I was interviewed last week by a new friend from Brazil. He asked me, “How do you deal with so many projects – a full-time job, a few blogs, and a magazine?” I suppose that does seem like some major projects. But I don’t really feel that busy. This is why. Vilfredo Pareto noticed an interesting…
I feel horrible when I procrastinate. Obviously I don’t feel horrible enough to stop. But I do feel bad. That’s because the concept of procrastination is inherently bad. But leisure and relaxation are good concepts. We all need time to unwind and recharge. Unfortunately, I often procrastinate so much that I don’t have time to…
Children play. Thats almost all they do. It can be frustrating that children, who do nothing productive, have all the energy and adults have none. But there is a way to steal back some of that energy–and it doesn’t require hooking children unto an energy sucking torture device. One of the biggest keys to children’s…
Creatives tend to be good at a lot of different things. So they usually wear many hats. Look at the creatives you follow on Twitter. Their descriptions list multifarious skills like, “I’m a graphic designer, carpenter, astrophysicist, and bassoonist.” And they’re probably praised by their friends for their skills in each of these areas. But…
I run instead of walk. I type faster than I need to. I don’t stay places longer than I want to. It might appear that I’m busy. I am. But I’m not too busy for the things I really want to do. I can sit on the couch for an hour with my wife talking…
One of my biggest sources of creative block is procrastination. If I have five hours to do a one hour job I will never feel motivated. But if I have 30 minutes to do a 1 hour job…I get it done. In fact, the product I turn out in that 30 minutes is often better…
Yesterday I told you about the tough times I was having getting motived. I did a few things wrong, but I did eventually find motivation. I finally connected with a buddy on Skype and started getting my creative juices going. I got motivated. But I didn’t start creating immediately. I let it stew.
Creatives risk burning out unless they make inspiration a priority. It’s easy to immerse yourself in your work. It’s easy to shut out the world and create for hours. It’s easy until you run out of inspiration. Then you find yourself trudging through the project. You might finish it but you’re emotionally exhausted. We need…