The reality of becoming focused and creative is that you have to push other things to the side and stay attached to the important task at hand.

A big part of this is choosing what and who you listen to and stopping what doesn’t work.

For me, what works is podcasts and newsletters from interesting, creative people. For me, what works is stopping social networks from using me, and starting to use them for my own purposes instead (I really had to think about this and make a strategy – basically I only engage with Facebook, and I curate this actively every time I log on. I use Twitter as purely a feed for this blog. I use Linkedin purey as a CV for my day job. No other social networking for me.) I need good music in my life and I need to look forward to things that inspire me like family and friends and home.

Lastly and most importantly, I need to use time available to me. Life fill up the hours without much effort. When I get time to write, I take it actively. Adequate time spent writing, and adequate repetition of the writing process will make me a good writer.

What do you need to surround yourself with to become creative?