Search Results for: 15 minutes a day challenge

15 Minutes-A-Day Challenge

The secret of getting things done, I’ve discovered, is pretty simple, really: do them.

Simple, yeah, but not always easy. Especially when it comes to our creative work.

You know, the stuff that you’re really passionate about. That you really, really want to do… but maybe have a hard time actually doing. Before you know it, months or years have gone by and you haven’t done the thing that gives you the most joy.

What gives?

Take the Challenge

Here’s what I’m doing: I’ve committed to spending at least 15 minutes a day making art.

And not just any art – my goal is to play in the Creative Sandbox. To get my hands dirty. To step into the Sandbox with no goals or expectations except to play and explore and experiment, and stay in the Sandbox for at least 15 minutes.

After all, anybody can find 15 minutes, no matter how busy they are. If you say you can’t, that’s just an excuse. Period.

Challenge Rules:

These are mine – yours might be different.

It does not matter if I like what I’ve created or if I hate it. All that matters is that I make something. Anything.
I get to spend more than 15 minutes if I want, but the point is that I’m doing something creative every single day.
~~I post something I’ve been working on here, once a week. Whether I’m happy with it or not.~~ I send something I’ve been working on to subscribers of my ArtSpark Newsletter*

That’s it.

I find it works best if I get my Creative Sandbox time in early in the day, mostly because it makes me happy so my whole day just goes better. But if I end up staying up til the wee hours to get my 15 minutes in, that’s cool too.

Join me!

People from all over the web have been taking on this challenge, or modifying it for themselves. I invite you to try it yourself. Start out with an easily achievable goal, maybe just one week or one month. Then re-up for another easily achievable time period.

Pay attention to how you feel when you’re doing your creative thing every day. Do you notice a difference? I sure do!

If you like, download my little button at the top of this page and post it on your own blog or website, to proudly display to the world that you took the challenge.

Then come back here and let me know how it’s going! And if you’re up for sharing, I want to see what wonderful things you create! (And if you’re not, that’s fine too – the point is just to get you in the Creative Sandbox.)

Now get creating!

xo, Melissa

April 15, 2018

Snapshot from My Studio: April 15, 2018 at 08:15AM

It feels like ages since I’ve done an abstract doodle, so today I did one live on video! To remind myself of why I do them, and hopefully to inspire you to get creating, too. Click my photo to watch.
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Inside the Creative Sandbox Community, we’ve been doing monthly creative challenges, and this week one of our members, @carla.la.la.olson, said:
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“Like the sun warming your face in the morning, whether it’s 5 or 30 minutes, these daily sketches have had a very positive impact on me. I’ve struggled with depression for over 30 years, and this daily practice has been the most effective “treatment”…26 days and counting. Hooray for the power of TINY and DAILY!”
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Wow. Talk about a testimonial! She gave me permission to share her words with you, and here we are coming full circle: my words from my Creative Sandbox Way™ Guideposts (“think tiny and daily” is Guidepost #4) inspired Carla, which in turn inspired me to return to my own doodle practice.
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We need each other. The power of community + creativity cannot be overstated. 🖍
Find out more about the Creative Sandbox Community at http://bit.ly/2pPbRDZ. Doors open to new members next month—get on the invite list now.
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#doodlebot #creativesandbox #creativesandboxway #doodle #doodles #doodleart #doodleartist #doodlesofinstagram #dailydoodle2018 #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #originalart #originalartwork #blackandwhite #pigmamicron #abstractart #creativesandboxcommunity #courage #improvisation #improvisational #intuitiveart #intuitiveartist

January 10, 2016

Invitation: 15 Minutes of Play

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August 30, 2014

The Day I Got NAILED, and What Happened Next…

A few years ago I tried an experiment.

I’d been telling myself for years that I didn’t have time to play at my art table, and for years I’d believed this was true. Then on February 1, 2011, I interviewed an artist named Michele Théberge for an online course I was creating, and something she said early into the interview woke me right up.

“I tell my mentees,” she said, “that if you can’t put fifteen minutes into your art, you’re making an excuse.”

Oh, my gosh, I remember thinking, that’s me!

I’d been nailed…

That very day I decided to make a change. I honestly couldn’t imagine that a mere fifteen minutes would be enough to do much at all, but it had to be better than nothing!

So I committed to playing at my art table for at least fifteen minutes a day, every day in the month of February.

This little experiment changed my life.

I went on to make over 150 finished pieces in 2011 — more than I’d made in the previous decade!

Maybe more amazing, to my astonishment I discovered that:

15 minutes is actually enough to get into a state of flow
a tiny bit, every day, actually kept my toe in the creative stream more effectively than a few hours once a week (which I never managed to make happen anyway!)

This adventure in “tiny and daily” was a big part in my developing my Keys to Creative Flow (aka, my Rules for the Creative Sandbox).

Within a matter of days, my life went from shades of grey to full, blooming color, all because of just a few minutes of creative play each day.

So often I think we underestimate how essential a well-nourished creative spirit is to our overall well-being. But ask yourself honestly, how would your life be different if you made space — even just a little — for creative play every day?

Here’s what I’ve noticed: putting even a little time into one of my creative things…

Boosts my mood.
Makes me more fun to be around.
Gives me more patience and tolerance for the irritations of daily life.
Allows me to give more to the people I care about.
Makes my whole day go better!

And it’s not just me.

Science has proven that the most effective way to refuel your willpower is by spending time at something that engages your interest.

In other words, engaging your creative side is one of the most effective things you can do to increase your ability to avoid distractions and your ability to stick with things that are challenging.

In other words, taking your creative spirit out to play is not an indulgence, it’s a necessity!

