Note to the reader: This chapter will mainly be of interest to freelancers or independent workers. However, whenever a âclientâ is mentioned, you can also read âbossâ or âmanagerâ. Students could in some cases replace âclientâ with âteacherâ.
Time is the raw material of creation. Wipe away the magic and myth of creating and all that remains is work: the work of becoming expert through study and practice, the work of finding solutions to problems and problems with those solutions, the work of trial and error, the work of thinking and perfecting, the work of creating.
â Kevin Ashton
[How to Fly a Horse]
Daily Routine
Get on a daily routineâŠ
Working is a process not a product.
â Nicoletta Baumeister
The Dutch writer-journalist Hans den Hartog Jager wrote a beautiful book on artistsâ working methods. He interviewed fourteen of the most important contemporary artists based in the Netherlands, among whom Constant, Armando, Marlene Dumas, and Robert Zandvliet. There were great differences in their methods, but the major thing they had in common was that they each had a routine: a fixed way of working.
The mind of a creative is a chaotic fusion of ideas and thoughts. The only way to convert that chaos into work is to ensure that you organize your daily life. President Obama wears a blue or grey suit every day; Mark ZĂŒckerberg is always dressed in a hoodie. They both claim to have so many choices to make on any given day, that they donât also want to choose their clothes. In short: save time on trivial matters to make time for those that actually need your focus.
I like routine. It enables me to improvise.
â James Nares
Creativity is being boring (most of the time)
At the end of a meeting for a new project my client asked me: âAnd how will you get started on the project? Will you go lie down on the couch to think about it?â âNo,â I replied, âIâm going to get to work.â He expected me to find my inspiration by relaxing on a couch. Perhaps fuelled by liquor and a snort. I had to disappoint him: itâs not all that bohemian or romantic.
I go to my studio every day. Some days the work comes easily. Other days nothing happens. Yet on the good days the inspiration is only an accumulation of all the other days, the nonproductive ones.
â Beverly Pepper
In order to do great work, you will sometimes mercilessly have to say no to other things. So you will have to move many projects to your ToDonâtList and your social life will take on a different shape than that of many other people. However, only working is not healthy either. It is better to regularly take some time off. You can also incorporate this into your routine. You donât have to become a monk in order to be productive. Or rather: be a naughty monk. Donât forget: monks also brew beer.
The quiet people just do their work.
â Joyce Carol Oates
Think of a concept for your studio
In order to create a work routine you need a workplace. Consider your own needs: if you need lots of concentration, you might want a place of your own. If you enjoy collaborating with people, a place in a collective building might be more interesting.
Select a strategic location and consider the setup. Do you often need to print things? Then donât spend your entire day at Starbucks, as you will continuously be going back and forth to the copy shop. And position yourself in the vicinity of your clients. This will save you lots of travel time and makes it easier to run into potential clients and other creatives.
I donât really have studios. I wander around peopleâs attics, out in fields, in cellars, anyplace I find that invites me.
â Andrew Wyeth
Go to Bed!
The No Sleep attitude is overrated
Some people think itâs cool to âcomplainâ about how much and how late they work. What they actually mean to say is: âI have little time for sleep, because I have so much to do and thatâs because Iâm successful.â You could also read: âIâm so bad at planning and making choices that I am now stuck working through the night.â I feel that the latter is usually true.
There, that is our secret: go to sleep! You will wake, and remember, and understand.
â Robert Browning
Luckily, other people swear by a good nightâs sleep. If you sleep well, you are much fresher and therefore have a much sharper mind (which helps you to make the the right decisions). Even if you have a deadline, at a certain stage and hour you lose your sharpness. You might think you are progressing, but youâre only correcting your own corrections. Go to bed! Get some sleep and get up an hour earlier the next morning. When youâre rested, you can do the same work in a fraction of the time. And youâll do it better.
Quit snoozing, take a nap
And then thereâs the snooze button. Your alarm goes off and you think: âIâll grab an extra 10 minutesâ. And another 10 minutes, and 10 more to finish. Well, if you have time to snooze for 30 minutes in the first place, you might as well set your alarm for half an hour later. Or just donât snooze and get up! Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!
Letâs begin by taking a smallish nap or twoâŠ
â Winnie the Pooh
The Joy Of Missing Out
A new age always introduces a new problem. In this age of smartphones and social media that problem is FOMO: the Fear Of Missing Out. Symptoms? You continuously walk around with a smartphone in your hands, or take it from your pocket every two minutes.
Smartphones are mighty handy in various situations â Iâm not against them. But they can also make you forget to pay attention to the world around you. Thatâs why I would rather suffer from JOMO: the Joy Of Missing Out.
âSorry, this is a really important callâ⊠No, it is not
You are talking to someone at a party. Then someone else suddenly gets in between you two and starts a conversation with one of you. Annoying! Why would you let that happen when that third person calls you? You really donât have to pick up. Is that phone call truly more important than the live conversation you were having?
People often say: âI really need to take this.â But you really donât. If you first finish your face-to-face conversation and then call back 10 minutes later, the world will most likely not have ended. You donât have to pick up your phone; you choose to pick it up. Whenever you catch yourself thinking âI must take this callâ, replace it with âI choose to take this call.â Then see if this changes anything for you. Of course, you can also apply this principle to other things in your life that you feel you must do.
No wi-fi is a gift
A great advantage of travelling is that you often lack online access. Use the time you are offline to do things you would not usually do if you werenât. Reading a book, for instance. Or simply enjoying the moment without any messages coming in. Whenever Iâm abroad, I never purchase data credit. This way, I canât check my email, so I donât have to think about it either.