In freewriting, the writer has the freedom to put down everything without second guesses or judgment.The subconscious mind holds many ideas and freewriting helps writers to access these ideas that they may never have discovered if they were trying to come up with something to write about.

Free Writing and the Subconscious Mind

“The conscious mind is the editor, and the subconscious mind is the writer. And the joy of writing, when you’re writing from your subconscious, is beautiful – it’s thrilling. When you’re editing, which is your conscious mind, it’s like torture.”

Freewriting has been scientifically proven to help writers focus and gain confidence in their writing abilities.Researchers found that freewriting exercises helped students develop a deeper understanding of how to produce high-quality academic writing.Freewriting also helps us to regulate emotions. writing about stressful or traumatic experiences can help lessen people’s anxiety.

The Science Behind Free Writing

Stopping presents the opportunity for your inner critic to come out. By writing nonstop, you allow your subconscious mind to fully take over and New thoughts will come to you eventually.

Write Nonstop 

Whatever comes to mind, write it down. Even if something doesn’t seem to make sense or does not connect to the previous idea you wrote, write it down anyway.Allowing yourself to write without editing is the only way to free yourself from your criticism. By doing so, you can unlock new and exciting ideas without worrying about their quality or clarity.

Do Not Censor Yourself

Freewriting is similar to brainstorming in that it can help writers discover new ideas. However, brainstorming still involves the stopping, thinking and editing that free writing avoids.Treat freewriting as an exercise that has no end goal, rather than as an exercise for coming up with ideas. While freewriting often does help writers find ideas, it is okay and still effective if it doesn’t.

Do Not Think of It As Brainstorming 

Find a prompt that best suits your needs. Prompts can be as simple as “I want to write about…” to help with creative writing, or “I want to argue that…” to help with academic writing. If you get stuck during the free write, you can always return to the prompt.

Use a Prompt 

Putting pen to paper has been scientifically proven to aid productivity and creativity. Studies using MRI show that handwriting increases neural activity in parts of the brain in a way that is similar to meditation.Writing longhand is more physically engaging than typing, meaning more of your body is focused on the act of writing. Also, being away from a screen means you are less likely to become distracted.

Use a Pen and Paper

Save your free writing so you can refer to it while working on current and future writing projects.Something that doesn’t stand out to you now might be exactly what you need to help you move forward with a writing project down the line.

Save Your Free Writing and Look Back At It 

writing

Reading & Writing

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Free Writing Provides a Powerful Way To Escape Writer's Block

Tells you that something isn't good enough yet.Symptoms: Procrastination, missed deadlines, low output and fear of criticism.Solution: Take action. Seek progress over perfection.<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDROsSBFcU4/">[ChrisDo]</a>

01 - Perfection Monster

Positions you as the hero or leader with all the answers.Symptoms: Loves giving advice and telling others what to do.Solution: Ask more. Talk less. Listen intently. Be slower to answer. Empower others to solve their own problems.<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDROsSBFcU4/">[ChrisDo]</a>

02 - Advice Monster

Seeks external validation to define happiness.Symptoms: Uncomfortable saying 'no'. Apologise often. Prioritizes the emotional needs of others.Solution: Realize that you have a choice. Practise saying 'no' to small things. Give importance to your happiness.<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDROsSBFcU4/">[ChrisDo]</a>

03 - People Pleaser Monster 

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Everyone has three Monsters inside them.

We tend to rely solely on motivation and willpower to beat procrastination, but this often leads to failure to meet deadlines and follow through on our plans.A better way to beat procrastination is to use the House Arrest Strategy in three simple steps: write down a deadline, create negative consequences for inaction and design your desired future action.

Motivation Isn’t Enough

When Victor Hugo struggled with procrastination and was unable to submit his book to the publisher before the deadline, He self-imposed a house arrest.Each day, Hugo would write his book, leaving his working desk only to eat, sleep, or read. After a few months, his strategy finally paid off and he was able to finish writing his best selling book, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Hugo's House Arrest Strategy

A good deadline is short enough to force you to take immediate action and long enough to finish the task at hand.In Hugo’s scenario, the publisher’s five month deadline forced him to get started on writing his book.

01 - Write Down A Deadline 

Use “stakes” or negative consequence, to punish yourself if you fail to meet the deadline.For example, Hugo’s negative consequence for failure to meet his publisher’s deadline was a fine of 1,000 franc per week of delay.

