Mysterious Flame

Art & GTD Part 1 of 5

I know, I know. Artists aren’t typically the organized types. They often take pride in how scattershot they are, finding inspiration everywhere. But as we’ve discussed elsewhere and will definitely touch on again, it’s so easy to forget all those wonderful ideas we have. It’s easy to forget what that thing was we were going to paint that we were so excited about when the idea came to us. The Getting Things Done system lets us capture all those thoughts and successfully deploy them into productive work.

Getting things Done (aka GTD) is a personal productivity system outlined in a book of the same name by David Allen. The idea is to capture what needs to be done so that it’s out of your head and off your mind so you don’t stress out about it. You put all your “stuff” into a logical system so that you can deal with it appropriately. It helps you be disciplined in such a way that you can quickly make decisions regarding whatever comes up so that you can have a plan in place to immediately act on everything that comes your way, or otherwise safely renegotiate them. What happens is you end up avoiding getting things lost in the shuffle, so you become a more effective manager of your time. Is your head spinning yet? Don’t worry — we’ll clear some things up.

Two Main Questions

GTD is primarily concerned with two main questions: What’s the context? is the first one, and What’s the next action? is the next one, perhaps the most important of the two. Clearly answering these questions will guide you to efficiency. Context is how much time you have available, where you physically are at the moment, and how much energy you have at the moment. When you are fully aware of what your context is, you are better able to answer the question of “What’s the next physical action?”. You can use this to plan ahead to do certain things in certain situations (contexts). You probably already have a list of errands to run the next time you are out and about, and a list of supplies to get the next time you are at the art store. How about a list of things you can tackle the next time you feel really energetic? That way you can harness all that creative energy when you find yourself in that situation, instead of forcing yourself to do something you don’t have the energy for. Luck, as they say, favors the prepared.

The Getting Things Done Workflow, Summarized

There are a lot of excellent resources for getting a handle on the GTD workflow, including a variety of free downloadable PDFs at David Allen’s website. (My favorite is the WorkFlow Diagram - Advanced, since it lays it all out in a nice, graphical way that visually-oriented people can understand.) The six basic steps are:

1. Collect
2. Process
3. Do
4. Delegate
5. Defer
6. Delete

Collecting refers to gathering all of your “stuff,” putting everything in one place, rather than having it scattered all over your house, office, and car. It all goes in ONE inbox. Processing is where you deal with each item in your inbox and decide if it’s something that can be acted upon or not. If you can do it in two minutes or less, go ahead and Do it and get it off your mind. If you’re not the right person to do it or you don’t have the time, energy, or resources for it, Delegate that task to someone else. (Just remember to put a note on your calendar or in your tickler file to follow up with that person later.) If you want to do it at some future date, you can Defer it and put it on your calendar to look into it or act on it later. Finally, if what you have collected in your inbox is not actionable and it’s not some sort of reference material, you Delete it.

Yesterday as I was perusing my daily feeds, I came across an interesting link on Steve Rubel’s Lifestream: an Idea Generator from The Director’s Bureau. It looks like all there is to the site is just a simple Flash application (if you can call it an application, since it does only one thing) that randomly complies three words from a list. It reminds me somewhat of the game Catch Phrase.

The site doesn’t give any explanation at all as to what this is for or who made it. (I Googled ‘The Director’s Bureau” and it seems there’s a group of Hollywood directors who call themselves by that name, but I get the feeling this is not affiliated with them.) At any rate, it looks like an interesting tool to help people find jumping-off points for free-association, so it can be useful in brainstorming sessions, much like Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies.

from Mysterious Flame - inspiring creativity by BradBlackman

Laurie at photopreneur.com compiled a list of 60 Sources of Inspiration for Photography. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Play with Photoshop
  So much of photography these days happens after the shutter release has been pressed. There’s probably a ton of things that you don’t know how to do in Photoshop. Learn something new and see what that does for your photography potential.

• Visit a Flea Market
  Strange objects mean strange shapes, odd shadows and plenty of potential for unique compositions. And you don’t even have to buy anything.

• Join Flickr Groups
  The pictures in Flickr Groups are great places to see what other people are doing with a theme; the discussions are great places to find out how they did it. And you’ll probably find that the feedback you get on your own photos will give you plenty to think about too.

