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It’s Thursday. I’m sore from working out. I’m tired. But I still have to do work. It would be easy not to. Nobody would really know if I just took a nap instead. (Except for Jen, she might not like that :)) But work still has to be done.

Are you busy right now?
Are you over committed?

This time of year is always like this for us. It’s awesome outside, we want to spend time outdoors and we make time for that but, it’s also a busy time for our work. The work that makes us money. The work that we love. So instead of blaming the time or the work, I’m just going to choose to enjoy the busyness. It will only be for a season.

Until it ends though, I think there are a few things we can do to help.

1. Rest.
Make sure you’re keeping a healthy sleep schedule.

2. Say no.
Don’t get over committed.

3. Go into Monk Mode.
Monk Mode, as Greg McKeown calls it, is when you shut out the outside world for a time and really hone in on getting your work done. Specifically a certain project. Like a book, or a shoot, etc. Tell your friends, your family, your Facebook, your email responder, why you’ll be unavailable and stick to it.

None of these things will make you less busy. But is that really what we want? To be less busy? I don’t think that’s something I want to put out into the universe. Instead, I think learn to enjoy the busy and handle it.
work-life-balance-is-not-a-thing

Work-Life Balance is not a thing. We can only make sure that we’re taking time to do the work we love, spending intentional time with the people we love, and resting when we need it.

Enjoy your work today.

Happy Thursday!

Chris

 

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  • Amy - This made me think. I absolutely love the post…but I’m still pondering the part about not wanting to be less busy. Because I think society glorifies busy and that’s not something I do want to be a part of. I do think the pace of life we often live isn’t the pace we were meant to live. But that’s just what I’m wrestling with now. Something we’ll have to discuss next time we hang!!! 🙂ReplyCancel

    • Chris Creed - I think we’re on the same page Amy. I don’t want to be obsessed with busy. But I do think busy times are inevitable if we’re going to be committed to pursuing something that matters. We’re going to hit a season when things are a little busier than might be comfortable for us.

      When we hit those busy times, we have to be careful to choose to do the things we said were important to us. I’m not of fan of busy for busy’s sake. But I’ll take the busy season so long as I’m getting to do the things that mean the most to me.

      As long as we’re doing that, then busy is good 🙂ReplyCancel

A couple of days ago, Will Ferrell did a video of himself screaming at Derek Jeter for 4 minute straight. Being the Will Ferrell fan that I am, I of course watched it in its entirety. It was comic genius. But I was thinking about it today and how I am still chanting “Derek Jeter” in a Boston accent four days later, and thought: why would Will Ferrell do this?

Because it’s what he does. He’s a comedian. It’s his work. And because he doesn’t want to be the guy who was.

The guy who was on SNL.

The guy who was in Elf.

The guy who was in Anchorman.

All of these things are awesome and they have value. A ton of value. Just because you made some cool art that one time, just because you wrote a hit song, just because you were in a few crazy funny, crazy successful movies, doesn’t give you permission to stop making good work. Nobody wants to be the guy who was. Everybody wants to be the guy who is.

Don’t settle for being the guy who was. That sounds too much like a eulogy.  You’re still alive.
Be the guy (or girl) who is.
The-Guy-Who-Is

Happy Monday!

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How often do you ask that question? I know I don’t ask it enough. But it immediately takes the focus of you. It even takes the focus off the work. It becomes about something bigger than that. It becomes about helping people and serving them with your art and that is an awesome thing.

If you want to stay focused on making good work today, ask yourself who it is that you’re serving.

Happy Friday!

Chris

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People care about ideas they can see, feel, touch, and smell. If you walk into a situation where you have to share your ideas with people, you better have something to back them up or they will get shot down. I know because I’ve been that guy before. The guy that walks into to a meeting with friends and talks about a bad idea that he’s excited about only to hear that no one else really cares. They don’t care because they can’t see this big huge thing that you’ve built inside your head. They only hear words.

Your friends, your colleagues, your spouse, none of them are out to destroy every idea you have. They just need proof. You don’t need to convince them that your idea is awesome. They just don’t care until they see it. And you can’t be mad at them about that.

People start to believe in ideas when they can experience them. That’s when it becomes art. When it can connect with other humans. If you want to reach people, change the world, and make awesome stuff, then start making ideas real. Even if they suck, people will start to see that you are actually doing something and your ideas will get better and better and people will start to believe.

Proof of an idea’s awesomeness is always going to trump the idea of the idea. So give me proof.
how to share ideas, proof of ldeas, good ideas, looking for inspiration

Happy Wednesday!

Chris

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Commitment is something we forget when we start things. I think it’s because we’re always looking at what’s next instead of seeing through what we’ve started. I wrote about this not too long ago. About how we need your new dreams. But not at the cost of half-way finished ones.

Because of our tendency to start things, we sometimes quit things too soon. Seth Godin says the problem is we quit the wrong things at the wrong time. I think there are two things that can keep us from jumping ship too soon:

1. Remembering why we started.

2. Commitment.

Commitment is an important part of making stuff for a living. Being committed to your work and your goals doesn’t mean you’re restricted or stuck with only those things but it does mean that those things will be made because you’re committed to making them.

If you want to have a successful business: Commit.
If you want to write a book: Commit.
If you want to get in shape: Commit.
If you want to make better work: Commit.
commit

Without commitment, we can quit when we want. When we can quit when we want, we’ll never finish anything.

 If you do one thing this week for you, your business and your work: Commit.

Happy Tuesday!

Chris

 

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