02 - Create negative consequences For Inaction

Put something in place today that will ‘lock in’ your actions tomorrow.Hugo’s commitment device was locking away his formal clothes and buying a bottle of ink to start writing his book, and prevent himself from leaving the house.

03 - Design your desired future action

Here's the simple 3 step strategy, famous writer, Victor Hugo, used to beat procrastination and write his best selling book The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

productivity

Productivity

timemanagement

Time Management

Victor Hugo On How to Beat Procrastination and Finish Anything You Start.

"One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say."

"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand."

"Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking."

"Listening is being able to be changed by the other person."

"Everything in writing begins with language. Language begins with listening."

"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said"

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen."

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."

"The art of conversation lies in listening."

"We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less."

Listening skills are vital to your success in business -- and in life. For a fresh perspective, consider these insights from the world's great thinkers.

communication

Communication

15 Quotes to Inspire You to Become a Better Listener

20 pages seems small but adds up fast. If you do it first thing in the morning, then urgencies of the day don't distract you.As with most habits that can greatly impact your life, this will never feel urgent, but it is important.

Read 20 Pages Per Day

Read this article to learn the simple system I'm using to read more books. This reading habit has helped me finish 7 books in 10 weeks.

habits

Habits

The Simple System I'm Using to Read 30+ Books Per Year

“Visualize yourself on the battlefield of life under ferocious attack; So you are always prepared for the worst.”

“Mastery comes to those who undertake continuous and unwavering practice; Shortcuts will get you nowhere.”

“Finding peace is greuling. It is a fight to the death, the defeat of evil and maliciousness within.”

“A warrior is always ﻿in a life and death battle for peace.”

“Everything you need to become great is right where you are standing, and that is the place to practice.”

“When facing the enemy's sword, you must be settled within yourself and not afraid.”

“When an opponent advances, welcome them; if they retreat, assist them.”

“Create each day anew.”

“Correct posture supports a powerful state of mind.”

“Create peace in your own life and then apply it to all that you come across.”

“Life is expansion. If we stop progressing, technically and spiritually, we are not truly alive.”

“Your heart is full of potential, waiting to manifest.”

“Express gratitude even for adversity, obstacles, and bad people. Working through such difficulties is a necessary part of training.”

“Prepare yourself to receive most of your enemy's attacks.”

“Everyone has a spirit that can be strengthened, a body that can be conditioned and a journey to begin. You are here to actualize the power within yourself and to remove the barriers blocking your natural state of peace.”

“A "Samurai" is someone who fights with the power of love.”

“The divine is not something high above us. It is within us.”

“There are many ways to the top of the mountain, but there is only one summit - love.”

“As soon as you judge someone you create an opening in your heart for evil to enter. Comparing, competing with, and criticizing others will weaken and defeat you.”

Narrated by Chris Lines Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso or Ōsensei, "Great Teacher". Music: Filaments by Scott Buckley https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley/filaments-cc-by​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_filaments

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

strategy

Strategy

education

Learning & Education

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

21 Life Lessons From An Old Sensei (Morihei Ueshiba)

→ Copy<ul><li>Copying is how we learn. We cannot create anything new until we have solid knowledge and understanding.</li></ul>→ Transform<ul><li>Take an idea and create variations. Major advances are breaking point in a long history of progress by many individuals.</li></ul>→ Combine<ul><li>By connecting various ideas, creative leaps can be made.</li></ul>

Three Elements Of Creativity

In an information economy, originality and creativity are all-important skills. They're also some of the most misunderstood ideas. Speaking at TED, author Kirby Ferguson argues that creativity comes from copying, transforming, and combining other works.

creativity

Creativity

The Three Key Steps to Creativity

“Stillness is the key to, well, just about everything.”

Stillness is that quiet moment when inspiration hits you. It’s that ability to step back and reflect.Slowing down is the key that unlocks genius, happiness and meaning.History proves that it is from stillness that new insights and ideas are originated.

Stillness

“Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections.”

“That quiet feels so unnatural is a sign of its importance. Seize it. We can’t be afraid of silence, as it has much to teach us. Seek it.”

“Don’t waste a beautiful moment because you are insecure or shy.”

“When we know what to say no to, we can say yes to the things that matter.”

“We are not present . . . and so we miss out. On life. On being our best. On seeing what's there.”

“The more peace we are, the more productive we can be.”

