While you are studying at a Faculty, many of the courses you encounter (obligatory) you don’t like or you don’t recognize at that particular time you do really need certain knowledge and skills they offer. And on the other hand, there are subjects you simply adore and you are always excited about.
When you are young and full of energy you simply don’t want to waste your time on something you don’t like when there is bunch of other stuff you’d rather do. And that's exactly what happened to me while I was a student. So I made a little pact with myself that every day, at least for 10 minutes I will do seminars and projects that I’m excited about. Every day, consistently! Why I did this and how it helped me? It helped me in two ways:
Since I had to devote my time also to courses I didn’t like that much, by doing what I liked for at least 10 minutes a day, I made sure I wasn’t behind with what I really wanted to learn;
By doing what I liked, the good feeling generated made it easier for me to do things I didn’t like that much.
At the end, I managed to graduate a year before anticipated time.
These principles we can also apply to our creative projects and make ourselves more productive and excited about what we are doing.
Here is the exercise:
8. Make an agreement with yourself that you will work on a project you are passionate about, every day for at least 10 minutes. It can be in the morning, your lunch break or evening – it doesn’t matter. The key word here is consistency.
Decide on which project you will work tomorrow. If you are a writer, choose a poem, story or essay you are excited about and that you are eager to finish. Skip those “I must do this one, but I hate it”! That feeling of resistance only leads to more procrastination and that is something we want to avoid. Choose a project that brings smile on your face and that you simply love.
9. Tomorrow, at your convenient time, set a timer for 10 – 15 minutes and work on your favorite project. Don’t pay attention to the quality of your work. The progress you make each day while working on what you love will generate such good feelings that it will make much easier for you to jump-start the project you were postponing and avoiding.
10. When the time’s up, stop! Even if you would like to continue working, stop and leave yourself a reminder where to continue tomorrow.
11. Tomorrow, repeat your newly established routine.
12. After a couple of days you might consider prolonging your working time intervals and see how it goes. If it doesn’t and it makes you nervous and worried you won’t have time for things “I must do”, then just stick to those 10 minutes. It’s important for us to have fun while we are creating.
13. If you skip some of the days, it’s OK. Continue the next day where you previously stopped.
14. I hope you find this exercise fun and applicable to your creative routine. By being persistent, it can eventually help you enjoy more your creativity and writing.