

Getting Creative Things Done: How To Fit Hard Thinking Into a Busy Schedule - widgetycrank
http://the99percent.com/tips/6956/Getting-Creative-Things-Done-How-To-Fit-Hard-Thinking-Into-a-Busy-Schedule

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techiferous
Here's a trick that works for me:

I've noticed that creative ideas often pop in at random times when I'm doing
something unrelated to the idea. So I created a little script that, upon
hitting the F10 key, opens a dialog. I type in my thought and it writes it to
a file called jot.txt. At the end of the day, I review jot.txt and act on the
ideas. This allows me to capture interesting ideas when they happen without
losing my current train of thought.

If you're interested in adapting this script for your own use, I've published
the script here: [http://techiferous.com/2009/12/streamlining-your-workflow-
wi...](http://techiferous.com/2009/12/streamlining-your-workflow-with-
applescript/)

~~~
vsync
I use remember-mode in conjunction with org-mode for the same thing. Random
notes go in my personal file or the file for the client/project they relate
to. Then periodically I review the "notes" section and work it into the doc
better.

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muerdeme
I think that for me this only makes sense for projects that have no explicit
deadline. For a procrastinator, a deadline is the only thing that matters. I
can block off all the time that I want to for a project, but if my brain is in
procrastination mode, virtually nothing productive will get done.

Early on, I imagine that guilt about doing nothing during the creative blocks
would motivate me. Over time, I suspect whether anything got done would
roughly break down based on whether there is an explicit deadline. With no
explicit deadline it would depend on how excited I was about a specific
creative project.

If you're doing creative work for a living, I don't think that you can assume
deadlines away.

~~~
derefr
Some kinds of creative work have deadlines that aren't on the same kind of
timescale that procrastination happens on, though. Writing a book, for
example—you're given an advance and six months to write the thing; whether you
waste an hour watching TV when you could be writing has a negligible effect on
how much time you have left to write.

