Some of these just seem downright bizarre. But the mind works in mysterious ways and some seem more like process or getting in the zone than just being quirky and weird.

I think forming habits that get your brain ready to do X task can be really helpful. They tell you not to do anything in bed except for sleep so your body knows when you are in bed it's sleep time. You can also apply the same with anything you force yourself to do.

When I was living in New York I was freelance shooting and editing these horrid product videos. They would send me a box of 20-40 products, usually little promo items that lit up or had audio chips or whatever. I'd set up my "lights", shoot them, and edit them together with some background music.

But before I got a system down and could knock them out, it was a pain in the ass. I'd shoot and then edit and have to reshoot because it was out of focus or the continuity was broken or I forgot a shot. It was an ordeal to get my ass motivated enough to do the goddamn boring work. Then one day I put on my Bob Dylan / Grateful Dead playlist and went at it. To anyone else these two artists mean nothing but I had 3 tapes when I was a kid and it was Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead. So when I hear those songs I get happy and nostalgic and can pretty much be motivated to do anything.

So the next time I needed to knock out some of these videos I did the same. Music on. Lights on. Shoot. Edit. Whiskey. Rinse. Repeat. Done. After a couple rounds of this, I could hear Bob Dylan or Grateful Dead and have the sudden bizarre desire to shoot and edit horrid product videos.

Eating, music, smelling - they are all the same sorts of things. Tricking your body into being solely focused on the task at hand. It's time to write, to be inspired, to knock it out. Do it long enough and your brain will connect these two things in your mind forever. If one part is missing you will surely feel off.