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Reviews
Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus When You're Drowning in Your Daily Life by Jessica Abel
bernieanderson's review
5.0
Jessica is straightforward and matter of fact. I like her style.
This is essentially GTD for creatives who deadline-less projects they want to finish. Recommended.
I did what she said not to do - in that I read the whole thing and am going back to do all of the exercises. Which I haven't done yet. Which is why she said to do it as you go along. So. I'll be reading this one again. :)
This is essentially GTD for creatives who deadline-less projects they want to finish. Recommended.
I did what she said not to do - in that I read the whole thing and am going back to do all of the exercises. Which I haven't done yet. Which is why she said to do it as you go along. So. I'll be reading this one again. :)
bgstrong's review
4.0
I really loved this book and I read it at a really perfect time in my creative life.
I loved that aside from just advice, the author gives activities for you to do. I found that some of the activities I had already done before I read the book (albeit not exactly to her specifications) but plenty of them I did while reading this book and some I still need to finish.
I really suggest that anyone who considers themselves to be a creative person, even if it’s just a little bit, read this book.
I loved that aside from just advice, the author gives activities for you to do. I found that some of the activities I had already done before I read the book (albeit not exactly to her specifications) but plenty of them I did while reading this book and some I still need to finish.
I really suggest that anyone who considers themselves to be a creative person, even if it’s just a little bit, read this book.
emeraldsong's review
5.0
A great refresher, having read Getting Things Done over a decade ago, Growing Gills has a specificity for creative individuals that makes it more relatable and more relevant. It's packed full of manageable strategies for organising your life and facing those hard decisions when prioritising, and above all, conveys the message to forgive yourself rather than beat yourself up if you're not as "productive" as you think you "should" be. (The carrot is better than the stick in the long run!)
annettewolf's review
4.0
This book is full of very specific, actionable steps to take to re-prioritize, re-organize, and commit to making art. It’s not just for writers, though that’s the lens that I was reading it through.
I like that the author talks about trying out time management apps, especially OmniFocus. Not only do I use OmniFocus (and support it, as my day job!), but I too found myself in a cycle of constantly looking for new tools, like if I could just find the right tool I would be able to suddenly achieve everything I’d ever wanted.
Well, it’s not that simple. And prioritizing our art in a society that doesn’t necessarily value artistic pursuits (or at least doesn’t value them monetarily) can be really guilt-inducing. I appreciated the practical steps in this book that help clear away the mental clutter and let you get down to the act of creation.
For me, this book didn’t really contain any *new* information. But I’m unusual in that I’ve read Getting Things Done, tried multiple time management strategies/apps, etc. Or maybe that isn’t unusual, for an artist who is also a mom with a day job. But ultimately I didn’t get quite as much from this book as I’d hoped. I think that might be because I am nowadays looking for strategies that aren’t so much practical as they are esoteric. I want to get to the root of the problem, and for me, that’s more about facing the fear of failure/success, acknowledging how difficult it is to sit down and write, and doing it anyway.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who isn’t very far along yet on the habit-formation, time-management spectrum of learning, and who is looking for practical solutions to *finally* prioritize their artistic pursuits.
I like that the author talks about trying out time management apps, especially OmniFocus. Not only do I use OmniFocus (and support it, as my day job!), but I too found myself in a cycle of constantly looking for new tools, like if I could just find the right tool I would be able to suddenly achieve everything I’d ever wanted.
Well, it’s not that simple. And prioritizing our art in a society that doesn’t necessarily value artistic pursuits (or at least doesn’t value them monetarily) can be really guilt-inducing. I appreciated the practical steps in this book that help clear away the mental clutter and let you get down to the act of creation.
For me, this book didn’t really contain any *new* information. But I’m unusual in that I’ve read Getting Things Done, tried multiple time management strategies/apps, etc. Or maybe that isn’t unusual, for an artist who is also a mom with a day job. But ultimately I didn’t get quite as much from this book as I’d hoped. I think that might be because I am nowadays looking for strategies that aren’t so much practical as they are esoteric. I want to get to the root of the problem, and for me, that’s more about facing the fear of failure/success, acknowledging how difficult it is to sit down and write, and doing it anyway.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who isn’t very far along yet on the habit-formation, time-management spectrum of learning, and who is looking for practical solutions to *finally* prioritize their artistic pursuits.
marrije's review
5.0
Practical, irreverent, oh so recognizable. I expect I will be re-reading this a lot, in my (inevitable) German Forest moments.
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