PurpleCar

Muscle memory makes no mistakes.

I grew up across the street from an Army Depot. My civilian mother worked for the military and my friends were army brats. My friends and I would sneak around the depot and “spy” on the new recruits as they ran their drills. As an adult, I’ve kept in contact with some of those friends and other military members in various ways via charities and outreach. A lot of wisdom was hidden in those drills. The military has interesting life hacks we can apply to our own lives.

One of the life hacks the US Army knows about is “muscle memory.” A strongly ingrained habit squashes second-guessing. Drills, over and over, creates the muscle memory necessary in combat situations. The more muscle memory a combat officer retains, the more effective she is. It’s a “Do, don’t think” approach and it’s what gets the job done.

Being creative like a writer has to be on a daily basis is not like combat, of course. It is its own type of stress, though, and many people struggle with self-doubt and fear when faced with the task of creating something original. This is where writers can learn a bit from the armed forces. Courage is not the opposite of fear. Habit is.

When you hear writers speak about “butt-in-chair” they are referring to the habit of sitting down to write every day. No excuses. Just do it. Get used to doing it by repeating the same action over and over. Soon, the habit of writing will suppress the fear of it, and words will appear with much less stress and effort. Your fingers will want to type, basically, if you develop a muscle memory of them doing so. The hint is to start a daily task that turns into a habit. This is why I’m blogging more. It is one of my 8-10 daily tasks I’ve assigned myself this year.

If you want to start a writing practice, especially writing-as-meditation or -mental-health-exercise (i.e. stress reliever), try the Morning Pages practice found in The Artist’s Way book by Julia Cameron. I suggest buying the book and doing 1 exercise a day, including writing out, by hand, 3 stream-of-consciousness pages every morning. That’s it. It’s a little life hack to not only get your stresses out but to trick you into the muscle memory of writing daily. For writers, the most important part of this trick is getting their butts in the writing chair every day at the same time.

Here’s something to pin:

Anyway – HABIT, not courage, is the opposite of FEAR. What do you fear? What’s been in your bucket list for a while now? What 15-30 minute daily task can you life-hack into your routine to get you closer to your goal?

Photo Credits:

Military photo provided by the US Army

Steven Pressfield quote made by Christine Cavalier using Brainy Quote

“The opposite” hang-gliding poster photo by Jordan Fischer on Flickr

Slow and steady wins the race. But jogging slowly when you want to sprint is the hard part.

Doing things step-by-step isn’t usually how we think of getting through our “bucket list.” The proverbial list is filled with activities like world travel or skydiving. My bucket holds travel (been around a few times), education (I’ve completed degrees), and a novel and/or writing career (not there yet). 2016 is the year I’d like to finish the novel I’ve been working on. On a not-totally-unrelated note, I’d also like to clean up the flotsam in my house. All of this clutter cuts into my concentration.

These types of tasks can be done, I suppose, in a feverish binge over the course of a month. I’ve tried that approach, but it usually swears me away from the activity for a long time. A daily practice of writing and organizing gives me the best chance of crossing these things off the list.

Plainly put, my 2016 resolutions are to write more and get more organized. Writing more means more blogging on this and a hyperlocal blog I maintain, along with daily work on the novel. To get both of these tasks done means daily exercise, even if it is just a 30 minute walk (you’d be surprised how much physical fitness is tied into creativity).

I’m also taking on 2 365-Day projects (officially 366 for the LEAP Year!): The first daily project is a-craft-a-day, which keeps my creativity going and also is organizing-via-depletion of my craft supplies (which are legion). The second daily project is 15-minute Home Organization projects. I found a calendar online that gives daily tasks that can be performed in one-quarter hour.

Part of the discipline of daily tasks, especially organizing, is to prevent “project creep.” 15 minutes means 15 minutes. For example, the project today was to organize the kitchen utensil drawer. One drawer. Not the junk drawer, not the pantry. Those are for another day. Small wins are key, but they also are addictive. Although we may want to tackle the other kitchen spaces, discipline has to push us toward the day’s next task.

