Forget about seizing the day, enjoy it instead (a gentler translation of carpe diem)
I wonder if there’s anyone who has seen Robin Williams’ film Dead Poets Society that didn’t come away from it feeling that they were duty bound, if they wanted to truly embrace life, to seize the day?
Avoiding the “jam tomorrow” tendency in order to get our Important Work done
Do you recognise this pattern of working? You have lots of wonderful ideas for things you’d like to do? You pick one (or maybe more than one!) and rush at it, picturing how wonderful it will be to get it finished, how finishing it will make you feel like you’ve accomplished something grand.
The Sustainably Creativite tools: the little and often mantra
A couple of years ago a friend told me that his secret for getting so much done (I could never do more than watch in awe at how much he does!) is that he regularly repeats to himself the mantra, “little and often”. I took the phrase to heart and adapted it for my own energy constraints. Perhaps you could too.
The Sustainably Creative tools: the kitchen timer
I love my kitchen timer. It helps me daily to chart a gentle but consistent path through my Important Work. I inherited the timer from my mother. In the last years of her life, when she was ill and had very little energy herself, she would use the timer to encourage her to do a few of the things she wanted to get done in her day.
The Sustainably Creative tools: the one-thing to-do list
I’m a big fan of the one-thing to-do list. It’s a very simple idea. At the beginning of the day I sit down with a cup of tea and ponder about what the one most important thing I can do today that will move my Important Work along a stage.
Why I have a glass of smoothie and write a (very short) to do list everyday
Wouldn’t it be lovely if life was a soft fluffy creative bubble that we could roll around in, going where the inspiration took us, fuelled by a limitless amount of time and energy. Sadly it isn’t. At least mine isn’t, and so I drink a glass of smoothie every day (and make a very short to do list).
Why you should keep making your morning coffee (or whatever else you do every day) if you want to be creatively successful
I’ve been coming downstairs and making a morning coffee in my little stove-top espresso maker for as long as I’ve lived in this house. Longer. That’s more than a decade of morning coffee making. A daily ritual Over the years the coffee maker has changed a couple of times, and for a while I used more »
Creativity and Focus: an interview with the single-minded Dan Goodwin
I enjoyed my tea and chat with the wonderful Lisa Baldwin so much last week that I’ve decided to get my teapot out again and talk to another of my creative heroes this week. Dan Goodwin, @coachcreative on Twitter, is a poet, yoga practitioner and author of the ebook, How to Get Focused and Create more »
Planning (just a little) for 2011
Every year at this time I’m always tempted to let myself get swept along with the wave of New Year’s resolutions everybody seems to be making. I’d love to promise myself that I will join the gym, write more, draw more, read more, cook from scratch, etc, etc, etc! But the truth is, as someone with limited energy I am already doing as much as I can.
Taking my own advice – looking back at what I’ve achieved in 2010
In the last issue of my microMag for 2010 I’m going to be writing about the importance of taking some time to look back and take note of all you’ve achieved in the past year. For my last blog post of the year I’ve decided to take my own advice and take a look back at what I’ve done over the last twelve months.
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I'm Michael Nobbs, an artist, blogger and tea drinker (not necessarily in that order).
I'd like to show you that it is possible to stay creative even when energy is in short supply, and how working on small creative acts on a regular basis can build over time into a substantial body of work (and even a creative career).
I've written a book called Sustainable Creativity. You're welcome to pay whatever you would like for it.
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My new book, Getting Your Important Work Done, is currently free for members to download.
