Feeling overwhelmed

Also - give yourself some grace and space.
If it's possible, pack a few dolls away and see if focusing on one or two at a time helps. Maybe it's not the dolls themselves that are stressing you out, but something else? And instead of making you feel better, all of your unfinished doll projects make you feel a little resentful? Like - this is supposed to be a hobby that's a source of joy, but it feels like a chore.
Again, this might be advice that is incredibly specific to me, but I have often done the "slash and purge" to clean out stuff - only to realize later that I was responding to stress from something else (usually work). And replacing these dolls, which are often limited or discontinued, can be an expensive proposition.
This is not a "fast" hobby. You have to wait to get your dolls. You need time to customize them. It's a lot of effort to photograph and style them. And it can take a long time to sell them (unless you're willing to accept a huge loss).

 

@MaleficentMrsofEvil
That is really great advice. I've seen people sell their collection too quickly and then regret it. My go-to is always to pack away the dolls that are overwhelming me the most. I'm a little odd sometimes -- it can take me a while to start missing something I love, even people. I can be just fine, and then at about the one month mark, I start missing it like crazy. So that's kind of how I try to tell if I am going to miss a doll enough to keep it. If I don't miss it after a month, I give it three months. If I still don't miss it enough to keep, then I think of selling it.

 

This is me to some extent. I have a lot of faceup supplies and it takes a while to clean them up, so I don't bring them out unless I have at least two to do and usually I can find a third. I also have a bunch of renaissance type shirts to make for my latest batch of dolls, so I'm going to draft them all and do them at one time. Same thing for the britches and jeans afterwards. I've got too many not to be efficient.

 

I have this problem and I'm stuck on if I should just order heads and outfits since i already have the bodies. I just need to learn how to swap out the pieces.

 

If you need help, I promise you, you are in the perfect place. Let us know what you need!

 

Hi. I'm new to the doll hobby and don't have a lot of dolls and stuff. However, I have felt this way with a previous hobby that I participated in for about 10 years. So, I can empathize. Here's what I did...I took a step back. I took breaks when I didn't feel inspired and I culled my collection when I felt I was ready to let go of stuff. To me, creativity is not an off and on switch and my hobbies shouldn't feel like work. My advice is take a breath, stay positive and you'll know what to do when the time is right for you.

 

I usually focus on one project and finish it before I start another one so in that way I never get overwhelmed. I also keep my collection small and not buy everything I like. I have 18 years in this hobby, and spent the first 5 years with just 2 dolls. The best years were when I had those two dolls only since all my attention went to them but now with 20 dolls or so it's really hard to give them all attention so I want to cut down and just keep my collection under 10 or 5 if possible.

 

I make lists of all the things that need to be done. That helps. I also have extremely long timelines. Everything gets done, but I've learned there is no hurry. The added bonus is, I don't like to start projects while I already have one going on. It's a good money saver.

 

Obviously we’re much alike in this aspect. Every year I make a list on the yearly goals thread right here on DoA. And I refer back to it periodically throughout the year, adding what I’ve accomplished in a different color ink so it’s easy to see what I’ve already done, as opposed to things that still need doing. It gives me a sense of pride and fulfillment. Since this list encompasses an entire year, I can just work on it one thing at a time, hacking away at it slowly so I don’t become stressed. I can edit it to remove items that don’t work out, or add ones that may pop up unexpectedly. And if something isn’t accomplished for some reason, I can always just role that over onto next year’s list (no biggie.)

 

I currently have 30 resin BJDs, and even with most being tiny, that's a lot. I use a column of the Airtable chart I keep all their information in to keep track of what each of them needs to be "finished". Mostly its face-ups. So many of my dolls are blank, and I'm determined to do them myself, but I procrastinate. (Humid weather and long Covid fatigue don't help). I also post to the yearly goals thread on DoA to help keep track of plans and what I've managed to accomplish.

And selling any doll that I've realized isn't going to make me happy helps free up physical and mental space to reduce some of the feeling of being overwhelmed.

 

I completely relate! I have adhd and struggle with impulsivity a lot in my spending, especially when it comes to my hyperfixations. I got into BJD's and ended up impulsively buying too many! I realized it was an issue when I looked at working on my dolls as a "need to" chore rather than a fun creative outlet.

Been selling some of my dolls and feeling better about it I have most of them packed up for now since most are blank and nude. For me having them neatly organized and safely packed up until I have time to work on them makes me feel better/less stressed about how many I own. Still working on shifting my mindset to really pouring in my love and focus onto the ones I have currently. And if a preorder or sale pops up I am very very interested in, I write it down, and then wait at least a week to see how I feel. If I still want her I consider saving up at that point. That's really helped for me!

 

I'm overwhelmed and need a doll-anonymous.
But meanwhile, I just bought 2 today because "they were such good deals" . . .

I buy them promising I will sell some. And that turns into.......... TOMORROW.....

