How to beat procrastination

The first weeks after I made the decision to change careers, I was overwhelmed. There was so much work to do. Whatever I did I always felt guilty.

I thought I was procrastinating.

During that period an American photographer whose blog I was following, Robert Rodriguez Jr. (http://robertrodriguezjr.com/blog/), wrote about procrastination and recommended reading "The creative habit" by Twyla Tharp.

She is a famous American choreographer who has created dances for numerous ballets, musicals and films. Check out her website on http://www.twylatharp.org/

The first chapter immediately appealed to me. So I decided to take notes in case I should forget.

These are her most important guidelines:

1) Structure and routine. Waking up at the same time everyday; starting every day with the same routine; ending your work day at the same time or after a certain amount of work,... Write down your remaining ideas. Start the next day by reading your notes of the previous day. 

2) Find your own style. The more pictures you take the more you'll develop your own style. First you have to familiarise yourself with all the technical aspects.

3) Preparation. Try to find as much information as possible about a subject. Read books, watch films and documentaries. Study what other people have done with your subject. You want to create something unique. Collect all the material you have watched or read together in a box. When you are stuck later on in the project, you can easily return to your preparation.

4) Copy the artist you admire. By copying their work you will learn new skills. These skills are very important if you want to find your own style. Read everything about and by your favourite artists.

5) Exercise a lot. When your body is exercising, your mind is too. Exercising is a great way to get new ideas.

6) Work hard. Even the most talented artists have to dedicate a lot of hours if they want to create a masterpiece. This was the case for Mozart and Beethoven and it is still true for us.

7) Make sure you are not distracted. By no-one or anything. The best works of art are created when the artist is in the bubble.  Twyla Tharp talks about Philip Roth. He is an American author who lives in the wood. He works seven days a week. He needs five essential things: food, writing, exercise, sleep, and solitude.
Being in the Bubble doesn't necessarily mean being in complete isolation. It means you should surround yourself only with objects and people you need to be able to create a work of art.

8) Don't be afraid to try something new. When you have been doing the same thing for a long time you get stuck in a rut. Once you are there it is very difficult to break the pattern. The only thing that works is do something completely new; to learn something new.

9)  Accept failure. Even the most talented people will fail every now and again. It is important to learn from your mistakes and move on.

What did I learn?

I realised I had nothing to feel guilty about. I wasn't procrastinating. When I am not busy photographing or editing, I am preparing a new project or studying a photographer. In the past I have even occasionally isolated myself from the rest of the world to get things done.

Everything I was doing was necessary to become a photographer.

What are your working habits?

Learning from the masters

Sunday I went to the Lowlands Photo Festival. This is a festival dedicated to nature photography. Award winning photographers talked about their work.

I learned a lot more than I expected. And not only about photography. But also about perseverance, willpower and patience. Three things you need if you want to do the things you like.

Waiting for the right weather conditions, overcoming fear, thinking out of the box, doing your own thing. All of this was repeated over and over again during the talks.

For about eighteen months I was a member of a local photography circle. I joined because I wanted to learn more about photography. But I didn't learn anything. Every photo I showed was rejected without a decent explanation. I started doubting my skills as a photographer and I quit.

Sunday I learned that when I am satisfied with a photo, it is a good photo. It doesn't matter what other people say. The photographer decides what message he wants to convey and how he does that. The audience can decide whether they like it or not, but they have no right to say it is not a good photograph.

So from now on I will publish more photos without being afraid of the critics.

What do you think?

Thank you for reading. Please leave your comments below.

Mindful living

So I decided I was going to change my life. First thing I needed to do was to calm down.

But how do you do that?

One of my colleagues was leading a meditation session once a week during lunch breaks. That got me started, but I needed more.

Among the participants was somebody who was very enthusiastic about something called Mindfulness.

I bought a book about it and started reading. It immediately made sense. Living in the present instead of the past or future was really appealing to me. Up until then the present had been the least of my worries.

Being non-judgemental was another element I immediately liked. I have always been my worst critic. This prevented me from doing what I like. Whether it is travelling or showing my photos to the outside world.

Around the same time someone posted a link to the Mindfulness summit at LYL Global community. I subscribed and received loads of free stuff including a link to the 'Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction' course.

