Less is more, or so the saying goes. But what if the reverse were true?
What if, in terms of creative work, more could also mean less?
I've been pondering on this question ever since I read a post by Katie aka The Wellness Mama on Copyblogger earlier in the week in which she describes writing her almost-daily blogposts in an hour. An hour? This is a level of productivity I can only dream of. Does having a shorter window make you more efficient?
Yet Katie is the mother of five children - the oldest of which is seven - whom she homeschools.
Despite - or perhaps because of these intensive responsibilities - she manages to write four to five blogposts a week (and cook three meals a day from scratch). Given that I can easily spend five hours a week writing two blogposts, (lately I've cut back to one precisely because two take up too much time), it seems that by having such a regular blogging routine, Katie is actually saving time! I'm reminded of the year when I created 365 pieces of art, essentially one each day. It's the most prolific I've ever been and I can't help thinking that the necessity of finishing a piece of art in a short time every day made me a lot more efficient with my process. No time for umming and ahhing when you only have an hour at the easel! Tasks really do seem to expand to fill the time available, so committing to a regular and very strict timescale may, in the long run, actually save us time. Or at least give us relatively more value for the same time. Might more sometimes mean less?
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.
© Author: Cherry Jeffs Liked this post? Word of mouth is the main way for indie creators to get known.
2 Comments
5 hours for two posts? That sounds like a dream to me! :)
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27/4/2015 07:53:45 am
The last thing I want is for you to be more overwhelmed, Nela! How often and how long is something each of us have got to decide for ourselves. There is no one size fits all solution. My posts are generally about 800 words and if they look like they will be longer than that, I usually split them into two. I aspire to being even more succinct though! I'm in a bit of a paring-down moment in my life right now ;)
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