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As an entrepreneur and a creative, you need ways to work better so that you can create more, but what do you do when you hit a seemingly insurmountable mental wall? You need to get unblocked: to bust through that barrier to allow creativity to flow. Beware: this presentation challenges the standard norms around concentration, focus, productivity, and may change how you work…for the better.
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If You Feel Inclined to Tweet… I am: @denisejacobs We’re at: @MindTheBridge And I’m talking about ways to #getunblocked
How did I become a Creativity Evangelist?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/b4b2/3954106061/
After writing this…
I had an epiphany
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44085287@N05/4055814772/
In terms of
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designandtechnologydepartment/4771136128/
We ALL hold the power
http://www.flickr.com/photos/assbach/267598910/
Creativity is highly valued
http://business.time.com/2013/04/26/the-time-creativity-poll/
I’ve decided it’s my life work
Photo: Derek Kearney
Intro Blocked?
What’s our most important tool for creating?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/plindberg/33867829/
No, not these…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APSM_V14_D495_Side_view_of_the_brain_and_spinal_cord.jpg
This one!
Instead of accessing all of your great ideas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anieto2k/8156999698/
And feeling like this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7730492@N03/4958540694/
You run into road blocks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99301367@N00/8497106802/
When you need them the least
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7693102@N07/2536807562/
And you run completely
http://royhoes.deviantart.com/art/Out-of-Inspiration-85588391
However, creativity is a source of true power
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanekemp/6152286326/
“Creativity is newness produced.”
- Sir Ken Robinson, Out of Our Minds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/myfear/289257055/
When we are in the creative flow
We are alchemists
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg
It feels like
http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2761300969/
“Creativity is magical, but it is not magic.”
- Dr. Charles Limb,
Your Brain on Improvisation TED talk
We’re innately powerful creators
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89927155@N00/2144275209/
Instead of using it fully
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/3310336516/
We fear it
Photo: Denise Jacobs
And give our power away
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6D-O5ECr5EUow5jrck2A2A
Building Blocks
Prologue How it starts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barretthall/3036598475/ &http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/3135103537/
It starts early
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/7324305636/
Share 4 stories from my own life
Age 6
Dad
Photo: Deloria Jacobs
Photos: Deloria Jacobs
Mom & sister
Me? More of a graphic artist
Photo: Deloria Jacobs
Age 10
Photo: Deloria Jacobs
Oldest friend in the world
Age 24
Happy graduation! Now what?
Photo: Deloria Jacobs
Maybe be a writer?
First airplane ride!
Internalized the critical voices
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeapalooza/553545517/
Caused me to binge-create
But never felt deserving
Always a bit in the closet
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenzzz_14/7031233649/
Prologue, part 2 What it creates
These lies that we tell ourselves
Leave parts of us paralyzed and imprisoned
http://www.flickr.com/photos/b3ni/2990601183/
Adds up
= Blocks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_g_travels/860951845/
Instead of creativity
Destructivity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevygee/3265941065/
Getting Unblocked
Nudge your comfort zone
“Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.”
- Anna Freud
1 Recognize & Banish
Busyness
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wester/504925076/
Monsters in your head
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/4887528060/
“If your demons are such that they fill the room the instant you contemplate creating, your studio will be too dangerous a place to enter.”
- Eric Maisel, author of Fearless
Creating
What’s really going on is we’re
http://www.43folders.com/2011/03/28/scared-shitless
Physical evidence of fear
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grumpyfeline/4626401443/
Recognize the many forms of your Inner Critic
Impostor Syndrome
Impostor Syndrome Paradox
http://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/2279939232/
Comparisons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/automania/126698126/
Perfectionism
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diepuppenstubensammlerin/7648792510/
Procrastination
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irrezolut/2311904560/
Fear of failure
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/2717325940/
“The goal is to manage anxiety so that our energies are used for the productive and satisfying art of creating, rather than the destructive and debilitating art of self-torture.”
- Clare Warmke, Idea Revolution
“False Evidence Appearing Real”
or, alternatively,
“F*ck Everything And Run!”
F.E.A.R. =
Become a Fear Alchemist
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Wright_of_Derby_The_Alchemist.jpg
Thoughts on fear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZIt20emgLY
“Fear is not real. It is a product of the thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice.”
