New research suggests that productivity could be linked to those who are “up with the lark”, while those who define themselves as “evening people” are likely to be less proactive in the workplace.
The research, which surveyed 367 student participants, found a correlation between their self-reported ‘morningness’ (measured by their answers to questions about how easy they find it to get up in the morning and how alert they feel) and their self-reported proactivity (measure by their agreement to the questions), was statistically significant.
I know that I’m usually able to spring out of bed @ 5am to work, but I wonder if that includes people who are rousted out of bed @ 5:30 by children (the wife). And I wonder if there’s a crabbiness study on those same people. I have some data they could include in their research.
I’ve done my best to eliminate the need for inspiration when it comes to sitting down to work. If I waited for the muse to speak before starting, I would never get anything done. So I’ve done everything I could to cold start my creativity without relying on inspiration.
But sometimes it feels like the tank is just empty, and there’s simply nothing inside to draw upon. So sometimes a little more help is needed to get things going.
Jon Morrow from Copyblogger has a few suggestions of ways to get that extra help. He’s coming from a blogger’s point of view, but I think the suggestions can apply to any creative person who’s having trouble getting started.
For us, inspiration isn’t optional; it’s the force that drags us to the computer and tells us it’s time to say something that changes the world. Somehow, you have to find it, and you have to keep finding it for as long as you have a blog.
No, it’s not easy, but it is possible. Here are 10 tricks that have worked for me…
Links
10 Tricks For Getting Inspired to Write
Over at the 37signals blog, David H. gives some good advice:
Why would you want to pour so much of yourself into anything less than your best idea? Other ideas might seem more achievable or convenient, but if your heart and mind is elsewhere it’s all for naught.
I agree.
And this is mine.
Links
Work on your best idea
A great article from the Slate reviewing John Curran’s Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks.
The contents of the notebooks are as multi-dimensional as their Escher-like structure. They include fully worked-out scenes, historical background, lists of character names, rough maps of imaginary places, stage settings, an idle rebus (the numeral three, a crossed-out eye, and a mouse), and plot ideas that will be recognizable to any Christie fan: “Poirot asks to go down to country—finds a house and various fantastic details,” “Saves her life several times,” “Inquire enquire—both in same letter.” What’s more, in between ominous scraps like “Stabbed through eye with hatpin” and “influenza depression virus—Stolen? Cabinet Minister?” are grocery lists: “Newspapers, toilet paper, salt, pepper …” There was no clean line between Christie’s work life and her family life. She created household ledgers, and scribbled notes to self. (“All away weekend—can we go Thursday Nan.”) Even Christie’s second husband, the archeologist Sir Max Mallowan, used her notebooks. He jotted down calculations. Christie’s daughter Rosalind practiced penmanship, and the whole family kept track of their bridge scores alongside notes like, “Possibilities of poison … cyanide in strawberry … coniine—in capsule?”
Fascinating stuff.
Links
The Mystery of the Messy Notebooks – Why Agatha Christie’s method was utterly deranged.
Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making
I love the products of Pixar. Naturally, I’m curious about how they do it.
Recently, Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar, did an interview with a writer from The Economist.
You can watch the entire interview here.
Or, you can read a selection of quotes excised by writer Scott Berkun here.
Links
Inside Pixar’s Leadership
