One of our favourite blogs we like to keep tabs on at the moment is Extraordinary Routines; an interview project curated by Melbourne-based writer and editor Madeleine Dore.
The blog is dedicated to discovering the daily routines of creatives, who divulge their morning routines, sleeping habits, exercise regimes and creative peaks and troughs among many other tidbits in their daily lives. We’re real sticky beaks deep down and love to know how others tick (and get shit done!), so we wanna take this opportunity to give Madeleine a high five for taking one for the team and sharing pure gold from some of our favourite creatives.
We’ve collected a few of our favourite snippets from the various inspiring profiles on Extraordinary Routines. Strap yourself in and prepare to (maybe) have an intense light bulb moment on the topics of life, work and the balancing act we all struggle with everyday.
Julia deVille - Taxidermist and Jeweller
Image Credit - Bri Hammond
Our lives are so busy, and we spend so much time in the past and future, but they don’t actually exist. We actually spend very little time in the present moment, being centred and connected to that.
Jeremy Wortsman - Director of The Jacky Winter Group
Image Credit - Bri Hammond
Try to continuously make yourself uncomfortable whenever you can. It can be really, really hard – and I struggle with that all the time – but try.
One burner represents your health, one is your family, the third is your friends and the fourth is your work. In order to be successful in one area of your life, you have to turn one burner off. In order to be really successful, you have to turn off two. And I think – from the people that I know – I find this to be true. I’m always kind of tweaking my burners around different areas.
I attribute a lot to just being lucky. But I don’t think luck is an isolated thing – I think you have to work hard to have the right set of circumstances there. Luck is a reflection of how much you have invested in it yourself. If you’re doing the right thing and putting it out there, luck makes sure the right people see it and opportunities present themselves.
Lucy Feagins - Editor of The Design Files
Image Credit - Bri Hammond
I’ve started to realise that I can’t do everything and I’m quite good at saying no to social things and launches. I once read that it’s okay to be selective with things because in the end your presence isn’t missed nearly as much as you think it might be!
It’s good to know what’s going on in your category and to feel like there is something right behind you. It keeps you hungry and keeps you producing great things. We are always moving into new territories because I don’t want anyone to catch up.
Brodie Lancaster - Editor at The Good Copy, creator of Filmme Fatales zine, writer at ROOKIE
Image Credit - Madeleine Dore
Only hang around people who are positive and make you feel good. Anyone who doesn’t make you feel good kick them to the curb. The earlier you start in life the better. The minute anyone makes you feel weird, or not included, is the minute you beat it or tell them to beat it.
Nikki Lam - Artist and Curator
Image Credit - Bri Hammond
Art making is a very personal process, and it is often internalised. You may just be sitting there having a cup of tea, or spending a couple of hours in bed just lying there thinking, but that is part of the process. There are a different set of scales when it comes to creativity.
Part of the creative process is to overcome and accept such ‘unproductivity’, to be at ease with the paradox between having multiple roles in life.
Spencer Harrison - Graphic Artist and Designer at Spenceroni
Image Credit - Madeleine Dore
But I think it's quite common for creative people to experience similar energy or creativity slumps... Life slumps. You always perceive that other people are doing so much, and you think you have got to do more and more and more. But as I’ve become mindful, I’ve become more aware of when I’m starting to feel flat and I try not to feel guilty about it.
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