Above my desk at home hangs a giant white board on which I keep all of my tasks for the day, month, and upcoming quarter. My to-do lists have been known to get pretty meticulous, oftentimes getting me laughed at by my fiancé.
“Did you really put “free time” on your to-do list?”
“Of course I did, how else am I supposed to remember to take a break?”
In reviewing my list last week, I noticed I had made an interesting omission. At the beginning of this year, I made the commitment to blog three times per week, so “write blog post” is a phrase that constantly appeared on the white board. Looking through last week though, I noticed that “write blog post” hadn’t appeared on the list in over a week, maybe even a month or two.
Obviously I hadn’t given up on blogging, I haven’t missed a post yet. But I hadn’t even noticed that I was leaving it off the list. At some point, blogging became second nature.
This is the goal for any artist who creates on a daily basis. I’m sure Seth Mcfarlane’s to-do list does not include writing another Family Guy episode. I don’t think Bach’s to-do list included the phrase “write music.” When an artist is truly committed to the work for a certain amount of time, it no longer is a task to be done, but it becomes second nature. Almost like breathing, it’s not an obligation, it’s an expectation, it’s a bodily function. The day doesn’t feel complete without it.
Seeking to create on a daily basis means that at some point what was once on our to-do list will have to become second nature. When this happens, we then open up room for new, diverse, challenging projects to go on our to-do list.
“Did you really put “free time” on your to-do list?”
“Of course I did, how else am I supposed to remember to take a break?”
In reviewing my list last week, I noticed I had made an interesting omission. At the beginning of this year, I made the commitment to blog three times per week, so “write blog post” is a phrase that constantly appeared on the white board. Looking through last week though, I noticed that “write blog post” hadn’t appeared on the list in over a week, maybe even a month or two.
Obviously I hadn’t given up on blogging, I haven’t missed a post yet. But I hadn’t even noticed that I was leaving it off the list. At some point, blogging became second nature.
This is the goal for any artist who creates on a daily basis. I’m sure Seth Mcfarlane’s to-do list does not include writing another Family Guy episode. I don’t think Bach’s to-do list included the phrase “write music.” When an artist is truly committed to the work for a certain amount of time, it no longer is a task to be done, but it becomes second nature. Almost like breathing, it’s not an obligation, it’s an expectation, it’s a bodily function. The day doesn’t feel complete without it.
Seeking to create on a daily basis means that at some point what was once on our to-do list will have to become second nature. When this happens, we then open up room for new, diverse, challenging projects to go on our to-do list.
