1. “The only thing we can really control is what we spend our days on. What we work on and how hard we work on it.”
2. “When you don’t have much time, a routine helps you make the little time you have count.”
3. “There is no perfect, universal routine for creative work”
4. Make lists of things to work on
   1. Even a list of creative projects so you know the next one to work on
   2. Someday/Maybe list
   3. Make a list of things not to work on
5. Bliss station — place and time that’s best for work
6. If you can’t come up with your own idea:
   1. Identify a popular idea that you despise and would like to destroy
   2. Find an old opposite idea that everyon’es forgotten and resurrect it.
7. “When you reach for your phone or your laptop upon waking, you’re immediately inviting anxiety and chaos into your life”
8. Thoreau once wrote about the weekly newspaper being distracting
9. “Give yourself time to not be horrified by the news”
10. “the phone gives us a lot but it takes away 3 key elements of discovery: loneliness, uncertainty, and boredom. Those have always been where creative ideas come from.”
    1. Airplane mode as a way of life
       1. Transform mundane commutes into a way of life
11. “Saying “no” to the world can be really hard, but sometimes it’s the only way to “yes” to your art and your sanity”
12. “Being creative is never an end; it is a means to something else.”
13. “Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake.”