Productivity Playlists
How To Be More Productive (Ali Abdaal)
The Martin Garrix Show and Interviews (Martin Garrix, YouTube)
Procrastination
Procrastination
“to achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time”
Leonard Bernstein
FBR: Fast, Bad, Wrong (Ali Abdaal)
17 Questions That Changed My Life
The Discomfort Zone (aka ‘where the magic happens’)
This is one of the best podcasts ever: bowie, jazz, and the unplayable piano
The podcast touches on a load of really intersting themes and focuses around the unbelievable power of limitation in unlocking our most potent creative potential.
The podcast examine’s Brian Eno, who describes himself as a ‘serial disruptor’, and how he deliberately imposes limitation in order to force musicians out of their comfort zone.
The comfort zone is where we strive to be. But it’s not where the ‘magic’ happens – it’s interesting to hear how the science shows that, whilst we feel we’re at our best when we’re in a comfortable, safe environment, it’s in fact when we’re kickstarted into problem-solving ourselves out of the ‘danger zone’ that the brain is able to access that secret gear that’s responsible for the greatest, most innovative work.
I was amazed, but also unsurprised to read recently that it’s actually been scientifically proven that creativity is IMPOSSIBLE without limitation. Limitation, it seems, is, the creative equivolent of Agent K’s “don’t push the red button” red button.
Oblique Strategies
Brian Eno has developed his own version of this – in the form of a pack of cards developed alongside Peter Schmidt. The Oblique Strategies Cards are a series of ‘disruptive’ prompt cards designed to get you to find a different perspective. Some of them are quite ‘conceptual’, others are flat-out annoying (Phil Collins reportadly got so frustrated with Brian Eno in a recording session he started throwing bits of his drum kit across the room at him), but all posess a miraculaous creative power.
and my personal favourite:
I can personally attest to their unbelieveable potential in unlocking that hidden seventh gear.
They’re a wicked creative strategy, and there’s also a very inexpensive app (just search ‘oblique strategies’ in Apple/Android’s App Store) that’s well worth adding to your creative workflow strategies toolkit!
goldaksound.com 