If your workday is shaped by creative challenges, you’re probably familiar with these emotional states that come with the process:
1. This is awesome.
2. This is tricky.
3. This is shit.
4. I am shit.
5. This might be ok …
6. This is awesome.*
Running through these stages almost on a daily basis for way over ten years now led me to some conclusions:
There are no shortcuts – especially not from 3 to 5. 1, 2 and 6 are probably the reasons why I enjoy this kind of work so much. 4 is the most interesting stage from a self-reflective point of view. Look at it as a cycle – so if you don’t stop, 1 and 6 will turn up again and again. Being relaxed helps at any stage, the ability comes with experience or it can be trained (still… there are no shortcuts). Never finish your day at 4. If it is home time and you can’t make it to 5. Pivot!
Just leave the particular idea as it is, and devote the last 30 minutes to a new one.
This is awesome.
* Source: Let’s say „the internet“, because the guy who claims it might just have nicked it from him.