My Artist Friend with Becky Helms
My Artist Friend
#25 - Balancing Long Term & Short Term Projects
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#25 - Balancing Long Term & Short Term Projects

Or: How I Get Dopamine When Projects Never End
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When I realized that all of my projects were long term and taking foreverrrrr to finish, I figured out a way to turn things around, make some dopamine and keep things rolling when things felt hard.

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Finding Myself Unbalanced

  • What projects I had going

    • Two quilts that I started last year

      • baste, quilt, trim, make binding (least favorite) and hand sew the binding

    • 2025 goals

      • make clothes, both sewn and crocheted

      • make a giant quilt (getting that long-armed at least)

    • House projects:

      • Dining room renovation

        • drywall spackled

        • prime and paint

        • pick out a light fixture

        • call electrician to install

      • Fix up office/guest room

        • paint

        • build a custom built in desk

        • build a custom murphey bed

        • build custom shelving

        • style and organize

        • buy a new office chair (huge undertaking by itself)

      • Rearrange my kid’s room

        • swap out dressers

        • new art on the wall

        • move all lego bricks and sets back to the basement

        • expand library shelving or move some books to the family room

        • add storage to closet

      • General tidying and downsizing

      • All of that was on top of my perpetual to-dos

        • laundry

        • dishes

        • cookies

        • cleaning

        • keeping my child alive

      • Even my crossword puzzles take multiple days to finish!

  • How I felt

    • My brain will run down the list and rearrange priorities all throughout the day

    • Obviously overwhelmed 🫠

    • Constantly disappointed in myself for not having these things complete already

    • Guilt spiral 🌀

Finding the Balance

  • How I started to fix it

    • Recognize that it’s happening

      • Name how it’s making you feel

      • Notice how it makes your body feel

      • Go touch grass 🌷

    • Get a quick win

      • Making earrings was my quick win project

      • Small projects, easily completed, start to finish, in one sitting

      • Get that hit of dopamine!

    • Schedule bits of time to work on your big projects

      • Maybe it’s obvious, but my pinball brain needs it on the calendar (even if I move it around)

      • Break down the big project into all the little parts. Ambiguity will stall any project for me.

    • Bake in rewards for making progress

      • Cut out all your quilt pieces? Get a donut! 🍩

      • Sanded down all the spackle in your drywall? Buy a book! 📚

      • Tidied the family room and it’s ready for a new rug? Go wander the thrift store!

  • Reframe and Carry on

    • Release yourself from any guilt. Finishing a project doesn’t make you morally better than anyone else, just like not finishing it doesn’t mean a garbage person. Rein in your brain. She’s mean.

    • Make a list of quick win projects and dopamine generator or dynamo if you will. Keep this where you can access it easily - notes on your phone, notion doc, post-it in your kitchen - so you can pull from it when you need

    • Regularly check-in on your goals to reassess and alter if you need.

Links

Find me all over the place!

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