You know this, deep inside. It’s what draws you to the idea of living a creative life! And yet so many of us have such a hard time making that happen.

Well, no more! It’s time to bake in that consistent, sustainable, nourishing creative practice that makes you feel so good, and makes your life go better.

And you don’t have to do it alone!

On Monday, September 1st, I’m running a new session of my 30-day program, Get Sparked, and you are invited to join me for a September of creativity, play, and joy.

Regardless of your mode of expression (painting, writing, music, whatever!), Get Sparked is designed to get you creating every day (even just a little), and to help you find joy in the nooks and crannies of your life.

There are spaces still left, but they are limited, so if you’re the slightest bit interested in finding out more, click here now to read all about the program and grab a spot for yourself.

Here’s what Cara had to say about working with me:

Since I started your program I have started to dream again, and those old feelings that anything is possible are stirring. I’m so grateful to you for that! It’s giving me hope during a time in my life when things have been very hard.

Let’s make this year your most prolific yet! Make this the year you finally bake in the consistent, sustainable, nourishing creative practice you’ve always wanted, starting on Monday!

Questions? Just send them my way. And if Get Sparked feels like a good fit, I hope to see you inside. We’re gonna have FUN. 🙂

PS — Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!

October 27, 2013

My Secret Weapon for Surviving Holiday Season with Grace

panicky gremlin in a matchbox roller-coaster — Panicky gremlin in a matchbox roller-coaster, careening through holiday season

The approach to Halloween is, in my world, the signal of a roller coaster ride ahead.

Climb aboard the car and strap yourself in. Hear the gears crank as you’re pulled up the steep hill of track. Feel yourself teetering, weightless, at the top for a moment… then, “Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!”

The car races down the hill, jerks past Halloween on October 31, then a quick turn to my birthday on November 5. A series of crazy curves into Thanksgiving, three weeks later — on the second night of Chanukah this year, which carries our car into the first week of December.

Take a breath, and the car picks up speed and careens into my dad’s birthday on December 15, quickly veers into my sister-in-law’s birthday on December 17, and then the loopdeloop home stretch into Christmas and New Year’s, with the added excitement this year of MB’s and my wedding in between (and of course, our anniversary on following years).

It’s crazy. And all too easy to feel the way the gremlin in that picture above looks.

But even if you don’t have birthday and wedding celebrations peppering the fourth quarter of your year, it’s still a fair bet that time seems especially crunched for you during this season. It just always feels like there’s so much more to get done… even if there really isn’t.

Busy-ness is in the air.

How We Usually Respond

I don’t know about you, but when I’m overwhelmed by busy-ness, unless I’m really vigilant about it, my self-care goes right out the window, starting with Creative Sandbox time.

Bad move!

I know from experience that when I let my Creative Sandbox time lapse, even for just a few days, I invariably suffer.

My mood darkens.
I get cranky and irritable.
I have WAY less patience and tolerance.
I am a lot less fun to be around.
Life starts to really suck.

It doesn’t take long before I start feeling like a dried-out husk, an automaton, just going through the motions of my life. Pretty soon I find myself wanting to chuck everything and move to Tahiti.

But it doesn’t have to be this way!

And the good news is, the solution is a helluva lot easier than quitting your job, dispensing with all your worldly possessions and moving to Tahiti.

A Better Way

All it takes, truly, is just a few minutes a day of creative play.

A three-minute doodle. A five-minute “FlashWrite.” Ten minutes playing with paint, or experimenting on my ukulele.

When I give myself that small gift every day, I can take on the world!

It’s like my secret weapon.

It seems so counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Everything around us is screaming, “Go! Go! Go! No time! Can’t stop!” But putting on the brakes and feeding your creative hungers for just two, or five, or ten minutes is exactly the medicine that will enable you to keep going.

Imagine you needed to climb a mountain. You’d have to eat, otherwise you’d collapse before you could even get close to the summit.

Food is to your body as creative play is to your mind and will. Just as your body needs nourishment in order to function, your mind and will need nourishment, too.

Proven by Science!

Don’t take my word for it, though. Scientific studies have proven that patience, tolerance, self-control, and willpower, are easily depleted, and that one of the best ways to replenish your energy in those areas is by doing something that engages your interest — ideally something that gets you into that wonderful state of flow, when time seems to stand still, and you lose track of your ego.

Guess what: all those fun activities we think of as “self-indulgent”? They’re not self-indulgent, they’re self-restoring! They restore your energy.

Regardless of what your mom or anyone else told you, it is never self-indulgent to do what restores your energy.

This is why I’ve made it a priority to get a little bit of creative time in every day.

And why I want to help YOU do the same, especially during the craziness of holiday season, when it feels sometimes like the whole world is conspiring to pull us off track.

This is the time of year when it’s easiest to derail, and then to just stay derailed. After all, we can always get a fresh start on January 1, right?

But why wait? What makes January 1 a magic time to take a fresh start?

Remember: the most important practice is just getting back on the wagon.

Remember, too: you always get to take a fresh start — you don’t have to wait until New Year’s Day! In fact, the best time to to take a fresh start is right now.

Why suffer through another end-of-year as a cranky, zoned-out-zombie? Why not make this year the one where the last two months don’t suck you dry?

I invite and encourage you to try jumping in the Creative Sandbox every day this month, even for just a few minutes. Consider it my challenge of love to you.

Pssst! Want Some Help?

I know it’s super-hard to make a change like this all by yourself, which is why I’ve brewed up a special treat for you — a November treat, in honor of my birthday. Something to spark you up, and get you on a roll that will help ease you through the holidays with a genuine smile on your face.

Stay tuned… (And be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to get first dibs.)