- character of Cypher Raige (played
by Will Smith), After Earth
Banish the Inner Critic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythoto/3822942678/
Empathize
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrote/2646295354/
Comparisons aren’t real
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suvodeb/2559017400/
Maintain perspective
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daikrieg/1294053038/
Reframe #fail
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/2717326642/
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
- Henry Ford
Nothing is a mistake
Photo: Denise Jacobs
“I am best at what I can’t do. It has become my ability to feel strong and confident….I feel free to move, to listen to my heart, to learn, to act even if that means I will make mistakes.
If you want a creative life, do what you can’t
and experience the beauty of the mistakes that you make.”
- Marcel Wanders, Designer and “Professional
Amateur” (marcelwanders.com)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thirteenthnile/4546397775/
Change your body language, change your mind
“Our bodies change our minds, our minds change our behavior, and our behavior changes our outcomes.”
- Amy Cuddy,
Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are TED talk
Fake it until you become it
Stand up. Assume a pose that embodies a sense of defeat, can’t do it, it will never work, “I suck/I’m no good/an impostor”, etc. Make yourself as small and powerless feeling as possible.
Then, strike a power pose. Imagine yourself as a
superhero looking off into the distance seeing your destiny of major creative butt-kicking.
Alternate several times. Hold the power pose for as
long as you can so that you can feel the change.
Exercise: Power Pose
2 Adjust & Replace
Train Your Brain
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiarescott/3211540197/
Let’s take a closer look
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/6006414578/
Left v. Right brain?
http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=left%20brain%20right%20brain&order=9&offset=48#/d10qlpq
Left hemisphere
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smittenkittenoriginals/4451172538/
Right hemisphere
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorelei-ranveig/2294885580/
A balanced brain
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47691521@N07/4639590640/
What are our brains constantly producing?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cblue98/7254347346/
Know your Brainwaves
Alpha: the gateway to Creativity
“The parts of your brain that are responsible for self-monitoring are literally turned off during creative endeavors….Creative people have mastered the art of turning off [the inhibitive] part of their brains to let their ideas flow more smoothly, unleashing their imagination.”
- Tina Seelig, InGenius
Close your eyes and relax. Breathe through your nose.
Now place your tongue at the roof of your mouth,
turn your eyes towards the ceiling underneath your eyelids.
Take several deep, long breaths. As you relax, you are changing your brainwaves from
Beta to Alpha.
Exercise: Enter Alpha
6 Easy ways access to Alpha
http://uniteunderfreedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Brain-waves.jpg
(1) Breathe to refocus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guiniveretoo/1573049301/
(2) Lay prone
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snazzy54/4581347651/
(3) Daydream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzylittlemanpeach/4633972431/
(4) Takes a shower
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/3761878381/
(5) Get physical
http://www.flickr.com/photos/miguel77/2728104156/
“When your brain is supposedly doing nothing, it’s really doing a tremendous amount.”
– Marcus Raichle, Neurologist
Exercise Discipline
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bizz0k0/3432638748/
Manage habits
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deathtogutenberg/2976274920/
Clean-up habit fields
http://www.flickr.com/photos/risager/3452272176/
Habit what?
http://alistapart.com/article/habit-fields
Clean up your work habit field by following the suggestions in the article “Habit Fields” by Jack Cheng. Create your equivalent of a “distraction chair” and move to it when you feel like you are inclined to surf the web, email, Tweet, Facebook, or engage in any other computer-related distraction. When you are ready to work again, come back to your desk.
Rinse and repeat until your work habit field is clear
again and no longer fuzzy.
Practice: Habit field reboot
Manage time
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolocampioni/2168286027/
To do more of what you love and less of what you dislike, start writing To Don’t Lists (aka “Stop Doing” Lists).
Pick a partner, and write a list of 3-5 items that you commit to
stop doing within the next 30 days. Date the list. Share the list with your partner and get ideas on how to eliminate these items from your life either by stopping them or delegating/outsourcing the tasks.
Review your list in 30 days to see what you need to continue
to stop doing so that your time is spent on what you value and want to cultivate. Create another list for the upcoming 30 days.
Practice: To Don’t List
Say NO to Distractions
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gideon/6582069/
RescueTime.com
GetConcentrating.com
Firefox extension: LeechBlock: http://www.proginosko.com/leechblock.html
Firefox extension: Idderall: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/idderall/
Google Chrome extension: Strict Workflow: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/strict-workflow/
Google Chrome extension: StayFocusd: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/
stayfocusd/
Further Resources
Single-task
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33498942@N04/6009639079/
Pomodoro Technique
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucamascaro/4975166968/
Airplane mode
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pieterouwerkerk/699475144/
Practice the Pomodoro technique. Do a 30 minute sprint where you turn off all distractions and work for 25 minutes.
