Ramping (Or how to trick your perfectionism)

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have read that I have just finished a script. I am forcing myself to take a break until Monday, which means I can find other stuff to tinker with in my life until then.

Now, as a filmmaker I am very familiar with burnout. I think about all of the habits we are supposed to do to make "progress", and I think about the thing that no one ever mentions: What do you do when you miss a day?

Or a week?

You may have heard of The Artist's Way and Morning Pages. When following this guide it is considered essential that you begin every day with three pages of hand written journaling. Every Day. For 3 months. And the author recommends that it's even better if you do this FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

Now I am the father of a six year old. Even if I find the time to squeeze this in every day(BTW no way this is happening BEFORE we take her to school); there will be a day when we can't find her socks, I wake up late, she has a late day, or she's home sick. What then? Do I have to start over?

There are a million habits that I "Should" do? but what if I don't have 20 minutes to meditate, or even the science backed 8?

Personally, I think that SOMETHING is better than nothing. This is true for creative works too; but 1 minute of meditation is great if you only have one minute. If I wait until I have 20 minutes free I'm gonna be meditating at midnight or on alternating Thursdays.

This is especially important when starting NEW habits. If you decide that you want to write your screenplay for 30 minutes every day, build up to that. Start with five. Build the habit. And when something derails you, start again. even if only for a minute.

This last script is probably the best I've written so far. I wrote it faster than the others too. In daily-ish intervals of from 4 to 45 minutes. Start slow, and build.

Just my two cents.

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you'd like to hear more on this subject.

E