The artist is primarily interested in the process of making art, while the audience is mostly interested in the end product. This often leads to a situation where the artist’s focus is drawn away from the process of creating to the end goal, the product.
The performance paradox states that keeping your eye on the goal or the product (the future) can often result in dysfunctional behaviour, stress, overwhelm and underachievement, where-as keeping your eye on the process (the present) will mostly lead to achievement, motivation and productivity.
Do you tend to focus more on the process or the product? If you are not as productive as you would like to be, examine what you focus on while creating: the present process or the future goal. If you find that you focus more on the product than the process, shift your attention by consciously deciding to focus on your creative process and see if the results are different.