“This is what the best journals look like. They aren't for the reader. They are for the writer. To slow the mind down. To wage peace with oneself.”

“Remember, there's no greatness in the future. Or clarity. Or insight. Or happiness. Or peace. There is only this moment.”

Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead.

philosophy

Philosophy

books

Books

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller & Wall Street Journal Bestseller In The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly popular with a new generation of leaders in sports, politics, and technology. In his new book, Stillness Is the Key, Holiday draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead. All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness--to be steady while the world spins around you. In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living. Drawing on a wide range of history's greatest thinkers, from Confucius to Seneca, Marcus Aurelius to Thich Nhat Hanh, John Stuart Mill to Nietzsche, he argues that stillness is not mere inactivity, but the doorway to self-mastery, discipline, and focus. Holiday also examines figures who exemplified the power of stillness: baseball player Sadaharu Oh, whose study of Zen made him the greatest home run hitter of all time; Winston Churchill, who in balancing his busy public life with time spent laying bricks and painting at his Chartwell estate managed to save the world from annihilation in the process; Fred Rogers, who taught generations of children to see what was invisible to the eye; Anne Frank, whose journaling and love of nature guided her through unimaginable adversity. More than ever, people are overwhelmed. They face obstacles and egos and competition. Stillness Is the Key offers a simple but inspiring antidote to the stress of 24/7 news and social media. The stillness that we all seek is the path to meaning, contentment, and excellence in a world that needs more of it than ever.

Ryan Holiday is media strategist for notorious clients like Tucker Max and Dov Charney. After dropping out of college at 19 to apprentice under the strategist Robert Greene, he went on to advise many bestselling authors and multi-platinum musicians. He is the Director of Marketing at American Apparel, where his work in advertising was internationally known. His strategies are used as case studies by Twitter, YouTube, and Google, and have been written about in AdAge, the New York Times, Gawker, and Fast Company. He is the author is *Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator*, which is due out in July. He currently lives in New Orleans, with his rebellious puppy, Hanno.

Ryan Holiday

Stillness Is the Key

<ul><li>It is a style of problem solving where you work backwards from the endgame you want.</li><li>Retrograde Analysis can help you win at chess or solve a problem in real life.</li></ul>

Retrograde Analysis

<ul><li>Our mind is very logical,it moves forward,ignoring the things that breaks with it's logical stream.So,you probably don't see the second 'the' the first time.</li><li>But, if you read it backwards you would catch it.</li></ul>

Retrograde Analysis Example

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/working-backward-to-solve-problems-maurice-ashley Imagine where you want to be someday. Now, how did you get there? Retrograde analysis is a style of problem solving where you work backwards from the endgame you want. It can help you win at chess -- or solve a problem in real life. At TEDYouth 2012, chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley delves into his favorite strategy. Talk by Maurice Ashley.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

entertainment

Entertainment

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/working-backward-to-solve-problems-maurice-ashley

Imagine where you want to be someday. Now, how did you get there? Retrograde analysis is a style of problem solving where you work backwards from the endgame you want. It can help you win at chess -- or solve a problem in real life. At TEDYouth 2012, chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley delves into his favorite strategy.

Talk by Maurice Ashley.

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TED-Ed

Working backward to solve problems - Maurice Ashley

“The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.”

Unstructured writings can lead to ineffective communication and you might end up in a situation where your work cannot stand out among others.A regular writing habit helps you to think in systematic ways and bring clarity in your writing.

Writing Organise Your Thoughts

Once you start writing,you will feel more connected with your ideas and you get inspiration to write more on the topic you like.This can give you a positive feeling.

Writing Relieve Stress

An efficient writing habit can activate buried words in the brain and your writing becomes more interesting.You can play with words to create powerful sentences and use it as a tool to convince others.

Writing Activates Your Brain

By choosing your favourite topic you feel like writing,you can get a chance to listen yourself and help you to plan your next move in a better way.

You Can Hear Your Inner Self

Throughout the years, I mainly used the writing for work-related tasks, including business emails, memos, and business reports. However, personally, I never realize that a regular writing habit has various benefits that really can motivate you to go further.

Free Writing Provides a Powerful Way To Escape Writer's Block

Everyone has three Monsters inside them.

Victor Hugo On How to Beat Procrastination and Finish Anything You Start.

15 Quotes to Inspire You to Become a Better Listener

The Simple System I'm Using to Read 30+ Books Per Year

Theisle .