#38: 7 Signs Your going to Fast

In this episode of The Jeweler's View, Courtney Gray shares insights from her personal journey and professional experience to help artists and creators identify the subtle signs of moving too fast. She discusses the dangers of urgency becoming the norm and offers practical strategies for slowing down and reconnecting with your creative purpose. Courtney emphasizes the importance of mindful pauses, completing tasks, and creating space for rest and reflection to prevent burnout. Listeners are encouraged to be gentle with themselves and to make intentional shifts towards a sustainable, fulfilling creative practice.

Transcript

  Hey friends. Welcome back to the Jewelers View. After last week's episode, I knew I needed to keep pulling on this thread a little bit more. This time, it's not a personal story, at least not in the same raw way. I've been sharing a little bit extra, but it is personal because what I'm sharing today, I've lived it.

I see it in nearly every artist, every maker or mentor I work with. We start moving so fast that we don't even realize how far we've drifted from center. Not because we're flaky, not because we're bad at time management, but because urgency starts to feel normal. You start believing the rush is part of the job, that if you slow down, you'll fall behind.

Everyone else must be handling it, so why can't you? But that pressure, that pace, it's a trick. And if we're not careful, it becomes our baseline. So today, I wanna name it, before the crash, before the burnout, before you start believing, the problem is you. This is not a productivity episode, it's a pattern interruption.

Let's walk through briefly seven subtle signs that you're moving too fast.

Even if on the surface everything still looks fine. Number one, you stop finishing things, not because you lack follow through, but because your mind has already jumped ahead. Email, half written, that necklace almost polished, almost finished that application for the show. Still sitting in drafts, you're in motion, but not completion.

You're chasing momentum instead of cultivating it, ask yourself, am I leaving trails of almost done everywhere I go? Two, you react to everything like it's urgent. Even when it's not a message pings and your shoulders tense and you jump to go check it. A comment on Instagram feels like it must be answered right now.

A loved one asks a simple question and you snap at them because even questions feel like pressure. you're not rude. You're overloaded and your nervous system is trying to keep you safe. So ask yourself, is this actually urgent or is it just loud? Is it just up right now?

Number three, you're multitasking so hard. You forgot what you've already done. Been there, done that. You're listening to a podcast while editing photos, while thinking about groceries. While answering texts and then you crash or you spiral, or you just feel kind of blank, you're not failing.

You've just trained your brain to never fully pause or land anywhere. So you could ask yourself, when was the last time I gave something my full distraction? Free attention. Number four, you're productive, but you're disconnected, so you're showing up, you're checking boxes, checking that task list off. It all feels kind of flat.

You're not celebrating, you're not feeling proud. You're just surviving the list only to add more things to the list once those things are checked off. So ask yourself, am I showing up in my business or am I just pushing it forward? This is a big one for me. It's counterintuitive. We think we need to push to make things happen.

Actually, we just need to step back and get into a rhythm and a consistent flow. Number five, this is one I hear a lot. You're skipping  basic needs. You forget to drink water, you forget to eat meals or delay them. Even going to the bathroom feels like an interruption. You wake up and your brain is already five tabs ahead of your body.

These aren't small lapses. They're warning signs. Ask yourself, what am I ignoring that my body's already asking for? Number six, even your rest becomes performative. You take a bath, but you bring your phone, you go for a walk, but you queue up a podcast, so you're learning something all the time. You meditate just to check it off your list.

Rest becomes another task. Another thing that you have to do, right? So ask yourself, when was the last time I did something purely restorative without trying to improve myself in the process?

Number seven, you feel untethered from your why or your purpose. This is the big one. You're still posting, emailing, designing, but something feels far away. You're executing, but the spark in that fire, that passion feels missing or it's gone. The thing that used to fuel you now just fills the calendar. Ask yourself, can I name what this is all for?

Do I still feel connected to the vision, to my why? So what now? If you saw yourself in one or all of these, take a breath. This is not failure. This is not a character flaw. This is a signal. It's your body, your mind, your creativity, asking for something gentler. Not a sabbatical, not a shutdown necessarily.

Just a shift. Here's what I'm practicing right now, imperfectly, mind you, but intentionally, I pause for 10 seconds before reacting to anything urgent so that hopefully I can respond instead of react. I let one task land before jumping to the next thing, finish things right, completely.

Check the box before getting squirreled onto the next task. I build one hour a week at least, with no outcome, just space. And I check in with my pace, not just how much I'm producing my productivity. That's it. Not a big reinvention, just a soft reset. And here's what I wanna leave you with today.

Sometimes the most healing thing you can do isn't to stop everything. 'cause sometimes that's hard. You can't stop. It's to do the bare minimum on purpose. Answer only what's needed. Then pause. I found myself solving problems from the couch. Still troubleshooting, still making decisions, but at least my body is resting.

And when you're in the middle of a crisis or a high output season, that is the win because you can't always completely unplug, but you can turn the volume down. When urgency becomes your default, your nervous system forgets what calm feels like. You start to believe rest is something that you have to earn instead of something you require.

So let me ask you, where can you make time this week? Not wait for it, not hope it opens up, but create it. Can you pause long enough to reset your rhythm? Even if it means someone else steps in for a minute or you have to delay a project, what would shift if you stopped waiting for the right conditions to rest and you just made them?

That's what I'm working on too. Thanks for being here with me.  📍 Take good care of yourself and your passion and I'll see you next time. Thanks for listening.

  📍 Thanks for listening to The Jeweler's View. If today's episode gave you something to think about, consider sending it to a friend or share it on social and tag me at Courtney Gray Arts. You'll find tools, coaching resources, and the transform course@courtneygrayarts.com. And if no one's told you this lately, remember you're not behind.

You're becoming exactly the kind of maker your business needs and that kind of depth. It takes time. I'll be back next week, same time, same tough love, onward and upward. I.