I've just returned from my annual "start-my-year-off right-by-sharpening-the-saw " road trip. "Sharpening the saw" is a phrase I picked up from author Steven Covey. In his best-selling "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" series of inspirational productivity and management books, he talks about the importance to keeping your "tools" sharp.
He reminds readers that to operate at your highest and best levels, you have to remember to keep yourself sharp--not just in your external career tools (e.g. using the latest digital gear and software); you have to keep sharpening your internal tools as well.
Truly effective individuals deliberately take the necessary time away from their day-to-day career demands to put time in on maintaining and evolving their "inner tools." These tools include: patience; objectivity; better listening skills; pro-activity; resourcefulness; and most importantly in our industry: creativity. All these skills can be renewed by regular breaks.
Over the course of my career as an artists' agent, I found that the greatest danger- and quickest route to career self-sabotage- was to not take the time away from the fast-paced, high-stress world of my work. In advertising photography, that high-stress pace was constant and never-ending.
During the first 5 years of my career I never took a vacation. It wasn't a conscious decision not to take a break- I just never made the conscious decision TO take one. The end result of that decision was I became a crabby victim of job burn-out. It negatively affected all of my relationships and led to my first professional "divorce."
I was completely blind to the toll that living without a "time out" was taking on me. When you're in the middle of something like that, others can see what kind of stress monkey you're becoming, but you usually cannot. Without the awareness of who we're being and its toll on our work productivity (and relationships), it's unlikely we'll have the motivation for changing our circumstances. I was in it so deep, I couldn't see it.
Ironically, a few years later (after I started taking breaks), I was no longer in it- but I could now clearly see it in others. One of my most successful photographers started down his own road to burn-out and self-sabotage. I could see the stress and burn-out creeping into and eroding his creativity and problem-solving abilities. The success we had in shooting lots of assignments was not getting balanced with any rejuvenating breaks.
Our relationship suffered. He was not producing his best work and the creative "well" began to run dry. He wasn't able to produce the necessary new portfolio samples I needed to sell him. Only a major recession in the ad industry provided the necessary break in his day-to-day unhealthy habits. Unfortunately, that break was filled with fear and resistance instead of relief and relaxation. Not a significantly regenerative experience...
Only after experiencing first hand the net effects of taking time to "re-fill the well" with the renewing gifts of relaxation and appreciation, was I able to notice that the most successful and happy creative professionals also took regular breaks for renewal. A break in a well-entrenched routine is one of the essential ground springs of creativity.
It almost seems counter-intuitive to take a break from looking for work, but when you do, you often will be surprised by the seemingly "coincidental" sources of help and inspiration that come your way. I'll be sharing some of those stories from my own life and others' in upcoming issues. I hope those stories will inspire you to actually commit to scheduling one of those essential re-fueling breaks this year. Let yourself experience some magic in your life.
Trust me. I know that changing long-standing habits can be a challenge. However, I've found that by starting small and making it a daily routine, large changes can be accomplished. In future issues I'll also share some of the best resources I've found that make new habits actually 'stick.'
E.g. how difficult would it be to take a 10-min. break (today!) to take a brisk walk around the block? Don't take your cell phone or iPod with you. Just consciously observe your neighborhood environment. Try starting with just one session/day. Notice how much more energy and focus you have for work when you return to your computer.
When you're confident about how these small actions can yield big productivity results, you can finally commit to scheduling one of those "refilling-the-well" vacation breaks and enjoy its rewards.
Time for my 10-minute walk......
All the Best,
Carolyn