As an entrepreneur and a creative, you need ways to work better so that you can create more, but what do you do when you hit a seemingly insurmountable mental wall? You need to get unblocked: to bust through that barrier to allow creativity to flow. Beware: this presentation challenges the standard norms around concentration, focus, productivity, and may change how you work…for the better.
59. Monsters in your head
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/4887528060/
60. “If your demons are such that they
fill the room the instant you
contemplate creating, your
studio will be too dangerous a
place to enter.”
- Eric Maisel, author of Fearless
Creating
61. What’s really going on is we’re
http://www.43folders.com/2011/03/28/scared-shitless
70. “The goal is to manage anxiety so
that our energies are used for
the productive and satisfying art
of creating, rather than the
destructive and debilitating art
of self-torture.”
- Clare Warmke, Idea Revolution
74. “Fear is not real. It is a product of the
thoughts you create. Do not
misunderstand me. Danger is very
real. But fear is a choice.”
- character of Cypher Raige (played
by Will Smith), After Earth
75. Banish the Inner Critic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythoto/3822942678/
82. “I am best at what I can’t do. It has become my
ability to feel strong and confident….I feel
free to move, to listen to my heart, to learn,
to act even if that means I will make mistakes.
If you want a creative life, do what you can’t
and experience the beauty of the mistakes
that you make.”
- Marcel Wanders, Designer and “Professional
Amateur” (marcelwanders.com)
83. Change your body language, change your mind
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thirteenthnile/4546397775/
84. “Our bodies change our minds,
our minds change our behavior,
and our behavior changes our
outcomes.”
- Amy Cuddy,
Your Body Language Shapes
Who You Are TED talk
86. Exercise: Power Pose
Stand up. Assume a pose that embodies a sense of
defeat, can’t do it, it will never work, “I suck/I’m no
good/an impostor”, etc. Make yourself as small
and powerless feeling as possible.
Then, strike a power pose. Imagine yourself as a
superhero looking off into the distance seeing your
destiny of major creative butt-kicking.
Alternate several times. Hold the power pose for as
long as you can so that you can feel the change.
97. “The parts of your brain that are
responsible for self-monitoring are
literally turned off during creative
endeavors….Creative people have
mastered the art of turning off [the
inhibitive] part of their brains to let their
ideas flow more smoothly, unleashing
their imagination.”
- Tina Seelig, InGenius
98. Exercise: Enter Alpha
Close your eyes and relax. Breathe through your
nose.
Now place your tongue at the roof of your mouth,
turn your eyes towards the ceiling underneath your
eyelids.
Take several deep, long breaths.
As you relax, you are changing your brainwaves from
Beta to Alpha.
99. 6 Easy ways access to Alpha
http://uniteunderfreedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Brain-waves.jpg
100. (1) Breathe to refocus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guiniveretoo/1573049301/
110. Practice: Habit field reboot
Clean up your work habit field by following the
suggestions in the article “Habit Fields” by Jack
Cheng. Create your equivalent of a “distraction
chair” and move to it when you feel like you are
inclined to surf the web, email, Tweet, Facebook,
or engage in any other computer-related
distraction. When you are ready to work again,
come back to your desk.
Rinse and repeat until your work habit field is clear
again and no longer fuzzy.
112. Practice: To Don’t List
To do more of what you love and less of what you dislike,
start writing To Don’t Lists (aka “Stop Doing” Lists).
Pick a partner, and write a list of 3-5 items that you commit to
stop doing within the next 30 days. Date the list. Share the
list with your partner and get ideas on how to eliminate
these items from your life either by stopping them or
delegating/outsourcing the tasks.
Review your list in 30 days to see what you need to continue
to stop doing so that your time is spent on what you value
and want to cultivate. Create another list for the upcoming
30 days.
113. Say NO to Distractions
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gideon/6582069/
120. Practice: Pomodoro 2.0
Practice the Pomodoro technique. Do a 30 minute sprint
where you turn off all distractions and work for 25 minutes.
Before you start your sprint, write down the objective of the
sprint. Do the sprint, and at the end of it, take a moment to
jot down any challenges encountered, and your end results
from the sprint.
For your 5 minute break, activate your Alpha brainwaves by
either laying down on the floor with your eyes closed, or
look at clouds shifting in the sky.
127. Practice: Converse with the Spirit of the Idea
Instead of treating an idea as something that comes
from inside of your head, treat it as an external
entity that has chosen you to bring it into the
world.
Take some time to converse with the idea as an
entity with its own goals and objectives and vision
for itself, and find out how you can help the entity
get itself into the world the way it wants to be.
154. The previous steps lead you here:
• Concept in mind: know what you want
to achieve and what it looks like
• Practice in place
• Cleared space
• Time carved out and distractions
eliminated
• Necessary materials on hand
160. …which is
“…the confidence that, when given a
difficult problem, we have a
methodology that enables us to
come up with a solution that
nobody has before.”
- David Kelley of Ideo
161. Ideas are on and poppin’!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7730492@N03/4957946157/
166. “Creativity makes day to day
experiences more vivid, more
enjoyable, more rewarding. When
we live creatively, boredom is
banished and every moment holds
the promise of a fresh discovery.”
- Mihali Csikszentmihalyi,
Creativity
171. My articles for further reading!
netmagazine.com/features/
four-secrets-enhancingcreative-productivity
alistapart.com/articles/
reigniting-your-creative-spark/
alistapart.com/articles/
banishing-your-inner-critic/
173. How to find me
DeniseJacobs.com
denise@denisejacobs.com
Twitter.com/denisejacobs
Facebook.com/denisejacobsdotcom
Slideshare.net/denisejacobs
Photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aarronwalter/4629078087/
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