Jack Conte

oh, i freaking LOVE this question. I think about this a lot. i have a few suggestions.

1. when you're feeling inspired, don't quit till it's finished. when paul mccartney started feeling inspired and writing a song, he made a rule that he WOULDN'T STAND UP from the piano until he had a FINISHED draft. Verse, chorus, intro, outro, lyrics, bridge, EVERYTHING. it was a rule. so after a year or so, he had a bunch of FINISHED songs, instead of scraps of dismembered verses, or a chorus here or there. This is such a great rule. i love it.

2. work to publish. this is a mentality that i've adopted in the last few years -- it's a scrappiness of work style and a biased toward action when it comes to work habits. i work with the intention of *publishing.* what do i need to do in order to get this published? not necessarily "finished" because i don't feel like i can ever "FINISH" a piece of art. but what do i have to do to get it published? in other words, how much more until i can upload it?! thinking of it that way, instead of trying to FINISH it, has really helped me write the next sentence, paint the next stroke, design the next slide, build the next synth, record the next drum track, etc. instead of spending a day deciding whether it should be blue or teal, i try to figure out what i need to do in order to publish. this has helped me work more efficiently and increase my volume of output -- which strangely, and counter intuitively, has also increased the QUALITY of my work, because my feedback cycles are faster, and i learn faster about what resonates with my audience and what doesn't. work to publish -- that's been the best mentality shift for me.

3. i separate my creative work into TWO buckets: 1) stuff to do when I'm inspired, and 2) grunt to do when i'm not inspired. While I'm working, I keep a list of all the things that are bugging me that are essentially grunt work. "Slide 10 is poorly designed and needs a revamp" or "the kick drum isn't popping out enough" or "the mix of the vocal track isn't cutting through enough." These are not creative tasks as much as they are technical TODOs. And when I'm uninspired, I CRANK THROUGH THAT SHIT. It keeps me super productive, even when i'm not feeling CREATIVE and inspired. Does that make sense? then invariably, what happens is that while i'm working on some technical task, my mind gets bored and starts inventing things, like a melody or lyric or new type of sound design, or a creative way of communicating a feeling. Then, INSTANTLY, when i feel inspired, i switch from plowing through technical TODOS and shift gears into creative imagination-based work. that way, i stay productive the whole time, even when i'm not feeling "inspired." all you gotta do is separate your work into two buckets.

4. find your inspiration system. i've found that there are some things that i can consume that just LIGHT me up. like, for example, when i listen to the band The Battles, my brain starts firing a million miles per minute, and i get hyper creative. recently, i've been reading a book by jack welch, the famous former GE CEO. when i read that book, i feel INSPIRED to be a better leader and a positive manager. so what's your system? what's the piece of art, writing, podcast, whatever that you can consumer that gets your juices flowing? find it, and book time to consume it right before you start your creative work time. it works wonders!

hope that helps