Time

Brilliant thinkers, people far smarter than me, have argued that time is a mere concept, nothing more than a man-made construct that doesn’t even exist. Yet it’s hard to deny that time is one of our most valuable resources. And it is limited.

It’s up to us how we choose to use the time that we have. Successful people know this. They use their time wisely. Creatives understand this. That’s why they spend their time creating. No matter what they are doing, they are creating.

For years I convinced myself that the reason I didn’t write was because I didn’t have enough time to write. I know now that I was fooling myself. Although I work more now than ever before and have a ton of responsibilities as a husband, father, and home owner, I have learned that to be creative I must learn to be more creative with my time.

Today, my only day off this week, has so far been spent cutting grass and doing yard work, washing dishes, and cleaning around the house. Where was the time for writing?

I once read that dedicated Zen practitioners train their minds to do everything (housework, yard work, etc.) with a Zen mindset. I think it’s the same with creatives. Everything we do should be done with a creative mindset. Today, while cutting grass I kept my mind focused on a writing project I am working on and came up with several new ideas. I thought of a few more while washing dishes. So, in a sense, I was writing even when I was mowing the lawn and washing the dishes. That’s the trick.