There’s something you’re pretty good at, something you can do without much effort. And then there’s that other thing, the one you know you’re going to struggle with.
Without much thought, you can crank out the first thing in no time flat, but the other thing? Well, that’s going to take some thought and a whole lot of time, so you’re waiting for a brainy day.
Why Easy Gets In Your Way
The problem, however, is that the brainy day never seems to arrive, because the easy stuff is so distracting. Why?
- It’s something you need to do, so you feel justified in doing it.
- It’s easy for you to do, so you feel confident while doing it.
- You get it done, so you feel productive after doing it.
The brainy day stuff is another story. You’ve never done it before. You’re not sure it’s necessary, you’re pretty sure it isn’t going to be easy, and you don’t even know what done would look like.
Justified? Confident? Productive? When you think about it, you feel anything but.
Ease Up. Save Up.
And this is why you might want to work ahead on the easy stuff – to save up for a brainy day.
If you stockpile the stuff you know you can do, you can give yourself some time and breathing room to work on the stuff you’re not so sure about.
For instance, I’ve been blogging steadily for over a year now. I’m no whiz at it, but having done it almost every day, it’s become relatively easy to do. There’s always something to blog about.
But I also want to write a book, and I’ve never done that; it doesn’t seem so easy. So, in order to free up time to focus on it, I’ve started writing more than one blog post at at time.
In essence, by doing this, I’m stockpiling, but I’m not just stockpiling blog posts. I’m stockpiling those feelings of justification, confidence, and being productive I need to be at peace. Now, I can spend a brainy day, a day I carved out by working ahead, working on the book.
Make Room for Difficulty
If you fear trying something new and difficult because you think it’s going to eat up your time and bring down your productivity, try stockpiling the things you know you can do with ease. Once you’ve worked ahead, you can go after that big kick-it item without feeling like you’re falling behind. Before you know it, you’ll be moving ahead.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome video, watched it twice. Ken, write your book. You’re worth it.
I know you haven’t written it yet, but I already want to pre-order a copy of your book:)
And thanks for the video.
.-= Rebecca´s last blog ..The Census =-.
Very well said.
)
This sums up how I *try* and approach a creative living; even if I’m not working on the details or long term foundations, I should at least keep creating. That way when I finally get around to dealing with the tricky parts head on, I’ll already have plenty of pictures to sell.
.-= jed´s last blog ..a short one (snigger!) =-.
I found that better suited for me is “just for 15 minutes” method – I tackle the hard task head on, “just for 15 minutes”. Otherwise daunting project is easy to start when you are just making a simple step instead of large jump. I write a statement like “I’m making a list of everything I can think of that I will need to do to make this project happen.”
After 15 minutes pass (a kitchen clock), if I feel like it – I continue with the task.
Everyday there is 15min block reserved for doing this – at the beginning of my “time for myself” (late evening) block of time. I have a file or cardbox where I keep everything pertaining to this project. Sometimes I work just the 15min, usually it lasts at least 45min. I have occasional spurts of creativity when I forget time and its late at night when I wake up from a trance after several hours of work.
Powerfull stuff. I find it’s very important to make it a routine, to engrain “15min project everyday” into my psyche – and the results sometimes astonish me.