Time is perhaps your most valuable resource. Being wise with your time is one of the most important things you can do to steward your brief time on this earth.

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Creating value is one of the most meaningful actions you can take.
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You will not regret making time to make and create.
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Furthermore, in the modern world of knowledge workers, more and more people realize the value of being life-long learners. This means there is a growing opportunity to be a maker and a teacher.
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Professionally, the maker works best with uninterrupted time to concentrate intensely for hours, get bored, walk away from their work, and come back to it, all in a single day. A single meeting in the middle of the day can interrupt this kind of deep work.
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The manager's work includes relationships and organization: meetings, emails, messages, calls, planning, and optimizing processes. This means constant interruptions for the manager, the opposite of what a maker needs.
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Identify what you need to focus on for the day and choose the maker or manager schedule.
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Or choose both, like I do: maker schedule in the morning, manager schedule in the afternoon. My mornings are for the deep work of learning, writing, creating, and strategizing, and my afternoons are for seeing clients, meetings, and doing admin work.

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The bare minimum: block off 1-2 hours daily for deep work. Be completely uninterruptible. For many, this is first thing in the morning before others are awake. You might be surprised by how much you can create over time with a few hours a day of focus.

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This may mean you must improve your evening routine by reducing entertainment. Netflix isn't optimal relaxation, and Instagram doesn't put you into a restful state. We all know social media can be one of the worst choices before bed.

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Do a quick reflection. Be rigorously honest with yourself:

1. How long do you spend each evening in entertainment?

2. Do you have the mindset that "I need to relax after work, or before bed?" and you fill your time with entertainment? What's another thought that would be more helpful? Perhaps replace it with: "I get to rest by reading or sleeping."

3. How long do you read each evening?

4. How long before sleep do you look at a phone or computer?

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Quotes

"If you don't produce, you won't thrive—no matter how skilled or talented you are."

​Deep Work Cal Newport

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"Reading, conversation, environment, culture, heroes, mentors, nature – all are lottery tickets for creativity. Scratch away at them and you'll find out how big a prize you've won."

​The Creative Habit Twyla Tharp

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Questions

How could my schedule help my creativity?

What time can I block off for creating this week?

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Live wisely,

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Josh

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