Love flow state. I think Julia Cameron was onto something with her 3 pages in the morning thing. For me it's having a specific place for my creative work (Starbucks). My brain knows I'm there for writing and complies. I also carve out a big block of time (3+ hours) because, to your point, it still takes time to get into flow.
That’s straight out of “Self-Discipline for Tedious Things” by Peter Hollins, which he probably got it from somewhere else. Except he calls it a “To-Don’t List” and recommends reviewing it at least quarterly
I don’t remember how I came across his books, probably Amazon recos. I don’t think he’s well known. He writes self-help books focused on discipline. I ended up owning 3 of them and read 2 over the years. I think they’re pretty cheap on Kindle, and I learned a lot.
Points noted done, these are real and effective. while i am currently following the event one, and it does work like magic. Finding no time to procrastinate i quickly get to work
I totally dig the flow state tourism. It explains why I love watching authortubers do their writing routines. Watching them gets me inspired to get going on my own writing.
Your point about energy here is 💖✨…magic!! I’ve never thought about writing and publishing in this way, even though a lot of my work is around changing personal energy through mindset!! Brilliant! I will use this point when it’s time to write or do any work from now on!! Thank you! ✨
Awesome! I love the idea of being in a flow state, the accelerators and the energy (give/get). HOWEVER, I was totally consumed by listening to Conor Maynard, then Paul McCartney as you suggested. Then I listened to other singers of my choosing.
It’s now three hours later being fully energized and I have begun my work.
As a veteran procrastinator, I know procrastination is an incurable disease. Like all diseases, the journey to overcoming procrastination involves recognizing it as a disease. I completely agree that the ways to treat the disease of procrastination must be holistic. Modern medicine has not been spared in the quest to treat this disease. Therefore, the solutions you present are good and inspiring. But I expect your creative readers to recognize the disease and develop their own ways of treating it. Procrastination is a chronic condition that requires individualized approaches.
I know how hard it is. I think am close to being a lifelong procrastinater. It's a work you enjoy but terrible for long-term plans. I try as much to deal with it but really requires scientific approach. I will follow these tricks and try as much add what has a little worked for me. Thanks
Same as what you describe, and telling myself when i have no motivation that i will just do 15 minutes of it. I never do only 15min when i start by telling myself this.
Great one! Sometimes it takes me weeks to get back to my writing work. When I was young and in different country I did not have this problem. I did wake up in the middle of the night in "flow state" and hurried to put words on the paper. Thank you for sharing your writing with me!
I think you’ve discovered the secret to your flow state where other writers encounter resistence.
You just sit down and get to work in the art of writing. Even the worse writing is better than busyness and getting ready to get ready to write, or a blank screen with no sweat on it.
This is awesome Tim! I'm AuDHD, and my procrastination is horrible. I never thought about flow states until you talk about them here. Now I need to go procrastinate and do a deep dive into flow states :)
You're invoking for me the hallowed memory of the poet William Stafford, who's widely quoted as saying that "there is no such things as writer's block for writers whose standards are low enough." Here are his words from an interview in which he expounds a bit further:
"I believe that the so-called 'writing block' is a product of some kind of disproportion between your standards and your performance. I can imagine a person beginning to feel that he’s not able to write up to that standard he imagines the world has set for him. But to me that’s surrealistic. The only standard I can rationally have is the standard I’m meeting right now. Of course I can write. Anybody can write. People might think that their product is not worthy of the person they assume they are. But it is."
Stafford was hugely prolific over a span of many years, and he maintained a practice of getting up at 4:00 a.m. every day to write a poem. So clearly, he knew what he was talking about!
Love flow state. I think Julia Cameron was onto something with her 3 pages in the morning thing. For me it's having a specific place for my creative work (Starbucks). My brain knows I'm there for writing and complies. I also carve out a big block of time (3+ hours) because, to your point, it still takes time to get into flow.
good one. i actually schedule time wasting activities. gets it off your chest
This is true, instead of a to-do list, I write a 'not to-do' list. Much easier for me to see what to avoid doing so I don't waste time.
