I happened across a blog by Jeff Korhan on social media
marketing in which he talked about how he got the hang of blogging. What was
interesting was the one small change that made the difference:
Here
is the aha moment that created my breakthrough. It's so simple, yet in
some way, profound too. Ready? I wasn't quite into the
groove. Why? Well, the font that Microsoft Word sets you up with is
typically an 11 or 12 point font. When I see that font, my eyes just
glaze over because it feels like work. This is the visual of reports, articles
with deadlines, and so many other things that I am doing because I have
to. For me, this is the font of responsibility, not creativity.
All
I had to do was adjust that font down to 9 points and, voila again, everything
suddenly looked like a blog post to me. That's all I needed to get into
the groove. Amazing."
That may indeed sound amazing to you (it does to me) but what's most interesting is that sometimes making just one small change can cause us to look at things differently and to do them more effectively. Here are a few small changes you may want to experiment with--for instance, if you are a writer, you may find ways to be more productive by varying:
- the time of day when you write
- the size of the chunks of writing you do (try making them smaller or bigger)
- where you write
- whether you are alone or around people when you write (e.g., coffee shop)
- whether you write longhand or on a computer or dictate into a recorder
- what part of the project you start with (nobody says you have to start at the beginning)
- the amount of planning you do before you start writing
- the type of chair you sit in when writing, and your posture
- what you eat or drink before you start writing (try drinking a glass of water first)
(Want to be more creative? You'll find 100 methods, tips and examples in my newest book, "Creativity Now!" published by Pearson and available from Amazon and other online and offline retailers. Wouldn't that be a great present for a friend--or for yourself?)