⚖️ TREE 392: Making time to be creative

This week’s guest author is Cali Bird. She links to one of her posts below. I think the “I don’t” section at the link is especially good. Check it out.

Grow slowly
Jeff

One.

You don’t need oodles of time to be creative. You just need to use the time you have smartly.

Outside of work, your biggest time suck is likely to be your smartphone – yes, that thing in your hands right now on which you might be reading this article.

Do you ever mindlessly scroll through your social media accounts? Do you intend to do it for just 5 minutes but suddenly 20 have passed?

Did you realise that just 30 minutes a day of doom-scrolling adds up to a whole month of time in a year?

Here’s the maths: 30 minutes a day is equal to 182 hours a year. If you divide that by an 8 hour workday it comes to 22 ¾ days which, on a Monday to Friday schedule, is a month. What else could you do with that time?

You can also create first thing in the morning. I used to get up early and write for an hour before starting my job as a software consultant.

You might need to go to bed earlier. I once had a client who discovered that if he and his partner ate their dinner on their laps in front of the TV, they would get sucked into watching a film that kept him up late. But if they ate at the table he got to bed earlier.

How can you make simple tweaks to your routine that will give you stolen moments to nourish your soul with your art?

If you need more tips on taming your phone usage, check out this article (and you can hit Subscribe if you want to receive more like this): Would You Like An Extra Month Of Writing Time?

Two.

More guestful goodness: Teresa Roberts is providing the illustrations this week. –JG

Since time flies, Susan doesn’t pigeonhole her creative moments.

Three.

I tapped play on Cali’s choice for today and my 18 year-old daughter shouted her approval down the stairs. She’s more cultured than I am. —JG