Lucky Socks. Lucky Cap. You’re priming your mind to win. 

For this exercise you’ll go through some main activities and you can start sifting through your playlist to find a music track that instantly carries you through that activity.

Slightly different to the lucky socks & cap, in that the desired event happened while you were wearing the socks (or cap!), for the music tracks you’ll eventually choose, remember that the key is: ‘you can’t help but go to that state of mind’

1.) Pumped to progress your to-do-list

For those times that you feel like you just want to give ‘ole Netflix a hug and binge on The Good Wife. Yes, maybe you’ll get an idea for a new story or project.

Though now…you have to go through your to-do-list, and the trick is to just start.

PS: Though Dancing is optional, it is encouraged because you’ll have more fun.

Need more tracks? Here, I mention Hazel English’s ‘It’s Not Real’.

2.) Progressing a task

Sometimes a task doesn’t take 5 minutes, and you’ll need to break it up in 20 minute increments. (Don’t forget to stretch and walk around for a minute if you’ve been sitting!)

You’ll know if the track is the right one for this if it melts into the background and before you know it 20 minutes has gone by without you paying attention to the music.

Need more tracks? For me, I found myself gravitating to some sort of Elevator Music blend (Jazz/Soul/R&B) like this track from Jess Chambers.

3.) Idea Generation

Now you are truly stuck to solve a problem. Let your mind wander and before you know it you’re on to the next task. If your mind keeps giving you ideas for other projects (or to start new ones), don’t ignore them — jot them down, then give yourself a high five for that new idea.

Need more tracks? Oddly, I’ve found one of Jack Johnson’s Albums (The one with washing dishes!) and Jose Gonzales (he did a lot of tracks from Walter Mitty) helpful in letting my mind run free.