I just wrote the title of this blog post, and before even writing this first sentence felt a compulsion to check Instagram. Hello, my name is Carrie and I am a chronic procrastinator.

As I am writing this, it is Tuesday afternoon (late afternoon, if I’m being TOTALLY honest). This is not good. Blog posts are supposed to go up Tuesday morning. I often put things off until the last minute – even things I actually WANT to do (like, ahem, writing). It’s been a pattern I’ve witnessed myself fall in and out of for years.

Now, if you’re a fellow chronic procrastinator, you probably don’t need me to lecture you about what a shitty habit this is. You’ve seen first hand the way it messes with your life. You’ve done your own frantic scrambling to pull things off in the final hours, and you know how not fun that is.

Many people have already written more eloquently than I could about the nasty cycle of procrastination that many of us fall into. This article is one of my favorites. And so right now, I’m not going to delve into the myriad of reasons we procrastinate. I’m not even going to touch on the psychology of procrastination.

What I’m going to say today is this: only you can change you. And most of us only follow through on change when the agony of staying stuck in our tired, ridiculous patterns becomes worse than the discomfort of working on ourselves.

Strip everything away: the excuses, justifications and rationalizations you use to blanket your procrastination. What remains? You. You are responsible for you.

If you can’t take ownership of your procrastination, you’re dead in the water.
(tweet this)

It sounds harsh, but sometimes a slap in the face is exactly what chronic procrastinators need when all else fails. Because if you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’ve already tried many tactics – bribing yourself, shaming yourself, babying yourself, beating yourself – and you’re still…procrastinating.

And so I am here to offer you (and myself) a slap in the face – but only out of love. Because we deserve more. We deserve a life that feels spacious. We deserve to feel accomplished. We deserve to live with real integrity; to be accountable to ourselves and accomplish the things that truly matter to us.

When you clear away all the excuses and rubble, your options boil down thusly: give up. Procrastinate your life away. Reach your death bed only to blink incredulously with no idea how you got there. Or…devote. Really, devote – to the process of self-discovery and transformation.

Do you want to step out of this bull honkey? Great! You can. Build new habits. Redirect yourself when you fall of course. Find the right blend of self-love and self-discipline.

Let’s get out of our own way and let fresh versions of ourselves emerge.
(tweet this)

Yours in solidarity,

Book a private reading with me here.

Subscribe to receive email updates and the FREE eBook, The Tarot Reader’s Daily Companion.

Here’s a common pitfall that creative people fall into: give, give, create, create, do, do… stammer a bit, try to forcibly conjure up more energy… squeeze out a feeew more drops of creative juju… deny that we’re getting depleted… try to give some more… and then, finally, reluctantly… admit to ourselves that the well is dry.

The broader truth is that your creative energy IS infinite. It never, ever runs out completely. But it can get temporarily tapped out, especially when you aren’t taking steps to keep the flow moving. You can’t keep give, give, giving of your creative energy indefinitely. Sooner or later, you need to replenish those reserves. In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron refers to this as “filling the well.”

It’s a strange but true fact that many of us (myself included!) have to CONSTANTLY remind ourselves to fill our well. When you neglect to feed and nurture your creative energy, you deal with burn-out and exhaustion and stuckness over and over. This is not a fun cycle, people! It’s so important to take steps to fill your well so that your creative engine can hum smoothly.

Here are 7 ways you can replenish your creative well before you start to feel like you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. And as an added bonus, they’re all free!

1. Go for a walk.

This is especially relevant if your current circumstances require you to spend a lot of time sitting inside. Walking is one of the most basic yet effective ways to feed your creative spirit. When your legs move, your mind relaxes. Once you catch your stride, your mind expands. The physical movement aligns with the movement of your creative reserves. Even just a twenty minute walk is akin to filling up your car with a fresh tank of gas.

2. Browse the interwebz consciously.

For many of us, mindless internet surfing is a surefire sign that our creative stocks are running low. It’s sooo easy to log on to social media and click link after link after link. Usually, this kind of unconscious browsing only leaves us feeling ickier. When you’re feeling depleted, remind yourself to browse CONSCIOUSLY. Pull up a queue of blogs that inspire you, brew a cup of tea, and indulge in some meaningful cyber time. Partaking of thoughtful creative outputs of others can rekindle your own creative fires.

3. Sit outside with your tarot cards.

Grab a blanket and find a sunny patch of grass. Without any particular agenda, gaze through your favorite deck of cards. Let your conversational brain quiet and just hang out with the images. Try to gently avert the urge to have a structured interaction with your cards and just BE with them. Do this for at least ten minutes.

4. Rearrange your furniture.

Your physical surroundings can have an immense impact on your inner world. Even a simple change – organizing your book shelf, moving your desk slightly to the left – can cause shifts in your inner creative landscape. This could be a grandiose effort of rearranging your entire house, but powerful shifts can come from even tiny external changes.

5. Take yourself on an Artist’s Date.

The artist’s date (a term coined by Julia Cameron) is a solo excursion to do something fun. Pop into a local thrift shop and browse for silly goodies. Check out a museum (lots of them have free exhibits). Or, one of my personal favorites: hit up your local metaphysical store and wander through all the treasures. The idea here is to get out, and try something new by yourself. Your inner artist needs to be courted, and the artist’s date does just that.

