Eliminating distraction from your creative process…
Need a to-do list? As the popular saying goes, “There’s an app for that.” Actually, there are over two thousand apps for that. Type it into the app store and find out for yourself. Everyone seems to need a to-do list today, including me. If you look at the blog post that precedes this one, you will see that I myself am a proponent of making to-do lists. However, I don’t think it’s the only list we need to be making if we want to create at a high level and do out best work.
No matter what industry you’re in it’s important to clearly lay out what you’re going to do, but I’ve also learned that oftentimes it’s just as important to lay out what you’re not going to do. I call this my “Not-To-Do List.”
The “Not-To-Do List” sets up necessary boundaries in order for you and your team to create sacred space. Sacred space is a place where creative inspiration and ideas are free to flow without the threat of distraction. For example, when I sit down to write a blog post I do not eat, shower, or check social media until I’ve finished. As anyone who has ever tried to write for a living knows, we find any excuse we can to keep us from actually sitting down and doing the hard work of creation. Deciding beforehand what you're not allowed to do helps to eliminate the possibility of distraction to creeping in. It also acts as a nice reward once you’re finished, especially the shower.
This is true for teams as well. Every week I send out a weekly update in the form of an e-mail to our team at The Anima Series. One of the rules the team has for responding to these emails is that all responses must be relevant to the topics proposed in the original e-mail. New topics may only be introduced in a new e-mail thread, or sent to me separately to be brought up the next week. This is not an attempt for me to have complete control the conversation as all powerful leader and dictator, this is to ensure our conversation stays focused and accomplishes what needs to be done.
Sometimes you and your team need to know what not to do as much as you need to know what to do.
No matter what industry you’re in it’s important to clearly lay out what you’re going to do, but I’ve also learned that oftentimes it’s just as important to lay out what you’re not going to do. I call this my “Not-To-Do List.”
The “Not-To-Do List” sets up necessary boundaries in order for you and your team to create sacred space. Sacred space is a place where creative inspiration and ideas are free to flow without the threat of distraction. For example, when I sit down to write a blog post I do not eat, shower, or check social media until I’ve finished. As anyone who has ever tried to write for a living knows, we find any excuse we can to keep us from actually sitting down and doing the hard work of creation. Deciding beforehand what you're not allowed to do helps to eliminate the possibility of distraction to creeping in. It also acts as a nice reward once you’re finished, especially the shower.
This is true for teams as well. Every week I send out a weekly update in the form of an e-mail to our team at The Anima Series. One of the rules the team has for responding to these emails is that all responses must be relevant to the topics proposed in the original e-mail. New topics may only be introduced in a new e-mail thread, or sent to me separately to be brought up the next week. This is not an attempt for me to have complete control the conversation as all powerful leader and dictator, this is to ensure our conversation stays focused and accomplishes what needs to be done.
Sometimes you and your team need to know what not to do as much as you need to know what to do.
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Follow jon on Twitter @jonjorgenson
Follow jon on Twitter @jonjorgenson
