Using a Tomato for Productivity, and What I’ve Been Reading This Week

Each week I’m going to post a collection of books, blogs, videos, and other sites that I have gotten something meaningful out of that week. First, here are the books…

I know, I need to read some fiction as well. On to the web readings!

1. Dan Pink’s site is one of the best for finding ways to help stay productive. He has said that his “quest to get more and better work done is endless”, and he is always posting tips for those also on that quest. One post that caught my eye this week was this post, Can a Tomato Make You More Productive? I read on to find out that he is describing the Pomodoro Technique, which is working diligently at a task for 25 minutes, taking a 5 minute break, then repeating the process. After 4 pomodoros, you take a 15 minute power break. I’m using the technique today!
2. For the writers in the house, here is a letter written by John Steinbeck to his editor and friend, Pat Covici. In this letter, titled A Book is Like a Man, Steinbeck sheds a little light on his writing process. Here is a quote: “A book is like a man—clever and dull, brave and cowardly, beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a page like a wet and mangy mongrel, and for every looping flight a tap on the wing and a reminder that wax cannot hold the feathers firm too near the sun.”
3. One of the creative hobbies I’ve taken up this year is drawing, though it has taken a backseat to all this writing, I’m still on the look out for good resources. Grant Snider was kind enough to release a fun little comic on it, which is brilliant of him. Thanks! 
4. Blue Like Jazz is coming out soon, April 13th to be exact. Donald Miller’s book on Christianity in today’s society was one of the first I read that really made me begin thinking about what the Gospel of Jesus and his teachings meant to me. It was very important to my ongoing spiritual development. So I am looking forward to the movie, and I hope people go see it and a conversation begins about what it means to follow God. For starters though, here is the trailer:
5. Forks over Knives, the documentary. I have seen food movies before, and they always leave me thinking about what I eat, where I buy, being local, and on and on. FOK did the same, but I did finish watching it and consider seriously the amount of meat I was consuming. I eat a good amount, not an excessive amount, and it’s normally good meat (not from fast food joints). The science behind a whole food plant based diet is compelling, and I’ve found myself eating less meat since then. Will I become a vegan or even a vegetarian? Probably not, meat is just so delicious and satisfying. At the same time, the benefits of fruits, vegetables, and some grains are undeniable. The change in health for the people in the doc is incredible, and the only variable they changed was their diet. If you have Hulu plus, you can watch the full documentary for free. Here is the trailer:

What have you been readin lately? I would love to hear your personal lists as well.

P.S. additional thanks to Jeff Goins, for the idea of a reading list. Also to Robert Bruce, who  wrote the great post on why creatives need to read fiction. 

Finding Your Voice

Here is another worksheet of mine from Jeff Goins’ Intentional Blogging course. Jeff is doing a fantastic job with this course, and if you ask nicely, you can still get in. I’ve posted a similar sheet before, on generating topics for your blog. This sheet is geared towards finding your voice in writing. Other writers discussed include: CS Lewis, Wendell Berry, Christopher McDougall, and Anne Lamott. All of these writers have an impact on the way I write, even on how I live. As before, if you want to follow along, make space for roughly 30 minutes of work, and listen. Enjoy.

Handwritten Posts: Starting a Journal

I received a new moleskin journal for Christmas, courtesy of my brother and sister (wonderful people). I did have to finish up my last one, but was still putting of beginning this one. The art of beginning is a difficult one, and this is what I wanted to share with you. Enjoy!

 

(As an aside, I published this post at 10:25 pm EST. I have normally been publishing before 9:00 am. Any thoughts on which is better? It will be interesting to see if the stats change in any way. Please leave any thoughts/ideas in the comment box, thanks!)

5 Ways to Keep Posting Regularly

On Tuesday, I wrote about pushing through the Dip, or when the novelty has worn off and you need to figure out whether you really want to keep doing – “ya know, whatever it is ya do around here” – Bobs style.

I digress. Here are 5 ways that I try and keep the ideas flowing, and make sure that I don’t get 4-5 days in to a dip without anything to write about.

