> If all you had to do was the execution phase of creative work, you’d be able to do it between meetings no problem. But the truly hard, terrible, nasty truth i

> If all you had to do was the execution phase of creative work, you’d be able to do it between meetings no problem. But the truly hard, terrible, nasty truth is that you need to do the exploration phase in order to get to the execution phase. This matches my experience. I finished writing a novel a few months ago. It took me ~2 years, of which very little time was spent actually writing. Gathering information, thinking about the book and day-dreaming took the bulk of the time. The problem with so-called "exploration" phase is that you don't know what you're doing, you don't know why you're doing it, you don't know where you're going or where your general direction might be. It's not terrifying, it's aimless. It's like being in the desert or in the middle of the sea, with no compass but plenty of food, so there isn't even a sense of urgency to push you forward. I think it's Duke Ellington who said "I don't need time. What I need is a deadline." Editors breathing on one's neck are underrated.