The act of creation is opposite of consuming, it adds energy to the universe, it can make you happy and helps you feel better. It makes you feel productive and feeling productive…makes you want to be more productive! The energy source of a positive breakthrough is that feeling of productive, that you did something that helped someone, even if it’s just yourself.
That’s what we’re talking about today, feeling productive. Notice my emphasis here – feeling. That’s what we really want to tap into, the feeling.
Like I mentioned in the last post – the cycle of depression and low-energy can be counter-acted by a cycle of creation. Feeling productive is a huge part of that, as anyone knows. It’s like a drug – when you feel it, you feel it and it makes you powerful. You gain motivation and energy. You want to create more, which builds momentum and a cycle of positivity. My suggestion is to try and emphasize that feeling as much as you can. Every time you complete something, especially something creative, maximize that feeling of productivity.
How do we do this? There are several things we should do:
- Utilize as many senses as possible when you achieve something productive. For example: a visual checklist being cleared with an audio “ding” when checked off, then go have a quick reward. For example: eat a cookie. Taste, smell, visual and auditory, all at once.
- Log your accomplishments and be sure to view them regularly. Admire how much you’ve completed. This could be word count, promotions you’ve done, chapters completed, plots you’ve made, characters you’ve developed, etc. Be sure to take a few minutes to remind yourself how much you’ve created.
- Get up and move. Related to #1, after you finish something (especially something larger in scope)go move. Leverage this energy! By moving around, going on a walk, dancing, or whatever, you’ll build up even more energy and positive emotions.
There is a few tools I use to help do the three above. I’ll talk about them more in detail later, but there is one in particular I wanted to mention.
This tool is completely free and helps with the first two actions above. Some of you may have heard of it and some of you might use it already. If not, it’s called Wunderlist and you can grab it here. It’s a simple, easy to use program that enables you to keep track of the stuff you need to do (a to-do list) while giving you the visual and audio satisfaction when something is finished. It gives a nice “ding” when you’ve done something and it keeps track of everything you’ve completed. You can easily view these accomplishments by clicking “Completed To Do’s”.
Anyway, I’ve recorded a quick video to demonstrate Wunderlist. I hope you enjoy it!
Catch you guys soon!
Rob