CREATIVE WORK FIRST, REACTIVE WORK SECOND

• blocking off a large chunk of time every day for creative work
• Start with the rhythm of your energy levels – circadian rhythms of arousal and mental alertness
• Use creative triggers – place, time, music, etc
• Use 3” × 3” Post-it to Limit your daily to-do list
• Establish hard edges in your day – Dedicate different times of day to different activities

FOCUS ON BUILDING MOMENTUM

• Frequency keeps the pressure off.
• Frequency nurtures frequency. – the more you do the easier it becomes to do more
• Frequency fosters productivity. It’s no surprise that you’re likely to get more accomplished if you work daily. The very fact of each day’s accomplishment helps the next day’s work come more smoothly and pleasantly. Progress is reassuring and inspiring
• The notion that I do my work here, now, like this, even when I do not feel like it, and especially when I do not feel like it, is very important. Because lots and lots of people are creative when they feel like it, but you are only going to become a professional if you do it when you don’t feel like it.

Pearl S Buck –  I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.

BUILDING RENEWAL INTO YOUR WORKDAY

• YOUR CAPACITY IS LIMITED
  • The challenge is that the demand in our lives increasingly exceeds our capacity.
  • The second key finding is that our bodies follow what are known as
  • ultradian rhythms—ninety-minute periods at the end of which we reach the limits of our capacity to work at the highest level.
  • The first is that sleep is more important than food. – do you really have to wake up so early?

A ROUTINE THAT INCLUDES RENEWAL

“It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it.” — Lena Horne.

MAKING ROOM FOR SOLITUDE

• CREATING THE SPACE – Set the time for your first block of solitude now—and make it an essential part of your daily routine
• MEDITATION – The point is doing nothing

BANISHING MULTITASKING FROM OUR REPERTOIRE

THE HANGOVER EFFECT – but research has shown that the unfinished morning task could linger in your mind like a mental itch, adversely affecting your performance later on—an effect that psychologists call “attentional residue”.

POSITIVE DISTRACTION

There are many ways to use positive distraction techniques for more than

just resisting marshmallows. Set a timer and race the clock to complete a task. Tie unrelated rewards to accomplishments—get a drink from the break room or log on to social media for three minutes after reaching a milestone. Write down every invading and negatively distracting thought and schedule a ten-minute review session later in the day to focus on these anxieties and lay them to rest.

MINDFUL VS. MINDLESS WORK

Shifting from mindful to mindless work gives the brain time to process complex problems in a relaxed state and also restores the energy necessary for the next round of mindful work

LOGGING ON WITH INTENTION

We may have been procrastinating and looking for a distraction, or feeling angry, annoyed, or frustrated and seeking to escape that feeling.

SCREEN APNEA

Increased screen time, shallow breathing, breath-holding, lymph and blood more stagnant in lower body that is why standing desk, treadmill desk, etc. Abdominal Breathing.