Productivity

Articles: Productivity

Kickin’ the Crackberry to the Curb…

treo Actually, it’s my Treo (Creo?)

I’ve suddenly become aware that the constant stream of data, info, e-mail, rss feeds, etc., 24/7 wherever I am (except for that small pocket of dropped coverage on my way home each night) is NOT healthy. It’s sucking my soul and spitting it back to me with tags. The kicker for me was when I realized that I was often hitting the "check mail" button in my email app even though the app was set to check mail every ten minutes. (Apparently, I never know when I might be called upon to solve some global crisis or to fill in at the last minute for a sick talk-show host.)

As of later today it will be gone. I’m sure there will be withdrawal, so I’m checking myself into the Crackberry clinic. I’ll see you on the other side of rehab. (And we’ll have an intervention when the iPhone is released…)

For me this is a question of engagement in the moment. Creativity is about full-out, head-on engagement with whatever is in front of you. When my attention is divided or constantly interrupted, I find that my mind sets about solving multiple problems at once. Human beings ARE NOT WIRED to be on 24/7. We require rhythm, rest, periods of intense and satisfying work, periods of recuperation from the work, etc. This is all a part of how the natural world operates, but humans are the only beings who defy it.

So call my Treo-less life my attempt to take a stand against the obsessive wired-ness that is pervading our culture and a small effort to re-claim my humanity. I simply want my life and focus back.

It’s In the Details…

Leadership

Productivity

We’ve talked extensively on the AC podcasts about focus and putting ourselves in places where creative accidents are likely to occur. It’s important that we learn to cultivate curiosity and pay attention to the little things so that we are able to recognize patterns and emerging brilliance. This is not something that we do exclusively in our work, it is something that we must learn to cultivate in our lives. You cannot turn creative brilliance on and off like a water fawcett – it doesn’t work that way. Just because we are required to create-on-demand does not mean that we can control "creative-on-demand." We cultivate our creative process so that we have a well to draw from when demand surges.

I was reminded of this by my friends Marcus and Andrew when they forwarded this article from The Washington Post. I think it’s proof positive of how many of us (myself included) often move through our days. We are too obsessed with the practical to pay attention to the possible.

Washington Post Article [via In Iconium ]

Overcoming Resistance

Productivity

Sometimes I feel like the biggest resistance I have toward making and creating is the responsibility of following-through on ideas. When I feel like it’s going to be a lot of effort to follow a thought or to consider its implications on my life or work, I am resistant to even allowing the thought to enter my mind. There is a defined feeling I get when this is coming on: it’s a kind of anxious and overwhelmed sensation.

The problem is that when I resist these ideas, I am slamming the door shut. I cannot choose which ideas I’m going to allow through. If I start filtering ideas, then none will come. It’s an all-in or all-out proposition. It’s simultaneously easier and harder to be all-out. There’s less effort involved, but the sense of futility is suffocating.

We must learn to open the door to both welcome and unwelcome ideas. We cannot choose which ideas we have, only the ones we act on. Resisting ideas because of their potential implications is the beginning of the worst kind of creative death.

Einstein, Boating and the Beautiful Mess

Productivity

Wired cover This month’s WIRED features an article on the genius of Albert Einstein. It’s not earth-shaking to report on Einstein’s unconventional genius, but what really caught my attention in this piece was how Einstein "accidentally" stumbled upon his discovery that time was not constant right at the moment he was about to give up. In fact, it was the accidental convergence of his role as a patent clerk and and unlikely friendship (seeded by years of playful study and seemingly meaningless postulating) that eventually altered the very way we see the universe.

Einstein was received as a hack by his professors and peers right up until his significant discoveries. He was unable to earn a doctorate because of his unconventional approach. He also uttered the (much over-quoted) phrase "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Lessons for me from this short article:
1. Creative success often comes at the moment of hopelessness.
2. Playful awareness leads to discovering solutions in unconventional places.
3. I spend WAY too much time trying to find "the right answer" instead of "the BEAUTIFUL answer."

The article can be found in this month’s WIRED.

Trees

Productivity

tree One of my habits each day is reading something from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Book Of Hours . This morning a couplet caught my attention like none in a while:

"They need only, as a tree does,

a little space in which to grow."

Each tree is unique and bears fruit in its own way, but each tree must have a defined area of land in which to grow. If two trees try to occupy the same space, they stunt each others’ growth by stealing nutrients and sunlight. They will both eventually die or be significantly less than they could have been. By occupying the same territory, they have each limited themselves.

When you plant yourself on the same plot of land as someone else, you are depriving yourself of what you need to grow as an artist. Your roots will intermingle and your fruit will be subpar.

Find your own plot of land.