Austin Kleon recommends skipping the news/social media/blinky lights in the morning. I’ve found this works great for me, and sometimes not! I’m a morning person, so I’ve got that going for me. If I’m already in a groove, have ideas about what to write or code on, and jump in first thing, this advice works out for me.
When I’m in a rut, or returning from a vacation and out of the groove, I need something to kickstart the process. I can often find that somewhere in the buzz of people computing with words on blogs or Twitter.
On the other hand, less thoughtful inputs don’t get me going. Instagram, nope. Daily news articles or op-eds raise my blood pressure, but don’t get me creating in the right direction. Seeing what’s up with cars, racing, or video games are interesting, but don’t get me to the point of making.
Getting over the hurdle from “waking up” to “making stuff” to “in a groove” is so difficult. Often that takes a little outside stimulus. Equally often, I just need to keep going.