That’s straight out of “Self-Discipline for Tedious Things” by Peter Hollins, which he probably got it from somewhere else. Except he calls it a “To-Don’t List” and recommends reviewing it at least quarterly
Very interesting, I also made an anti to do list for myself last year and it includes what activities to avoid.
Never heard of him.
I don’t remember how I came across his books, probably Amazon recos. I don’t think he’s well known. He writes self-help books focused on discipline. I ended up owning 3 of them and read 2 over the years. I think they’re pretty cheap on Kindle, and I learned a lot.
Yes, I created an 8:30pm calendar event and put any videos I want to watch on it, so they’re not on my mind during the day.
Doing low-quality work the first hour, I’ll have to try that.
Points noted done, these are real and effective. while i am currently following the event one, and it does work like magic. Finding no time to procrastinate i quickly get to work
I totally dig the flow state tourism. It explains why I love watching authortubers do their writing routines. Watching them gets me inspired to get going on my own writing.
That's nice Noor, which one is your favourite authortuber?
I love Christy Anne Jones’ channel!
Your point about energy here is 💖✨…magic!! I’ve never thought about writing and publishing in this way, even though a lot of my work is around changing personal energy through mindset!! Brilliant! I will use this point when it’s time to write or do any work from now on!! Thank you! ✨
Hey Tim,
Awesome! I love the idea of being in a flow state, the accelerators and the energy (give/get). HOWEVER, I was totally consumed by listening to Conor Maynard, then Paul McCartney as you suggested. Then I listened to other singers of my choosing.
It’s now three hours later being fully energized and I have begun my work.
Scott W.
Kenny Werner talks about Flow State while playing jazz piano in his book "Effortless Mastery." Here's a great video with Kenny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAZOamxuw5w
As a veteran procrastinator, I know procrastination is an incurable disease. Like all diseases, the journey to overcoming procrastination involves recognizing it as a disease. I completely agree that the ways to treat the disease of procrastination must be holistic. Modern medicine has not been spared in the quest to treat this disease. Therefore, the solutions you present are good and inspiring. But I expect your creative readers to recognize the disease and develop their own ways of treating it. Procrastination is a chronic condition that requires individualized approaches.
I know how hard it is. I think am close to being a lifelong procrastinater. It's a work you enjoy but terrible for long-term plans. I try as much to deal with it but really requires scientific approach. I will follow these tricks and try as much add what has a little worked for me. Thanks
Some interesting ideas, I'll be sure to implement a few.
Especially the write a bad story to start your writing session.
Same as what you describe, and telling myself when i have no motivation that i will just do 15 minutes of it. I never do only 15min when i start by telling myself this.
Great one! Sometimes it takes me weeks to get back to my writing work. When I was young and in different country I did not have this problem. I did wake up in the middle of the night in "flow state" and hurried to put words on the paper. Thank you for sharing your writing with me!
Thanks for today’s reveal and conversation Timbo.
I think you’ve discovered the secret to your flow state where other writers encounter resistence.
You just sit down and get to work in the art of writing. Even the worse writing is better than busyness and getting ready to get ready to write, or a blank screen with no sweat on it.
They procrastinate about procrastination too...
This is awesome Tim! I'm AuDHD, and my procrastination is horrible. I never thought about flow states until you talk about them here. Now I need to go procrastinate and do a deep dive into flow states :)
You're invoking for me the hallowed memory of the poet William Stafford, who's widely quoted as saying that "there is no such things as writer's block for writers whose standards are low enough." Here are his words from an interview in which he expounds a bit further:
"I believe that the so-called 'writing block' is a product of some kind of disproportion between your standards and your performance. I can imagine a person beginning to feel that he’s not able to write up to that standard he imagines the world has set for him. But to me that’s surrealistic. The only standard I can rationally have is the standard I’m meeting right now. Of course I can write. Anybody can write. People might think that their product is not worthy of the person they assume they are. But it is."
Stafford was hugely prolific over a span of many years, and he maintained a practice of getting up at 4:00 a.m. every day to write a poem. So clearly, he knew what he was talking about!
thank you for your share