Time Flies When You’re Writing
April 15th, 2010
I believe that any really creative activity should engage you so deeply that you do not notice the passage of time - you become so absorbed in creating the instruction, the web copy, or the story, that the “real” world fades into the background, along with sense of time. Conversely, it’s when you realize that you’ve forgotten the time, that you know that you’ve been working creatively - had you been aware of time, it’s safe to bet that your heart wasn’t really in your work to begin with.
This is another apt descrption of the state referred to as “Flow”, that many writers and artists aspire to reach. It’s a great feeling to experience, and afterward, you tend to have accomplished a lot more than you usually would in the same period of time. The real trick is learning how to get yourself into that creative state more often, or “on demand” when you need to make a deadline.