A Weekend Experiment in Information Dieting + an Invitation

"Reading deprivation is a very powerful tool - and a very frightening one. Even thinking about it can bring up enormous rage. For most blocked creatives, reading is an addiction. We gobble the words of others rather than digest our own thoughts and feelings, rather than cook up something of our own."

~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

The past few weeks have been rich in information gathering, it's time to give my brain a bit of unstructured time to let things gel and percolate.

I was toying with a full one-week media deprivation exercise à la Julia Cameron (Week 4, The Artist's Way and one of the later weeks in The Prosperous Heart), but I'm not sure I'm ready for that so I'm testing the waters with just two days.

I therefore declare publicly to thee:

This weekend there will be no Facebook or Twitter. No blogs. No magazines or work/creativity/productivity-related books. No motivational quotes or affirmations. No email. I'm still on the fence about a documentary or leisure TV (read: an episode of Downton Abbey or a classic movie) and fiction before going to bed. I think it would be interesting to go without, but I'll play that by ear.

Frankly I'm curious to see how this will pan out. What will I do with the time freed up by not having my nose pointed to the PC or in a book?

I'll catch you on the flip side and let you know.

~~~

What do you think would happen if you paused your information consumption for a few days? Think you could do it? Join me in my weekend experiment and see...

Artist Profile of Yours Truly (or Look Ma, I'm on Youtube!)

Remember last month when I mentioned that I was working with a local film student? I was the subject of his mini-documentary assignment for which he chose to do an artist profile.

It was such a fun experience and he did a fabulous job! Here's the finished product describing a bit of how & why I make art. I hope he got a good mark.

NOTE: I am in no way related or linked to the muscle fitness lady in the peripheral videos that show up on Youtube when you search for my first and last names. That's just an unfortunate - and funny - coincidence.

Photo Pause: The Socialist Pig Coffeehouse

Last Sunday I visited The Socialist Pig Coffeehouse in Gananoque, Ontario, for the second time and I was just as smitten with its coffee, its treats and its ambiance as I was when I first experienced it.

If ever you're in the area, do check it out...

the sign says it all

isn't that the coolest bar?

and check out the vintage suitcase tabletops!

another view of the bar, corner chair waiting

chrome reflections

swingin' chandelier

Sunday morning pastries

blurry picture, cute piggy

The Puttering Spirit

hanging clean laundry on the clothesline to dry

is the epitome of puttering for me

"You've given me the puttering spirit", he said. "I think I'm going to cut the lawn."

I'm not sure if my husband realized just how much I loved those words, puttering spirit.

~~~

I often struggle with reconciling intention and planned action with intuitive action and letting things unfold.

Sometimes I'm all about goals and to-do lists, working in fast and furious bursts of energy. This gives me momentum and confidence in my ability to set a goal and do what needs to be done to meet it. Knowing I can do it is extremely empowering for me.

Other times I try something different: I putter.

I slow down, ask my Higher Power "What's next?" and I do it. This usually leads to stuff like doing the dishes, folding the laundry, weeding the garden... but it might also lead to writing a blog post, drafting a service description or filing receipts. No matter where it leads it's gentle and spacious and this too is extremely empowering - not to mention often very productive.

It's a dance I'm learning. Sometimes I push, sometimes I let the puttering spirit take over.

The puttering spirit. I love that, don't you? Thank you D.

~~~

Might you allow yourself to putter a little bit today? What would that look like? How would it feel?

Productivity Tool: The Job Aid

I'm a big fan of the job aid.

A job aid is a quick-reference tool you can use to help you with tasks you do regularly, but not quite often enough that you could do them in your sleep.

It's an easily accessible "how-to" that saves you from wasting time trying to remember how you did something the last time. Whether it's in the form of a diagram, a checklist or a single word jotted down on an index card it can make your life a heck of a lot easier.

~~~

Tonight I was getting ready to prep another print for the online shop and couldn't remember the convoluted 5-filename printing system* I'd come up with the last time. I knew the system worked and I knew I'd scribbled it on the back of one of my daily planning cards.

When I found it I created the following job aid so I wouldn't have to flip through all of my cards again:

my friendly guide and reminders to help me not lose any changes

when manipulating images for prints

Now the next time I create prints for the shop all I'll have to do is bring up my checklist and work through the steps. No scratching my head, no re-thinking through the process, no trying to remember where I put my notes.

Easy peasy.

* I came up with this 5-filename system when more than once I had to redo some work after having saved over something I shouldn't have saved over. I am open to suggestions for simplifying it if you have any!

~~~

Is there a task you do regularly, but not often enough to do it in your sleep?

Instead of wasting time trying to remember how you did it the last time each time it comes up, would it be useful to create an easily accessible quick-reference go-to guide?