How You Can Learn to Harness Your Panic Monster to Unleash Your Creativity

Let it be a lesson that your panic won’t be the only thing you get out of your weakest moments.

Prompt: Chaos is fertile soil for creativity

Like an essay, you had to write, but it’s morning, and only 4 hours are left before you submit it to your teacher. Or perhaps you’re a night owl with ADHD, busy chasing squirrels in the dark of the night.

Yeah, all of us have been there, haven’t we? Albeit, most of us occasionally do it out of habit. Nowadays, it’s just so easy to get distracted. You don’t even need ADHD to be distracted because we live in a digital age. And no matter how much we try. There will always be something that is going to catch our eye.

And we run towards it, like a cat seeing easy prey. But there is one time that we usually come to regret. Often when this time has come to pass, do we realize the fault in our stars. How we blame our hindsight amongst the panic that resides in our hearts?

It’s getting ready to burst, perhaps taking us down with it. Send help, please.

What if I told you there was a way, to meet your deadline and still get away with a good score. When I was in my university, often at times, my nights were spent trying to focus on the task at hand. But my dormitory mates usually didn’t care for the profundities like exams. And so they’d rather party and sing kumbayah in the night rather than preparing for the test, next day.

Yes, I was caught up in between as well. Not only did I lost my sleep, but also I had to choose whether to study or join them. I tried really hard but to no avail. And then what happened is what I least expected.

I couldn’t resist the offer.

You guessed it, guilty as charged, milord. I am guilty of taking in the temptation. But moreover, I had no choice. The noise even though it was pleasant for the moment. It brought with it a disaster ready to blow me to kingdom come.

4 am, I suddenly wake up 30 minutes before sunrise. Due to the panic monster waking up, I had to take a shower and quickly go through my notes.

Thankfully I took notes for my classes. They helped me revise what I needed but also give my friends some pointers who partied all night. Now amidst the panic, I have realized this grand scheme of things. How do our minds work during a state of panic?

Usually, we don’t really need any more than a few hours to fully prepare for our exams. Unless we have ADHD. And we would forget most of what we read before the exams as soon as we enter the exam room.

In short, I was screwed from the get-go. But did it stop me? No, it did not? As much as the panic monster whispered in my ear, I had other plans to use him as a stepping stone.

Little did he know, I was using him for ulterior motives; queue maniacal laughter.

Over the years, I have set milestone goals to accomplish tasks that do not have a predefined timeline. Now you might be thinking, how would I achieve them, when and where?

Well, you see, during the awakening of the panic monster. We will focus our time usually on the things that matter the most. So labeling prep material, with red being the highest and green being the lowest. It allows you to give time to each without losing much of your attention span.

Now when it comes to writing or any other activity like designing a system or producing content.

Well, prioritization is your key to unleashing your creative spirit.

It is a fancy way of saying, you get shit done that’s most important in the food chain. It helps you exorcise that panic for the greater good, your good!

Remember that panic at its core is the unnerving attention to what makes us irk. If you can divert that energy towards creating, well, you would have mastered the art of unleashing your creativity. Because every random thing that does happen will work on a set of patterns.

As human beings, we are pattern-seeking individuals. And once we label and mark these patterns. We can formulate a strategy to conquer our odds. It’s much like an epiphany, a calm presence in the eye of the storm. You can sense it because you are already there. And you can do something about it because you don’t have a way out.

But this is where our optimism comes into motion. As it’s all about seeking possibilities, and prioritization allows you to take action on those occurrences. Do you want to know what happens next? I am sure you are stoked to find out the truth.

Well, I will let you in on a secret. There is no right or wrong. Because the result is but a random figure. It is one of many experiences waiting for you to explore, each with its failures and successes.

So the next time, you find yourself in a fit. Remember to close your eyes, relax, breathe and count to three. Afterward, label each task that you need to get done. Take no more than 5 to 10 minutes in labeling each task.

Prioritize your minutes, from labels; high to low. And start writing away. If you want to focus, use music to channel that brain of yours. Let panic take care of the rest. Because the energetic response caused by it will be focused on getting the prioritized minutes in check.

Thus, remember to take it easy. You got this in the bag!

Focus your panic monster on getting the job done, ruthlessly prioritize that energy to good use. And you would have unleashed an innate creative spirit that will only push you to newer heights.

The only thing left unsaid; Will you leap and reach for that chance?

Go on, take it. It has always been yours to manifest. Because you were born to create from chaos. And this is why no matter how much the panic monster resists, you will maximize it to acquire what you set your eyes on with zest.

Peace, and Stay Safe!