writing

How to make the most of a burst of inspiration

November 4, 2015 by Angela

I’ve been making the big, horrible mistake as a writer and creative person lately of only creating when inspiration strikes. It’s the worst and I know I’m not doing myself any favors. I’ve been stuck in a rut with all that’s going on personally, not to mention the work {that I get paid for} has been kind of zapping me of creativity. Deep down I know that one doesn’t run out of creativity, and the more you create the more ideas you have, but sometimes it feels like that! But. While I deal with these changes and get back to life in LA, I am also easing myself back into the things I love: journaling, crafting, taking pictures. Slow and steady. Being so busy and unorganized, inspiration strikes at odd times, which to some extent is how it always is. The past couple weeks I’ve been taking advantage of it by stopping what I’m doing to soak up the inspiration and really dedicate myself to it at that given time. This isn’t to say we should wait around until it happens, but when it does, we can train ourselves to take full advantage of creative moments: [Read more…] about How to make the most of a burst of inspiration

3 steps to a more effective to-do list

September 23, 2015 by Angela

Like I said in my post about prioritizing as a freelancer, I’ve been going back to basics lately in how I organize my day. A simple to do list has proven the most effective for actually getting stuff done—not dreaming or planning or goal setting, but actually doing the work. Of course, I’ve learned the hard way (if only you could see the amount of notebooks I’ve filled with incomplete to dos, sorry paper) that not all lists are effective. Assuming you create your list at the beginning of each day and prioritize that list based on deadlines and urgency, this 3-step process will guarantee a much more effective to-do than both a post-it and your most intricate planner.

How to convince yourself you can’t

July 15, 2015 by Angela

Sometimes we can identify problems long before we have a grasp on their solutions. Sometimes we have a vague notion of those solutions–find motivation, find inspiration–yet action alludes us. Maybe it’s time to focus on the problems, not solutions. There are so many solutions floating around, it’s hard to catch them. So, a manifesto for knowing these facts yet fighting action, preserving inaction, convincing yourself once and for all that you can’t move forward with x, y, or z–