Reflection #6: On Productivity

I have hit a huge productivity funk.

I wake up at noon, make my way to work between 1 and 2pm, work until 4 or 5pm, then make my way to the theatrical event of the evening.

Not a bad life, you say? It's killing me. I hate myself.

Don't get me wrong, I love my work and I love seeing theatre every single night. But the ideas in my brain just sit there, and I can't even do things that I know I need to do because I can't get myself out of bed in the morning and when I do I sit on my computer and wait. For something. I don't even now what I'm waiting for. I am wasting away my creative energy.

I am hoping to refresh in California and come back with all the engines blazing.

Unfortunately there are things I need to get done this weekend. Today. Now.

So I am (quickly) going to write out a list of ways I can be productive in my creative life. And then I am going to resolve that if I am not actively doing one of these things when I am not at work, I might as well not be a director. Can I honestly call myself a freelancer when there are days when I spend no hours actively doing something involving directing? Absolutely not. I'm starting to feel that false sense of living again where I claim to be actively doing things but I'm not. And it's the same refrain from the people I know here as it was in California. "You're doing so much!" "You're doing all the right things!" "I'm so impressed with everything you're doing!" I feel stagnant. I am not moving anywhere. Literally (from my apartment) and figuratively.

Things that are productive:
1. Seeing shows.
2. Reading plays.
3. Blogging (because whenever I blog I feel as though I am participating in my own creative life)
4. Soliciting plays and contacts from friends and colleagues
5. Actively participating in my friends' creative lives
6. Actively brainstorming and conversing about my creative projects, both present and future
7. Socializing IN PERSON
8. Eating and exercising, because I don't do enough of either, and I'm sure this is somewhat related to my productivity funk.
9. Actively pursuing opportunities

Things that are not productive:
1. Sitting in my house
2. Talking on the internet for any reason other than those above.
3. Playing solitaire on my phone on the subway.

Ready, set, go.