Category: Creativity
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What I Wish I Knew About Quoting Other People In My Writing
Recently, I read a passage from someone working in psychology which said, “Every time I want to make a point, my brain immediately asks, ‘Is there a widely-cited, randomized controlled test study to support that?’” If there wasn’t, they would decide not to pursue the idea any further. I can relate, all too well. This…
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You Become What You Write About
No matter how fast digital software evolves, there are some habits and objects ground in the physical world that draw me towards them. One of these is physical notebooks, usually a Moleskine. I’ve filled out three of them the past couple of years, and brought a fourth half-filled with me halfway across the world. It…
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How to Take Your Career to the Next Level with Notes
It was only yesterday when I needed to make a minor decision I had been stuck on for a week. The situation didn’t require a friend or advisor’s advice, precious time I’d prefer to save for something of greater gravity. Instead, I consulted a set of notes I’d taken on making decisions, which took me…
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How to Write Faster
Image: Lady Writing a Letter (1887) by Albert Edelfelt/Artvee Every day, you and I write. We write emails, text messages, letters, birthday cards, and search queries. This is a practical guide on how to write faster, because we spend so much time writing. This isn’t about touch-typing faster or handwriting faster, but the process of…
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The Limits of Personal Productivity
I’ve been writing about productivity for close to a decade now. I learned things, piece by piece, and owe whatever career I have in large part due to my research on psychology, motivation, and getting things done. Putting my learnings into practice has paid off. I’m working on a full-time assignment as the editorial director…
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You’ll Never Have Enough Time. Start Your Creative Work Today
In Make Your Art No Matter What, Beth Pickens writes, “The most frequent issue with time for artists is the belief they don’t have enough time for their art practice or as much time as they would like to devote to it.” Artists with all sorts of different schedules, habits, commitments, family expectations, all report…
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Work on the Weekends Only If You’re Learning Something Useful
You should only work on the weekends if you’re learning something that supports your future or puts you on a path to enjoying your work.
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How to Stop Overcommitting at Work: A Summary of Unplanned Work in The Phoenix Project
The Phoenix Project is a fictional story covering how an IT team leads its company, slogging through technological and organizational transformation. It’s an exciting way to learn more about software operations. It’s a business fable, not dissimilar from The Goal, The Wealthy Barber, or The Grumpy Accountant. I want to summarize one of the key…
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How to Break a Creative Block in 24 Hours
Creative blocks are the bane of every person’s existence. These ruts could go on for a week, a month, a year, or even decades. After all, life happens, time gets thin, and expectations get higher. The most consistent solution is simple: to set a tight deadline, and to deliver something by that time. And possibly…
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What It’s Like to Write Articles with Artificial Intelligence
I see GPT-3 both as a threat to the conventional notion of writing, but also as a great new tool for authors. Perhaps an analogy is useful here: I’m a calligrapher, and I learn about the Gutenberg press. It makes sense to learn how to work together with GPT-3 as a collaborator, especially when cost…