jackcheng.com

One of the biggest problems facing retirees is that they don’t know what to do with all that free time. Many end up returning to the workforce, working jobs as Walmart Greeters just because they need someone to structure their day. We’ve heard that too much freedom is paralyzing. Without a specific plan of action, we feel helpless and overwhelmed.

Routines give us structure, and this is good for creativity too. Whether it’s writing for 30 minutes every morning or meeting with friends once a week to brainstorm business ideas, these rituals tell our brains and bodies to get into a specific mode at a certain moment. It’s like your subconscious saying “okay left-brain, you turn off for a little while and let right-brain do it’s thing.” Routines get us into a rhythm and allow us to shift from thinking to doing. Routines help us make shit happen.

One of the biggest advantages of having routines is what comes out of breaking them. Think about the excitement you have when you get a new project after working on a previous one for months on end. Bursts of creativity happen when you break the cycle. When you get used to sleeping at 11 every night, staying up until 4 can lead to a new spectrum of ideas. Same goes for sleeping and waking early if you’re usually a night owl.

But having no routine is really the worst routine of all. It’s the hardest one to break. Without a rhythm, music becomes random noise. Contrast and repetition are just as important for creativity.

If you’re on the no-plan plan, the first step is being conscious of your routines. What are some rituals in your life? Which ones help you be more productive or creative? Which ones are hard to break? Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.

We’re obsessed with lists. Not shopping lists or top-five-robotic-villains-of-after-school-cartoons-from-my-childhood lists (Megatron, Doc Ock, Krang, Dr. Claw, Dr. Robotnik) but different kinds of lists.

When I was cleaning my desk a few weeks ago, I found a folded-up copy of Bruce Mau’s Incomplete Manifesto for Growth. Flash back two years: I shrank the font down enough to print it onto one 8.5×11” sheet, which I then folded in half a few times and put in my wallet. I probably carried it for two days before I misplaced it. Finding it again years later, I still agree with most of what’s on the manifesto. It’s hard not to.

But acknowledgment is different from action. The nature of the list format stops these behavioral lists from being more valuable. 10 ideas to simplify your life. 30 ways to reduce stress in the workplace. 48 principles of good design. When things are packaged into a list, we have a habit of reading one thing, nodding and moving on. When the next bit of juicy advice is just a few lines down the page, it’s effortless to tilt our eyeballs the extra millimeter. In our quick-fix culture, lists are the Taco Bell of knowledge.

I had a habit of doing this with self-help books and business books as well. It’s too easy to turn the page and read the next insightful tip, without stopping to really think about or try what you’ve read. The creators of these lists or books aren’t are at fault—we can only blame our own hyper-indulgence of knowledge. We’re so infatuated with the idea of learning something, we don’t take the time to really learn it.

If you feel the same way I do, here’s one (and only one) piece of advice for you. It’s a simple act that’s made a universe of difference for me lately:

Learning in moderation.
When you find yourself saying “that’s a really great idea, I should try that,” stop reading. Pick one thing from that list of fifteen. Don’t worry about finishing the rest of the book. Try it. Practice it, repeat it, until it becomes routine. Remind yourself to consciously think about it on a regular basis. When you make that one item a habit, you can come back to the source and learn something else. Then, every time you practice the new thing, you’ll be reminded to keep practicing all the old ones.

Moderation is key. The more we try to learn everything, the more we learn nothing.

The past few months have been hectic, but in a good way. I’m still at ss+k, working on some pretty exciting projects. I have one or two ventures of my own that are starting to become a little more real. Lately I’ve been trying to streamline and unclutter my life, and I’ve finally gotten around to this lil’ site.

The old content is here now (though if you’re on rss, you probably won’t miss a beat). The new version will be less about general thoughts/theories and more about my projects and personal methods. All those ideas aren’t any good unless you put them into practice.

In other words, less talk. more do. Time to stop wasting time.