6. Get together with a creative friend.

The creative life can sometimes get lonely. It’s vital to feed relationships with those who encourage your creativity. Do you have a friend who also aspires towards creative expansion? Get together with them! Chatting with a fellow creative is a wonderful way to replenish your sense of inspiration and connection.

7. Sleep.

When your creative well starts running low, one of your instinctive responses may be to push yourself. But often, what you really need to do is the opposite! Walk away from your project. Take a nap. Sleep in. Do nothing (seriously, how often do we let ourselves do NOTHING? What a concept!). Observe your dreams. Rest, rest, rest! You’ll know deep down when you’re refreshed and ready to return to work.

Leave a comment and tell me: will you challenge yourself to try one or more of these approaches this week? Which seems most useful to you, and why? I’d be intrigued to know!

Book a private reading with me here.

Subscribe to receive email updates and the FREE eBook, The Tarot Reader’s Daily Companion.

In the tarot, we find slices of our own lives. The cards align with aspects of the human experience that are as universal as they are deeply personal. With a deck of tarot cards as your ally, you can embark on a wildly adventurous journey into your own bad-assery. I’ve got something free and awesome to help you blaze your trail!

I created this ebook as a free gift for my newsletter subscribers. In these pages, you’ll find an assortment of goodies: tarot spreads, quotes, lessons on expanding as a tarot reader and more. For fourteen days, you will be led through a process of soul-diving and illumination. You’ll walk away feeling better acquainted with yourself, and equipped with new creative ways to use your cards!

This book is for you if:

This book was born out of my genuine experiences – I’ve outlined ways that I have personally expanded by working with the cards. I hope that this book will be an encouraging and useful companion for you. Sign up for my monthly email newsletter below, and in return you’ll get this lovingly crafted (and freeeee!) ebook!

Ready to do this? Subscribe below and get your book!

Cheers to your growth,

Book a private reading with me here.

“I need to psych myself up for this.”

I’ve found myself saying this a lot this week. Sometimes it’s because I have to do something I’d rather not do (for example, gagging down medicine). Other times it’s because I want to work but part of me would rather zone out on the couch!

What does it mean to psych yourself up? This is a phrase we use to imply you’d like to be enthusiastic, pumped, excited and ready to go – but you need to make some adjustments to get yourself to that point.

Do you know who is already psyched up? The Queen of Wands. This bitch is fierce, courageous, energetic. She brings her a whole heart to everything. She doesn’t often need to psych herself up, because this is her natural state of being.

What can we learn from the Queen of Wands? Here are some tips I think she would she give on transforming your mentality from meh to YEAH!

Fan your small flames.
If you search your psyche, it’s likely you’ve already got some small flames (or at least a few smoldering coals) of readiness for whatever you’re about to do. Find those small flames, and feed them energy. Remind yourself of every positive thing about this task: why do you want to do it? How will it affect the overall spectrum of your life? What good will come from getting excited and getting it done? Hone in on those answers and you’ll feel them increase from small flames to bright fires.

Fake it ’til you make it.
There’s a reason this phrase exists. Faking it until you make it doesn’t ALWAYS work, but it’s track record of success is surprisingly good. If you’re not so stoked about doing something, try ACTING like you are. What would you do if you WERE ready? How would you proceed if you DID have good mojo? Channel your inner Queen of Wands. Focus on those energies and act as though they were your reality – and before long, they can be.

Remember the joy of productivity.
One of my favorite quotes is from Dorthy Parker: “I hate writing, but I love having written.” Ain’t it the truth? It feels so good to sit down at the end of the day and know you accomplished what you truly needed to. The next time you’re struggling to gain momentum, remind yourself of how amazing you’re going to feel once you’ve done the work. Soon you’ll be sitting pretty on your throne, just like the Queen of Wands, basking in the post-productivity glow.

Be all in.
It has come to my attention that the internet, television, cats, family and pretty much every other thing in the world can be incredibly distracting. If you really need to get psyched up for a task, remove yourself from distractions. Unplug everything, turn off the wi-fi, and devote yourself to the task at hand. The Queen of Wands doesn’t touch anything with half her heart. If she’s going to do it, she’s going to do it with presence.

Plot twist: don’t do it.
If you have to work SO hard to psych yourself up for something, maybe you just need to say screw it. Of course, this isn’t always the best option, but it’s worth considering. Why do you want to be excited about this task? Would you feel better if you could simply dump it off your plate and devote energy to things you’re naturally excited about? If you can give it up, and you want to give it up…give it up.

Put your big girl panties on and just fucking do it!
The Queen of Wands is not someone who wastes a lot of energy whining and pattering about. If she needs to do something, she buckles down and DOES IT. You can be the same. No more excuses, no more procrastinating. Tell yourself you’re excited, jump up and down. Decide you’ve got this, then go get it!

Feeling psyched up yet?!

Book a private reading with me here.

Subscribe to receive my {free} exclusive monthly emails & four {free} guided tarot meditations.