Creatives are creatures of habits, or so I heard.

You set up your work plan everyday the same way, probably doodling on your moleskin or making lists of any sorts. You can’t get the creative enlightenment until you’ve set up the right music in your headphones. You can’t start a day without having a cup of coffee — and that’s not just a metaphor. Your creativity is tightly tied to your daily routine. Because being creative is a process that needs triggers to be pulled and buttons to be pushed.

Ever read all those posts about the habits of highly creative-people, or the healthy freelancer’s habits? In substance, they’re all the same instant-motivating claim to make you work more efficiently. Which is good, sure. But like new year’s resolution about eating healthy and run 25 miles a week, it’s highly unlikely that you will really set up your work pace on a ready-made solution.
The real trick is not choosing good habits and goals to attain — it’s actually setting them up in your already overcrowded daily schedule.

Don’t try to do everything at once.
Surfing on your good-will tidal wave, you’re trying to set new goals for your productivity. Like blogging everyday, doing some fitness, creating a new piece of art everyday, stop smoking and learning 3D, video and maybe taking a drawing class. Be honest, even if the more you do, the more you have time to do it, you cant manage everything at once. Choose one or two thing you really want to stick to, and don’t let it go.

Plan ahead.
When setting up goals, you have to have a specific plan in mind — otherwise, you’ll end up in a big mess of stuff. Yes, stuff. Important and non-important stuff, all in a boiling soup, where you can’t remember what once was the real important thing to do.
So plan, make lists, and then order. I ain’t no GTD addict but I find tht if I organize calmly what I have to do in nice lists, it makes it feel almost good. Especially the part when you can scribble madly over a task done. Plan goals for the day, for the week, and for life. Some of the idea might be crazy, but you’d be surprised author much effective they could become.

Time is your best friend and worst ennemy.
Taking on an habit is really a matter of time — that’s quite easy to understand. Not only does it take time, but it also needs to maturate in order to be highly effective.
Take some time to think about your goal. Set up a starting date and enjoy every minute of anticipation, telling yourself how much you’d love to achieve this. And it’ll make you shiver with anticipation.
On a second hand, set up a definite time to achieve the bastard, errr this marvelous goal — I heard a month is the standard, but really, it depends on you — and get to work. Be realistic tho, so you won’t be frustrated in the end. As we all know, a frustrated creative is no more than a fierce ball of hate. You don’t want to be that, don’t you?

Reward yourself, because others won’t.
If, by any chance, you really went jogging 3 times a week for a month, or better, finally put up the pieces to make a shiny brand new portfolio… Give yourself a reward. You can never get enough pleasurable stuff in a life, and treating yourself with a little bit of love is always appreciated. This can also be used with everyday chores and tasks: having a coffee, smelling fresh laundry, taking a hot bath, or whatever tickles your fancy (and who am I to judge?) might make the unlikeable become a reflex. Think Sheldon and Penny on Big Bang Theory. Or more simply, think how you would educate a dog. Not that I’m saying you’re a dog. I’m saying you can easily trick yourself into being one.
NB: This doesn’t work for shoes. Even if you can”t have too many shoes, you should resist the urge to buy some all the time.

Look at the mirror.
The best way to identify you strengths and weakness in that case is to look carefully at your daily routine.
We all have productivity peaks at various times of the day. Identify those time zones and concentrate your efforts on those specific moments. No need to plan a daily drawing session at 9P.M if you know you’ll be starving at that time. Contrary to what those motivating lists seem to say, we’re not machines. We can’t change in a week, and we do need to eat and sleep from time to time.
Respect your own internal body clock and don’t push yourself too far — it only leads to trouble.

Keep it real.
Having high expectations is wonderful. And even if it makes not the whorl go round, some people achieved great things by having wonderful habits. But well, this is real life. You can’t be a super-hero all the time. Let it go. You will fail sometimes, and will probably need several tries before heading for success. Keeping the unimportant tasks real and the mattering stuff a bit crazy is probably the best way to keep your head & self-esteem safe.

Now about choosing which habit you oughta take… That’s up to you. No matter what you think will help you getting on top, as long as you have fun, it’s okay. Enjoy, and don’t harm yourself in the process. This is the best habit you can have.

Love and ampersand,
Zélia

Ps: a little game. I’ve hidden two stupid Rocky Horror Picture Show quotes in there. Could you find them?