Riding Waves of Productivity

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EustacheLeSueuer I tend to discount inspiration. I wrote an article about it once because much of the time, it is used for an excuse.

Last week I wrote a series of posts that locked what I wanted to say. Some got Stumbled. Some got a lot of hits. But I am talking about the feeling of completeness when I know that the post I just finished was the best I could have done at the time, maybe even better. I reread some of them a few times, wondering how I could have written them.

Athletes speak of a zone. I am not much of an athlete any more, but it wasn’t long ago I rode motorcycles. It’s one of the only physical things I have done that causes my mind to go completely blank. To take a turn marked 30 MPH at three times the marked speed, every ounce of concentration has to be on what your body is doing at each split second.

Worries and fears must leave. There are no thoughts of what Monday at work is going to be like or if there is a cop waiting at the end of the turn or if this would be the time I would succeed in scraping a footpeg off.

For the first few months, I thought a motorcycle would fall over with a lean that close to the ground. It did not feel natural and I sat upright as possible. It was a heavy machine. I knocked it over a few times and it took everything I had to put it back on the kickstand. One day I just got it. I stopped thinking.

There are times when I write that it feels the same and last week I was in that zone. Some posts are straight forward. I can write them in whatever mood I am in except lazy. They convey information and not much more. Some are more in depth and require a little time and I can usually pull them off on most days. But some come out of my head a complete whole and this is where any type of tool slows me down, whether it be a pen or a keyboard. When I normally slow down posting on the weekend because of projects that needed attending, Last weekend, I went right on through.

By Sunday, I was getting what I can only explain as an adrenalin rush when I wrote, so I took a break and did not turn on the computer after noon that day. I have to do more than write. There are other things to do and I have made the mistake of riding a wave too long and burning out at the end.

By Sunday night, I became paranoid that it was a one time thing. I didn’t post Monday. I half-ass posted Tuesday. By Tuesday night, I called bullshit and wrote this.

Shifting gears is a bitch and the more hats I wear, the more I must become accustomedBlog_116_max to it. So staying in one zone too long means other things are being neglected. But there is fear, that by shutting off the flow I broke something, each and every time.

So now I have a love/hate relationship with inspiration. On the one hand, I get a lot done if stick to schedule. On the other, my schedule is so limited that the time available for this type of productive marathon writing is non-existent. I know when I am in that zone, but sticking to it can send a lot of stuff to the back burner by default.

Of course, it comes down to just doing it in the end. But intense bursts can be nice.

Tags: concentration, inspiration, Writing

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12 Mar, 2008  Blogging, Journal, Writing



8 Comments so far »

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  1. BillyWarhol said

    March 12 2008 @ 6:03 pm

    I’ve been getting into the Zone with my Eliot Spitzer Tribute Posts!!

    Intense $4300/Hour Bursts of …….. Well U get the picture!!

    ;PPP

    BillyWarhol’s last blog post..Eliot Spitzer Client No. 9

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  2. Mirjam said

    March 13 2008 @ 7:36 am

    but then … how wonderful it can be at times to let the inspiration run wild and just go with it… eventhough it wasn´t sheduled :P
    Beautiful post!

    Mirjam’s last blog post..17 Plugins to Make your Blogging Life Easier

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  3. Stephan Miller said

    March 13 2008 @ 8:00 am

    Thanks Mirjam. If only I could catch one of those waves now. I think I have been behind all week. :)

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  4. Jason Poteet said

    March 13 2008 @ 8:53 pm

    Which bike did you ride? When I was a senior in High School, back in ‘91, I had a brand new new Katanna 600. I have some amazing memories from that bike.

    The memories are all great because most of them involved someone in their muscle car pulling up next to me and wanting to race off the light. They failed to realize they had no chance unless their car was burning alcohol and running 2′ wide tires.

    We also use to run up and down a mountain. That is much closer to what you are describing. We would easily hit 80ish coming down those mountain roads.

    All the crazy stuff I did though, I’ll tell you the time that scared me the most. It was on a straight back road. It was straight for a good mile. I nailed it and was doing 145 when a good gust of wind blew me just enough over that I peaked down and was less than a foot from being off the road. I spent the rest of the trip repeating the words, “Thank You God” over and over.

    Jason Poteet’s last blog post..New Home and New Design Coming

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  5. Jason Boom said

    March 13 2008 @ 9:52 pm

    I’m curious what bike you’re riding too. I owned a wheelie bike a few years back - a Honda 900RR. I would tear up the pavement with that beast. I know what you mean about taking the corners too. We had a golf course we would ride through at night. It was something like 17 turns of varying degrees. Over the course of a summer, I let myself relax and was leaning like a madman on that bike. It’s amazing what we can do when we just release our fears.

    Jason Boom’s last blog post..Formula One Blogging

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  6. Stephan Miller said

    March 14 2008 @ 9:31 am

    I started with a 1975 CB750 that I souped up in whatever way I could afford. They are like the Volkswagen bug of motorcycles. Millions were made, the design was similar for years, and a big aftermarket industry sprouted up around them. They were also one of the reasons that Harley panic about their market share in the United States. The top speed was about 130.

    Then I got a 1995 Honda Shadow and shortly realized that what I really wanted was a sport/tourer but I still didn’t ride it like a cruiser. I always pushed it to see where the limit was. If I crashed, I knew I found the limit and didn’t have to worry about crashing again. On turns, I lifted my inside leg up when I knew the peg was going to drag. But by then I was eyeing a Triumph Rocket III but never got it, but I swear if I get rich doing this stuff, I won’t be showing off cars. It will be bikes.

    I took a lot of trips. Once I took off on vacation to Kansas City from Phoenix and back. I went south on the way there down through Oklahoma and north on the way back through Taos, New Mexico. I only hit one downpour. Went to San Diego once, Death Valley twice and a few other places with a bunch of other riders from Phoenix. My favorite ride was to Alpine, Arizona http://www.motowhere.com/maps/route/Devil-s-Hwy-Coronado-Trail. Twists and turns for close to 100 miles. It’s crazy.

    And my wife likes it too, so a Goldwing looks to be in are future.

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  7. theregoesdave said

    March 19 2008 @ 4:19 pm

    I definitely find that there are times when I just sit down at the keyboard and crank through 6 or 8 posts at a time. I’m starting to get into a groove with my writing, but sometimes I just can’t let go and start typing.

    I think that in creative circles it’s sometimes known as getting into a flow. These are times of intense productivity where time just melts away and the artist is at their peak.

    theregoesdave’s last blog post..AOL MyMobile Heading for Public Beta

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  8. Stephan Miller said

    March 21 2008 @ 2:58 pm

    Most of the time, I just site down and write out of habit. Nothing great. Just writing a post. I do like these flow periods though.

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