Being Bored (b -> c)

Ed Sheehan deleted the social media apps from his phone. “If you don’t have any distractions – I was literally writing four or five songs a day ‘cause there was nothing else to do.” 

Jerry Seinfeld sat down with a pad of paper, a pencil, and coffee. He set a timer. He does not have to write anything. But if he does anything it has to be writing. 

Todd Field asked his father-in-law, famed screenwriter Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) how to write a movie. “You sit down, take the phone off the hook,” it was the 90s, “and when you get up you have a screenplay.” 

Neil Gaiman took these ideas further and built a writing hut. It’s just beyond his home’s Wi-Fi. Like Jerry, all he can do is write, but he doesn’t have to. 

If it’s time to execute, do not do these things. 

But when it’s time to think broadly and cross-pollinate ideas. When it’s time to grow something new or redo something old. When it’s time to brainstorm rather than build. 

Be bored first.