Category: Productivity

Peggy Bechko: Writers And Artists Nurture Your Creativity

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by Peggy Bechko

We’re coming up on the holidays… So, I thought I’d spend a little time musing about creativity and what it takes to keep that part of us pumped up, nurtured and ready to go. Some suggestions, as it were, to help the blocked, confused and wandering – also the steady writers and artists out there who might need to take a breather or find a new path.

Hopefully some of these ideas will perk you up, give you a new slant or just assure you you’re not alone.

If you’re stuck on a story or whatever you’re attempting to create – and I know you’ve all heard this, but you probably need to hear it again – for heaven’s sakes take a break. Do something mindless or that will force your conscious brain to focus elsewhere and give your subconscious a chance to free range a bit. Take a walk, shovel the drive (in winter), mow the lawn (in summer), do the ironing or maybe cook dinner. Surprise your spouse with that dinner, he or she is no doubt so used to you being so immersed in your creative work that they rarely see a decent meal. Seriously, give yourself a break, give everyone a break, unclench. read article

How to Reach Your Best by Not Giving a Damn

Ooh, a straight out there article on how to win by not caring if you win. Man, if we could just pull that off….

huhby Emilia Lahti

I am fully aware of the fact that my spell-checker shows a bright, blinking red line under the word satisficing. This likely means that the word is outside the realm of commonly used constructs and therefore you may have never heard of it. Over the past year, however, this previously unknown term became part of my essential vocabulary. As a matter of fact, I have learned a wonderful new strategy, which not only increased my subjective well-being (by freeing me from being the anal-retentive nitpicker/ruminator that I used to be), but also enabled me to tap into my full potential more than ever before. This is a quick post about harnessing your nervous system to get the results you want, while remaining happy as you pursue your goals.

I recently graduated from a master´s program that was as intense as it was mind-blowing and amazing. For the first four months, I was working full-time for the Consulate General of Finland, which meant that I usually put in 80-90 hours of combined academic and professional work each week. However, being a degree in positive psychology, it meant I also learned a trick or two about using your strengths and keeping your head above the water (well, at least most of the time). read article

How to Work the Room – Even If You’re a Writer

The most important thing you’ll read all day! (Unless you’ve already read something more important or…) Anyway, it’s important:

by Kimberly Weisul

I did it. I went to a cocktail party where I didn’t know anyone, and successfully chit-chatted for two hours. (Not to myself. I actually spoke with other people.)

I have never been good at the kind of networking where you’re supposed to walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with “connections.” The very idea makes me cringe. But as a writer and reporter, I get invited to more than my fair share of meet-and-greets. Every now and then, I read an invite and think, “Eeek. I really should go. But I won’t know anyone.” Sometimes I go, sometimes I don’t. Some of these events are better than others. I rarely have fun. read article

Angelo J. Bell: Head Start 2014 – Filmmaking & Writing

starting-early-tvwriter.comby Angelo J. Bell

I’ve been having regular phone convo’s with my NYC buddy, Filmmaker Sujewa, and we’ve mutually decided to get a jumpstart on 2014. There is work to be done

After pooling our informational and intellectual resources I’ve come up with three things I must do, sort of a dynamic “to do list” to make 2014 my best year ever.

? In order for me to feel comfortable attaching the title of filmmaker to my name, I need to get more projects out there into the indie world, in less time. In this age of diy micro-budget filmmaking, taking 2 years or longer to produce a feature film is simply too long.  Also I need to use these films to connect with audiences in particular. If I connect with other filmmakers, so be it. But audiences and fans are the ones who buy and rent movies. Luckily, the adaptation of my film, the drug addiction project, “Renounced“,  is a strong micro- project to re-enter the indie film world. read article

Networking for Introverts

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Susan Cain, the most extraverted introvert in the world, tells us how to network by creating what she calls a “socialization quota.”

But after seeing this video, we’ll never believe that she needs to do anything but be her bubbly, outgoing self: read article