Swell!

Getting Creative with Procrastination

9/16/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I recently started reading a fascinating book called Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey.  As the title suggests, it's a collection of profiles delving into the daily habits of painters, poets, philosophers, and other creative types. 

I can't say I was particularly surprised by the vast quantities of alcohol, cigarettes, and caffeine consumed by the majority of those featured--including Proust, Fellini, Highsmith, and Capote--but it has been a revelation to discover that naps, dog walks, and procrastination are other overlapping daily-routine themes.  While I've never been a nap-taker, I'm definitely no stranger to daily dog walks (as much a relief for my canine companion as for myself) and most definitely not to procrastination.

"I know a person who will poke the fire, set chairs straight, pick dust specks from the floor, arrange his table, snatch up a newspaper, take down any book which catches his eye, trim his nails, waste the morning anyhow, in short, and all without premeditation--simply because the only thing he ought to attend to is the preparation of a noonday lesson in formal logic," writes philosopher/psychologist William James. That could be me, if you replaced the masculine pronouns with feminine versions and swapped out "a noonday lesson in formal logic" with "any writing project."

That's where rituals come in handy.  Creating a daily routine makes our important tasks, well, routine. Which is to say, something we don't have to think about doing--they just become things we do, autopilot style, because we've trained and conditioned our unruly selves that way. This structure really works for me, and starts with a daily to-do list.  There's something supremely satisfying about crossing each item off that list. It's visual proof of accomplishment.

Do you struggle with procrastination? What do you do to keep yourself on track? Please share!
0 Comments





    Well, hello!

    I'm Aurelia, creative director here at Swell! This is my space for sharing thoughts and ideas with readers on more topics dear to my heart: Travel, wellness, veganism, and style, and living creatively and compassionately.

    Picture
    www.sophiapaganphotography.com

    One Swell Blog

    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    Categories

    All
    Aging
    Art
    Artists
    Attitude Adjustment
    Aurelia D'Andrea
    Ayahuasca
    Bakersfield
    Birthdays
    Books
    Breakfast
    Bucket Lists
    Burning Man
    Camel Pose
    Cancer
    Central Valley
    Change
    Chia Seeds
    Chip Conley
    Coconut Curry
    Comfort
    Consumerism
    Creativity
    Curating Content
    Daring Greatly
    Desires
    Digital Fun
    DIY
    Dreams
    English Literature MA
    Festivals
    Flower Essences
    Fun
    Giving
    Goals
    Good Luck Charms
    Good News
    Grad School
    Granola
    Green Drinks
    Greenwashing
    Grief
    Habits
    Hairdo
    Happiness
    Healing
    Heartache
    Helping Animals
    Herbs For Healing
    Homeopathy
    Ibiza
    Inspiration
    Jetlag
    Joie De Vivre Hotels
    Joyce Maynard
    Kim Gordon
    KIND
    Learning
    Legacy
    Lena Dunham
    Literature
    Living Fully
    Loss
    Makeover
    Makeup
    Massages
    Meditation
    Memoirs
    Mental Wellness
    Mercy For Animals
    Michelle Tea
    Morning
    Music
    Nature's Food Market And Juice Bar
    Nature Time
    News Break
    Packing
    Passions
    Peru
    PETA
    Philanthropy
    Procrastination
    Punk Rock
    Retreats
    Rewilding
    Rituals
    Rituals: How Artists Work
    Routines
    Sadness
    Sam Simon
    Sea Shepherd
    Self-care
    Self-talk
    Setting Goals
    Sleep
    Southern California
    Style
    StyleLikeU
    Summer Reading List
    Thailand
    The Power Of Words
    Thrifting
    Tina Fey
    Travel
    Traveling Light
    Trying New Things
    Vegan
    Vintage
    Vintage Style
    Viv Albertine
    Wellness
    Women
    Women's Memoirs
    Writers
    Yoga

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Kerem Tapani, The Jauretsi, natasia.causse, James E. Petts, Karim D. Ghantous, pierre_reveille, J.J. Verhoef, nordenmagnus, El cromaticom, Jonathan Rolande, mercyforanimals, amsfrank, themostinept