Avatar photoSteven Savage

The COVID-19 Timesink

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

You’ve noticed that I’m not blogging as much since the COVID-19 lockdown. I do apologize, but in going over why, I had a valuable insight. So I’m blogging about it – ironically.

We’re all at home, with less to do, but everything takes longer because of COVID-19.

Obviously, the sheer stress of fear and concern is draining. We have less time and energy because of our concerns. But that’s the obvious answer – there are many other ways COVID-19 is draining our time outside of the emotional toll.

First, many normal things take longer. That trip to the gas station means having to clean up first and after. Buying something at a store may require you to find which store has it. A surprising amount of extra effort comes into our everyday lives.

Secondly, we have to preplan a lot more. We’re not supposed to go out much, so when we take that trip to the store, we have to get everything. If someone is going to drop something off for us, we have to work out a way to avoid inappropriate contact. Simple activities require strategy.

Third, we have to do extra things. I wasn’t exactly cleaning off every important surface in the house each day before, but now here we are.

Fourth, we’re dealing with shortages, access, etc. Things we could get easy aren’t as available. This means planning ahead, doing without, and strategizing. That takes time.

Fifth, we’re doing things differently. Yes, its great to find I can order so much online – but now I have to for things I’d normally grab spontaneously. We’re learning to shop, interact, etc. in ways we haven’t had to before.

Sixth, none of us are used to this. We’re all learning or relearning habits to live differently. In short, we keep screwing up everything else and have to start over, course-correct, etc. This is a giant mind-shift.

For many of us, our entire lives are disrupted and everyday things are being done differently. This sheer difference is a giant timesink, even outside of the fear and concern. All this supposed free time is being used to figure how to live in a way we didn’t have to.

So, look, give yourself a break. It’s not easy. We’ve got a scary virus on the loose. Were learning to live differently. That means this supposed free time from no commute, etc. is not as free as it seems.

In fact, it doesn’t feel very free at all.

Steven Savage

Steve’s Update 4/26/2020

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Hey everyone let’s catch up on my projects!

So what have I done since last time?

  • Way With Worlds: The Conspiracy book first draft is done! We’re closing in on a release!
  • A School Of Many Futures: I’ve rewritten chapters 1-3 and am now finishing a “new” chapter 4.
  • Seventh Sanctum: Grinding away on my python education, focusing more on Python training. But I also got hideously interrupted as noted.

What’s next?

  • Way With Worlds: Edit the Conspiracy book – and maybe even get it off to my editor!
  • A School Of Many Futures: Finish the new Chapter 4 then keep into the rewrite. I’ve decided to push this out another month (meaning it’s about 3 months later than intended) so it’ll be January/February 2021.
  • Seventh Sanctum: Getting back to my work after some pretty awful interruptions. I may not be where I want, but I am learning.

Steven Savage

Why I Wrote It: The Power of Creative Paths

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

This book was written when I realized I knew more than I did.

Let me rewind, because this involves Project Management, seminars, and Seventh Sanctum.

Anyway, awhile ago I was asked to speak at a seminar for local members of the Project Management Institute. I have a bit of a reputation as being a creative type, so I spoke on the role of creativity in Project Management. This is more important than it seems.

See, Project Management in the broad sense (yes, I’m including Agile) requires creativity. You have to think around problems. You have to imagine solutions. You have to communicate in interesting ways. It was a natural subject for me.

But what I needed was a way to talk about different forms of creativity, giving the people there ideas of how they could understand their strengths. I turned to my Seventh Sanctum work for that, and realized Generators fell into five categories:

  • Expansion (adding things on)
  • Combination (combining things in set patterns)
  • Reduction (removing items)
  • Fusion (fusing concepts)
  • Mapping (metaphorical)

That gave me a great way to describe creativity so people could ask about their strengths. I put a lot of thought into this, then used it as maybe 25% of the presentation, and let it sit.

It was only years later when it hit me that “duh, this would be a great book to organize my theories on creativity.”

I know, yes, it was obvious. In hindsight. To someone who wasn’t me.

So I realized, yes, I should expand on this way of viewing creativity. I often advised people on creative endeavors, and this gave me a framework within which to think and coach.

Which meant then I had to organize my way of coaching to help people. So the framework I had carefully assembled now drove me to organize my thoughts. That’s what a good framework does – it’s a skeleton to put things on. Frameworks may not be complete or perfect, but they let you do a heck of a lot because they help you think of the big and small picture.

The book got a lot more intense than I expected because I had this framework. I organized my advice, found things that made me think, had to give examples, and so on. Writing on creativity, using that structure, required me to be more creative and more aware.

The result is a book I’m proud of, but I’m thinking I should revisit it now and then, rewrite it every few years. That way it keeps up with the times, that way I don’t let things sit, and that way I stay aware of my own thoughts.

Amazing what you can learn when you pay attention and have a framework.

Steven Savage