This course is modelled on the program founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

It has all the practices of a face-to-face MBSR program and a lot of explanatory texts and videos.

Since yesterday I am doing the meditations of week six. The Mountain and Lake meditations were introduced.

These meditations are working miracles, because being part of nature always calms me down.

Mindfulness definitely agrees with me.

Thank you for reading this!

Please leave your comments below.

Making a difference

For the sixth challenge I was asked to write about the difference I would like to make.

I like to photograph and I think I can make a difference doing just that.

I have two options. The first one is about helping manufacturers sell their products. In order to sell their products they need photos for their brochures and website. A lot of them buy a camera and make the photos very quickly themselves. Some are very good at it, but not all of them. And that's where I come in. I dream of convincing the less successful manufacturers to hire me to take the photos so their businesses become more  successful and they become happier people.

The second option is a bit different. I dream of photographing all the beautiful places in my country. A lot of nature is disappearing. I would like to convince the people who destroy these woodlands, parks,... that what they are destroying is valuable. If necessary photographs can be used as a record to show people what would be lost.

This is necessary because I live in a country that thinks that the environment is not important. Even in this day and age our politicians are convinced it is necessary to construct more highways. Even next to hospitals and schools. Something tells me that that is not a wise decision.

Thank you for reading this. Feel free to leave any comments.

Revolution or evolution

The seventh and last question is: What revolution would you lead?


With revolution comes aggression and violence. One revolution is rarely enough to change society. This was the case with the French revolution, The American revolution , more recently the Arab Spring in Egypt,...

So I prefer an evolution. It's more gradual and it takes a lot longer, but there are less casualties.

This evolution should be about everybody being able to follow their passion.

I am not saying because I am a member of the LYL community which is all about following your passion. No I am saying this because I am a Belgian. Belgium is the country with the highest percentage of people on anti-depressants in the world. I guess this means Belgians are the least happy with their lives.

This puts a lot of pressure on the Belgian social security system and therefore the taxpayer because the government pays a big part of the actual price of the medication.

Ok, some people really need the medication because their body can't produce all the chemicals it needs.  But I know a lot of people who lack the courage to change their lives. I am not saying that changing your live is easy. I know it isn't. But it beats being unhappy or taking pills for the rest of your life.

A bonus for changing you life and following your passion is that you are a more agreeable person to be around.

I like to travel and it always surprises me how friendly people in other countries are. Everybody always does their utmost to help us. I am ashamed to say that that is not always the case in Belgium.

So yes my "evolution" is really about convincing people to find their passion.

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment.

The unexpected presentation

When I came back to work in September, after a two-week holiday, I was asked by a colleague whether I would like to give a presentation three weeks later.

The presentation was prepared by a couple of French speaking colleagues and they needed someone to tell the same story in Dutch. As I am convinced you have to grab every opportunity you get, I said yes.

It was the first time ever, I was speaking in front of an audience. I am very shy, so for me this was huge. As if I wasn't stressed enough, the translation I received one day before the event was a mess. So instead of practising my lecture, I was correcting mistakes until late that night.

The morning of the presentation was nerve wrecking: there were all kinds technical failures. But then it was 9.30. My lecture started and all of a sudden I was calm. The presentation was a success. I didn't make any mistake. I didn't stammer and I managed to look at the audience once in a while.

That event totally convinced me I should do things outside of my comfort zone more often. It is one more stimulus to pursue my passion.

Thank you for reading this.

What do people thank me for?

The third challenge: what do people thank me for.
Now this is a real challenge.

I used to love helping people In fact that's what I loved in my first two jobs. I was a reference librarian. Helping people find the information they were looking for was my most important task. But then I changed jobs again. In the beginning I still worked part-time as a reference librarian, but the readers who needed help insulted us on a daily basis without any reason. After a year I couldn't take it any more and I changed to a back-office job at the same employer. There I discovered that negativity is part of the institution's script. In fact it seems to be part of the script of 90 % of the civil servants I know. (As a librarian I'm also a civil servant)
I am fed up with this mentality, so I decided to become a product photographer. In this job I can help people sell their products by photographing them for a catalogue or website. And I love it.

Thank you for reading this!