I am in the middle of reading Todd Henry’s The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice
(Amazon affiliate link). Part 2 of the book is about Creative Rhythm – how it affects our work and how to establish your rhythm to unleash your creativity and thrive.
Henry’s discussion of rhythm reminded me of something I learned when I was finishing up college and preparing to take the exam to become a certified public accountant (CPA). At that time, the exam consisted of 5 testing sessions over 2 1/2 days. I’m not quite sure how I came up with this, but I decided early on that I needed to be able to focus intently for 90 minutes at a time in order to be successful. I figured if I could do that, then I would have plenty of time to complete each section with a short break in the middle and still have time to review my work.
So I began to practice this rhythm when studying. I would study for 90 minutes, take a short break and then study for 90 minutes again. By the time the exam rolled around, this rhythm was ingrained in my system. I remember seeing shocked looks when I actually took a break in the middle of a session to get up, walk around, stretch, and then start again. To this day, I believe finding that 90 minute rhythm was one of the biggest keys to my success in passing the exam.
I believe this ability to establish and maintain your rhythm is becoming increasingly important. As marketers, we have an ever growing list of demands and shiny objects that encourage us to constantly flit from one task to another. It has become all to easy to feel busy all day without getting anything accomplished.
This sense of rhythm and focus is one of the reasons why we talk about the importance of using a marketing calendar in your business. Using a marketing calendar is not just about mapping out your to-dos, content topics, and milestones to a particular format. You also need to use your marketing calendar to establish regular appointments to work on your marketing. Use your calendar to set (and honor) dedicated time to think deeply about your business, your customers, and your marketing.
Do you have a rhythm or pattern that helps you be more productive?
photo credit: JavierVazquez on Flickr
