maintaining creativity with a full schedule

Credit: Harpers Magazine

Starting Tuesday, I will officially be a full time speech-language pathology intern, and part time student. I've spent the last month on break from school so come Tuesday morning, my endless free time and a schedule totally dictated by me is over. While I love the freedom that a long break entails, I also love having a regular schedule and being productive and busy. I'm actually looking forward to weekends, and the excitement that Friday night through Sunday evening holds when you're working/schooling five days a week.

One of the reasons I created my blog over this break though, was because I noticed over breaks, given time, my creativity explodes! During school it's so easy for me to get busy, tired, and not make time for the things that I really love: seeking out ways to be creative with my food, home, and camera. So the question that comes to my mind as my break winds down, is: how can I maintain this creativity that so easily flows during vacation, in the times when my schedule is full from 9-5, five days a week, plus several hours of class, two days a week, and weekend homework? Yes, it's important to me to do those things so I can keep up with my blog, but even more importantly, it's important to keep up with myself, working in times for things I love. My blog will be a reflection of success or failure improvement needed in the area of time dedicated to that. It certainly won't be easy, but it will be important.

I've been doing some brainstorming on how I might work in creative "me" time among everything else that will require my attention.

1) Plan weekly lunches that are easy but delicious and creative. I'll be at my internship for lunch four days a week, and be eating in the car, on the way to my internship, the fifth day. While I have 45 minutes for lunch each day, and lots of restaurants within a few minutes drive (including a drive through panera!), I'm going to limit going out to one time per week, at most. I'll hopefully be updating about any neat recipes or lunch tips I find online, and sharing some of my lunches along the way.

2) Make time for a project around our apartment each weekend. Whether it's something big like transforming a piece or furniture or improving an existing room layout, or something small like reorganizing a messy cabinet, or visiting a store in search of interesting house finds, I'm going to attempt to take time to include one task like this each weekend. I have ideas for things I'd like to take on (check back in a few days for a list), and I'm sure more will present itself.

3) Take my camera everywhere. While I won't be going on vacations to beautiful places, but as I was reminded on my bike ride to Meijer a few weeks ago, picture worthy moments are everywhere, if you're looking for them. I will keep this mind and hopefully find some more beauties to share.

4) And of course, keep up with weekly "I love...Monday" and "Wordless Wednesday" posts



The next three months are going to be crazy ones, as I take on my future profession full time for the first time, but I just know they're going to be great. My blog might slow down and adjust a bit, but it will definitely be a reflection of myself, the future SLP trying to fit in a little bit of creative "me" time!