Someone was asking me about the process of blogging. I thought about how it has changed over the last 25 years.
For a long time, the process was simple and went like this:
- An idea enters my brain
- I open up WordPress (or Jetpack on my iPad) and jot down a few sentences
- I work on it in between meetings at work
- I go over it a few times until I feel it flows
- Publish
The problem recently has been that I have separated my work computer and my home computer setups. This is annoying, but realistically, I suggest it for everyone.
Your computer at work can legally be monitored for everything. Every single key press is fair game. You do not own that machine. You should not have personal work, communication, email, slack, or anything non-work on it. You should assume your employer has access to every password you log into on your work computer. It’s not paranoia if it really is happening.
This is difficult to swallow, but believe me, this is real life. I didn’t always separate the two, but since working in cybersecurity, I have learned to be more cautious.
So now that I do have personal and work computing separated, I can’t easily open up WordPress to blog when I have 5 minutes until my next meeting. This has resulted in fewer blog posts. My rhythm has been disrupted. Right now, I’m on an iPad and it is less effective for me.
Other creative people have their own rhythms. Whether writing a book or screenplay, composing music, painting, or any other creative endeavor, you will have a process that works for you.
You can’t easily change these methods. They become entangled in the creative process. You can’t have one without the other.
When you create, do you have a process or rhythm that is consistent? What is it?
Whatya think?