Does anyone else struggle with too many ideas and focusing your efforts?
Every day it seems I wake up, take a shower and come up with some new idea. Maybe a new website, some fresh cocktail concoction, a product or an idea on how to make something work better for me. I head out to the kitchen, where my wife is enjoying her morning coffee, after having been up for hours. It’s then that I say “hey, you’ve gotta hear this new idea”, at which point she rolls her eyes; half serious and half jokingly. She usually follows with something like “...that’s awesome! You plan to do that in your free time?”. All with a smile, of course. Then comes the internal sting of truth. Where am I going to find the time? Do I have too much going on already? Am I doing the right things? Should I do away with one to make room for another? The frustration sets in.
Answering these questions have been a struggle for years now. This year it has started kicking my ass; having a toll on me as an artist. Just recently though I feel like I’ve started to gain a bit of clarity thanks to Scott Belsky, the founder of Behance. Apparently he released a book about me titled, “Making Ideas Happen”. Well, at least one portion of it is about me. It’s the part that talks about the creative person who has a great idea, gets rolling on it, experiences the adrenaline high of bringing the idea to fruition, eventually gets a bit bored and eventually starts on another idea. All at the expense of the prior idea. Or, the part about the creative who comes up with way too many ideas and doesn’t learn to manage them, create action items behind them, or how to put some on the “backburner.
Okay, the truth is Scott Belsky doesn’t have a clue who I am personally, but somehow he painted a great picture of me. Why? Because it seems there are a TON of others out there just like me. Thank God! There’s hope. After having finished Scott’s book and really diving into the The 99 Percent, part of the Behance Network, I can honestly say that anyone dealing with the same issues should run and get the book. It is worth every penny spent. Hell, if you absolutely can’t afford it, and share with me your story, I’ll figure out some way to buy it for you. It’s that good. I’ll go a step further though. Here are a few things I highly recommend checking out sooner than later.
3 LINKS TO DEAL WITH YOUR IDEAS & FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
1. Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky
2. Scott Belsky: How To Avoid The Idea Generation Trap
3. Frans Johansson: The Secret Truth About Executing Great Ideas
I’ll continue to share what’s affecting me for anyone struggling with the same issues. In the meantime, have you read or seen anything that’s helping you focus your efforts or deal with the constant stream of ideas?
Not often that a movie trailer brings back a rush of memories. This, though, is one of those times. Yes, I admit. I am old enough to have actually seen this movie at the drive-in theatre. Yes kiddies, there was once a day where you could pull your car up in front a giant movie screen, put a blanket on top of the car (in our case a station wagon), and drink beer while watching a double-feature. Whoa, remember the double feature? Now THAT was a movie night. Oh, and I believe it’s important to say that I’m not THAT old that I could actually drink beer, but my dad is (sorry dad for publicly disclosing your age). And who needs 5.1 Dolby surround sound when you have access to a single metal mono speaker you could clip to your door. Now that’s hardcore movie lovin’. But, enough of the memories, for now, and on to the movie trailer.
They just don’t make movie trailers like this anymore. Watch this and reminisce, even if you weren’t old enough to experience those times. Just make sh*t up in your head about how awesome it was. Because it was. But most of all, listen for some amazing writing such as…
In a time of mysticism, sacrifice, and plunder…
Born with the strength of a black tiger… (seriously folks, not just any ol’ tiger)
Together they take us on a fascinating journey to an unexplored time…
Discover the incredible *lick* between man and animal… (wait, shouldn’t that be “link between”?)
And all that is phantasmagorical…
In the world of dungeons and dragons….and Dar!!!!
Oh, and the kiss at 48 seconds in is intense. In a kind of—I shake you, I love you, I shake you—sorta way.
I think this may be the only time in history that the word “phantasmagorical” was used in a trailer. Do you know of any? What memories does this movie bring back for you? That is if you don’t pass out first from the sheer awesomeness of it.
Special thanks to Alex Pardee’s blog post for bringing back all these memories.
It’s time to come clean. I have an addiction to iPhone cases (and apps). Having recently stumbled upon a case manufacturer called Uncommon it only seemed fitting to feed that addiction. Now, purchasing a case is easy enough to justify for me, but when you add the technology that Uncommon is using to print one-off cases, along with your own custom artwork, it’s a no-brainer. After finishing up my latest illustration titled “Snake Oil” I really wanted to see it on a case. So I got busy. The process was incredibly simple. Upload an image that is no smaller than 2000x2000 pixels and no larger than 4000x4000 pixels. Easy enough. Once uploaded you get to see it all mocked up to look exactly as it will look when printed. It’s time to scale and rotate away. Once you’re done you punch the “Save Design” button and it’s saved to a handy gallery containing your designs that you can go back to later at any time. From there it’s an very simple purchase process. But we all know once we’ve placed an order online you’re dying to get what you just paid for. Uncommon definitely delivers on this point as well. A few days later I received the case in some great packaging. Overall it’s been a great experience and I was excited to see it printed on a product. I’ll certainly be buying another. 5 stars!
Get yours at GetUncommon.com
For quite some time I have drooled over the creations at Spragwerks. Up until now I thought I had that problem under control. Well, thanks to the ladies at Haute Macabre I’ve seen a little preview of the latest goods titled “Tools of the Trade”. So, let the drooling begin again. It’s gonna be a mess.
It was just this morning that those words flowed from my lips. “I need more time”. And then today as I was reading my RSS feeds I found this little nugget from good ol’ Seth Godin. Thanks Seth. I needed that.
