How to Get Stuff Done

I’m 3 weeks into writing a poem per day for one month. It started when I randomly wrote a few rhymes on a post-it note, which then turned into this little personal project. 

I’m not aiming for profound pages of sculptured genius. Sometimes just a few simple words about something I see or things that only make sense to me. I’ll pick up my phone and write something down; On the train, in the supermarket, in the early hours of the morning...

But why should you care what I do with my free time? Well, you don’t need to. The thing is, I’m just sharing something I love to do, showing how things can evolve if you stick with them, and I think that everyone should have their ‘poem a day’. Their own personal projects, that come with some addition benefits:

I believe they give you a new outlook, make life more interesting, take conversations beyond small talk and can increase your general productivity with everything else.

A few days ago someone suggested the poem thing in this article (but I’d like to point out that I thought of it first ? ). They also mention a load of other interesting things to do when you have nothing to do. Or even extra things to add to your list.

But don’t leave it for tomorrow! For a long time my motto has been ’To Begin, Begin’. You don’t need to wait for the right time to do something. It doesn’t have to be on January 1st, or when you feel inspired, or after you’ve done another thing. Get the pen to the post-it now and the rest will follow. 

Perhaps I’ll develop the 30 into a book of 100 poems and self-publish it on Amazon (for my family to buy and think I’m clever for writing a book), or maybe it’ll just be something I can look back on as proof that I can achieve things.

I’ll leave you with one of my 20 (and counting) poems and challenge you to start something new, if you haven’t already. Please let me know how you get on.

I think next month I’ll try the daily plank…

What if we run out of ideas?

Everything you see was once an idea,
From the tallest of buildings to the tiniest screw.
But at the top of my list of the things I most fear,
Is if we run out and nothing is new.

The quota has maxed; weʼd thought everything up,
Theyʼd re-write songs thatʼd been written before.
Weʼd picked the last gem from the genius cup,
It’s all been done, there’s no room for more.

But I shanʼt lose sleep, weʼre safe now I think,
And Iʼve had an idea, it’s a pretty good one.
Iʼll write a poem as if ideas were extinct,
Or maybe I wonʼt, I think it’s been done.