The thing with idlers is that we know when to stop. When to relax. When to philosophize. When to discuss. When to have a beer. Or twelve. And then we know when to start and do the thing we thought about – as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The only secret we need to know is called “Do Mode”. We can spend hours or days or weeks or months gathering information, thinking things through, discussing on internet forums, exchanging ideas with friends, doing market research, and eating cake. But once time has come, we enter “Do Mode”. We sit down and write that book. We paint that painting. We open that business. We immerse ourselves in whatever task we got at hand.

What we don’t need: To do lists, fancy gadgets, a quiet workplace, to be in the best of health, a Moleskine notebook, a fresh cup of coffee, perfect conditions.

We just need to start. Write one sentence. Paint one brushstroke. Fill out one page of that standard form. Then we enter “Do Mode”, and all we have to do is go on until we finish.

The Idle Musings are short posts of 300 words maximum. They are published on The Friendly Anarchist every other Tuesday. Grab the RSS feed to get them right into your reader. On a personal note, I got to get on a surprise trip to Europe and am currently in Germany, happy to see many dear friends and family members, but already missing the Caribbean sun. During the next days I will try to enter “Do Mode” and get the next posts of the Tempo Giusto series written before traveling to England on Sunday. Thanks for your patience!