😱 Empty Canvas Panic

Have you ever opened Photoshop, Figma, Canva…and stared in a blind panic at the empty white canvas?

How about opening a blank Google doc and feeling unable to type a single word?

We’ve all been there.

I just wanted to share a little bit of advice for you whenever you experience overwhelm when you are doing a creative project.

Spoiler: you create a list.

Yes, I know we’ve all made to-do lists, but I want to encourage you to make YOUR to-do list in a very specific way.

1. First, brain dump everything you might need to do into a giant list. A META-LIST, if you will.

2. Pick the thing that looks most appealing. (Don’t over think it)

3. Move the other items out of your field of view. FOCUS ONLY on that ONE thing.

4. Make a mini-to-do-list of what would need to happen to make that thing be done. A MICRO-LIST, if you will.

5. Every MICRO-LIST item gets you a Point! I call my points “Businesses”. Did I schedule a call to interview a new designer? Yay, I did a Business. Did I create the first screen of a flow in Figma? Did a Business. And so on. It’s quite gratifying to see all your “Business Points” piling up.

So let me leave you with an example of how to do this: let’s say you want to make a website for your brand.

Here’s a META-LIST of tasks involved in that:

1. Gather Requirements

2. Create wireframes

3. Create designs

4. Document design system

5. Handoff to development team

6. QA final implementation and adjust

7. Post-launch monitoring and maintenance

Let’s say we start with the first item - “Gather Requirements.”

Here’s a MICRO-LIST of tasks involved in that.

1. Talk to stakeholders to gather information on sections and content needed.

2. Turn your notes into a short document.

3. Share document.

If you look at any one of those “micro” tasks - aren’t those incredibly, reassuringly, not-scary? Don’t they look tantalizingly doable?

If you’re still having trouble, set a 5 min timer and give yourself permission to start, anywhere on anything, and to keep going for 5 minutes.

Much like going for a jog or performing any other type of exercise - your brain needs about 5 minutes to “chill out” when it’s being asked to do something new. Then, it adapts.

Aren’t brains cool?

TTFN and Happy Friday.

-Cathy

P.S. Thank you so much for being here <3. Trusting me with your email address is a big deal! Thank you.

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