Strands of Genius: 5-Minute Cure for Procrastination, Hold Your Ideas Lightly in the Air, Learning to H.A.L.T. Bad Thoughts and Behaviors

Guest curated by Jared Grant

Nov 11, 2021

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, JARED GRANT ::

LOCATION: New York

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Le Truc / Publicis

I'm Jared Grant, a creative media strategist that loves comedy/improv, horror movies, and spending time at Camp Jelly - which is my little bungalow in upstate New York. Put it all together you get some friends telling jokes around a camp fire and a scare when you have to run across my dark lawn alone to get more wine - pure heaven.

Editor’s Note (Rosie): I met Jared when we both worked at Saatchi and Saatchi and knew from our first encounter that we’d be forever friends. That might sound like an exaggeration, but I’m also pretty sure that all the people who encounter Jared feel like that. He’s been a long-time inspiration to me, who always rocks epic slides, is fearless when it comes to facilitation, and is always down for an adventure. He’s shared some really great resources below, including a book recommendation Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde. He suggested this to me years ago, and it was a book that Faris and I both enjoyed. Thanks for being here Jared, and enjoy your time in Costa Rica!!

:: THE LINKS ::

A 5-MINUTE CURE FOR PROCRASTINATION

Whether it’s a looming work project, planning your good friend's birthday dinner, or just getting your butt to the gym for a workout - this simple tip is one that I constantly revisit to help me push through my procrastination paralysis and get started. Quick backstory. I found myself spending too much time on Instagram which was distracting me from more productive goals and projects I had wanted to put my energy against. So I took a break and deleted the app off my phone (for a bit). I filled my new micro moments of freedom with things like house chores, extra walks with my dog, and reading more articles on the internet. This was when I stumbled upon this post on Inc.com about productivity and how to cure procrastination. I quickly read the article and found it to be super helpful. When I scrolled back to the top of the article to see who had penned this good advice - you know who the author was? The founder of Instagram. I immediately burst out laughing. Comedic irony aside, it is a simple helpful tool I use all the time. (Inc.)

HOLD YOUR IDEAS LIGHTLY IN THE AIR

I love comedy and improv and I use both in my everyday life including at work. One comedic principle I love is allowing for opportunity to happen (or happy accidents). I first heard about this in a TED Talk given by the philosophical comedian Emily Levine. In her talk she passed on an anecdote she had read in the book “Trickster Makes This World” by Lewis Hyde (which, thanks to her recommendation, is one of my favorite books). She said the trickster can “hold his/her ideas lightly in the air”. This idea of being prepared for the unprepared, but not so overly prepared you don’t allow room for those happy accidents to occur. It is in this state that one can remain nimble to collide with other ideas in a brainstorm or crack a witty joke at lightning speed. I find this concept makes for good collaboration, creativity, and in general a more spontaneous happy-go-lucky spirit. (TED)

LEARNING TO H.A.L.T. BAD THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS

About three years ago I was in a bad place. My marriage had just ended, I was working in the most stressful toxic work environment I had ever experienced, and was using lots of drugs and alcohol to cope with any bad feelings that arose. I ended up seeking treatment and it was there I learned a host of positive coping skills. One skill that I still use all the time to help identify my bad thoughts and let them go is to H.A.L.T. Often, our bad thoughts get the best of us when we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT). If you start to hear those bad voices that induce stress and unhealthy coping strategies (drinking, drugs, overeating, etc) that is a good time to HALT, and ask am I just hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. For instance, it’s almost like clockwork at 3:30pm when my mind starts to get stressed and say things like “you could’ve done that better, you’re not good at this, you will never be able to get all this done” that I HALT - realize I am hungry and take a quick snack break to feed my body rather than the bad voices. (Bradford Health Services)

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:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Celebrity (aka Salad Bowl) and any improv games.

:: City :: Tamarindo, Costa Rica (I am actually currently writing this from Uvita, Costa Rica where I am doing a remote month with friends.)

:: Book :: Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde

:: Podcast :: Smartless hosted by Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman, and Will Arnett

:: Album :: Oasis by J Balvin & Bad Bunny

:: ADOBE HAS ADVICE ON WHERE TO PUT YOUR TITS ::

Like the comedian Emily Levine (mentioned above), I also love happy accidents and hilarious contradictions. I recently stumbled upon an ad on TikTok from Adobe selling the ability for one of its products to help you design content built for social media platforms. In designing its own ad, however, Adobe did not exactly, shall we say, optimize it for mobile viewing. Please enjoy this happy accident. (Note: you have to view it on your mobile phone to get the joke).

Jared Grant

jared.grant@gmail.com

Hire me | LinkedIn

Stalk me | Instagram

Pay me | Venmo @jaredgrant

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