Before you start your sprint, write down the objective of the
sprint. Do the sprint, and at the end of it, take a moment to jot down any challenges encountered, and your end results from the sprint.
For your 5 minute break, activate your Alpha brainwaves by
either laying down on the floor with your eyes closed, or look at clouds shifting in the sky.
Practice: Pomodoro 2.0
3 Invite & Allow
“Sometimes dabbling in mysticism can be a fun way to understand and solve a problem.”
- Carl King, So You’re a Creative
Genius, Now What?
A little help from (imaginary) friends
Your subconscious
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Themuse.jpg
The spirit of the idea
Ideas use us (not vise-versa)
Instead of treating an idea as something that comes from inside of your head, treat it as an external entity that has chosen you to bring it into the world.
Take some time to converse with the idea as an
entity with its own goals and objectives and vision for itself, and find out how you can help the entity get itself into the world the way it wants to be.
Practice: Converse with the Spirit of the Idea
Listen
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theory/3193684688/
Converse
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tojosan/181249465/
Embrace disruption
Photo: Denise Jacobs
Capture ideas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosengrant/3637839874/
Write them down
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caitlinator/2826079915/
Sketch them out
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eoze04/4890376021/
Talk them out (& record it)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/3641402489/
Gather and curate your ideas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmanviz/3181410714/
Evernote Pinterest.com Delicious.com Flickr.com Zootool.com Gimmebar.com Diigo
Dropr.com Tumblr Scrnshots.com Vi.sualize.us Emberapp.com Trello.com Asana.com
Tools to do so
4 Connect & Flow
Do it with others
http://www.flickr.com/photos/u-suke/5668302030/
Mo’ people, mo’ ideas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seretuaccidente/147686396/
Avoid sameness
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dahlstroms/3774973833/
Immerse yourself in diverse environments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shirinwiniger/3680885289/
Don’t keep them to yourself
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anieto2k/8127201319/
Share ideas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanpalmero/4278466639/
Share mistakes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt/26322670/
Be the locus where ideas can mix & mingle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/7496803638/
Expands, does not contract
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/5752191246/
Amplify the ideas of others
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/54381130/
Improv
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roel1943/5740295789/
Plus it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66568868@N00/6032481145/
The structure
Make your partner look good
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31246066@N04/4597640798/
The stage is set for Flow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgeithner/5290115839/
Flow?
• Concept in mind: know what you want to achieve and what it looks like
• Practice in place • Cleared space • Time carved out and distractions
eliminated • Necessary materials on hand
The previous steps lead you here:
Free & Clear
Before
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_g_travels/860951845/
After
http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualdoubts/4087935894/
Stepping through them more easily
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/4269399012/
(Re)Gain Creative Confidence
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44085287@N05/4055807492/
“…the confidence that, when given a difficult problem, we have a methodology that enables us to come up with a solution that nobody has before.”
- David Kelley of Ideo
…which is
Ideas are on and poppin’!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7730492@N03/4957946157/
Work becomes Play
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/5392982007/
Reclaim our power
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anieto2k/8216666102/
Value yourself, ideas, and process
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pocait/2847866615/
Moving forward
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/6005503875/
“Creativity makes day to day experiences more vivid, more enjoyable, more rewarding. When we live creatively, boredom is banished and every moment holds the promise of a fresh discovery.”
- Mihali Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity
To strive to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/5319988695/
And continue to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boojee/2781415869/
The End…?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/232100469/
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Always being updated as I find new relevant articles!
“Great Resources” almost daily: @denisejacobs on Twitter
Resources!
My articles for further reading! netmagazine.com/features/ four-secrets-enhancing-creative-productivity alistapart.com/articles/ reigniting-your-creative-spark/ alistapart.com/articles/ banishing-your-inner-critic/
Cover art thanks to Americo Morales
AmericoMorales.com
DeniseJacobs.com
Twitter.com/denisejacobs
Facebook.com/denisejacobsdotcom
Slideshare.net/denisejacobs
How to find me
Photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aarronwalter/4629078087/
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Thank you
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theredproject/3302110152/