Shift into 1000x more effective work: Create like an artist, Work like an accountant

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

 

Many of us creatives have a very ineffective thought habit ( anyone who does not have a manual to follow, anyone who makes something never made before, anyone who is making something that might not work, anyone…………is a creative, anyone who is an entrepreneur or inventor or freelancer who is not trying to do what was done yesterday but cheaper or faster……is a creative) .

 

Anyone who is a super innovator in the textile business is a creative.

 

We think that we need to start with a good idea or a creation before we can put something to work. We think that we need “inspiration”.

 

What I would assert is that we need discipline, discipline and discipline. Like accountants. An accountant starts work everyday at the same time, they put on the same clothes, get into the same office, and works till it’s time for lunch. Then he has lunch for exactly the same length of time, and back to his desk at exactly the same time. He finishes work at the same time and a good accountant would stop totally, and not take any work home. A great accountant shuts down at 5.30 PM sharp and does not think about work till the next morning.

 

That’s discipline. Day in day out for 40-50 years.

 

What if we creatives impose the same order and discipline on ourselves. What if we stop wondering if an idea will work or not, but instead just do it and put it out. If it fails, we do it again, and again. We measure our success by a metric we have full control in. “The amount of focussed time we put into it.” Yes, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT METRIC.

 

I write it again: we measure: “The amount of focussed time we put into it.”

 

We start and finish at a time we choose and stick to it.

 

We stick to only one metric and measure only one metric. The focussed attention time we put in. The rest, just do it without the self talk.

 

What if we work like an accountant and just do the work? Would the lizard brain and the resistance have any chance to exaggerate the doubts and negative elements?

 

I am curious, how many of us would just sit down like an accountant and allow ourselves to create like an artist by just sitting down and ignoring the internal speech?