Posts tagged with “discipline”
August 29
sl---endfirst-obstruction.doc
08:08 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: discipline, obstructions, obstruction1, draft, writing, fiction, in-progress
sl---morris-bobetter-narrativefx9.doc
08:07 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: obstructions, obstruction2, fiction, writing, swapmeet, draft, in-progress, disciplineAugust 27
Jen & Jake: Year on/year off
On the subject of discipline, obstructions, etc, my friend and fellow creative Jen Hewett wrote an interesting post about her take: the year on and the year off. First you foster play, then you integrate that play back into your life. Read it. 09:46 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: on creativity, article, disciplineDiscipline
Discipline is something I lack. I have to force it upon myself since I am a very lazy person by nature. But I also know that lack of self-discipline is really the only thing that ever holds you back. If you think it's something else, you're probably wrong. Sure, there are little things like time, money, inspiration, people, drama, industry politics, equipment, etc...but those are small items which you will always get around. Self-discipline is a career maker, and its lack is a a career-destroyer (before it even starts). <strong>Self-Reward: the old way</strong> For the last few years my self-discipline has taken the form of a reward system of breaks. In other words, if I sit down and do some creative work for X amount of time, then I reward myself by taking a break and smoking a cigarette, or opening a beer, or checking my email, or whatever. The point was, I made arbitrary landmarks like "If I work till 8pm, then I'll go smoke a cigarette". The problem with this system is it rewards diligence with a lack of diligence. It actually aided the self-discipline because it made the not-working portion of time the goal, when the whole point is to make the working portion the goal. Eventually you end up with all your excitement going to the next time you get to smoke that cigarette and you get a nasty smoking habit in the meantime. Don't reward time you want to spend with time off. It is counter-productive. At least for me. <strong>Self-Reward: the new way</strong> To combat this, I've devised a new system of self-reward. I have a whiteboard next to my desk at home. For every complete hour that I spend with my ass in my chair writing, I mark the whiteboard with a line. That line equals $10 which I transfer from my checking account to a floating savings account (a virtual piggy bank for loose change). So, every hour I spend glued to my seat and doing my creative work, I pay myself $10. Feel free to go in half hour increments if you must. This system pays you to keep working. And obviously its still your money, but it's "extra" money because it's not part of your checking account. It's a "feel free to spend this on whatever the hell you want because you've earned it" account, and it promotes my ass being glued to my chair. I started last week. I have $45 now. More importantly, I'm learning not to take breaks, and to have an enormous sense of accomplishment from each hour I get to work. 09:10 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: on writing, on creativity, discipline, obstructions, articleAugust 26