One of the most important things that I teach and coach others to do is to help create a concise and repeatable method of action – one that is easy to remember, duplicate, and manufacture at will.
This is one of the most important elements of executing on our creativity – and the more “creative” you are the more you are required, by necessity, to create organization.
The first step to creating this organizational efficiency and system is documentation – this is why I tell my students to constantly document their process! More importantly though is to have the cognition and awareness to document the environment around them when they are hitting their stride the best.
This can be difficult at first but it is something that once done becomes easier overtime – it’s like anything else in this life: practice may not make you perfect but it really, really helps!
What I tell to do is to simply observe, write down, and experiment with different experiences and see what works, what fits, and how things come into play as they find themselves in the moment of enjoyment in what they are doing.
This effort pays off big time the moment you begin to become aware of the patterns that constantly exist around you that you can leverage for your own productivity’s sake. For example, I know that the best time of productivity is in the early morning, between 5:00am and 7:00am. This is when I am the most at rest and at peace with my surroundings and when I am the most clear with my objectives and the things that I need to accomplish for the day.
In fact, this is also my most optimal time for writing and blogging – although I’ve been drafting in my head blog posts constantly I don’t sit down and write them until this portion of the day. How I came about this realization was both trial and error but also documenting those moments and comparing them with other periods of time.
Once you begin that process it’s quite fun and very addictive as you understand how crucial it is to be in the optimal environment to do your best work. In fact, you won’t want to ever not be in that environment! And remember, your environment is not just physical, it could be an emotional state of mind, a spiritual one, or even auditory via music.
Here are a few more pictures of my coaching class walking through their methods of action and explaining in great detail their optimal environments for flow:
Ah, I love the last picture here as coffee is such a vital part of my flow environment!
When was the last time you sat down and documented out your optimal environment for productivity? Have you ever considered this?
This is one of the most important elements of executing on our creativity – and the more “creative” you are the more you are required, by necessity, to create organization.
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Well, that explains why I am so unorganized. This is something I need to start implementing in my life.
I wonder if using mind maps would help to visualize and organize the flow.
I found a free good one here: http://vue.tufts.edu/
I have played around with it, but I have not used it to document my methods of action.
VUE might be a great tool to use in your coaching, since it has a lot of good features.
Here is what they said:
The Visual Understanding Environment (VUE) is an Open Source project based at Tufts University. The VUE project is focused on creating flexible tools for managing and integrating digital resources in support of teaching, learning and research. VUE provides a flexible visual environment for structuring, presenting, and sharing digital information.
I thought the same thing. I don’t know if mind-maps work well for me, but like you, I definitely want to start implementing this in my life.
This is definitely something I need to do more of. Great thoughts, I also incorporate massive quantities of coffee in my workflow but I need to track all the elements for me and work. I need to start carrying my notepad again…
Oh yeah, coffee is so important! I’ve written several blog posts about it and have another floating around in my head.
this is a life saver.
Moleskins play a huge part in tracking all the elements of work. Maybe purchase a Moleskin this weekend and start the process of discipling yourself to document your elements of work. I know I am purchasing me some this weekend so I can too.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever documented my optimal environment for productivity. Doesn’t mean I’m not aware of it, but I have not documented it. I think I need to though, for two reasons. First, I get tired of my mood/emotions taking me out of my creativie zone. Maybe documenting will help this. Secondly, I am scheduled to give a talk on creativity to a group of business women in September, and I think this is a good point to make there. This post has gotten me thinking in a way I had not yet considered. Thanks!
try it out and see what happens!
Thanks for keeping it VERY real. I know now what I must do!
Really good idea. I think there are certain industries that are big on making sure all the standard operating procedures are down on paper but it should really be used by everyone. Many times writing it down will help you notice a chance to improve a step.
Matt
matt,
definitely agree. there are some that have it as a natural consequence of working… but no business requires you to do it personally. that you must do for yourself.
Thanks for sharing Matt. I agree writing it down on paper makes me feel like I have more ownership and commitment when I write it down.
I’m not very good at this and could definitely use some help in this area.
P.S. I love that you have a picture of a tv with an iPhone displaying the Evernote icon.
inception.
Lol!