Thomas Beutel is a determined creator of all things tactile, both for the hands and for the brain.
Thomas paints, draws, builds, programs, wires, carves, molds, assembles and imagines, resulting in all kinds of models, tools, sculptures and artwork, as well as animations and creative coding.
With all this, you would think that the creative process must come easy, even effortlessly, to someone so dedicated. But Thomas has always struggled with productivity, focus, and completion.
A lifetime of self-study and effort has brought him to a place where he’s comfortable and confident in his creative process, where the dreaded imposter doesn’t get in the way, nor do his myriad ideas for projects.
He has developed powerful, practical techniques for sorting through the clutter, making the most of his efforts and recognizing what “finishing” really means. And he is here to share them with you, as part of his mission to explore and understand the creative process.
If you’ve struggled with finding a balance between letting the creative ideas flow and getting things done, this episode is for you.
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You’re about to Learn…
Thomas’ structures and rituals to help maintain creative output:
- meditation
- gratitude practice
- scheduling daily daydream time
- maintain an active, daily bullet journal
- scrum for one: every week decide what you work on, and then check in every day
- completion diary (the “small win” journal), complete with a rubber stamp!
- having the tools set up and ready to go, so you can jump back in
- The importance of defining for yourself the meaning of “finishing”
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Thomas’ Puttyverse profile
- Thomas’ website, demonstrating some of his art and projects
- “Creative Shoofly”, Thomas’ podcast exploring inspiration and the creative process
- HSP World, the podcast for Highly Sensitive People, for which Thomas is one of the hosts. The website is an impressive mix of blog and podcast episodes. Highly recommended.