Why Avoidance Feels So Productive

Welcome to the Extraordinary Creatives Podcast. I'm Ceri Hand. A former gallerist, curator,  now coach to creatives all over the world. I help them to make a bigger impact with their work and earn more money doing what they love. Recently, I have been noticing something, and I wonder whether you'll recognise it too. 

We often think avoidance is obvious. We imagine it looks like procrastinating or scrolling social media or watching television instead of getting into the studio. 

But I honestly don't think that's how avoidance shows up for most creative people. I think it looks responsible. It looks like being busy. It looks like finally getting on top of your admin saying yes to another teaching opportunity. Maybe helping someone else out with their project or sorting your accounts out. 

All good things and things that genuinely need doing, and that's why it's so difficult to spot, because from the outside it looks as though you're completely committed to your creative life, and from the inside it feels as though you're working incredibly hard. 

Then you get to the end of the week and realise that you've hardly touched the work that matters most to you. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Being busy is not the same as moving your creative practice forward. The work that keeps you occupied is often the very thing that keeps you from actually creating.

• Avoidance rarely looks like procrastination - it looks like responsibility. Admin, teaching, and helping other people all feel productive, which is exactly why they are so effective at pulling you away from the uncertainty of making your own work. 

• Your brain is not trying to sabotage your practice – it is trying to reduce discomfort. Every time you choose certainty over uncertainty, you reinforce the habit of stepping away just as the work starts asking something of you. 

• Creative confidence is not built by making uncertainty disappear. It is built by learning how to stay with it long enough for the work to emerge.

BEST MOMENTS

“She wasn't wasting time. Quite the opposite. Then I asked her how much time she'd actually spent making her own work, and there was a long pause, and she said, hardly any.”

“Teaching gave her certainty. The studio gave her uncertainty, and without realising it, she'd slowly started choosing certainty over uncertainty, again and again.”

“What I don't think helps is piling more pressure on.”

HOST BIO

With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/