How do top achievers like Jeff Bezos and Cal Newport harness their attention in a world of constant distractions? Eager to learn the secrets from renowned social scientist Herbert Simon and leading behavioral economist Dan Ariely to effectively manage your focus? Intrigued by the extreme measures bestselling author Jonathan Franzen took to boost his productivity? Or perhaps you're curious to discover how to turn from amateur to professional on the path outlined by Steven Pressfield? Dive into these insights and embark on a journey to unlock your full creative potential!

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind

Woody Allen famously quipped that 80% of success is showing up. With fifty films to his name, Allen exemplifies execution. Creative visionaries like Twyla Tharp, who starts her days at dawn with a gym session, and Ross Bleckner, who meditates and arrives at his studio by 8 a.m., prove the power of routine. Even Ernest Hemingway's commitment to writing 500 words daily underscores this principle.

Routines are crucial for creative achievements. They help align our workflow with our energy levels and set a rhythm for consistency. Mark McGuinness advises prioritizing creative work over reactive tasks like emails and meetings, which often consume our best energy. By dedicating morning hours to their projects, many creatives, including McGuinness himself, have found success.

Gretchen Rubin echoes this, emphasizing the power of frequency. She cites Anthony Trollope’s observation that small daily tasks surpass sporadic, Herculean efforts. For Rubin, daily writing keeps ideas fresh and reduces performance pressure, fostering creativity and productivity.

Similarly, Seth Godin highlights the importance of a daily practice and the necessity of selling one's work. He argues that many fail not due to lack of talent but fear of criticism and the pressure of consistent performance. Cultivating a routine and embracing the business side of creativity are essential for success.

Tony Schwartz underscores the need for renewal in our workdays. Using the example of Zeke, a creative director overwhelmed by nonstop meetings and emails, Schwartz illustrates how aligning work habits with natural energy rhythms—like taking breaks and prioritizing sleep—can enhance productivity and sustainability.

Solitude also plays a vital role. Leo Babauta points to Henry David Thoreau's retreat to Walden Pond as a lesson in the value of quiet reflection. Setting aside time for solitude, even through simple daily meditation, can help calm the mind and foster focus.

Try these steps to build a rock-solid routine:
1. Do meaningful work first.
2. Use associative triggers to jump-start creativity.
3. Commit to consistent work intervals.
4. Balance work with renewal breaks.
5. Embrace solitude to observe and calm the mind.
6. Show up consistently, regardless of inspiration.

These principles, shared by accomplished creatives, highlight the importance of routine, persistence, and balance in achieving great work.

Can a Rock-Solid Routine Propel Your Creative Success?

Herbert Simon, a renowned social scientist, once said, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” This observation rings truer today, as our lives are inundated with information from open-plan offices, the Internet, and smartphones. Amidst this constant surge, attention has become our most precious asset. To harness it effectively, we need to understand how temptation works on our brains, enhance our self-control, and carve out time for big, creative tasks.

Cal Newport, a university professor, shares his personal struggle with the attention paradox. Despite receiving many e-mails, only a fraction relate to his primary job of publishing new ideas. 

The real issue lies in the lack of clear metrics to measure the impact of distractions on productivity, leading us to prioritize short-term convenience over long-term value. To combat this, Newport suggests the “focus block method,” which involves scheduling substantial chunks of time for uninterrupted focus, marked clearly on your calendar like any other meeting. This approach helps resist distractions and allows for deep, creative work.

Jonathan Franzen, author of the bestselling novel "Freedom," took extreme measures to avoid multitasking by stripping his laptop of its wireless card and destroying its Ethernet port. Studies have shown that the human mind can only multitask with highly automatic behaviors like walking. For tasks requiring conscious attention, multitasking becomes task switching, significantly reducing skill and accuracy. A dramatic Microsoft experiment revealed that even a short distraction could divert employees for an average of ten minutes, highlighting the significant cost of interruptions.

Dan Ariely, a leading behavioral economist, explains that our environment is designed to tempt us, making it hard to resist distractions. He suggests that managers could improve productivity by limiting access to e-mail during peak productive hours. Ariely also emphasizes the importance of progression markers, which help us feel accomplished and maintain focus.

