Harnessing micro-moments of freedom

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Every day I take myself to a quiet room, sit at my desk, open a Google Doc and write, baby!

It’s a ritual that proves to me that I take my writing very seriously. It deserves solid, undivided attention — only then will I get my great ideas. I must remove any and all distractions and focus on creating. All the best writers do it — Stephen King, Aaron Sorkin, James Clear.

So when I’m sat there, staring at the big dumb cursor blinking on the big dumb screen, I feel like a big dumb failure. The minutes tick by. Come on, Jacob. You gotta have something in that brain?! After an hour or so, I give up. Maybe I’ve made some stabs at creating something, maybe not. Usually, it’s total shit.

Oh well. Try again tomorrow.

Or do I? The unpleasantness of the previous day’s (lack of) writing puts a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t want to stare at a blank page. Who wants to remind themselves they’re a writer who can’t write?!

The days tick on. I make excuses to avoid writing. The pressure mounts. I need to come up with something! After a week, I finally work up the courage to sit down. Again, nothing. I feel terrible.

Oh well. Try again tomorrow.

repeat ad infinitum.

As a creator, the pressure to create can be exhausting. We’re expected to produce faster than ever to keep our audience’s interest (and social media’s reach). We’re no longer allowed to live in the woods for 2 years and return with Moby Dick.

So, how do we overcome this pressure and learn to love the process again?

Harness unexpected time.

Think back to when you were a kid. It’s been snowing. You’re waiting by the phone. Ring ring! It’s the school receptionist — school is cancelled. Woohoo, snow day! The world is your oyster — you’ve got a whole day of freedom! Think of all the activities you could get up to.

How about when you had plans to go to a birthday party that you felt obligated to attend? Then just as you’re about to leave, the host cancels. “Oh, dear,” you say. “Oh, yeah!” you think. Remember that sense of freedom? The day is yours again!

In both situations, your obligations are removed. The pressure is off because you’ve gotten your time back. Whatever you get up to in that free time doesn’t matter because it’s an unexpected gift!

The good news is we don’t need entire days of unexpected free time. We can harness micro-moments to explore our creativity while still enjoying 0 pressure and obligations.

Look for those moments of free time when you don’t have much to do:

• Sitting on a bus

• Waiting in line at the grocery store

• Taking the dog for a walk

• Waiting for a friend to come back from the bathroom

Most of these can be summed up as waiting. When we wait for something, we’re not obligated to do anything except wait. We normally use this time to scroll on Twitter, check emails or generally dick about. Hey, it’s free time, right? There’s no obligation.

But if you use that obligation-free time to write down whatever is on your mind, your creativity will flourish. Literally, anything that you can think of. Nothing has released me more from the pressures of the page than scrawling my dumb ideas into Apple Notes whenever I get a moment. Apple Notes is great because it’s basic enough to stop me from getting caught up in designing complicated systems. This simplicity encourages me to build up a backlog of thoughts I can explore in this newsletter, in my work or life.

Often it’s a simple silly single thought. But once I start pulling on it, it’s like a string that unloads more and more ideas. The more I pull, the more connections I can make between the thoughts. It’s honestly mind-blowing.

When I finally sit down to write this newsletter, I now have dozens of notes from the week that I can piece together to create what you’re currently reading! My creativity is no longer on a pedestal — it fits into my life like everything else. This sentence was written as I waited to use the bathroom in a cafe — hello!

The thoughts you have in front of your laptop are no better or worse than those you have when buying groceries.

Unburden yourself. Remove the friction of creativity by exploring it constantly and without pressure. Get a stupid notes app and start writing stupid ideas down all of the time.

Gather enough of those ideas together, and I’m sure you’ll create something profound.

Peace,

— Jacob

P.S. What’s your creative ritual to get your ideas down? Is it still working or do you need to mix things up? Reply to this email and let me know!

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