Of course full immersion can be fun occasionally. National Novel Writing Month is 30-day craziness everyone should try once. Writers’ retreats are quite helpful, too. Removing distractions when you’re on deadline is great. But I’m not away; I’m home, trying to balance work and family life. The best way to achieve that balance is to allot each goal some time each day. Slow and steady writes the book, clears the cabinets, and fills buckets.

Links

Some Other 365-Day Projects

I’ve tried the 365 thing once before, of course, and it didn’t stick

2016 15-Minute Daily Declutter Calendar

My Pinterest Board of Finished Crafts

My Pinterest Board of Finished Org Projects (I’ve done 3 so far but just now had the idea to post pics somewhere. I’ll fill it in).

Also posting them on Instagram. Follow me there as @purplecar_cc

This is most definitely not my craft room. Photo by Alison Headley on Flickr

I’m a bit addicted. To what, you may ask? Mostly: craft supplies. Though clothing and accessories come a close second.

But oh, the irony: I love a tidy, well-ordered house. For example, I have a “keys” station right by the door so no-one ever misplaces their keys (it actually works). I have a paperwork station with designated folders for each category of documents. We have a family calendar practice and established routines. My house is far from perfect, but it’s probably better than most. My craft room is, though, a disaster area. But one book is changing everything that’s wrong with it and helping me out of a miserable rut. An article in The Atlantic explains why this particular book isn’t like any other home organization book I’ve ever read (and I’ve read them all!).

Marie Kondo’s book on home organization, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing is a revolution. You’ve probably heard about it. Originally published in Japan in 2010, the English version of it came out in 2015 and subsequently took the US by storm. I’ve read and tried MANY home organization theories. I’ve even hired a professional come to my house. Even now, I’m attempting a 365-day decluttering project for 2016’s 366 days (yay! Leap Year!).

Jan 1, 2016: Set up an organization station.

As I said, I am constantly working on having a well-ordered house, even if I don’t achieve it often! The KonMari method jumped me ahead at least 5 years in one sitting. Seriously. Until I read this Atlantic article, I didn’t understand why.

According to a study by market analysts Freedonia Group, home organization products alone (excluding services) is a 9Billion US$ industry. Like most home organization experts, Kondo, using her self-named “KonMari” method, encourages not the overuse of storage bins but the virtues of having fewer things and ensuring that each one of those possessions brings you joy. Kondo also teaches a folding and drawer method that is easy to understand and convenient.

The main reason the book is stupendously successful is its use of Behavioral Economics. Behavioral Econ is the study of how and why people make decisions (generally speaking, about time, goods and services). It studies how typical human cognitive biases prevent us from making rational decisions. Behavioral Econ throws original Economics on its head, as the economist of old was working on the theory of  the existence of a “homo-economicus” <- a little rational, money/benefit-focused dude directing your choices at your financial console a la Pixar’s Inside Out.

Psychologists, of course, had known for a while that decisions are emotionally-based and are rarely rational, but the economists just kept sticking with their imaginary homo-econ friend. It’s only been in the last few years that economists have parted ways with the old thinking (see Freakonomics and the work of Dan Ariely for examples).

Kondo, in Tidying Up, addresses each significant cognitive bias that guides us to keep possessions, even after those things have fulfilled their usefulness and outstayed their welcome. Kondo gives readers easy-to-stomach ways to side-step these very strong tendencies. It’s genius, really.

You should read the book. But this article in The Atlantic, written by the former editor of Freakonomics.com, Bourree Lam, outlines some specific cognitive biases and Kondo’s unique advice for overcoming them. For example, Ms. Lam points out how Kondo deals with our inaccurate attempts to “plan for the future:”

Another important point that Kondo protects us from is the folly of prediction: People systematically make terrible guesses about the future. So instead, people should focus on the present, and in tidying, this manifests in the form of using present-day valuations of all of one’s belongings. People are wrong when they think that pair of jeans will ever fit again, Kondo is arguing. They’re also wrong when they think they’ll read that book again. These optimistic predictions keep people from getting rid of things they don’t need.

