Ali Luke, writing at Aliventures, has a writing course (not an affiliate link or anything like that):

You’ve got a big project which you’d love to get going. Maybe you started it once – months or even years ago – but it’s been stalled for a while.

* You registered a domain name, but you’ve never got round to starting your blog
* You’d love to write and sell an ebook, but you can’t find the time to begin
* You’ve got 10,000 words of a novel tucked away in your wardrobe – they’ve been there for a year

And you probably feel bad, or sad, about it. You know that if you could just get it done, you’d feel great. You wish you were more self-disciplined, more focused, more creative, more …

… well, more like a real writer.

I’m gonna let you into a secret here. You’re already a real writer. And the pros struggle just as much as you do. (Ever since I got back from Austin on March 18th, I’ve been meaning to start work on a new project. I only managed to begin yesterday.)

Ali lists four steps to launching yourself into your project:

#1: Pick Somewhere to Start

#2: Make a Writing Appointment

#3: Give Yourself a Warm-Up

#4: Use a Timer

Making appointments with yourself is an amazingly effective way to be productive. I am going to download the free introduction and write a review soon. Feel free to share your thoughts in the forum.

The Topic of the Month for April is Thinking Like Leonardo di Vinci.

Today we have a Guest Post from Mariana Ashley:

One of the reasons why we perceive Leonardo da Vinci to be a brilliant thinker is because he took such great care in meticulously writing down his every thought. He is famous for his notebooks, which is a huge surviving collection of his writings on everything from art and philosophy to anatomy and physics. In his notebooks, he sketched the famous Vitruvian Man, several designs for flying machines, and intricate anatomical sketches of muscles and skeletons. Clearly, keeping a journal was important to Leonardo da Vinci’s creative and intellectual activity.

So, I say, if it worked for da Vinci, then it could certainly work for you.

Of course, you don’t have to be a genius thinker to make proper use of good notebooks. You can use them for mundane tasks as well as for very creative ones. Here are a few ideas for useful ways to keep a journal that could be productive to your personal life, career, and creative projects. If you have other ideas, or have successfully used a journal in the past, feel free to share in the comments section!

Dream Journal

A great and interesting use for a journal is to create a dream journal. It’s very simple really: get a nice notebook and pen or pencil, whatever you prefer, and leave it on your bedside table. Keep yourself to a strict schedule of writing in your dream journal as soon as you wake up. You must write in the journal as soon as you wake up in order to tap into the subconscious impulses and emotions you might have felt as you dreamed that night. Write nonstop in the journal for five minutes, close it, and put it away. Do this for a week and then take a moment to reread all of your entries. See if you have any great ideas that could help you improve your life. Or see if any of your entries might give you insight into some of the worries you are having. In any case, you’ll find that writing each morning in a dream journal can really clear your mind and prepare you for your day.

Task Manager Notebook

You can also use a notebook or journal like a task manager or personal assistant. This might require some prep work, so pay attention. Get a nice leather bound notebook and split it into three sections. The first can be a section for writing down your goals. The second can be a section that you break into a calendar, one day per page. The third section can be to keep contact information and other personal information and notes related to your tasks. The act of filling out your daily schedule and making lists of goals and tasks will require you to further engage with your short term and long term life. You will become more perceptive in understanding how your responsibilities and priorities interact with one another, and you’ll find that you have gained control over your busy schedule.

Idea Book

For this kind of journal, use a very tiny notebook, like a small flipbook that a journalist might use to take notes. Keep it in your back pocket at all times. Whenever you come to an idea that seems interesting or important, write it down and note the date and time you thought up this idea. At the end of each day, review this list of ideas and transfer them to their appropriate projects. This kind of journal requires that you follow through on your ideas, otherwise you will simply be writing down ideas and not acting on them!

Self-Reflection Pool

Finally, you can create a journal that functions as a reflection pool on your life. At the end of each day, open your notebook and write down an entry that reflects upon the events of the day. Free write for five or so minutes about your day, noting down one good event and one troubling even that you experienced. Reflect on why these were good and troubling. Use the final sentence of your entry to give yourself one goal to think about for the next day. In this way, your journal becomes the link between the days of your life. Your days will seem less isolated and you will have a way to focus on the future, because you’ll be able to see how your past has worked out for you.

By-line:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.

In order to better serve this audience and community I would like to ask that you take a few minutes to complete a short survey. I have a lot of ideas and areas of focus that I would love to address, but I need your help in orienting ourselves in the right direction.

