Thoughts and views about writing, researching and creating. All the doubts and wonders I come across, all the surprises and discovery of new roads I am lucky to experience when working with my non-fiction texts. A big and warm welcome to you, I’m very happy to see you here. - Majken xx
Sitting down at my desk and starting to write can sometimes be hard to overcome. Suddenly, it’s as if my workspace has turned into a solid like-pole magnet that throws me anywhere else in the room than here. I simply can not get to my chair and, even less: get anything done. Do you know the feeling (whatever task you have before you)? I’m sure you do. Over the years, I have tried to figure out how to overcome the barrier. To deactivate the magnet, so to speak.
“Openness and eagerness”. It sounds like the proper antidote to being stuck and running low on motivation, right?
One tool I stumbled upon is to practice Shoshin, a ‘beginner’s mind’. It comes from Zen Buddhism, and it means having “an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject [..] just as a beginner would, “ Wikipedia says. “Openness and eagerness”. It sounds like the proper antidote to being stuck and running low on motivation, right? But - like most things - it can be easier said than done. Perhaps because practising Shoshin is a double-edged sword. On one side, you know what you are going to do. I, for instance, know how to approach my work, and I also know more or less how I want it to look once I’ve finished. On the other side, practising shoshin tells you to have a beginner’s mind, which means that you somehow have to pretend not to know what this task before you is about. So the challenge is: how do you overcome your knowing?
I approach my task and start acting like it is the first time in my life I’m here. What’s that thing over there? Aaah, a piece of paper.
Perhaps you can see shoshin as being in a place where you open yourself up to play. “Today, I’m playing a game called ‘work’” What I do is, for example, to gently sit down at my desk and say to myself: well, here you are, Majken. You’ve come this far - congratulations! Now, why not start doing something? Anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to get everything done today. Just sit down nice and easy and be curious about whatever lies before you. I approach my task and start acting like it is the first time in my life I’m here. What’s that thing over there? Aaah, a piece of paper. And a computer. And over here, some notes scribbled on a post-it. Now let’s see how it all works. I sit with what is. Look at what’s before me - being as curious and open-minded as possible. Also, I often add a bit of physical exercise before I sit down, like standing with both my feet on the floor and then shaking my whole body for a few minutes. It helps me loosen up and to activate a more creative and playful mind.
And guess what? Most often, I do get something done, and perhaps most surprisingly: I usually end up having a good time.
How about you? How do you approach a task on days when you are not motivated? And how does it work for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please feel free to drop me a line - follow this link. Thanks.
Majken xx
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