Erin Rooney Doland, editor-in-chief of Unclutterer.com, discusses the importance of self-control in a chaotic environment. Positive distraction techniques can help combat negative distractions, while developing habits like maintaining good posture or flossing can strengthen willpower. Alternating between mindful and mindless activities can also enhance creativity and efficiency.

Finally, Scott Belsky, Adobe’s Vice President of Community, underscores the importance of tuning in to ourselves rather than constantly engaging with our devices. He shares the story of Jeff Bezos, who kept his schedule open on certain days to explore, learn, and think. Belsky encourages us to preserve unstructured time for reflection and to stay open to serendipity.

In a world filled with distractions, these insights remind us to defend our creative time, focus when we’re fresh, eliminate background noise, make progress visible, give our brains a break, and embrace the opportunities that arise during transitional moments. By doing so, we can harness our attention and unlock our full creative potential.

Mastering the Art of Attention: Harnessing Focus in an Age of Distractions

Technology can either be a powerful ally or a demanding master, depending on how we engage with it. Kevin Kelly, co-founder of WIRED, warns that every new technology comes with potential abuse, urging us to find a balanced approach. 

Today, we're overwhelmed by our digital lives—dreaming of escaping emails and social media, yet unable to resist their pull. Aaron Dignan, CEO of Undercurrent, highlights how email has become a digital extension of our brains, often overwhelming us. He suggests prioritizing complex goals, connecting the dots between emails and our aspirations, and learning to let go of distractions.

Lori Deschene, founder of tinybuddha.com, emphasizes mindful use of social media, advocating for intentional logging on and understanding our motivations. She advises setting boundaries and asking ourselves critical questions about our social media habits to ensure they serve our deeper needs for connection and self-esteem.

Filmmaker Tiffany Shlain practices a "technology shabbat," unplugging from screens weekly to reset her brain and soul, fostering creativity and presence. She believes in the importance of mindful technology use, curating who influences our thoughts online, and balancing the vast benefits and drawbacks of the internet.

Linda Stone, who coined "screen apnea," discusses the physical toll of prolonged screen time, including compromised breathing and chronic stress. She advocates for "Conscious Computing," integrating proper posture and breathing techniques to maintain a healthier relationship with technology.

Lastly, James Victore, designer and educator, calls for reclaiming self-respect in our tech interactions. He warns against letting technology dictate our lives, urging us to focus on meaningful work and personal time without constant digital interruptions. His advice includes setting clear priorities and taking regular breaks from screens to reset our minds.

These insights collectively encourage us to develop a healthier, more intentional relationship with technology, ensuring it enhances rather than detracts from our lives.

Are We Masters or Slaves of Technology: What Do Tech Experts Have to Say?

To bring incredible creative projects to life, hard work is essential. Genius is indeed 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, but we must also make time for play, relaxation, and exploration—key ingredients for creative insights. This involves breaking from routines, working on exploratory side projects, and silencing our inner critics to push through creative blocks.

Todd Henry, in his book, highlights the importance of creating for yourself, not just for clients. He references Julia Cameron's "morning pages," a practice of writing three pages of free-flowing thoughts every morning to unlock creativity. This act of "Unnecessary Creation" allows creatives to explore new ideas without the pressure of external expectations.

A 2012 Adobe survey found that 75% of workers felt they weren't reaching their creative potential due to workplace constraints. To counter this, Henry suggests keeping a list of side projects and dedicating specific time to them, which can rejuvenate creative energy for regular work.

Steven Johnson, in "Where Good Ideas Come From," describes a good idea as a network of neurons firing in sync, suggesting that frequent exploration of new possibilities leads to creative breakthroughs. Unnecessary Creation helps develop new skills and confidence in self-expression, which can be applied to professional work.

In "The Heart Aroused," David Whyte notes that creative action, even as simple as lifting a pen, requires stepping into uncertainty. Unnecessary Creation provides a safe space for experimentation and self-discovery, crucial for honing one's unique voice.

When feeling stuck, Ray Bradbury's method of word association and Henry Miller's advice to explore unfamiliar areas can spark new ideas. Brian Eno emphasizes the importance of rest and disengagement for creative connections. Embracing limitations, as George Harrison did for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," can also enhance creativity by providing structure.

Physical activity and meditation can boost creativity. Regular exercise enhances brain activity, while proper sleep and meditation improve cognitive connections and reduce stress. David Lynch suggests that meditation can significantly increase creativity and productivity in workplaces.

