When you’re blocked - at the end of your rope
This one strategy can be a lifesaver
Wanna get away?
It’s the familiar refrain from the Southwest Airlines commercial, when things go embarrassingly awry.
However, it can also be the best advice when it comes time to finally putting your butt in a chair and cranking out the script or outline for your next audio.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about creating audio products its that people are in love with the romance of it – envisioning the ‘table rush’ of buyers at their speaking gigs, thrilling to sales verifications pouring into their email inbox.
And of course, the call from Oprah.
But they’re NOT in love with the reality of product creation – which DOES include all that good stuff (well, maybe not the Oprah part), but also the act of actually getting it done.
I’ve found, when push comes to shove – one strategy has done more to bust down blockages and catapult my creativity and productivity than anything else I’ve ever done.
In fact, I would not have created anything I’ve done: the blog, the products, the Flash videos . . . without this strategy.
It’s the road trip. Gettin' outta Dodge. Splitsville. Its simple, can be done for a pittance, can revolutionize your productivity, and blow away any resistance you have to making your products a reality.
I’ve found when I’m facing a block writing, recording or editing audio, hitting the road is a great idea. I’ve gone as far as finding a cheap hotel room for the weekend, when I’ve got a "must do" deadline approaching.
The exciting thing: It really, really works!
Here’s my short list of the places I find the clarity, creativity and energy to get moving:
- Starbucks
There are four of them that I rotate between. Seems I stagnate on familiar environments (more on that later). So rotating the Starbucks’ seems to trick my brain into thinking its found a fresh new locale, even if I’ve been there scores of times.
I show up (usually early morning), order a venti half-caf, and bring a banana to munch on so I save some dough and don’t blow the whole calorie-watching thing on their sugary pastries. And then I relax and get creative. I don’t know why it happens. But I’m so grateful it does!
It may not be a Starbucks for you. It may be a library, a college campus, a restaurant.
What’s important is to find an environment that works for you, and then use it to get stuff done. - My folks place
There’s a computer in my old bedroom. And since my dad is usually watching tennis or golf, the TV is spoken for. No distractions + computer = lots of work done in a short period of time. - Shopping malls
Nothing like a visit to the Apple Store (to satisfy my geek fix), then finding a café or food park. I really dig on the ambient noise I find in shopping mall food parks. Its like a sedative for any anxiety, and seems to trance me out into a nice creative alpha state. - Cheap hotels
Even a Motel 6 is fine. All I need is quiet, a table and a chair. The key is not a luxurious setting, but to surround myself with only the things I have to accomplish. You’d be amazed what an amazing effect simplifying your surroundings has on your focus and energy.
A few really important things to notice:
FIRST . . . Were any of these especially pricey? Not that I can see. And they’re even more cost effective when you think how much extra dough you can make getting your products done a few months ahead of when you normally would.
SECOND . . . Don’t ask why something works. When you find it, just ride the wave. Ambient noise? At a shopping mall food park? I can’t figure it out. And I’ve stopped trying because **why** doesn’t matter. Only that it works to help me get productive.
It seems I’m really stimulated by fresh environments: able to focus, concentrate, come up with brilliant solutions to vexing issues and get an amazing amount done. And judging by all the other folks I see hammering away on their laptops in Starbucks, I’m not alone.
While I’ve never recorded, I’ve done every other part of audio product creation in a Starbucks (editing the audio, burning CDs, designing my labels and jackets). That weirdo with the headphones sitting in the back? That’s me!
So when clients repeatedly tell me they’re having trouble getting started -- which seems to happen a lot -- I simply tell them to get lost. In a good way. Cause when you take a road trip, that’s exactly what you’re doing.
You’re ditching the distractions, the email, the instant messages, the inner critical voice – all things you will unconsciously reach for instead of the keyboard or pen. When you find a new environment, your shoulds, doubts, and perceived limitations literally don’t know where to find you. Remember playing hooky from school? Multiply that by 10 and you’ve got it.
Its no wonder a fresh environment can be just the thing to help you jump start your product creation machinery, and get those productive juices flowing.
Cause whenever I think I’ve gotten in over my head – when life is intruding – when I’m surrounded by nagging peripheral tasks that are stealing my energy, I simply get away.
And I am amazed how much I accomplish.
