Austin Kleon says when he is stuck, he cleans up. The best cleaning is exploring, as he finds unfinished stuff in his “organized mess”.

To me, this is done digitally with Daily Notes. When I’m unsure of what to write or feeling overwhelmed, I start an empty daily note and unclutter my mind; I brain dump everything in my mind on paper. This helps with multitasking, too.

MY Second Brain is my desk. When I organize or go through my latest notes, usually in the daily notes, I explore other unfinished or interesting thoughts.

Austin also said that tidying up the desk might be good for mundane work, but not for artists and creative work, as the material needs to connect, and that doesn’t happen inside the drawer.

Tiding is even more important in the wider context of life. Author Cederos is best known for taking trash 3–5 hours a day. This is a way of tidying up chaos. It’s the mundane, it’s what I do with dishwasher emptying and moving friends. I enjoy these; it’s making things in order, and my brain can calm down.

Cederos also gets ideas from the items he collects from the trash.

Origin: Steal like an artist Trilogy (Austin Kleon)
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Created 2024-09-29