Creative Inspiration ~ Don't Wait for It!

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Just HAD to share this information below.... James Clear wrote it and it totally makes sense. I hear people say they have writer's block but maybe a scheduling change is in order.... Read his great blog at www.jamesclear.com !!!

"The Myth of Creative Inspiration: Great Artists Don’t Wait for Motivation (They Do This Instead)

by James Clear

Franz Kafka is considered one of the most creative and influential writers of the 20th century, but he actually spent most of his time working as a lawyer for the Workers Accident Insurance Institute. How did Kafka produce such fantastic creative works while holding down his day job?

By sticking to a strict schedule.

He would go to his job from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, eat lunch and then take a long nap until 7:30 PM, exercise and eat dinner with his family in the evening, and then begin writing at 11 PM for a few hours each night before going to bed and doing it all over again.

Kafka is hardly unique in his commitment to a schedule. As Mason Currey notes in his popular book, 'Daily Rituals - How Artists Work', many of the world’s great artists follow a consistent schedule.

  • Maya Angelou rents a local hotel room and goes there to write. She arrives at 6:30 AM, writes until 2 PM, and then goes home to do some editing. She never sleeps at the hotel.
  • Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon writes five nights per week from 10 PM to 3 AM.
  • Haruki Murakami wakes up at 4 AM, writes for five hours, and then goes for a run.

The work of top creatives isn’t dependent upon motivation or inspiration, but rather it follows a consistent pattern and routine. It’s the mastering of daily habits that leads to creative success, not some mythical spark of genius.

Here’s why…

Daily Routines: The Power of the Schedule

William James, the famous psychologist, is noted for saying that habits and schedules are important because they “free our minds to advance to really interesting fields of action.”

An article in The Guardian agreed by saying, “If you waste resources trying to decide when or where to work, you’ll impede your capacity to do the work.” And there are plenty of research studies on willpower and motivation to back up that statement.

In other words, if you’re serious about creating something compelling, you need to stop waiting for motivation and inspiration to strike you and simply set a schedule for doing work on a consistent basis. Of course, that’s easy to say, but much harder to do in practice.

Here’s one way of thinking about schedules that may help.

Permission to Create Junk

Weightlifting offers a good metaphor for scheduling creative work.

I can’t predict whether or not I’ll set a PR (personal record) before I go to the gym. In fact, there will be many days when I’ll have a below average workout. Eventually, I figured out that those below average days were just part of the process. The only way to actually lift bigger weights was to continually show up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — regardless of whether any individual workout was good or bad.

Creative work is no different than training in the gym. You can’t selectively choose your best moments and only work on the days when you have great ideas. The only way to unveil the great ideas inside of you is to go through a volume of work, put in your repetitions, and show up over and over again.

Obviously, doing something below average is never the goal. But you have to give yourself permission to grind through the occasional days of below average work because it’s the price you have to pay to get to excellent work.

If you’re anything like me, you hate creating something that isn’t excellent. It’s easy to start judging your work and convince yourself to not share something, not publish something, and not ship something because “this isn’t good enough yet.”

But the alternative is even worse: if you don’t have a schedule forcing you to deliver, then it’s really easy to avoid doing the work at all. The only way to be consistent enough to make a masterpiece is to give yourself permission to create junk along the way.

The Schedule is the System

During a conversation about writing, my friend Sarah Peck looked at me and said, “A lot of people never get around to writing because they are always wondering when they are going to write next.”

You could say the same thing about working out, starting a business, creating art, and building most habits. The schedule is the system that makes your goals a reality. If you don’t set a schedule for yourself, then your only option is to rely on motivation.

  • If your workout doesn’t have a time when it usually occurs, then each day you’ll wake up thinking, “I hope I feel motivated to exercise today.”
  • If your business doesn’t have a system for marketing, then you’ll show up at work crossing your fingers that you’ll find a way to get the word out (in addition to everything else you have to do).
  • If you don’t have a time block to write every week, then you’ll find yourself saying things like, “I just need to find the willpower to do it.”

Stop waiting for motivation or inspiration to strike you and set a schedule for your habits. This is the DIFFERENCE between professionals and amateurs. Professionals set a schedule and stick to it. Amateurs wait until they feel inspired or motivated."

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Recent Comments

57

That was great Terri Lyn, I have copy & pasted from the bullet points down & going to stick it on my wall as motivation for me...Well done....
Cheers, Linda

Thanks for the cool Blog

Thanks Bill! I think we all have different avenues of motivation and hearing it from someone outside our "office" helps.... ;)

now I know that I'm an amateurs, Terri. Thanks for wonderful blog, you've inspired me to work my 8utt off ;-D (gusti)

You and me both! It keeps it all in perspective, doesn't it.... We can do this!!

Thanks, very interesting! :)
My friend took a song writing class from a very prolific somgwriter. She was thaught to write and write, whatever the outcome and to do so within a schedule.
I always remembered this, it shows that even if something is considered artistic or creative, it does not mean it's not WORK!

Yes, but if you truly love what you are doing and the reason for it, then the work is not such a 4-letter word. :) Also, I think it has something to do with training our brain to think at the same time each day with its creative side. Just my take on it. Thanks for the comment.

Absolutely agree! For me the word «work» here means training. Talent + talent is talent alone. Talent + training, now that translates into success. Like you said: This is the difference between professionals and amateurs. Great post, I'll remember it as well! :)

Interesting stuff Terri Lynn. I think that these concepts are sound and worth exploring. Thanks for this blog.

You are most welcome. Thanks for your comment.

Good on you Terri, for an excellent post and the link to James Clear. Amateurs ( like me) are also prone to distractions... a poor excuse!
:) george

George, ANYONE is prone to distractions.... My mom said it is "CRS" syndrome -- Can't Remember Shtuff.... lol you get my drift. Well, I like inspiration from others and his website has great photography too as well as his blogs... Thanks for your comment.

'Just Do It' seems to be the answer. Well said.

hahaha Yep! I like Mr. Clear's blog. He has a lot of motivation as well as ideas ....

Too true. I like this quote from William Faulkner.
"I only write when I am inspired." - "Fortunately I am inspired at nine o'clock every morning.". :) Beverley

:D Love that! I know that I schedule my writing at the same time each day. I think if I try too often, then I do run out of ideas or 'thinking outside the box' so to speak. Thanks for your comment Beverley.

Enjoyed your blog and some good points would agree with your friend we should just get on and do it :)

Thanks! I think we try too hard sometimes!

So many people are unaware of how to make a schedule and stick to it. We are an excuse driven society, and shiny distracts us!

True, true. Plus, it seems that procrastination is just a 'normal' for most people.... My dad never allowed it in our house, so it doesn't freeze my brain cells in the stress kind of way.

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