Workspace maintenance is important.
I have yet to meet an artist who doesn’t have at least some clutter in their workspace.
Some of them are necessary tools. Cooks have pots, pans, and utensils lying around; artists have scattered brushes, paints, solvents, and canvases; writers have notes, inspirational baubles, and the like around their desks.
Sure, there are exceptions to this. But I know, at least in my experience, when I am super-focused on my work, the maintenance of my workspace takes a hit.
For me, that means that paperwork from mundane matters gets piled on the desk, I neglect dusting, and disorder and chaos come into being all around me.
While you can neglect and even ignore these things in the moment – particularly when you’re creating – eventually, external clutter is taken inside.
In other words, if your workspace is a mess your mindset/headspace/psyche will become messy.
Clutter is chaos made manifest
After a time, I’ll find that my desk is disorganized. My inspirational statuettes are askew, there is loose paper from a mailing I got but didn’t discard, and lots of cat hair on my keyboard and the edge of one of my monitors.
This is not problematic when I am working on something. When I am in the zone and flowing in the moment the outside world tends to fade away. But once I do return to the mundane and am present in my workspace – its state will impact me.
Again, this might take time. But eventually, the clutter and the chaos will soak into my psyche. Before I know it, I’ll feel disjointed, disorganized, uncertain, and feel almost claustrophobic. That is not in any way conducive to the creative process.
Likewise, when I am baking a cheesecake, my enthusiasm for creating my work will turn sour if I don’t clean as I go. Particularly during the hour that the cheesecake is baking. If I leave the mixer, bowl, spatula, and measuring cups just lying there, the clutter will make me feel disconnected, disorganize, and uncomfortable.
When I am mixing the ingredients and preparing everything, it doesn’t matter. I am creating. But if I finish and don’t clean, just leaving the tools lying there a mess – the chaos makes completing the task more difficult than it need be.
This is why being mindful of the state of your workspace and not neglecting it is so important to your creative process. If you neglect the state of your space, before you know it clutter turns to chaos – and your creative process suffers.
Outside impact on inside work
It’s easy to not realize how your surrounding space will impact your mindset/headspace/psyche inner being.
I have hit walls in creativity where I just felt claustrophobic, discombobulated, and generally off. But then I looked around my workspace.
Cluttered, disorganized, messy. The first time I encountered this I didn’t give it much thought. Nor did I pay it much mind when – after cleaning it up – I felt organized, less chaotic, and better.
In time, however, I began to form the corollary. Messy, disorganized workspace – messy, disorganized thought process. Creativity suffered.
Just clearing up clutter, tossing things out, putting things away, and dusting generate a lot of energy. That, then, translates to better self-control and mindfulness. Before you know it, your creative flow has returned.
This is a lot closer to home than other distractions and outside influences that can and will impact your art. More importantly, this is wholly inside your control.
You and I have limited control. However, that limitation, when recognized, is massively empowering. Why? Because you can use it to focus on that which you DO control rather than that which you DON’T control.
This is important because your only control is over yourself. Recognizing it, then acknowledging it, puts you in the right place to work with it. That is empowering – and gets the creative juices flowing.
Your workspace is inside your control
For the most part, your control is specifically regarding yourself and your inner being. This is getting into mindfulness and conscious awareness. That conscious awareness allows you to use your conscious mind to impact and work on the subconscious habits, beliefs, and values you have. If they are not what you desire for them to be – mindfulness of your conscious mind allows you to change them.
Overall, you have ZERO control of the outside world. You can’t change or control anyone else. Aspects of your environment are also outside of your control. The weather, ambient temperature, and unexpected happenings are outside your power.
But the workspace you use to create your art is yours to control. Whether it’s a studio space, an office space, a kitchen, or even just a workbench and cooktop – that is your space. Thus, yours to control.
It’s easy to get focused on outside matters way beyond your control. Perfect examples include politics and the economy. What can you do about them? Very, very little. So why let them dictate your focus?
Your workspace, on the other hand, is wholly inside your control. And that’s why maintaining it is so important.
Even in a non-creative situation – such as working in a cubicle – the state of your workspace will impact your mindset. That’s why, every time I have held a “normal” job, I always put up images, messages, and various tchotchkes around my cubicle to make it feel like my own space.
Even then – it is important to be mindful of the state of that workspace. Clutter = chaos. Not maintaining your workspace can and will impact productivity – creative or otherwise.
Your workspace empowers you
Whatever art you create – your workspace empowers you. Having it set to your standards and specifications will help you to be more creative and productive.
Workspace maintenance is important. If you neglect it, you set yourself up to be disempowered by chaos. Clutter turns to chaos before you know it if you don’t choose to control it.
I suggest, at least once a week, check around you. Is there clutter you can file away, toss out, or move about to create a sense of order and organization? When was the last time you dusted or sprayed air into your keyboard? Are you surrounded by uncleaned implements of your art that you keep putting off cleaning? Give yourself a five to ten-minute break and take care of it.
This may generate an immediate sense of contentment and relief. It could take a few hours or even a day. But I know from my experience it DOES have a positive impact. Workspace maintenance and having an orderly external setting organizes and creates order internally, too.
Don’t let your creative work suffer because of a cluttered, messy, disorganized workspace. Taking a little time at least once a week can go a long way towards expanding your creativity and taking your art to the next level.
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