Fight Back a Wonky Day – Suggestion #2: Start Writing
I have been an off and on journaler since I was a kid but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I began to realize what a tool this could be.
I’ve heard it referred to as journaling, brain dumping, and the morning papers (ala Julia Cameron). The point is to get all that stuff that has accumulated, and cluttered out of your head and down onto paper.
Taking the time to do this can be such a release. As creative entrepreneurs we tend to hold on to each and every idea that pops into our head in an attempt to not forget. Holding on that tight can stall one from moving forward on a project. Writing it all out can also give you a different perspective on what is and isn’t important.
You might be surprised to find that there are days when the time you invest in writing. takes you in directions never thought of before. This free-form writing experience can generate blog post ideas, product ideas, aha moments on your “stuckness” and even provide solutions by helping you see the problem from a different angle.
There are so many benefits to writing that I highly recommend it to family, friends, clients, and especially creative entrepreneurs. We can so easily get stuck in our own head, that we get tunnel vision. That tunnel vision can lead to stagnant creativity. We all need fresh input and new ideas.
For some, the physical act of writing and putting it down on paper, (with your favorite pen and paper of course!) is the best way to go. Some days it works, some it doesn’t and there are times when I don’t think my hand can keep up, so I jump onto the computer and start plunking away at the keyboard and even then, sometimes it is hard to keep up!
If you are a keyboard enthusiast for your writing, one of the best tools that I have found is the Ommwriter software. It plays ambient music with a soothing non-intruseive background image that takes over your computer screen. No distractions and no red squiggly underlines when you spell something wrong. Take care of those later I tell ya! Red squiggly underlines can be the death of free-form writing when you are on a roll.
In the end, even with how much I liked the software, I actually went and bought the soundtrack from iTunes so I can play it no matter what I doing, amazingly enough it is called Typewritten, Volume 1. This music and software has helped me with client work, brain dumping exercises, blog post writing, product development… the music is there, but fades into the background, just enough to allow your brain to focus on what is at hand.
Evernote is also a great tool to have on hand. When I am writing and an idea that I need to follow-up on, I just open up Evernote go to my idea notebook, add it in and go get back to it later. Evernote is also great because it will sync up between computers and they even have an iPhone app. Nice!
On a beautiful sunny day there is nothing quite like taking a few minutes to sit in the sun or sit near a window with the sun streaming in, with a piece of paper or nice notebook with your favorite pen and just let the ideas flow. It gets you out of your daily routine, doing something new and the rewards of this effort can be well worth the 10, 15, 30 or 60 minute investment.
One word of warning, once you start writing… it can be hard to stop!