 

I definitely feel the overwhelm I had purchased my absolute grail a few years ago but she required (and still does), a lot of modification due to damage/mods from a previous owner, I lack the skills to do it myself but I find it so stressful to try and find someone to do it for me. So instead of her getting fixed up and pretty she's been hiding in my closet

 

When I'm overwhelmed with Too Many Incomplete Projects, I get stressed out. What's worse, I start resenting the project or thing I need to work on, because it's causing me stress. Then I feel bad for my resentment, but I also feel discouraged and don't want to do anything about it... So the procrastination, overwhelm and resentment feed each other in a vicious cycle. This has happened before with non-BJD hobbies, and while I haven't experienced resentment to my dolls yet, I can imagine it happening to me if I have too many incomplete dolls at home.

I don't want to resent my dolls! So I've been looking for ways to regulate my own project/stress levels and keep the hobby fun instead of overwhelming. I discovered through some trial-and-error that I really prefer a doll to be presentable upon arrival or shortly after -- if I can play with and enjoy them right away, it really reduces my feeling of pressure and urgency to "complete" them. (I posted more about it here.) So that means having bare minimum of eyes, a wig, and one set of clothes ready for a doll upon box opening. (I paint my own faceups so I'm OK with them arriving blank.)
Out-of-sight out-of-mind also doesn't work consistently: sometimes I can forget that I have a doll or head stashed away, but sometimes it backfires and the incomplete doll weighs on my mind and becomes unbearable, especially if I'm thinking a lot about their character too (I shell OCs with my dolls).

What really helps me is to pace myself with buying resin and non-resin BJD stuff, so I have enough budget and time to get that bare minimum for a new doll. And when the doll arrives, they're presentable and I can enjoy them right away, so I don't feel that pressure of "unpresentable doll". It's helped that I've been preordering instead of buying secondhand, the longer wait times feels liberating because I have breathing room to buy/make stuff for them.

Pacing myself means I buy resin slowly and do everything I can to resist FOMO impulse buying. I have missed out on lots of pretty dolls including ones on my wishlist. But honestly? I'm okay with that. Not having "project urgency stress" means I have freedom to focus on buying/making things for the incoming dolls AND enjoy my current crew and spoil them as well. It's really a relief to have this kind of breathing room. So for me, opting out of FOMO and missing out on new resin or preorders is a small sacrifice to maintain inner, stress-free peace and enjoyment of the hobby. (And some dolls end up falling off my wishlist anyway - more's the better.)

 

I think this is a common feeling within this hobby. I get so overwhelmed, but I keep piling projects onto myself because i want to have a good time with my dolls. I only have two, so I don't get overwhelmed looking at them, I get overwhelmed on the amount of things I want to DO for them. you're not alone, and never be scared to take a break. Your dolls will be here for you! They're patient and can wait.

 

I feel this way with the hobby a lot even having only one BJD at the moment, since I'm the type to like everything I have to be as neatly organized as possible and don't like having too many things laying around in my room. What I usually do when it gets bad is take a break and make lists of all my projects, wishlists, orders and things I need to do, and organize my doll corner when I feel up to it. It gives me a better sense of control, so if you can find anything you can do to give you that it might help, in my experience.

 

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by how many dolls need clothes. I don’t want to buy them because I can sew, and I wanna start making wigs and do faceups, but my crafting space is cluttered and unorganized so when I look at it I’m too overwhelmed to clean it. It’s a vicious cycle

 

5-minute rule.
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Just 5 minutes. You can survive just about any miserable chore for 5 minutes.
Still too long? 2 minutes.
Set your timer and clean that crafting space. Dump everything in a box and start sorting. When the timer goes off, if you're miserable, quit. If you are suddenly inspired to keep going? Keep going. For me, the biggest hurdle to doing something is to just get started. If I can get started, I'll be off on a roll.
If you can't keep going, do it again in a couple days. Timer. Clean like a mad scientist. Quit. Repeat as necessary.

OR - the "never leave the room without something in your hands" principle. Every time you walk past your crafting space, grab one thing that doesn't belong there and put it away. One thing. One. Thing. ONE! It doesn't seem like much at first, but after 5 or 10 drive-by cleanings, all of a sudden, space magically begins to appear.

 

This method works for me too! It work especcially well when the mess have goten to the point that it's too much and the amount of it makes it hard to get started.
Look around for one thing that is not in it's place, preferably an easy win, something obvious in plain sight that you know you have a better place for. Take that one thing and put it away properly and then forget about it and go on doing something else. Doing this every time you think about it makes a difference and after a while it becomes a habit and almost effortless.
After a while there will still be some of the more difficult things left, things that perhaps don't have a good place or things that require decision making. But since much of the other stuff has been cleared away, it's unusally easier to deal with without being overwhelmed.

 

Thank you for holding me accountable to my space. I will accomplish this task and become a crafting queen again!