Ultimately, creativity flourishes when we break routines, embrace play, and allow ourselves to explore without constraints. Balancing hard work with moments of relaxation and self-directed projects can unlock our full creative potential.

Unlocking Creative Potential: Embracing Exploration, Relaxation, and the Power of Unnecessary Creation

When we start out in life, we're often amateurs, full of dreams but lacking the skills to fulfill our destiny. As amateurs, we drop the ball, panic at opportunities, and often get in our own way. Turning pro changes everything, but it’s not a one-time event. It’s a journey with many levels. 

Stage One is being able to sit down and work for just a single hour. It sounds simple, but for many, it’s a huge challenge, taking years of struggle to manage it. The next stage is about consistency—working the next day, and the day after that, until we can sustain it for a week. It’s like the first fish crawling onto dry land, monumental but slow and uncertain.

At this point, quality isn’t even on our radar. We’re learning to manage our emotions, control self-sabotage, and keep going despite adversity. Stage Three is crossing the finish line. Can we start at "A" and make it to "Z"? Can we type "THE END" and have something worthwhile in between? Here, we stand on our hind legs, speak in complete sentences, and start addressing quality. We produce work that delivers value and stands on its own.

But are we pros yet? Yes and no. We’ve created one work, but can we deliver a second? Resistance, that invisible force aiming to stop us from becoming our best selves, never goes away. It becomes more cunning as we advance. It will attack us with arrogance and fear, trying to convince us we’re a one-hit wonder. 

The journey from Success #1 to Success #2 is another epic ordeal. It’s our Hero’s Journey, where we gain self-reliance and self-surrender. This is about building a career. Can you picture a shelf of books with your name? Can you evolve through multiple start-ups, failures, and successes? Can you handle success and resurrect yourself after failure?

As you travel through life, keep your eye on the donut, not the hole. But what is the donut? Is it money, power, glory, or service? A professional is someone who works at a high level of effort and ethics, no matter what’s happening around or inside them. They show up every day, play hurt, and don’t take success or failure personally. 

In the end, it’s about the work itself. A pro gets younger and more innocent as they ascend, paradoxically becoming more cynical yet closer to wonder. We rise through the levels by surrendering to our gift, giving ourselves to the process. Each level demands more, but this path, challenging as it is, is the journey we’re on. 

Steven Pressfield, author of "The War of Art" and "Turning Pro," reminds us that this journey isn’t easy, but it’s the path we choose.

Are You Ready to Turn Pro? Can You Overcome Resistance and Embrace the Journey?

Success often hinges on the simple act of showing up and consistently executing one's vision. Establishing routines is key for aligning work with energy levels and fostering consistency. Prioritize creative tasks over reactive ones, like emails, and embrace daily practices to maintain productivity and innovation. Regular breaks and solitude can also enhance focus and creativity.

Attention is our most precious asset in a world overwhelmed with information. Techniques like scheduling focus blocks and minimizing multitasking can help maintain deep, creative work. Understanding and controlling our environment and habits are crucial for productivity.

Embracing technology mindfully is essential. Set boundaries, practice intentional use, and take breaks from screens to balance its benefits and drawbacks. Engage with technology in ways that enhance, rather than detract from, our lives.

For creativity, balance hard work with play and exploration. Engage in side projects and moments of relaxation to unlock new ideas and break through creative blocks. Physical activity, meditation, and embracing constraints can also boost creativity.

The journey from amateur to professional involves consistent effort and overcoming resistance. It's about building a career through successive achievements, handling both success and failure, and always focusing on the work itself. A professional works with high effort and ethics, showing up regardless of circumstances, and continues to evolve by surrendering to the creative process.

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Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind

Jocelyn K. Glei

6 Key ideas

16 MINS

4.5 (2.1k)

How do top achievers like Jeff Bezos and Cal Newport harness their attention in a world of constant distractions?

Eager to learn the secrets from renowned social scientist Herbert Simon and leading behavioral economist Dan Ariely to effectively manage your focus?

Intrigued by the extreme measures bestselling author Jonathan Franzen took to boost his productivity?

Or perhaps you're curious to discover how to turn from amateur to professional on the path outlined by Steven Pressfield?

Dive into these insights and embark on a journey to unlock your full creative potential!