your day and remind yourself how you feel when you lose yourself in the task. In other words, find the joy in the work itself. I love to write. I love it when the words appear on the page, as if out of thin air.
• Do not fill your day with too many tasks. When you do this, you are always in responsive mode instead of creative mode. Any wonder that you are unable to focus?
• When you do create, ask yourself- how is this helpful? What have I learnt? How will this benefit the people who may read it/watch it/listen to it/ observe it?

As you move deeper and deeper into this act of creating, you will learn to gently let go of external validation and focus on the abundant joy that comes from creative and intentional affluence.