My intention for this blog is for it to be a channel for helping people learn about improving their Creative skills and practices in order to have a better life. Creativity in your work- and personal-lives and Personal Development go hand-in-hand and I want to make sure that I am offering the best return on the time that you invest here.

The survey is only 10 questions long, and your answers can help me make this site a better resource for you – the readers and participants.

Thank you so much for your investment of time!

Click here to take survey.

The March 2011 Newsletter is available in the Archives, you can down load it here [March 2011 Newsletter link].

This month we talk about using Kanban for creativity and productivity. I have been using Kanban boards in my home office and at my job for a while now and they are not only fun (for an OCD & right-brain person like me) but very effective.

Join the discussion in the forum – Using Kanban for creativity and productivity

Jonathan Mead at Illuminated Mind has a post featuring some tips on enhancing your workspace for more creativity and productivity. I agree with him that my own workspace is a sanctuary, a fortress of solitude where I can work on the things that bring me the most satisfaction.

Here are some of his tips:

1. Color = energy. My last workspace was filled with color; a cool mint green, to be exact. The energy it gave to the room was inspiring and uplifting. Since I recently moved to Portland, I’m diggin’ my clean white walls, but I know it won’t be long before they’re splattered with color again. What colors inspire you, and how can you incorporate them in your space?

2. A daily fire library. I’ve gotten into the habit of starting my day with inspirational, fire-lighting reading. Sometimes it’s cheesy self development (like The Magic of Thinking Big) and sometimes it’s a read to get my creative juices flowing (like Do More Great Work). I have a special area of my desk reserved for quick-access to inspiring reading that keeps my inner fire strong. What books never fail to inspire you?

5. Keep it clean. I can’t work with disorder; it fragments my attention. Though I know some people that thrive on a messy space, I’m not one of them.
8. Get a good chair. Most of us sit for 8+ hours a day. Don’t skimp on the health of the vehicle that helps you do great work (that would be your back). Invest now instead of paying a chiropractor later.
13. Notebooks. I track all of my notes, client calls and projects with good old fashioned notebooks. I like Cambridge notebooks. I have one for coaching, and for projects and planning, and I keep them within easy reach at all times. If you don’t use notebooks, what do you use to keep track of things?

Having a good chair is absolutely essential. You can get a pretty good one at any office superstore for less than $100 and the increase in your productivity will pay for it in short order.

Two More Tips

I would add a couple of things to this list, number one being to create a workspace where you have plenty of room to get your work done. Being in a constricted space will constrict your thinking and your ability to produce. Get a large desk or table for your workspace, it is definitely an investment in your success.

Second, if you do a lot of work on a computer you should invest in a second monitor, and a fairly large one at that. You will be amazed at how much easier it is to do your work with more real estate to do it on. This is the same principle as the large desk-space – it expands your thinking and makes it easier to keep things moving on the screen.

I recommend that you read the whole post, and then feel free to discuss workspace design in the forum.

February’s Topic of the Month is Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

Today we have a Guest Post from Wendy Lau, a New York City-based writer. She is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and writes on the bachelors degree online for Guide to Online Schools.

Origami is a form of art that has a long history. Some say it goes back to the 17th century. In Japanese, “ori” and “gami” combined means folding paper. It is an intricate art and can also be a hobby for children and adults.

During history, origami was a form of art only accessible to the wealthy. Paper was not accessible or affordable to many. But today, anyone can partake in origami. There is origami paper available for purchase with various solid colors, patterns and textures, but you can also simply use paper you plan to recycle, such as newspapers and magazines.

Origami is an art form that can have great meaning. It has been created to commemorate special occasions and can serve as a simple gift of friendship and love.

Intricate origami requires patience. In many ways, the art of origami can also be a stress reliever. It can help put a person in a calmer state of mind. For children, the art of origami teaches how to follow instructions and may improve on motor skills.

Types of Origami

Origami comes in many forms. It can be simple or intricate. Origami may also be classified as action, modular, wet-folding, pureland, tessellations or kirigami.

The simple act of folding paper can result in the production of origami art representing animals, flowers, totes/boxes, geometric shapes, mythical creatures and many other objects.

The crane is one of the most traditional origami shapes. It represents happiness, long life and peace in oriental culture.

The paper color, pattern and texture used to fold an origami shapes also adds meaning. Each culture may have colors symbolic of certain things. For the Chinese, red represents happiness and good luck. For Koreans, pink represents trust. The color green represents life for many. Color may also be used to symbolize an astrological sign or a birth month.

Origami Resources

There are a number of resources available on origami. Whether you are looking for origami shape ideas, instructions on how to fold paper or just simply looking to learn more about origami in general, the resources below can help.

