Distractions have never prevented a Writing Writer Who Writes from writing; distractions are an excuse proffered by Non-Writing Non-Writers Who are Not-Writing for why they are not writing. Merlin Mann More Quotes by Merlin Mann More Quotes From Merlin Mann Joining a Facebook group about creative productivity is like buying a chair about jogging. Merlin Mann jogging groups creative The mindless junk of your past crowds out opportunities and sets pointless limitations. Move out the junk, and you create room for the rest of your life. Ultimately, it's not just a question of tidying your house; it's a question of liberating your heart. Merlin Mann success heart moving Priorities Are Like Arms; If You Think You Have More Than A Couple, You’re Either Lying Or Crazy. Merlin Mann crazy couple lying Workflow is understanding your job, understanding your tools, and then not thinking about it any more. Merlin Mann understanding jobs thinking Where you allow your attention to go ultimately says more about you as a human being than anything that you put in your mission statement. Merlin Mann mission-statement missions attention Email is such a funny thing. People hand you these single little messages that are no heavier than a river pebble. But it doesn't take long until you have acquired a pile of pebbles that's taller than you and heavier than you could ever hope to move, even if you wanted to do it over a few dozen trips. But for the person who took the time to hand you their pebble, it seems outrageous that you can't handle that one tiny thing. Merlin Mann funny-things hands moving Never let the guy with the broom decide how many elephants can be in the parade. Merlin Mann parades elephants guy Everything takes more time than you thought, everything costs more money than you thought, and almost everything turns out not quite as cool as you expected. Merlin Mann more-money more-time cost Go a little easier on yourself, and in so doing, be prepared to make and do things that might seem silly at first. Just keep moving: don't ruminate and stare at the wall. Don't just play with your phone: go out and produce something. Merlin Mann wall silly moving Feeling creative produces great work in approximately the same way that "feeling like a doctor" makes you a gifted thoracic surgeon. Merlin Mann doctors design creative People with tiny glasses and costly shoes can always find a couple of hours to explain how you did it all wrong. Merlin Mann shoes glasses couple Before you sweat the logistics of focus: first, care. Care intensely.... Obsessing over the slipperiness of focus, bemoaning the volume of those devil "distractions," and constantly reassessing which shiny new "system" might make your life suddenly seem more sensible - these are all terrifically useful warning flares that you may be suffering from a deeper, more fundamental problem.... Know in your heart that what you're making or doing matters... First, care. Then, as you'll happily and unavoidably discover, all that "focus" business has a peculiar way of taking care of itself. Merlin Mann sweat focus heart People will always despise you if you end up doing less stupid BS than they choose to suffer. Merlin Mann stupid suffering people You're gonna die. You're gonna die. And nobody's gonna care which version of the iPhone you used to make something on Twitter, or to go and post about your bowel movement on Facebook. And I'm not even talking about legacy; I'm talking about the fact that I personally feel most alive when I'm making something, and I feel least alive when I'm being led around by some obnoxious use of my attention that I wasn't aware of. To me, that's the thing. You can buy the jogging shoes and you can buy the Runner's World, but until you put them on and walk out the door every day, you're just a fat man. Merlin Mann iphone doors men Thinking can really be the enemy of action, and thinking can be the enemy of reality. Merlin Mann reality enemy thinking Trying to talk somebody out of the stuff that they enjoy in life is like trying to talk them out of their faith or their sexuality. It’s a pointless exercise that can never be anything but acrimonious and will only highlight unnecessary amounts of difference about things that ultimately don’t really matter. Buy the steak you like, worship the god you love, neck with the people that you treasure and don’t worry about the numbers. Merlin Mann differences exercise numbers It's just that it's mind-boggling to me how many people I encounter every day who are struggling to subsist on a diet of bad advice about fake solutions to nonexistent problems. Merlin Mann fake struggle people Creative work only seems like a magic trick to people who don't understand that it's ultimately still work. Merlin Mann magic creative people You got to be careful to not get too comfortable with incremental improvement. I think sometimes you just got to jump off a ledge. Merlin Mann ledges improvement thinking Don't just play with your phone: go out and produce something. Merlin Mann produce phones play
