You can’t be a professional if you’re waiting for the creative mood to strike.
You have to plan for it. Indeed, you have to plan a lot, because opportunities to do creative work are often time-limited. There are days of the week I know I won’t have the opportunity to write music – and that makes it important that I plan for the days when I can.
I think planning effectively for creativity requires:
- Recognize and block off the time you want to be creative in advance.
- Have everything you absolutely need, but don’t make your need list long. My need list includes my computer with a keyboard OR staff paper and a pencil, a good breakfast, and a cup of hot tea.
- Put yourself in the right place and start.
Make your creative time useable by diminishing the physical and mental roadblocks, and making the process of starting as painless as possible.