We’re all familiar with the law of diminishing returns: After a certain amount of time, the effort expended on a task yields fewer and fewer results. This is as true of creative work as it is of physical labor. And if you keep pushing, eventually both brain and body collapse.

I have a fair amount of experience with this. I’ve been the rock star who has melted down. I’ve worked 90- and 100-hour weeks and wound up in bed for weeks, unable to do anything except stare at the ceiling.

This is the price we pay when we don’t monitor our well-being.

A couple of years ago, I began percolating the question, “What would it look like to create a Law of Increasing Flow?” My goal was to find a way to work at an optimal level without burning out. After paying attention…  to what helped me get more done, better and faster, I came up with three things:

1. Get centered before I sit down to work
2. Work in small bursts
3. Take mind-clearing breaks before I begin to fade

When I do this, I write more, better and faster than I could have if I’d sat at my computer the whole time.

Granted, as a freelancer, I create my own schedule. However, these steps can be adapted to many kinds of work. It’s the oxygen mask principle: Of course your child’s safety (or your client’s project) is paramount, but you can’t help him if you’re gasping for breath…

 

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