1. Write down your ideas – This seems obvious, but you need to do it. Put it in your phone, carry a scrap of paper around, a field notes book in your pocket, whatever. I can’t tell you how many ideas have slipped my mind because I thought about it, and didn’t write it down. We are bombarded with information every day, and your idea probably will not make the cut. Write ‘em down.
2. Outline your idea in a first draft – When possible, take your idea from where you put it, and make a shitty first draft (click to read, and thank you Anne Lamott). Just get it all out there, and edit later. It may take a hundred words of crap to get to what you want.
3. Write multiple posts a day – If you’re in the zone, keep writing. Just like you’ll have days where it’s a struggle, you’ll have some days where everything just flows out naturally, and you’ll feel like you can hardly type fast enough to get everything down. Of course, these days are rare, so take advantage of them!
4. Stick to a schedule – Now, you must resist the urge to post multiple times a day (unless you’re a big deal and writing is all you do). Personally, I want to post 3-4 times a week, or every other day. This gives me a solid 15 posts a month, which isn’t too overwhelming for me or the good folks who subscribe. If I fill up their inbox 4 times one day, and then don’t post for a week, that has to be annoying. Be consistent. All of these steps build on each other, and give you content to write about when you’re in a dip.
5. Ask for help (guest posts, reader requests) – Finally, be willing to ask for help. I’m sure someone would be willing to guest post for you, or do a poll to discover what  topics your readers would like for you to cover. Likely they will ask about something in your sphere of knowledge, or they won’t, and you can expand that sphere. A great part is you’re getting involved with people.

Incidentally, this post followed the rules listed. I thought of it a week ago, wrote it down on my phone, drafted, edited, and waited. As life turns out, the topic actually meshes with yesterday’s post on the dip, and is a nice segue.

I hope these rules help you out with your writing, and I believe they can help in work as well. For instance, keep a running file or word doc of your ideas, and keep throwing a couple out every meeting. Nobody wants to hear all 10 of your ideas at once, and you don’t want to implement 10 ideas starting tomorrow. Just get a couple out there each week, and get ready to make something happen!

What are some of the rules you follow for staying consistent in work, creativity, and life?

Working through the Dip

To begin, I want to thank everyone for reading my essays. Since Christmas, I have gone from 1 follower to 21! I appreciate and value the trust you’ve put in me to write some things that have spoken to you. I hope it continues to do so.

Also, I’m going to start referring to my blogs as essays or posts, as you may have noticed above. Personally, blog doesn’t roll of the tongue for me, and blogging is even worse. I’ll be writing, and that lends itself more to writing essays. Moving on.

Getting through the dip, also known as hitting the wall. I have been writing pretty regularly here since December 23. It has been fun, healthy, and a discipline for me. I have always thought I wanted to write, and something that I have enjoyed throughout the years. I know it is more than a passing fancy because I keep returning to it. I simply allow myself to be distracted by too many things. When I write for myself and others, it is usually done when distractions are at a minimum. I wrote when I was camping, when the power was out at home, on the road, or away from the TV. That sounds terrible, but true. Even as I began to write this post, I spent 15 minutes checking my site stats, seeing if I got hit up on twitter (yes) and then responding. I can get distracted. That’s natural.

But what I really want to talk about is the dip. Because while I was putting off writing, I had the nagging voice in my head, the pushy little guy who wants to work and speak his mind, telling me “You need to sit down and write, not do all this other stuff.” One of the reasons I was allowing my weak side to take control was because I felt like I didn’t want to do it. Writing wasn’t coming as easily the past couple of days. I was tired, busy, and wanted to let my mind rest. This is also natural. The initial high and excitement of writing, coming up with ideas, and unleashing them on the world, that was wearing off. The process was a bit of a struggle, and I didn’t want to push through it.

In sports, we call this hitting the wall. the part in a race or game where the early game energy has worn off, your pace has slowed, and you’re wondering if you can keep up through the end. Two things happen here:

1. You realize how much this whatever means to you. So you suck it up, and keep going. You keep showing up, working hard, publishing, and turning out your art.
2. You realize this whatever isn’t you. So you cut your losses, count your experience, and go find what makes you want to climb the mountain. Do this immediately.

I was also worrying to much about becoming famous, looking for places to submit articles, and dreaming about being that guy who gets to make short films of National Parks. All of this time looking for ways to be famous takes away from the actual writing. Which is ironic, because I’m certainly not going to make an impact by looking around for ways to be famous.

There you go. You may have to bear with me for a little while, because I may be turning out some pretty average essays in order to push through the wall. Of course, during any of that I could break through. Anything that you or I put out there for others can be used for good. It’s not up to us any way. The words will come, our job is to put them out there.

A few references for you good folks:

Writing Down the Bones - A book on writing by Natalie Goldberg, and I’m still reading it. Best lesson so far is to keep writing, some of it will be trash and some will be gold, but you have to wade through a lot of trash to find it.

The Dip - Written by Seth Godin, and the inspiration for the headline of this essay. I haven’t read the entire book, just bits while at Barnes & Noble. But a good lesson of pushing through your dips, or turning away. Update: Good news! I found a preview copy of the book on the Change This! website. Download here.

Bird by Bird - Another writing book, by Anne Lamott. I am thoroughly enjoying this one, Lamott gives great advice, some of which I’ll be sure and post later on. Plus she’s quite funny.