Advice & creativity

Still on  a short leash, and still subject to sudden, deep naps as my body mends, I have been handed time to sort through piles, rereading things, tossing much and filing a few. This, from a sleek insert to the Wall Street Journal of all things, bears mention:

Tom Sachs' list from the Wall Street Journal

Tom Sachs is a contemporary artist of sufficient success to have a shop and minions. My studio would drive him crazy, but his directives remind me to stay on the path. Among them (bold face, his words):

Work To Code. The creative mind by definition wants to wander off after new ideas. The hardest job for me often is to stay on task, to see something through, right down to that last, longest ten percent.

Sacred Space. The Studio isn't a coffee shop, it isn't a living room. It is a workspace. Show up, on time, stay there, see your job through.

Sent does not mean received. How can I still be learning this after so  many years working? Pick up the phone. Speak to the person. Follow up. Call again. It's amazing how many details fall between the chairs, through no one's fault. It's just entropy applied to ideas.

Always Be Knolling.  Don't you love a new word? KNOLL is the professional equivalent to "tidy," in particular meaning to put away what's not in use and straighten up what is. Amazing what you find (like free space and lost tools) when regularly applied.

I think I'll go put some more flotsam away.