What time is it?
Please don’t tell me that the clock last night was right when I finally went to sleep at 4:00 A.M.
Sleep deprivation is no joke.
Take time for the things you need like sleep. But know when you can afford to work instead of sleep.
The clock was right, as it turned out, that I stayed up until 4:00 A.M. doing what I love to do… bead. This is another curse of a creative mind. There are seemingly constant visual images, brain-storm ideas, “aha” thoughts just waiting to be tapped into. When the creative thoughts pile up, what do you do?
If you are like me, you act on the impulses and the mood. While it is true that you can feel more creative at different times of the day, for me I can’t pass up the opportunity to act on the urge to be creative. The situation doesn’t seem to pass. To suppress my creative urges end up rendering me just plain crabby.
No matter what the clock says, I have the luxury of making and maintaining my own work hours. So, if I happen to have a creative streak in the wee hours of the night, I just go with it. I have learned to just go with the flow. Sometimes, if I pay heed to the clock and live by the tick-tick, I find myself stressed in other ways. I become tied to the feeling that I have to work in a specified time frame and I can’t explore at a relaxed pace.
I have noticed for me that if I am working on something new or challenging, those are the times that I automatically and naturally lose track of time. When you are on a roll, you are on a roll! The time dedicated to art that I create in the middle of the night takes on a special meaning. My occasional late night or early morning work efforts are very intense and focused. I know that I could be (and maybe should be) asleep, so I am aware that what I am working on is worth my time away from getting my needed ZZ’s.
My rationalization for giving into a work streak at odd hours is simple. I can always take a power nap the following day if I need it. That is my plan “A”. With that solution in my mind, I use the time that I feel the most creative to work, work , work. Most times these bursts are very productive. It is a quiet time in my work space. No phone interruptions, no television, background noise, no radio, no foot traffic, no hunger or thirst issues, and working in the comfort of pajamas is a perk.
Whatever the underlying cause for sleeplessness, when I turn my time into productive creative time, I get a feeling of accomplishment at the start of the following day. How do you use your energy when you have a creative spurt in the wee hours? Is it worth it to you to lose valuable sleep in order to satisfy a creative urge? If you can’t sleep and can’t use your sleeplessness to a work advantage do you have a “plan B”?
Today, I woke up to eight completed bracelet projects and four pin projects. I’d call that worth the lack of sleep I may have sacrificed. Feed your creative spirit. I fed mine a heaping bowl of “sleep” and I am still in a great mood and alert, ready to create again.
Learn how to manage your time so you can enjoy the occasional all-niter because you may never know when it will produce great things. Wish me sweet dreams, because I will be ready to hibernate later tonight.
My words of advice: Pace your creativity, not the floors with sleeplessness.
