Preparation is key, but so is variance. BUt so is- forget it.
If you're reading my first blog post, either I never made a second or you must really like me. Either way, cool? I wanted to explain a bit of my process that allows me to create pages upon pages of ideas and concepts for new projects and, when I can, actually work on those projects.
I have a few key points on creativity, but today is all about preparation, AKA what I personally do to get my brain in a space to create and work on photography. This is my personal experience, but hey! Let me know if it works for you! Anyhow, I find that timing, location, and habits are my keys. To talk about timing, I don't necessarily mean doing the same task at the same hour every day, but rather finding what surrounds your best time of day. That sounds confusing, but to use myself as an example, I personally work best in the morning, most often around that time I've just settled down with my first cup of coffee. It's when I get a bulk of my creative thinking done, and when I can I try to sit down with my laptop and notebook and write or edit as much as I can! Next up is location. This is where variance comes into play for me, you ever get the feeling your pet goldfish is tired of seeing the same bowl day in and day out so you get him a little castle to spice things up? Yeah we work exactly like that as people too. If you have the opportunity, I strongly recommend moving your work somewhere else in your house every couple of days. Now obviously if you work with a PC that might be harder, but I also handwrite a lot of my work. Even taking a walk outside and writing ideas on your notes app will increase productivity. Don't be a bored goldfish! Finally, I use habits to help my brain get into focus. I don't keep too rigid of a structure, but I always have coffee and water while I work, I always have some sort of music playing, and it's music that I don't play any other time of day. I even go as far as to always have my hair pushed back whenever I'm doing heavy thinking. Just having a few tweaks to my normal routine can really improve the rate at which I generate ideas, and this is just everything I do before I get to work. Obviously the process itself contains a variety of different tricks I use, but hey, read the next post for that! Stay productive friends!
Much Obliged,
Ian James
Note: Thank you guys SO so much for reading this, supporting, spreading the word, doing whatever you do. You guys make life so much more possible, and I can't ever show enough gratitude for you guys. Thank you, truly.
