2010 October | Constructively Productive

Archive for October, 2010

Oct 29, 2010 by Meg Ward

Not-doing: how redefining productivity strengthens family ties

At 38 years old, part of me is incredulous that I’m only just now learning to be independently productive. Somehow, somewhere along the line, I’ve learnt to be productive only with someone leaning over my shoulder or by allowing someone else to dictate my priorities. And until just recently, I have placed family at the bottom of the heap because the things...

Oct 27, 2010 by Ali Luke

Freelancing, Family and Flexibility

Family comes very near the top of my list of values. I was close to them growing up (despite the occasional teenage tantrum) and when I left for college, I used to phone my mum every night. I’m 25 now, so the last seven years have meant a gradual shift of my relationships with my parents and siblings. Instead of being my parents’ kid, I’m now...

Oct 25, 2010 by Thursday Bram

Family Culture and Productivity: How Your Loved Ones Create Your Ideas of Productivity

My grandfather is eighty-three. He says he’s retired. To him, that means that he runs a lumberyard, is building a new house up in the mountains and constantly has a new real estate deal going on the side. And, trust me, he’s actually slowed down to get to this point. My family has a shared perception of work and productivity, shaped in part by the...

Oct 20, 2010 by Colin Beveridge

Five Ways NaNo can Kickstart Your Creativity

My name is Colin and I am a maths tutor. I’m also a National Novel Writer’s Month veteran – since 2005, my main character (Freeman Moxy, a sort of time-travelling Louis Theroux) has visited five different eras and escaped after a 50,000 word adventure four times*. National Novel Writer’s Month – NaNoWriMo for short, or NaNo for...

Oct 18, 2010 by Thursday Bram

Laura Vanderkam’s 168 Hours: An Interview

Laura Vanderkam is the author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, a book that takes a close look at what we’re doing with the 168 hours each of has every week. What inspired you to write ’168 Hours’? I had my first son in May, 2007. In the months leading up to his birth, like many new parents, I wondered how I was going to make...

Oct 15, 2010 by Ali Luke

Your Creative Work Is More Important Than You Think

Does your creativity get left till last? I mean this quite literally. So many of us think along these lines: I’ll work on my novel once I’ve got the house clean… I’ll get back to painting when the kids are in school… I’ll finish designing that computer game as soon as things calm down at work… I know it’s easy...

Oct 13, 2010 by Thursday Bram

Review: Do More Great Work

What do you do most days? Do you do great work? Or do you do ho-hum, everyday, could-be-replaced-by-a-robot work? It’s a question that doesn’t just matter to employees — rather it’s something that all of us have to consider day in and day out. That great work, at home, might translate to spending time reading to your kids or, in your own business,...

Oct 10, 2010 by Ali Luke

The Creativity Toolbox: Get Your Creative Gears Turning Again

You’ve been doing your creative thing for a while. Perhaps you even started as a kid – drawing sketches of friends, scribbling stories in notebooks, making up your own songs. It felt easy, once. It came naturally. You enjoyed it. But, for a while now, it’s been getting tougher. You feel like you’ve had all your good ideas, and there...

Oct 7, 2010 by Ali Luke

Are You Pushing Too Hard to Be Creative?

You’ve had days when you’ve really, really tried to be creative – and it’s been a huge struggle. You probably made checklists, thought about next actions, set a timer. The pressure was on, and you told yourself that you were going to get your project done, damnit. I know I’ve done this. With writing, there are a lot of easy metrics –...