Don’t you hate it when your established creative daily routine gets disrupted?
You sketched up a storm every day for a whole week. And then your in-laws came to visit (and now you haven’t drawn anything for a month).
And you just can’t find the time again, even though you have the house to yourselves again now.
Why IS that?
We can all blame the Law of Inertia but it turns out we might be focusing on the least productive angle of that bit of physics when creating a creative routine.
Here’s what the Law of Inertia (para-phrased) *actually* says
In essence,
What is already at rest, stays at rest AND
What is not at rest, stays in motion.
In other words
“Whatever you are doing is likely to continue.”
This is great news for (re)creating a creative routine!
It means that if we can start doing a little something, we are likely to continue doing it. And if that little something can grow into a bigger something, then according to the law of inertia we are likely to continue doing the bigger something, too.
We don’t need to fear the law of inertia, we need to USE it.
Seen from this angle, inertia is a good thing and can lead our creative daily routine into the land of perpetual progress.
But what happens when we stop doing stuff?
Because stop we will, at some point. Holidays, illness, work deadlines. When our carefully cultivated creative daily routine is interrupted, how do we get it back?
We take the smallest possible step in the right direction. Right now.
We summon up the power of inertia to help us all over again, because as we’ve already found out, whatever you are are already doing will tend to continue.
If your current creative daily routine isn’t what you want it to be…
Focus on the the tiniest thing you can do right now to disrupt your pattern of not-doing, and get it moving in the right direction.
Now, keep moving in that direction.
~
Read more Creating a Creative Routine tips here:
24 Ways to Keep Drawing (Even With No Deadline)
3 Secret Compounds to Fuel a Tiny (Drawing) Habit
Sketch Journal: How & Why To Keep a Cartoon Diary