The latest podcast over at Craftypod is about crafty overload, but it applies equally to any kind of creative overwhelm. As someone who suffers from 'too-many-ideas-and-starting-too-much-and-not-getting-enough-finished' and the resultant 'oh-shit-oh-shit-my-head-is-going-to-explode' on a regular basis, I was laughing and nodding all the way through. Total comedy of recognition, right down to using compulsive list-making as a solution!

One of my latest tricks for staying in control is to keep a card index of blank cards on my desk to write down my art ideas. That way, instead of things being written in lots of different notebooks, various scraps of paper or just jumbling around in my head, all my art ideas should theoretically end up in the same place - a nice, safe red box that I can close the damn lid on!* Of course, I have years of bits of paper and sketchbooks to go through to unearth all those lurking ideas that are still nibbling away at the edge of my consciousness, giving me insomnia and constant feelings of being overwhelmed but I'm sure that the theory is sound...

What are your tricks and tips for avoiding feeling overwhelmed?

* It's only just occurred to me how amusing it is that the box is red. Actually, it was the only colour left in the shop but the symbolism does seem apt since it's clearly dangerous in there.