Sister, can we say “fat and skinny clothes?” Women are notorious for holding on to clothes that are either too big or too small for their bodies, “just in case” some major size shift happens again in the future. (In fact, along with Kondo’s advice, I’m working on a theory about jeans and weight. I’m getting rid of all my pants that are too big now that I’ve lost weight. It’s like Sun-Tzu’s Art of War and burning the boats. I have to stay this size because I don’t have larger size clothes to fall back on).

It’s great stuff. Read the article then read the book. Let me know if you are planning to tidy up this year.

LINKS

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Full text is in the pdf below but you can read “The Economics of Tidying Up” by Bourree Lam while it’s still up at The Atlantic.com.

An Economist’s Guide to Tidying Your Apartment – The Atlantic copy (PDF)

Freedonia Group study abstract

Marie Kondo on Wikipedia

365-Day Decluttering Project

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
(Amazon Affiliate link. If you buy through this link, it helps support Purplecar.net and a struggling writer. You’d be a patron of the arts. Thanks!)

I’m putting coffee meetings on “Pause” in 2016. What about you?

Back in 2011, Human Resource expert Adrienne Graham published an article on Forbes entitled, “No You Can’t Pick My Brain. It Costs Too Much.” (All links will be at the end of the post). It garnered over 200,00 views and eventually inspired a book of the same title. I caught it because the article spurred a dust-up online amongst consultants and freelance professionals. The popular opinion at the time was that one must give away a ton of value first before being paid for it. Social media promised lucrative contracts for the seasoned pros, if we could only set up a blog and a podcast and free downloads and an info-packed newsletter.

Ms. Graham did all of those things, of course, but she started spreading the message of the virtues of saying no to when you are asked out for coffee by another professional seeking advice or support.

“How would you feel if your boss came to you and said, Hey since we can get this done from information from the Internet, I won’t be paying you today. Go ahead, let it sink in. Got that visual yet? Good. That’s exactly how I feel whenever someone wants to take me to lunch or call me to pick my brain.”

Since reading that article over 4 years ago, I have slowly but surely cut back on the invitations I accept.  To do this, I’ve had to skip attending the type of events where invitations to “pick my brain” were likely to occur. This year, I’m going all in: 2016 will be a “no coffee” year.

When I say coffee, I mean “coffee” – which can also mean “lunch” or “a beer.” I’ll meet with friends, but this year will, to the very best of my ability, contain no coffee with strangers seeking professional advice. As Adrienne says, those types of outings simply cost too much. These meetings, while flattering and sometimes exciting, leak over the time allotted. They usually last much longer than an hour. Even if was just an hour, there is commuting time. I have 6 hours a day during the week when the kids are in school. That isn’t a lot. Protecting those hours is harder than you may think. There are dentist and doctor appointments or half days from school or winter break (forget summers).

I anticipate having a lonely year. As a freelance writer, I don’t have co-workers. I’m alone most of the time. As an extrovert, that doesn’t exactly float my ego’s boat. I get disconnected. Professional tech gatherings combat the solo hours, but the coffee suggestions almost always follow. It’s difficult to turn down an invitation to hang with a new potential friend or business contact. I have to admit, though: not once has “coffee” ever led to a paying gig. Not once.

I’m not even consulting anymore. Meeting business people for coffee doesn’t help me achieve my novel-writing dreams.

So I have to accept a lonely year if I want to finish the novel. In fact, I may have to accept a bit more of a lonely life if I want to make this fiction thing work. Who knows? What I do know is I’ve done my part to help my various communities. I’ve volunteered, written, designed, published, and doled out advice for years, all for nothing more than the satisfaction to my ego and the knowledge I helped my city, an organization, or a business person in need.

A side note: A no coffee year also means a “no advice” year. When I am with friends or family, I’m going to institute the spirit of the “no coffee year”– Letting people figure things out for themselves. This means: More listening, less talking. More nodding, less jumping in. More echoing back, less spewing of advice (maybe even if it is sought!).

How will you be having your coffee in 2016? Alone, pursuing your dreams, or helping someone else pursue theirs?

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Photo credit: Me (Christine Cavalier)

Adrienne Graham on Forbes: No You Can’t Pick My Brain. It Costs Too Much. Buy the book.