Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds: Nurturing Growth in Your Creative Practice

Choosing What You Nurture in Your Creative Practice

You glance at your garden. The rosebush you planted last spring is barely holding on. Around it? Dandelions, ivy, thistle—thriving. Why? Because you watered everything equally.

The same thing happens in your creative work, your freelance practice, and even in your mindset.

The question is: are you spending your time, focus, and energy watering the flowers, or are you unintentionally watering the weeds?

How you answer that might be the difference between burnout and growth, stagnation and momentum, giving up—or blooming where you’re planted.

What Are Your “Flowers”?

Let’s define what the “flowers” are.

They’re the good stuff—the healthy, growth-orientated, life-giving elements of your work and life.

They’re different for each creative, but they often look like:

• That one client who respects your process (and pays on time)
• The project that excites you even when you’re tired
• The idea that’s been calling your name for months
• The morning ritual that gets your head in the right space
• The kind of work you wish you were doing more of
• The boundaries that protect your energy
• The self-talk that reminds you you’re allowed to do this

Flowers are worth nurturing. They don’t always bloom immediately, but they have potential—if you feed them.

And the Weeds?

Weeds are trickier. They often disguise themselves as obligations, habits, or even opportunities. They grow fast, demand a lot, and return little.

Some common creative weeds:

• The client who drains your energy with endless revisions
• The comparison trap on Instagram or Behance
• The projects you said yes to out of guilt or fear
• The perfectionism that delays everything
• The voice that says, “You’re not good enough yet”
• The endless tweaks on a finished design instead of starting the next
• The unpaid “exposure” gigs that don’t actually lead anywhere

Weeds thrive when you give them attention. They love indecision. They feed on insecurity. And left unchecked, they take over your creative garden.

Where Energy Goes, Growth Follows

(Attention + Energy + Time)

In the creative world, watering is how you spend your attention, energy, and time.

Each day, you make hundreds of micro-decisions:

• Which emails do you respond to first?
• What kind of work do you say yes to?
• What thoughts do you entertain?
• What habits do you repeat?
• Who you let shape your standards

The scary part? You might be watering weeds without even realising it.

The Freelancer’s Dilemma

Freelancers are especially prone to this.

Say a difficult client emails with a vague complaint. You drop everything to fix it—even though your favourite client, the one who trusts you, is waiting patiently. Or you spend an hour crafting a clever Instagram caption but avoid sending the invoice that actually pays your rent.

It’s a subtle form of sabotage: giving your best energy to the things that least deserve it.

And over time, those choices shape your business.
Because what you feed grows. And what you neglect shrinks.

Reclaiming Creative Focus

How do you turn it around?

Start with awareness. Ask yourself:

• What parts of my work actually give me energy?
• What kinds of projects make me lose track of time?
• Which clients or collaborators make me better?
• What thoughts or habits are dragging me down?
• Where am I spending time out of fear, not intention?

Then, start pruning.

Yes, even if it means saying no to “meh” money jobs.
Even if it means muting accounts that trigger comparison.
Even if it means letting go of a project that no longer fits your direction.

You’re not being lazy. You’re being strategic.

You’re making room for the flowers to grow.

Small Ways to Water the Right Things

You don’t need to overhaul your entire practice overnight.

Here are small, powerful shifts that help your creative garden thrive:

Start the day with what matters

Before emails or socials, spend 20 minutes on meaningful work.
The personal piece. The dream proposal. The idea in your sketchbook.

A short window of focused energy can realign your whole day.

Fire a weed (kindly)

If a client consistently disrespects your boundaries or drains your time, it might be time for a polite goodbye. You don’t have to hold space for relationships that don’t serve you.

Celebrate the flowers

Notice what’s working—and name it.
A project you enjoyed. A kind word from a client. A moment of flow.
The more you acknowledge what’s good, the easier it becomes to build around it.

Set distraction-free hours (no weeds allowed)

Designate blocks of time where you don’t answer draining emails, scroll, or entertain low-value tasks. This isn’t about being unavailable—it’s about protecting your focus.

Follow your curiosity

A flower often begins as a spark:
A weird idea that excites you. A tool you want to learn. A style you’re drawn to.
Don’t wait for permission—explore it.

The Emotional Side of Weeding

Let’s be honest: pruning your creative life can feel hard.

Weeds often show up as comfort—the client you’ve worked with for years. The safe routine. The inner script you’ve rehearsed so long it feels like truth.

Letting go of those things can feel like a loss.

But what if it’s actually growth?

What if saying no creates space for what you’ve been waiting to say yes to?

Like in any garden, weeding doesn’t just tidy up.
It prepares the soil.
It lets the sun in.
It allows stronger roots to grow.

Let’s Talk About the Long Game

If you’re reading this, you’re probably in it for the long haul. You care about your craft. You want a creative life that doesn’t just pay the bills but means something.

To do that, you have to be intentional about what you cultivate.

Watering the flowers is an act of:

• Faith—believing your best work is worth your attention.
• Strategy—investing in what grows your skills, relationships, and joy.
• Self-respect—choosing to pour into the parts of your creative life that make you feel most like you.

Final Thought

Every creative has a garden. Some are wild and colourful. Some are quiet and orderly. Some are in bloom. Some are in repair. There’s no right way.

But every garden—every creative practice—depends on what you choose to water.

So the next time you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or off-track, ask yourself:

Am I watering the flowers? Or the weeds?

Choose with care. Choose what helps you grow.