Lots of people ask me how I manage to find the ideas and the time, to publish so much content online. For those who don’t know, as well as writing posts here most days, I have also recently written and published 28 updates on my soon to launch site, over at jimconnolly.com.
That’s a total of around 40 posts published in less than 2 weeks; as well as working every day with my clients.
Here’s an insight into the 4 things that I believe make it easy for me to generate the ideas and the time required to maintain a regular blogging schedule:
1. I study – A lot!
I have studied my subject, marketing, every working day, for the past 25 years. I have read thousands of books and reports, from leading marketing experts world-wide. I have studied every process within marketing and tested them until I knew precisely how they worked. Please do not confuse this, with JUST reading about my subject. That process is about consuming.
To truly understand marketing, you need to be proactive and create experiments, to test theories. The results from all these years of study, is then invested in the work I do with my clients. However, it has ALSO given me an enormous library of material to write about.
2. I’m not a TV consumer
Other than sports, I’d guess I consume around an hour’s worth of TV in a week. I’m not anti-TV in any way. It’s just that I’m not attracted to the idea of spending 2 or 3 hours each evening sitting in front of a TV set. I’d rather hangout with my family, relax with friends, read a book, go for a walk, write a blog post or listen to some music etc. TV is one of the most influential mediums in the world. Because everything we encounter influences how we think and what we think, I tend to think differently to the 99% of people who watch TV each day.
This one thing alone allows me the thinking space to create, rather than consume. I’m writing this post during TV prime-time, by the way 
3. I have more time than most people – I’ve already had an extra 5 years!
According to Nielsen, the average American watches 153 hours of TV a month. I’m not sure what the UK figures are, but based on Nielsen’s findings I have gained 1,912 full days, which is well over 5 years of (extra) time, since I dropped TV from my routine, when I was 21. I have no idea how many amazing people, inspiring conversations and creative ideas I benefit from every month, simply by having all that extra time to think, relax and create.
4. I seek out diversity
I make sure to spend time with a diverse mix of people. I love to learn what different people think and how different people think. I also listen to a diverse range of music and eat a diverse spectrum of food etc. I believe that if we only expose ourselves to people and ideas, which are in tune with our own, we make it harder to discover anything new. It’s like being stuck in a time bubble. I also find that it stifles creativity.
The ideas within those 4 points
I fully appreciate that some of the ideas I have shared with you are going to be way, way too much of a change for most people to even consider. They are based on what I do and are not intended as some kind of blueprint. However, I believe that within those 4 basic points are ideas worth exploring, such as; making time every week for study, listening to a more diverse spectrum of voices and considering altering your content consumer / content creator, balance. That’s why I shared them with you.
So, what are YOUR tips for increasing your creative output?
Jim Connolly can help you grow your business and achieve the breakthrough marketing results your hard work deserves. To find out more, simply click here!
Very true Jim – another excellent blog. I am afraid I am less able to ignore the TV than you, but I know that if I don’t have access to it – I don’t miss it.
Your comments about mixing with new people with fresh ideas resonates and this I found was one of the great things about formalised networking. If I am on an assignment full time – its easy not to participate – I try to force myself to attend events!
I am also a musician and this is very true of that creative process. I have always been at my most creative musically after I have either bought a new guitar or met someone new to play with. The latter forces you outside your comfort zone and great things can happen.
The same is true for business – or anything for that matter by meeting someone new with new/different ideas or perspective, or to acquire and (properly) learn and practise a new tool.
I believe strongly that if we are not learning something new every day, then we start dying intellectually!
M
Hello Matthew. I like your outlook on learning. Thanks for sharing!
I find changing my environment frees up my creativity. Sitting in the office all day reduces your horizons to what you can see out of your window. Even if it is a beautiful view, it is only one perspective.
By making the time to go for a walk every day, regardless of the weather, I keep my horizons wide.
I use some of that time to listen to podcasts and audiobooks on subjects that interest me and some of it to just think.
Hello there Gareth!
Yes, I too like to change my environment. I also believe that travelling is a great way to increase your creative output.
Thanks for the feedback my friend.
Jim,
I love the comment about not just reading books, but consuming them. Only recently I was talking with a guy who had a very impressively stocked business bookcase, containing most of the well known titles. I asked him how the writers had influenced and changed his business. He replied that it hadn’t changed a bit and they were a waste of time. When quizzed further it was because,w hilst he had read them all, he had’nt learned or implemented anything from them
Wow, this post takes me back. Well, point two takes me back. When I was young and just getting started in business, I met a well established but young businessman and asked him how he got there so quickly. You already know what he said: “I have more of time to get stuff done. While everyone else is a vegetable in front of their TV, I do research, write proposals, or plan my work for the next day.”
I know most people “invest” their evenings in front of a TV screen. What amazes me, is when those same people complain that their business is under-performing, because they haven’t “enough hours in the day.”
Good day Jim Connolly
You know I have this thingy with TV I call it The:
“Electronic Income Reducer”
Thanks for the share, You have been so inspiring to Me, I am glad I stopped to read few years back! STRAIGHTALK
Norman Flecha
http://www.straightalk.biz
“Electronic Income Reducer”
I like that!
I also watch very little TV. When I was a child we did not have a telly until I was about 16, and therefore I read instead. Probably as a result of this I have never watched a lot of telly. I prefer to write, read and think.
Its not just the time gained. If you watch telly it clutters up your head. If I watch a powerful film for example, it can take days for me to shake it off. That does not help when I need to concentrate on developing my own service!
Reading books and observing the people and things around me inspires my creativity. Ideas are all around us, we just need to be aware.
I’d like to add “not constantly listening to the news” to the list.
One of the things that really impressed me when I read “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb was his decision to stop being influenced by the noise created by the world’s seemlingly insatiable need for constant news updates. Instead, he resticts himself to reading considered reportage on a weekly basis.
I’ve tried to follow this principle myself, but I keep falling back to waking up to Radio 4 in the mornings. I do restrict myself though: to 10 minutes in the morning and watching the BBC 10 O’clock news in the evening.
I have to admit that I’m a little guilty for watching more TV than I should. Sometimes it’s nice to do something that doesn’t require any thought at all! I also read numerous books on marketing to know how to make the most of my time. Thanks for the wonderful blog!
On BBC you can see always(but not anymore) KNOWLEDGE IS POWER,but how to gain knowledge if you are watching TV all time
Thanx
Unfortunately, I do spend some time each day in front of the TV. Mostly because my kids need something to entertain them or calm them down. Nothing makes my son stop crying like Elmo. I’m not one of those people that need some kind of noise to work, either. I like things to be silent. I think I should try and cut out TV as well. It’s gonna be hard, but I’ll see if I can make it happen.