The most important way you can boost your output is to get rid of the zero-sum assumption. If you feel that each idea created limits your ability to create new ideas, your output will be only a trickle. The best writers, programmers, designers and idea-generators I know believe that the supply of ideas is endless. You only need to know how to turn on the flow.Here are some tips to get you started:
Churn
Without Judgment If you stress about the quality of work you are outputting,
then the flow will be cut off. Writers block is a symptom of perfectionism.
Churn first, judge later.
Idea
Breeding Use past ideas to generate new ideas. I've written close to 500
articles in the past two years. If I ever get stuck, all I need to do is search
through past articles. Almost always they leave unanswered questions that can
be tackled with a new article.
Creative
Input Feed your brain with books. I read about 50-70 books a year. The most
creative people I know can read over a 100. By devouring knowledge you add to
the variety of ideas you can produce.
Be
Patient It can take a while for your brain to get into the right flow. I can
write 1500 words in an hour when I'm in the right mental state. But that state
often requires working through twenty minutes where I type no more than a
sentence. Take the time to accelerate your creative flow.
Use
Large Time Chunks Since it takes time to warm up your creative muscles, you
can't expect to go fast if you are constantly stopping. Use large chunks of
time where you can build up speed and work for a few hours before taking a
break.
Publish
Garbage If you are starting out in a new pursuit, you have only one goal: boost
creative output. This often means publishing junk until you train yourself to
do a better job. Feedback from the world (not self-judgement) is the fastest
way to hone your creative flow.
Set
a Quota Give yourself a certain output criteria for each day, week or month.
This will build up a high creative output that can later be refined. Instead of
just creating when you feel like it, set a target. Sometimes you'll produce
garbage. But you'll also produce a lot more winners than by being a
perfectionist.
Hit
the Challenge Zone If you set too few standards for quality, you won't improve.
But if you set too high standards, your creative output will plummet. The
challenge zone is the area where you have enough challenge to improve yourself
but not so much that you can't perform.
Aim
With Your Challenge Zone There is a tendency to use external factors to define
your standards. For example, you want to become a musician, so you decide to
set your standards to one of your favorite bands. This is a mistake. By setting
the challenge zone to external criteria you kill your creative output or kill
your quality. You only need to compete with yourself; don't judge yourself by
others' standards.
Nuke
Those Assumptions If you assume that your creative output is fixed, it will be.
Set yourself a high quota and aim within your challenge zone. You'll probably
be surprised at how much more you can produce if you force yourself to. More
importantly, you'll probably be surprised that quality doesn't usually suffer
when you boost creative output.
Scott Young is a university student who writes about productivity,
habits and self-improvement. http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/
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