• Start a Project
  Inspiration might come in a flash but you want it to hang around. Instead of thinking of an idea for one photograph, try thinking of an idea for a series of photographs. If you’d decided to take pictures of lightning for example, expand the concept to include extreme weather as a whole and add photographs of windswept trees and sun-bleached rooftops. That should keep you busy for a while…

• Create a Shooting Schedule
  One way to cut back on the regular head-scratching is to plan ahead. Pull out a calendar and decide in advance what sort of images you’ll be shooting each weekend for the next few months. And leave room for flexibility.

It should almost go without saying that these don’t apply only to photographers. In fact, they are commendable to just about anyone who wants to pursue pretty much any creative endeavor. The last one I cited, about creating a schedule, reminds me of something I read recently in Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art, where he talks about author Somerset Maugham, who was asked whether he writes on a particular schedule or when inspiration strikes:

“I write only when inspiration strikes,” Maugham replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”

What about you? Where do you find inspiration, and what little tricks work for you? Share in the comments.

We all get stuck at some point, staring at a blank canvas or page without a clue what to do next, or even first. Here are just a few tricks that can help you get started.

1. Make a mind map

   Take a blank sheet of paper, and jot down one word in the middle. It might have a direct bearing on what you’re going after, but it may not. Somewhere next to this word, write a new word, above, below, or diagonal to it, connecting the two with a line. Keep branching out from there until you have a concept you want to pursue. If you hit a dead end, start a new branch. This is a great way to brainstorm.

2. Change your environment

   Sometimes it helps to have a change of scenery. Go for a walk, go to the mall, take a trip to another state, go to a new restaurant. If you’re observant, you’ll find something interesting that will spark a new idea.

3. Play with a child

   Children are naturally creative. Everything is so new and fascinating to them. Try to think like them, and capture that innocent joy.

4. Listen to music

   Pay attention to rhythms, textures, themes, even colors. Try to express that visually. Wassily Kandinsky made a career out of abstractly expressing music.

5. Cook something

   The methodical, repetitive tasks involved in cooking can give your mind a chance to work on creative problems. Your mind wanders, and you unconsciously sort through things, coming upon a solution. Cooking is itself a creative pursuit. Ask all the people who have “winged it” when making something to eat. Sometimes the food is inedible, but sometimes you discover something highly enjoyable. Sometimes exotic foods inspire you, providing you with a theme from which to draw.

6. Watch the News

   This is a dangerous one since the TV so easily sucks you in and robs you of productivity and creativity. The news can be compelling or appalling. There’s a lot of ugliness out there. Create something to counter that ugliness, or call it out and show it for what it is. Either way, you reveal truth in your art.

7. Look at other artists

   Go to a museum, gallery, or local show, even if it has nothing to do with your own style or medium. A Gerhard Richter retrospective might inspire a writer to create a story where characters collide and jar each other much like the colors of his paintings.

8. Materials

   What does your material do? How is charcoal different from mud? What happens when you use it on a smooth surface or a rough surface or a substance no one has ever used before?

   Try a new material for a change. If you use a slow-drying oil most of the time, try a fast-drying medium. If you’re used to painting with a brush, try a painting knife or a stick. You will be forced to do things differently and think in a new way. Then when you go back to what you did before, you have gained a new perspective on it.

9. Rituals and Habits

   I start looking forward to my morning coffee buzz when I begin grinding the beans and put it in the filter, even though I am five to ten minutes away from a single drop. Likewise, the ritual of preparing a canvas and picking up a humble piece of charcoal can fill your mind with ideas and creative anticipation.

   Once a habit is formed, it is hard to break. Make it a habit to work on your art on a specific day of the week or at a specific time each day. You’ll find yourself bursting with ideas when that time rolls around.

10. Deadlines

    Remember those all-nighters you pulled your freshman year of college to get that term paper done, and you still managed to get a decent grade on it, maybe even an A? That was adrenaline, baby (and probably caffeine). Don’t forget that the pressure of the deadline was that made that possible in the first place.

    There really is nothing like having a deadline to force you to put your nose to the grindstone and get cracking on your project. (I think) Douglas Adams once said, “Writing is easier when you have a gun to your head.” (Please correct me if I’m wrong. Thanks.)

    This isn’t a recommended way of working since it causes a great deal of stress and anxiety if you live by it, but it can work wonders.

What are some of the ways you jump-start your creativity? Share in the comments below.