Here’s a list of things I’m working on and habits I’m trying to build this month:
- Treat my mobile phone as a landline
- Fill up my sketchbook ( two drawings per day )
- Play drums for 15 minutes
- Strum guitar for 15 minutes
- Apply for a new job
I’m trying to break the habit of just wasting time on my phone and do the things I dream of doing: art and music. I’m committed to doing 15 mins of music and sketching each day. I’ll do that by leaving my phone on my desk and only using it to answer calls.
I want to fill out at least one of my sketchbooks. I must have half a dozen or so incomplete ones. I start a sketchbook and either I lose interest, or decide I don’t like the paper or size and try a different one. I’ve picked one and decided to complete it regardless of its paper type or size. I know why I stopped using this one though, the paper is very thin. I cant use it for water color. Even the pen bleeds through to the page behind it. It’s a poor choice for sketching with a fountain pen. It’s probably fine for pencil, but I really like this pen. I’m going to use it anyways. I decided not to care about that. I’m going to complete this sketchbook. And already in the five days that I’ve been doing it, I’m starting to feel less resistance to doing it. The resistance comes from wanting to be good and have nice sketches. Using a pen on paper that bleeds forces me to not care. And after 5 days of “not caring” about my sketches, it’s starting to feel easier to do. Less friction to drawing. It’s a good thing.
I think there’s a lesson to be had here on transferring that to songwriting. What if I just recorded music without caring so much about the outcome? I wonder if that would make it easier to create music in the same way it did for sketching? How do you “sketch” songs? I’ll need to think about this…
Just had an idea. How about a sketchbook for songwriting? Basically a poetry notebook. Give myself 15 minutes to write some lyrics, then improvise guitar? Yea, I’ll need to think about this some more, but I like it.
I’ve got a “Don’t Break the Chain” calendar to help keep the pressure on for developing a daily habit:
