The number one thing boosting my productivity this week

I have accomplished so much these past couple of days and I credit one change for my increased productivity: the Elise Gets Crafty Podcast Series.

The podcasts are a series of interviews where Elise (a crafty blogger/creative small business owner) interviews a new person each episode about some creative topic.  The interviewees are most often women who are artists, photographers, bloggers or business consultants and the topics range from maintaining creative habits to how to price your products to getting a book deal.  Most interviewees are young moms so often times the discussion touches a bit on balancing home life and being good parents.

I am not a small business owner nor do I have plans to become one any time soon, but I find this creative small business world fascinating, especially as it continues to grow with blogging and instagramming.   These are women about my same age (usually) doing really awesome things with the gifts they have been given.

I think all the podcasts are great but the Season Two podcasts seem to speak to me more or are just more interesting.

So how it fits in to my life...

Usually when I put Eleanor down for a nap, I crave relaxation and adult interaction.  While I should be cleaning my home or working on a myriad of projects, I'll often find myself sitting and perusing the internet for something to engage me and get my mind thinking about things other than kiddie toys and meal prep.  The problem though is that Eleanor's hour long nap passes quickly and I realize all I've done is sit around.  I don't really felt rested or recharged and therefore I don't feel like I can give Eleanor my all when she's awake.

This week though has been different.  I'll put Eleanor down and then start a podcast soon after.  While I usually start out sitting down and relaxing to listen, all the talk about creativity, getting stuff done, making it happen eventually motivates me to get up and start cleaning.  My kitchen is dishes free, my laundry pile is diminishing, the toys are being picked up and my meals are getting prepared.  All while my brain is engaged and thinking about adult things.  It's fantastic! Of course, the house goes to chaos again when she wakes up but things have improved overall!

Some of my favorite thoughts gained from these podcasts are that:

1) It's not always fun.  Sometimes you just have to do things (like dishes, family record keeping, etc.) Just do it!

2) Take "creative field trips" (go to a museum, Anthropologie, an antique store, an art gallery!).  I think this is why I love going thrifting with Eleanor.  I don't buy anything usually but it gets me outside and I find a lot of inspiration in the old things I see.

3) Make time every day to be creative.  I don't think of myself as a super creative person, but I can see that when I engage in a creative activity (such as cooking for fun, playing the piano, taking photos, making homemade birthday cards) I feel reinvigorated and strangely well rested.

I never thought I was much of an audio learner (I usually dislike others reading to me out loud whenever I'm in any kind of class), but I'm thinking I may be more of one than I thought.  I'm motivated to seek out audio books now when I used to be certain I was a book-in-hand kind of reader.  Think of all the books I could be getting through by listening to them!

Anyways, I thought I'd send this out into the universe (internet) in case anyone is looking for a little inspiration.  I love being a stay at home mom and wouldn't change it for the world and yet it is this bizarrely isolating experience at times.  So discovering things like this that uplift me and make me a better mom is wonderful.

Happy Wednesday!