When I spend a day or a week away from writing or editing photos or generally being creative, I tend to blame it on a heavy workload at my job. This is the case on some days when I work 10 hours to finsh a project. However, in most cases I lack creativity because I don't produce the right environment at home to do so.

It is easy to switch on a TV show and "zone out" for a bit. My day-job is intellectually taxing and mindlessly watching Mr. Bean can be just the thing I want. But watching TV is also easy and I tend to get anchored to the screen.

Auston Kleon gives ten tips in this talk. I have read these in his blog — one of my favorites — from time to time but it is nice to see these tips stacked together. Two tips resonated with me so much that I wrote them on large index cards with a fat sharpie and glued them to the wall above my computer.

“8. When in doubt, tidy up
9. The demons hate fresh air”

— Austin Kleon

I am normally a tidy person, and I like going outside. I like these quotes because I think these would work best to get me out of a rut and nudge the anchors off. It is so easy to just watch TV or browse the internet, so easy to just spin the wheel without actually going anywhere.