Inspiration has an expiration date
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Use inspiration when it arises. If you wait until the time is right, you may find that your inspiration has moved on.
Quote from Ryan Healy’s “Speed writing for nonfiction writers”
Don’t wait for inspiration
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You read everywhere how we all should be looking for passion and inspiration in our life and work. It’s a beautiful thought, that I agree with, but I also know that there are plenty of times when the passion and the inspiration are not there. And it is at those times that our productivity suffers.
We wait for inspiration or we spend a lot of time looking for it, instead of doing the work. Sometimes you have to just do the work, no matter how you feel about it. Learning how to get work done in any emotional state will boost your productivity. Knowing that you can always produce will also boost your confidence and the good feeling that comes with that. From that state it will be easier to find passion and inspiration.
Push through, do the work!
The value of quiet time
—Appreciate the value of quiet time. It is in the quiet moments that you get beyond superficial thoughts, important as they can be, and connect with deeper thoughts, emotions and your physical self.
I’m not talking about thinking time. I’m talking about Mindfulness, meditation or other forms of quiet time. In this time, let go of goals and just be, now. You’re giving your subconscious mind space to tell you what it needs to tell you. Don’t expect, but receive. If there’s nothing, that’s fine. Sometimes the message comes much later, when you’re ready.
Enjoy the stillness…
Recognize Challenges and Lessons
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Be alert on the many challenges and lessons that life gives you. These come in many shapes and forms. They can be things that happen to you, things that happen to other people, memories, emotions, etc.
If you focus on looking for challenges and lessons, you will discover many opportunities to learn and to grow. It also changes your perspective. You will have a growth mindset and negative experiences will be fuel to grow instead of just sources of pain and stress.
Start looking for challenges and lessons on a daily basis and keep a journal. If you’re not ready yet to take action on them, at least write them down in a journal. Day by day you will see more opportunities for growth, just by being attentive.
Be grateful for the challenges in life, because it’s then that you can learn and grow the most.
Step boldly into the unknown.
Clean your plate
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Every little thing that you keep in your mind takes brain cycles. Do you know the feeling when you have a few small tasks that need to be done, but you choose to do something else? The tasks keep popping up in your head from time to time. Even if you don’t think about it is weighing you down.
I have found it to be very valuable to clean my plate, as I call it. All the little tasks that are nagging in my mind get handled in the first hour of work in the morning. It clears my head and gives me more headroom for the bigger or more complex tasks I want to do that day.
My rule: if it pops up in my head, I need to take it off my plate.