• Origami Club: A site offering information on origami for free. You can also find printable diagrams for each origami shape found on the site.
• Origami Nut: Instructional videos are offered on the art of folding paper. Find ideas on origami shapes to fold at various levels, including easy, intermediate and hard.
• Origami Resource Center: This site links to other resources where you can find diagrams, databases, book reviews, and communities on origami.
• Origami USA: An educational and cultural arts organization, find information sharing on paper folding. The organization also offers classes, workshops and conventions.
• Robert J. Lang Origami: Author of The Complete Book of Origami: Step-by-Step Instructions and a world leader mastering the art of origami, Robert J. Lang’s site offers a view of various creative origami shapes.

Check out some creations I made simply with paper cut out from magazines I was planning to recycle. The origami mini picture frame makes a great craft to store pictures you have lying around. The origami heart can be a simple gift by itself or it can be used to dress up an envelope or gift box.

Give origami a try simply with newspaper or magazine paper! You may very well find that it’s an enjoyable activity to do during your spare time alone or with family. It can also help take your mind off of stress.

The February Newsletter is out, this months topic is Origami – an inexpensive and fun way to exercise your creative muscles.

Learn more about Origami at these sites too:

Wonder How To

Origami Resource Center

Origami Fun

You can download all of the previous monthly newsletters in the Archive.

Scott Belsky at Behance has a very informative and thought-provoking post at the 99%:

7 Predictions for the Creative Community

In recent years, I believe that technology has been a little reckless with creative professionals. In many ways, technology has (shockingly) been obstructing productive creative careers. Crowdsourcing spec contests, the lack of proper attribution for most creative talent displayed online, and inefficient services for career management – just to name a few.

But my team and I at Behance see the tide turning. We believe that technology and the latest shifts in creative industries will ultimately empower creative professionals.

Here are some of our predictions (and hopes) for the creative professional community in the near future [and full disclaimer: our inherent bias is that we think about this full-time and are developing Behance with these thoughts in mind!]:

1. The Era of “Distributed Creative Production” Is Upon Us
The advertising agency of the future will consist of account managers, administrative staff, and a tiny leadership team that provides creative direction. The creative production itself will be distributed to individuals and small teams around the globe who are at the top of their game. The same applies to corporate marketing departments and other creative firms.

In the past, resources for finding and managing top talent were extremely limited. Now, the rise of online networks, as well as project management and collaboration tools is empowering creative professionals and ushering in a new era of independence.

This is just the sort of writing that makes me really miss being a freelancer. The trick is to figure out how these trends can be harnessed in your business, whether it is online or brick-and-mortar. Let’s discuss in the forum [link to "Applying Predictions for Creatives to Your Business"].

The Topic of the Month for January is watercolor painting, and I ‘d like to share with you some of the practice exercises that I did recently. I have wanted to learn how to get involved in and enjoy this pastime for a long while, and I had a lot of fun with this project.

The book I am reading starts you off with some basic exercises like creating “washes” for representing the sky and the ground for landscape painting. Here is a sample of one of my sheets:

"Skyscapes" and cloud techniques

I was amazed at the different effects that you can create with things like paper towels, cotton balls, or just a clean, wet brush. I will admit that I got pretty excited about the prospects of actually being able to create a landscape painting of my own. I will also say that using a set of decent liquid watercolor paints created results that were an order of magnitude better than the “dry discs in the tray” that had been my previous source.

I also discovered that there are a few things that I still need to get in order to do this properly, like an easel or stand and a board to tape my paper to. There is no getting around that if you want to create something that looks good. The proper tools always make for the best results.

This was the setup that I used to work on my first mini-landscape:

The "Artist's" Desk

That little painting is done on a 3×5 index card, for practice in getting the composition right. I did not have the exact colors that the instruction book called for, so I mixed some good approximations. You can see the final result in the forum discussion here (link to January Topic of the Month).

The new year is just around the corner and Work.Life.Creativity has a lot of information lined up for you about getting creative and learning some new skills. We have worked hard this year in a tough economy and it is time to start thinking about having more fun – at work and at home.

The “Topic of the Month” for January will be watercolor painting, something that many of us likely haven’t done since we were kids. Remember how much fun you had? Drawing and painting are a great way to unleash your creativity and have some fun at the same time. I’ve never thought that I was very good at drawing anything, much less doing any painting but I am looking forward to doing some practicing and learning something new.

You can play along at home for a very small investment in materials, less than $20 for sure. (Be sure to check out the Watercolors Group on flickr for some inspiration.)

Have a Happy New Year and come back refreshed, it’s going to be exciting!