Everything is rushed. We’re spinning, buzzing and frantically checking phone notifications. There’s no space to think. When contemplation equals lazy, where do we find the time? And how does this impact inspiration? We can't stop working, waiting for some damn muse to strike.

In a recent Sunday Dispatches podcast, “You Can’t Eat Excuses”, Paul Jarvis wrote about waiting for inspiration. Short answer? Don’t. Finding time to think comes down to schedules, routines and habits. Countless productivity posts beg us to schedule time for ourselves, which is fine advice for the planners out there. The rest of us will argue that creative minds rebel. But who are we kidding?

What does that say about discipline? If projects (even personal ones) are going to see the light of day, there has to be structure. Can we schedule an hour for thinking or will it become a daily nap or even worse, a meeting?

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